Luck of the Draw

There is no such thing as a perfect gala. No matter how much you plan, every event has a few things go wrong. For myself, at my first gala, there were two hilarious moments that I have to share - if anything to remind any fundraisers out there that nobody is perfect, and everything works out in the end!

Each year, we begin our gala with a “heads or tails” game. Guests donate $20 to play and (once volunteers collect the pledge cards!) stands up. Our CEO then flips a coin and announces heads or tails to the crowd. Those who selected the correct side remain standing, until the end when there is one winner left.

By this point in the night, I was adjacent to the stage helping to coordinate our ballroom volunteers. The CEO of my organization walked up on stage and began explaining the rules of heads or tails. I had my headset on and was communicating to lead volunteers to pick up the pledge cards. My CEO was about to begin the game (everyone was standing) when he suddenly looked at me and mouthed - WHERE’S THE COIN?

It was such a facepalm moment - I had forgotten to put a coin by the podium! I immediately got on the headset and said in a panicked voice “I need a quarter, by the stage please. Or any coin. Quarter. Dime. ANYTHING.” Thankfully, my intern (they always save the day!) ran up with a penny. (A hilarious, yet somewhat appropriate, coin to choose for a nonprofit game.)

Thankfully no one noticed the minor delay in the game and I laughed it off as one of those “small details” you overlook when you’re stressed about everything else.

Then it happened AGAIN.

At the END of the night, the auctioneer turned the mic over to my CEO who went up on stage to announce the raffle winner. We had gathered raffle tickets throughout the evening, but I had forgotten to bring the big jar to the stage. Instead, it was in another room with the silent auction items.

After some closing remarks, my CEO looked at me with a wry smile and mouthed - RAFFLE TICKET? I started nervous laughing, and quickly hopped onto the headset and asked for ANYONE to bring the raffle ticket jar. Within a few moments the jar was brought up to the stage, and the winner was drawn. Hardly anyone (except my boss) noticed!

Now whenever I’m at an event I joke that someone else will need to bring the luck…

- Amy

Florida