Episode 19: To theme or not to theme

While you don’t need one, a theme can add a lot of fun to any nonprofit event, both for the audience and your planning team.

A theme can turn a ho-hum event into a memorable experience. When done well, a theme can seamlessly tie your mission to something fun and interactive.

In this episode I share:

The purpose of event themes
The best type of theme for a nonprofit event
A brainwriting process for coming up with a theme

Listener Action Item:

This brainwriting exercise will help you come up with a theme for your event. Brainwriting is meant to be done in a group. For this exercise, the ideal group size is 5-10 people and will take approximately 15-30 minutes. It’s a lot of steps but it should go quickly.

If you want to do this solo or do it virtually with your team, download the Event Theme Brainwriting Guide.

The supplies you’ll need:

A stack of blank paper
Colored pens or markers
A kitchen or cube timer
White board markers (optional)

Get your team in a room with NO distractions and no interruptions. Phones must be left outside the room or completely silenced.
Give each team member a piece of paper and have them select a colored pen or marker. Put a stack of blank paper in the center of the table.
Round 1: Set the timer for 5 minutes. Instruct the team that when you start the timer and say ‘go’ they are to write the first word or phrase that comes to mind when they think of your organization.
Once the team member has written down their word or phrase, they quickly pass the piece of paper to the person on their left. That person reads what the person wrote and then tries to add on to it. The idea is to build on or play off of one another’s ideas.
Once each sheet of paper has five ideas on it, put the filled paper in the center of the table and grab a new blank sheet from the stack center of the table. And it starts over. The person with the blank sheet should write down a new word or phrase.
It’s OK for a team member to pass if they can’t think of something quickly. The idea is to keep it moving.
Once the timer dings, collect all the filled out sheets and set them aside.
Round 2: Set the timer for 5 min again. This time ask your team to write down a word or phrase they associate with your cause. Follow the same format until the timer goes off.
Round 3: For this round, ask your team to write down a word or phrase associated with the type of event you’re hosting.
Round 4 (optional). Brainstorm words associated with whatever you’re fundraising for at the event. The final round is optional because not every nonprofit will be fundraising for something specific at their event. For example, if you’re a school foundation and you’re raising money to build a playground, have the team write a word or phrase they associate with a school playground.
Once all the rounds are done, have the team step away for a brain break.
While the team is away, take a look at the words or phrases for each round. If there are duplicates, take a pen and cross out all but one of each. If there’s a whiteboard in your room, write down the results for each round.
Bring the team back into the room to discuss. Start playing with the words and phrases your team came up with to put together a theme. Your brainwriting session should reveal some great ideas. Keep in mind that the best event themes have an action word in them. Using the playground example, if you’re hosting a golf tournament, you could use the word ‘swing’ as part of your event theme. It’s an action word and it has meaning for both the event and why you’re fundraising.