If you’ve gotten a catering or A/V quote lately, you know: the prices are out of control. Five figures for chicken on a salad and a microphone? It’s enough to make any nonprofit event planner want to cancel everything and cry into a spreadsheet.

But here’s the thing: we still need in-person events. We still need beautiful, welcoming spaces that feel right for our missions. We just can’t afford to throw money around.
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That’s why today I’m sharing how to create stunning event decor for $250 or less –  without sacrificing your brand, your sanity, or your goals. Let’s make every dollar count and still wow your donors.

Before you add anything to your Amazon cart or hit the dollar store, pause.

Ask yourself:
What should donors feel when they walk into the space?
And:
What does our mission look like in color, texture, and style?

Use your brand colors as your base palette. Add a neutral (like cream or gray) and one metallic (gold, silver, rose gold) for a little pop and polish, especially for more formal evening events. This is how you create cohesion – and it helps you avoid that “Pinterest mishmash” look.
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🎨 Need help visualizing? Use Canva to build a simple vision board for your event. Drop in colors, photos, and textures. You don’t need to be a designer – just get the look clear in your head before you start sourcing. (Confession: I might be a bit of vision board addict. I do these for any kind of visual planning, including my kids’ birthday parties.)

If you take one thing from this post, take this: there are affordable fabrics that can make any space look expensive.

Buy bolts of voile, gossamer, chiffon, or tulle to drape across tables, hang behind a podium, or soften up harsh lighting. It instantly elevates even a basic space.
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💡 Pro tip: My favorite is a gossamer/tulle combo. Use your venue-provided tablecloths (usually white or black), layer a strip of gossamer as a runner, and tie a bow on each side in one of your brand colors. Bonus points if it’s an evening event and you pick something with some sparkle in the material!

Don’t just lay everything flat and call it done. Think like a stylist.

Use:

• Crates or boxes (draped with fabric) to add height to food displays
• Battery-powered flameless candles for a soft glow
• Silk greenery to create movement across tables
• Small risers under platters or signs for extra visual interest

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Most venues can provide these kinds of risers for food displays but if you are doing a total DIY event, thrift stores are your friend. Layered spaces feel intentional – and they photograph beautifully, too. Here’s an example:

If your decor only lasts one night, you’ve overspent.

Invest in reusable pieces like:

• LED flameless pillar candles and tealights
• Stretch table covers
• White or clear glass vases that can be used with different themes
• Simple signage you can swap out or update each year

Also, if your table runners don’t have any food stains, you can reuse them again. Just untie any bows and fold everything neatly, storing for next year.
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You’ll not only save money long-term but having an “event kit” will make setup so much easier next time around. And it’s a better option for the environment too!

Here’s an example budget and vision board for an upcoming fundraising luncheon I’m hosting. I’ve used this method for years and know it will look great.
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Table runners: $143
Tulle: $30
Total: $173 (round up to $200)

💡 Pro tip: Don’t forget about decorating the registration table if you have one. That’s the first impression your guests/donors will see, make sure it’s on brand too.

Want another example? Here’s the vision board and budget for an upcoming evening Gala event:

Tablecloths for high boys: $60
Tulle: $20
Flameless candles: $22
Fabric: $115
Total: $217 (Round up to $250)

And lastly here’s one more vision board from years past.

And here’s how this vision board actually manifested across several different events with minimal new décor items added:

​And here are some centerpieces I did with real roses and sunflowers for another event, just tie some of the tulle in your brand colors around the clear glass vase to customize to any color you need.

One of the easiest ways to arrange flowers is to combine roses and hydrangeas. The large hydrangea blossoms take up a lot of space and cover a multitude of sins and the roses elevate the whole piece and add more color.

If you want to know more about DIY floral arrangements, I’ll be doing a whole series on this later this month on my Tiktok channel – follow me @realdealfundraising. (And if you’re not on TikTok, those posts will get reposted to Youtube @jcloudrealdeal.)

I’d love to hear how you create meaningful, mission-centered event spaces without blowing the budget. Drop your favorite tips in the comments or tag me if you build your own inspiration board using these ideas.

Let’s normalize great design that doesn’t break the bank.
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Cheers!

