Summary

A Night Under the Stars Gala for Autism is a memorable evening for guests, donors, and volunteers to celebrates the successes of Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton and learn more about Autism in children and in our society. This magical night featured a live performance, a keynote from internationally renowned Autism speaker, Dr. Stephen Shore, and an elevated silent auction at the new and spectacular JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District.

Our Role

BUKSA provided administrative and event management services, which include financial administration, program and event scripting, venue management, sponsorship sales and fulfillment, as well as on-site execution.

Value Add

Social Media at New Heights
Creating buzz and awareness of the gala was a fundamental goal to reach new audiences and increase attendance. With a captive social media audience because of their offerings to families and resources we were able to leverage their social media presence and create a campaign to target potential ticket buyers.

One key social media avenue we took was Facebook. We created and implemented a targeted Facebook advertising strategy over 5 weeks before the event. This ad has reached over 8,000 people in our target audience, shared over 70 times, and increased the event response by 127 from <10 attendees before the ad.

Sponsorship Elevation
Acquiring sponsorship funds is key to making this fundraising gala a success. Long gone are the days of selecting a level from a package. Instead, our team worked hand in hand with the sponsors customizing packages that meet their needs.

We discussed activations that were most beneficial to them whilst maximizing their brand exposure and return on investment. These included incorporating brands into design elements such as branded wine centerpieces, offering sponsor tickets to CASE’s volunteers with corresponding logo and recognition on the table, and most importantly, we focused on fostering the relationship with previous and current sponsors to create a long-lasting relationship.

Lastly, we utilized an app for guests to easily access the auction items and enter their bids through their phones. This allowed for a flawless silent auction experience further encouraging guests to participate and leaving our client with more funds raised.

Financial Management
BUKSA focused on the finances quite closely, when fundraising, every cent matters to the success of your efforts and the ability to offer services to those who need it. We created a detailed budget breakdown to help the client understand where they were spending and how savings could be realized with small changes.

Managing relationships with vendors and leveraging them when appropriate to find creative savings for the client was essential to success.

Through Bid Beacon, we created a silent auction that was approachable and seamless for users, which allowed CASE to raise funds more effectively.