“In the wake of cancelling our annual Gala, we were really concerned about disappointing our many wonderful event sponsors and our hardworking committee. We wanted to create some sort of experience that would give us a forum to give them some additional recognition. We also wanted to accomplish some of the goals of the Gala – educating our audience about PCOA’s services and how we improve the lives of older adults, and raising some money. We integrated in some videos about programs and people we serve that we had already recorded to show at the Gala. We also took the opportunity to talk about how PCOA is responding to the current public health crisis, the rising needs we’re seeing among older adults, and how we’re working with community partners to address them.
As we had conversation after conversation with our sponsors, we were so touched by their expressions of support. Many continued to make payments on their pledges even after we cancelled the event, and some sent additional donations on top of that. It became really evident that our sponsors were always supporting much more than our event – they were supporting our mission and our work, and our partnerships have just been strengthened in this time of crises. We are so grateful for that.” Lana Baldwin, PCOA