​PS - I hope you’ll continue the conversation by subscribing to Real Deal Fundraising. When you subscribe, you’ll get my e-newsletter, which includes the best articles on fundraising, productivity, and cool stuff every week. The whole thing is curated awesomeness as well as freebies like webinars, instructional videos, and whatever else I can put together to be helpful to you!

If you liked this…

• My Exhaustive Event Planning Checklist
• What With Love, Meghan Can Teach You About Donor Relations
• Culture of Philanthropy Check-Up
• Budget Décor
• Embrace the Theme

I remember the feeling of confidence I had going into 2020. I had been in the fundraising field for over 15 years (full-time), and at the time, I thought I had most things figured out. I would have confidently made broad, sweeping predictions about the future. And, as we all know, I would have made a complete fool of myself. Because everything we thought we knew was turned upside down by the global pandemic just a few weeks later.
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That humbling experience taught me a critical lesson: predicting the future isn’t about certainty; it’s about curiosity. It’s about studying trends, tracking the breadcrumbs, and embracing flexibility. As we look toward 2025, the nonprofit fundraising landscape continues to evolve, shaped by technology, shifting donor expectations, and global economic conditions. Here are a few trends to watch and how they might reshape the way we fundraise:

Gone are the days when a generic email blast could sustain your donor base. Modern donors expect nonprofits to know their preferences, interests, and giving history. This shift demands a deeper investment in donor data and segmentation strategies.
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What this looks like in practice:

• Personalized video messages from organizational leaders thanking donors for specific gifts.
• Tailored campaigns that reflect the donor’s passions – think targeted appeals for programs they’ve supported in the past or issues that align with their values.
• Leveraging AI to analyze donor behavior and suggest optimal engagement strategies (more on AI below).

AI has moved beyond being a buzzword – it’s now a practical tool reshaping nonprofit fundraising. From automating administrative tasks to analyzing donor data, AI is helping fundraisers work smarter, not harder.

Emerging applications in fundraising:

• Predictive analytics: By analyzing historical data, AI can identify which donors are likely to upgrade their gifts, lapse, or respond to specific campaigns. This enables fundraisers to act strategically and proactively.
• Content generation: Tools like ChatGPT can help draft compelling appeals, social media posts, or event invitations, giving fundraisers a head start while maintaining their voice.
• AI-powered donor stewardship: AI tools can automate personalized thank-you emails, gift anniversary reminders, and touchpoints, ensuring donors feel appreciated without overwhelming staff time.

However, as AI becomes more prevalent, ethical considerations must remain at the forefront. Donor confidentiality is non-negotiable – organizations must carefully vet AI platforms to ensure donor data remains secure and private. Similarly, while AI can streamline processes, it’s no substitute for genuine, human connection. The most successful fundraisers will treat AI as a powerful enhancement to relationship-building, not a replacement for the trust and care that donors deserve.
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By prioritizing ethics, privacy, and authenticity, nonprofits can leverage AI responsibly while maintaining the integrity of their donor relationships.

With limited staff and growing expectations, nonprofits are turning to automation to streamline repetitive tasks. Automation allows teams to focus on what truly matters: building relationships and driving impact.
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What’s being automated:

• Email workflows for donor journeys, from onboarding new donors to lapsed donor reactivation.
• Social media posting schedules, freeing up time for engagement and content creation.
• Grant tracking and reporting processes, ensuring deadlines are met with minimal stress.

By automating these tasks, organizations can improve efficiency without sacrificing quality.

Donors today demand clarity on how their contributions are being used. Organizations that can clearly articulate their impact and demonstrate accountability will stand out in an increasingly competitive philanthropic landscape.
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How to show transparency:

• Detailed impact reports shared via email or social media.
• Real-time project updates through live streams or donor-exclusive newsletters.
• Open discussions about challenges, successes, and lessons learned.

Transparency isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s becoming a baseline expectation for earning donor trust.

The way people consume information and interact with brands (including nonprofits) is constantly evolving. In 2025, expect to see growth in emerging channels like:

• Short-form video content offers bite-sized storytelling opportunities.
• Text-to-donate campaigns capitalize on the growing use of mobile devices for philanthropy.
• Virtual and hybrid events create global accessibility without sacrificing the intimacy of in-person connection.

