As the philosopher Martin Buber wrote, "All real living is meeting." People like to get together. That's why special events can often work so much better for nonprofit organizations than other, less social types of fundraising programs. From red-carpet galas to Saturday afternoon street fairs, special events offer nonprofits an unparalleled opportunity to both raise money and make friends. Yet for all the benefits--and they are great--inexperience and bad planning can make these events more trouble--and a greater financial drain--than they are worth.

Special Events: Proven Strategies for Nonprofit Fundraising, Second Edition is the complete guide to making your next nonprofit event the rousing success it can be. Packed with author and development professional Alan Wendroff's realistic insights and pointers, this text provides a logical and comprehensive outline of event planning, with a special emphasis on fitting these events into the larger framework of the nonprofit's organizational goals. Inside you?ll find such helpful tools as:

• Seven goals for a successful event
• The Master Event Timetable (METT), a proven organizational tool that provides step-by-step guidance through the entire event process
• A case study explaining in understandable detail how to implement the advice and methods outlined
• An accompanying CD that includes sample timelines, worksheets, checklists, budgets, writing examples, decision tables, and contracts

From choosing the right event to the best way of expressing thanks afterwards, Special Events covers all aspects of producing a winning fundraiser for your organization. In addition to the brass tacks of managing logistics, the coverage includes thoughtful discussions on how to take full advantage of the networking, volunteer recruitment, public relations, and motivational opportunities your special event can provide. This updated Second Edition features new information in these areas, plus an entirely new chapter on using the Internet for event planning.

With the needs of nonprofit organizations only growing as donations shrink, special events become more and more vital in sustaining the life of these organizations. Nonprofit lay leaders, professionals, and staff, as well as marketing professionals and event planners who work with nonprofits, will all find in Special Events, Second Edition a clearly drawn road map leading to fundraising success.

ALAN L. WENDROFF, CFRE, is a nationally recognized consultant, speaker, and writer for nonprofit organizations. He has worked as a senior development professional with a national human relations agency. He writes and teaches online and classroom courses for the continuing education Nonprofit Management Program at California State University, Hayward. He is the author of the first edition of Special Events: Proven Strategies for Nonprofit Fundraising, and coauthor with Kay Sprinkel Grace, of High Impact Philanthropy: How Donors, Boards, and Nonprofit Organizations Can Transform Communities, both from Wiley. He also contributed a chapter on special events to the second edition of Hank Rosso's Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising, from Jossey-Bass.