Take care! Summer is special event time
By Don Bourgeois
Canadian FundRaiser: Vol. 11, No. 9, 2001
Summer is a time for many things in Canada. Beautiful weather after several months of snow and cold and wind is one of the joys of being Canadian - especially after this past winter. We all want to get outside, participate in outdoor activities, and relax.
Summer is also a good opportunity for charities to run special events. We can combine both outdoor activities, good times with our friends, and doing good. Many charities have walkathons, car rallies, rubber duck races or similar events to raise money, to develop relationships in the community and to build public awareness of the organization and its purpose. But with special events come special concerns and risks.
Is it the right event for you?
Before deciding on a special event, a charity needs to make sure that it is one that is appropriate for it. Appropriateness includes both its image and its capacity to plan and run the event. Will the public image of the organization be enhanced or suffer from the event? Will it broaden the organization's appeal in the community? Will the participants support the public image the organization wants? Or detract from it? Will existing or potential donors be comfortable or uncomfortable with the event?
Does the organization have the capacity and experience required? Capacity should be seen very broadly - volunteers, physical assets and facilities (or access to them), cash-flow to cover pre-event expenses, management experience, appropriate insurance coverage and so forth. Special events often use extensive resources - financial, management and volunteer. You should thus assess early on the resources needed for success and determine whether the investment is worth the potential for return.
Do you have the `legal' capacity to run the event?
The organization should make sure that its letters patent or by-laws do not prohibit or restrict it from, say, conducting and managing a rubber duck race lottery scheme. It also must make sure that it has any required government permits or authorizations. No organization can simply put on a rubber duck race or a walkathon without checking all applicable regulations.
In some cases, what a charity may want to do may not be permitted at all. For example, in Ontario, amendments to the Highway Traffic Act may have ended a long tradition of `tolls' on roads used by many charities. In many other cases, there are a range of regulatory requirements that must be complied with in advance and during the operation of the event. And of course these requirements are particularly important if liquor is to be available.
Assess the risks for your event carefully
Some of the risk assessment is simply common sense. For example, if the charity wants to hold a walkathon, there are some obvious risks involved depending upon when and where it is held. Keep in mind the physical characteristics of the route: is it along a road? Or in a park? Is it hilly? Paved? What type of people will participate? Will they have any physical limitations due to age or disability? What type of weather is expected? In summer, for example, will it be hot? If so, the organizers may want to use a treed area instead of an open road.
These are just a few examples of the questions that need to be asked, especially if the organization has not previously held a similar event. These decisions are not trivial. Special events, when properly selected, planned and implemented, have the potential to raise funds, make connections with others in the community and to improve public awareness. We all recognize the importance of the high-profile events with which we're all familiar. It's important not to forget, however, that they're successful because of the detailed work and planning involved.
Don Bourgeois is an Ontario lawyer who has practiced in the charitable and nonprofit area of law and is an officer and director of several organizations. He is the author of The Law of Charitable and Non-Profit Organizations and The Law of Charitable and Casino Gaming, both published by Butterworths Canada. He can be reached by e-mail at .