Experimentation will be key here, and nonprofits that adopt a “test and learn” mindset will stay ahead of the curve.

The future of nonprofit fundraising is both exciting and daunting. The tools and strategies available today offer incredible potential to engage donors in meaningful ways – but only if we approach them thoughtfully. As we navigate these trends, let’s remember the lessons of the past: stay adaptable, keep learning, and never forget that at the heart of every fundraising effort is a desire to connect people with purpose.

What trends are you seeing in your work? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments!

​Cheers!

As we turn the page to a new year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the incredible impact your donors have made on your organization. Donor appreciation isn't just about wrapping up last year's success - it’s about laying the groundwork for lasting relationships that will sustain your mission well into 2025 and beyond.
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In nonprofit fundraising, donor retention is key. It’s much easier (and more cost-effective) to retain a donor than to acquire a new one, which is why a thoughtful approach to showing gratitude can be a game-changer. Starting the new year on a note of appreciation can make all the difference in keeping those relationships strong. Here are six creative and practical ways to show your gratitude this New Year:

Instead of sending out traditional holiday cards, why not opt for a New Year’s card? It’s a great way to stand out, especially since January mail isn’t competing with the December rush. At my current institution, where we serve a multi-religious community, we steer clear of specific religious holiday cards, but New Year’s cards offer a respectful and inclusive option.

This isn’t just about sending a card; it’s about showing donors they’re valued as you enter a fresh chapter. By sending a message of gratitude and well wishes for the year ahead, you remind them that their support is crucial to your mission’s success.

Why It Works: A New Year’s card avoids the crowded December mailbox, acknowledges diverse traditions, and sets a positive tone for the year ahead.

Building and maintaining a culture of philanthropy is hard work. It is deep work that takes years to build and moments to destroy. But having a healthy culture of philanthropy makes work more fun and makes fundraising easier. It’s worth having a periodic check-up to assess how your institution is doing.

Answer these questions for your institution:

Board Support

• Does your board of directors (or board of trustees) support the organization as current year donors at 100% participation?
• Board support is a sign of stakeholder investment. It also shows that your closest advocates are current with their support. The level of the support doesn't matter so much as the consistency and recency of that support. PS - It's easier to ask for others to give if you are a current donor.

Staff Support

• Does your fundraising staff support the organization as current year donors at 100% participation?
• Does at least 50% of your organization’s overall staff (and faculty) support the organization as current year donors?
• Again, staff support is a measurement of stakeholder investment. Does your staff (especially your fundraising staff, believe in the mission enough to back it with their personal funds? The level doesn't mean as much as the participation.

Alumni support (or Grateful Patient support)

• This category assesses whether those served by your organization’s mission give back to the organization later. This is a sign of institutional effectiveness.
• What is your alumni (or similar) participation rate? You’ll know whether this is good for your organization or not. The level at which this metric is outstanding varies widely from institution to institution.

Fun Factor

• Does your organization frequently have concrete signs that fundraising is seen as an enjoyable community endeavor? (For example, an annual gala, a stewardship picnic, a “Dancing with the Deans” competition, etc.)
• List what you currently do to put the “fun” in fundraising.
• Write down three new ideas to improve your fun factor.

Communications

• How often do your constituents hear from the organization without a fundraising pitch?
• Do these communications include stories of impact?
• Are you communicating in different media? Email, print, video, etc?

Stewardship and Donor Relations

• Do you have meaningful giving societies?
• Do you have a person designated to assist donors with any “customer service” type issues? 
• How is your data management and data integrity? Nothing kills a philanthropic feeling like your name being wrong on an invitation.
• Stewardship is not just the purview of the staff member with "donor relations" in his or her title. It is an office-wide perspective of service and connection. From your front desk associates to student workers/interns to your accountants on staff to gift officers and especially advancement services and gift processing staff, improving donor relations should be everyone's primary objective.

Other questions to think about:

• Does your organization show the impact of giving clearly and broadly?
• For major donors, do you create unique reports and experiences that connect for them their gift to the impact in the world?
• Do you see expressions of gratitude at all levels of the organization? Where could your organization do better?
• Are the needs of the institution are clearly expressed for donors of all levels using different media?
• Does the institution set expectations for giving through specific asks, giving society thresholds and endowment minimums?
• Are fundraising goals embraced by both fundraising staff and program staff/faculty?

How did you feel about the assessment? Where are you doing well? Where should you improve? 

As always, comments and questions are welcome and encouraged!

Cheers,

Jessica

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• Goals versus projections
• What should a strategic plan contain?
• Planning for the Unexpected
• Conducting a Benchmarking Study
• My Exhaustive Event Planning Checklist

PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my  guide to Call Center Games for Free!​​

Make a practice to remember the little details you hear in conversation with donors, even if it seems irrelevant to fundraising. I promise, it matters. I'm not talking about remembering what their career is or how many kids they have. Those details are not irrelevant. These details impact your work directly. 

Here's an example of what might have otherwise passed me by. I had a casual conversation with a board member and we talked about how his wife is into weaving. Although that's not a hobby of mine and has nothing what-so-ever to do with the mission of the organization we both serve, I made a mental note. 

At a national convention associated with our organization, I was talking with another donor to told me that she wove one of the tapestries that hang in the school. A light bulb went off! Since the board member was East Coast and this donor was West Coast it was unlikely they had me beforet. I introduced that donor to the wife of the board member at our Gala and they talked most of the night. The donor is a graduate and the board member of course is intimately connected to our school right now, so the fact that they met and bonded over weaving as a mutual hobby ultimately strengthen their connections to the school. 

Similarly, when you email a donor and get an out-of-office message, read it. If it says they are traveling to Europe, inquire about how their trip was when you follow back up. (You did put a calendar items in to follow up with them a few days after their out-of-office message says that they'll be back right?) 

Long-story-short, remembering the little details that don't seem at all connected to your goal (raising funds) will show your donor that you care enough about them as a person to pay serious attention. And it gives you the raw material to make connections and introductions that will be meaningful to your donors.

When you are planning any event (for fundraising or otherwise), it’s so important to have a generic checklist to go through during your planning so that you don’t miss something obvious. Most checklists you find online are geared for wedding or other non-professional events. So, I created my own.
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Here’s the list of things you should think about when event planning. If you have small events inside a larger series of event (like a convention) you will want to go through this checklist for all of the smaller events and the event as a whole.

• Who is the program planning lead for this event?
• What will be calling this event?
• What other staff or departments are involved?
• Where will the event be?
• Have you secured space?
• What date and time will the event take place?
• Who or what groups will be invited? What is your target audience?
• Does this event require a fee to attend? By invitation only? Open to the public?
• If the event is not in your city, who will be representing your institution? Who will make travel arrangements for staff? When do different parties need to arrive?
• If your event is not in your city, when do you need to ship your supplies in advance of the event to get them there on time? Who will hold the supplies for you?
• When do the save-the-dates need to go out? Email only or email and mail?
• When do the invitations need to go out? Email only or email and mail?
• Who will design the save-the-dates and invitations? Who will stuff the envelopes and send? How much lead time do you need for those processes to take place?
• Will you advertise this event? What channels will you use? Write a promotional plan for this purpose.
• Who will handle RSVPs? How will the RSVPs be received? Web form/Email only or web form/email and mail?
• Do you need to send an email reminder the day before or day of the event?
• Is there a need for catering? Will there be a bar? Cash, tickets or open bar?
• Do we need to make arrangements for vegetarians/vegans/food allergies? How will that be handled?
• How do you want your room to be laid out? What are your technology needs?
• Who will document the event? Do you need a photographer or videographer or both?
• What kind of decorations do you want? Who will handle this?
• What accessibility issues do we have for this event? Do we need a sign language interpreter and are there any accommodations we need to make for handicap access?
• Does the venue provide adequate signage? Should we have our own produced so that attendees can find out event easily?
• Do we need background music, a DJ or a band? What kind of music will be played?
• How much parking is needed? How close is the available parking to the venue? Do we need to shuttle attendees back and forth?
• Will we need a registration table? Who will work that table? What information will they collect? What information will they distribute? Do we need nametags?
• What is the timeline of the event and the flow of the program? Who will speak, when and for what purpose?
• What collateral material needs to be on hand at the event? Where will it be placed? Will any of the speaker reference this material?
• Who will handle event clean-up? What staff are expected to stay and clean-up?
• Who will handle thanking attendees and marking attendance in the database?
• Will there be any follow up from the event? Asking for a gift? Inviting attendees to become further engaged with institution in some way?

It doesn't take much money to make an event look special. You might be a top flight organization whose donors have high expectations, if so you'll likely have a budget to match. However, if you are with an organization that has a tight budget, you'll need to get creative to make your events sparkle. 

I like to create "vision boards" with pictures from the internet put together as a collage so I can pitch my ideas about how I want the event to look and feel. Here's one I did recently as an example.

This shows many of the actual materials I planned to purchase and the colors I wanted to work with as well as the way I would deploy the decorations at the event. My budget was only $500 and I had to make these decorations work for 4 different events and they would end up being shipped across the country 4 times. 

One of my favorite websites for party decor is Shindigz. Amazon also has some great deals and their Prime shipping is great when you need something for an event last minute. 

I like to start with gossamer from Shindigz, which can be used as table runners or to tie up tablecloths around highboy tables. Gossamer comes in a 40 foot roll and can often be used for more than one event. Usually I pair it with some other material with some texture for variety. Burlap would work or tulle or in the case above, I used a shiny, fuzzy black material. Everything I bought was interchangeable variations of the school's colors, so I could switch up the way I used the materials at different events. 

Flowers cost lots of money and cannot be reused, so paper lanterns with LED lights are a good option with candles on the table too. Confetti also adds budget sparkle to a table but check with your venue before using as it can be difficult to clean up. 

I'll be returning to donor events as a regular topic on Real Deal Fundraising. Future posts I have planned include creating playlists for donor events, what should be on your donor event planning checklist, working with event vendors and several others. Subscribe today if you don't want to miss a post.

Here are some pictures of how the materials above actually looked at one event:

When I was working at Southern Miss, we received a file to do a mailer to parents of current students. Of course, Admissions didn't have lovely and clean addressee and salutation fields and in fact, we didn't even have the parent's first name in most cases. 

I learned to use the "concatenate" formula to use that raw data to create addressees and salutations that were appropriate for direct mail. When we didn't have the parent's first name we used the student's name. It looked like "Dear Parents of John Doe,". Sometimes you make lemonade out of lemons. 

It's not uncommon in fundraising to get a list of prospects that has "raw data" with first name and last name as separate fields, no titles and no addressees or salutations. Before you can create a mail merge or import those into your database, you'll need to create the fields that you need. And you'll want to do it cleanly and efficiently. 

In this video, I'll show you 3 tricks in MS Excel that will help you save time and frustration in creating addressees and salutations for a list of prospects. 

1) Use filters to create working groups
2) Use the "concatenate" formula to string text together
3) Use "paste values" to turn your data set into editable text

If you liked this video, check out my video on using Excel's "filter by color" function to plan your donor trips. And subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising to get content like this in your inbox. 

People love a good theme.

They will deny it but it is true. Ask for $25 and it falls flat. Ask for $20.16 in honor of your Class of 2016 and suddenly the same group is completely inspired.

Throw a Faculty-Staff Campaign kickoff and it is just another reception with peach tea. Throw a Glee inspired Lip Sync Contest with an ironic high school prom theme and it’s something no one has ever seen before.

Is your leadership annual giving society threshold $1,000 per year? What if it were named for your first president or most beloved president? What if the threshold were based on your founding year, for instance $1,904? (You could have special lower levels for young alumni.)

When I worked for The University of Southern Mississippi, our team started the Aubrey K. Lucas Society. It is named for our longest serving president, who also happens to be our longest consecutive year donor. He is famous for wearing bow ties. Each year those donors who have given a gift in each of the last three fiscal years gets a black and gold bow tie-themed car decal. Who would ever want to miss a year of giving? It's too fun to miss out on.

The key is that the themed events and ideas are specific. They show off the unique character of your institution and your personality as a fundraiser. Therefore they work on two levels: they are fun and enjoyable but they also reinforce and strengthen ties to your institution.
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Go ahead and embrace the theme. Your job will be more meaningful and fun. Your donors will be amused and happy to participate in something fun and original.