2016 Festival Report

33rd Annual

Event Report Wednesday, November 30, 2016 DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis – Chesterfield

TIMELINE Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Milk 'n Cookies—A Sensory-Friendly Evening with Santa 5:00 P.M. Sensory Friendly Hour 6:00 P.M. Entertainment from Circus Kaput, Lancer Singers of Lutheran High School South, and Support dogs, Inc.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016 Festival Gala and Auction 5:30 P.M. Registration Champagne Reception 7:00 P.M. Welcome by Emcee Chris Hrabe, KMOX Wendy Sullivan | Chief Executive Officer, Easterseals Midwest Judy Kent | Festival Event Chair Edward McCain | Father of Tavish and client of Easterseals Midwest | Video and Recognition Angel for Autism Appeal | Auctioneer: Fletcher Lane 7:45 P.M. Dinner is served 8:15 P.M. Live Auction | Auctioneer: Fletcher Lane Silent Auction closes 9:00 P.M. Live Music | Griffin and the Gargoyles

SALAD Romaine and Spring Mix with roasted corn, cherry tomatoes, queso fresco cheese and Chef Jonathan’s herb vinaigrette.

DUAL ENTRÉE Sliced Tenderloin of Beef with a roasted shallot thyme demi and crab cakes wrapped in nori paper.

Cauliflower Puree, Fried Kale, Sculpted Carrot

DESSERT Apple Tart Tiramisu cake

Event Overview Every year Easterseals Midwest aims to host one of the most festive and exciting events in the St. Louis community. We do this with the help of an amazing event chair, co-chairs, committee, volunteers, and staff. 2016 was a record-breaking year for fundraising, and saw a significant improvement in the execution of the logistics of the event itself.

Fundraising took the form of sponsorship solicitation, ticket and auction sales, and the “Angels for Autism� paddle raise.

The live auction featured 19 items - three of which were added spontaneously during the live auction by generous donors in the room. The silent auction featured 38 holiday decorative items, including trees, centerpieces, and wreaths, over 50 gift cards, 47 bottles of fine wine and spirits, and 100+ other exciting items that made the auction experience a very memorable one for our guests and patrons.

Overall 151 volunteers helped to make the event a success. Our 2016 Festival Committee included 61 women and men, and an additional 34 worked during the Gala event itself in roles like registration, auction support, or to help with checkout at the end of the evening.

The highlight of the program was a speech from the father of our 2016 Festival Ambassador family, Edward McCain. Mr. McCain gave a moving speech that clearly tied the life-changing services his family had received from Easterseals Midwest to the generous donations of so many in the room.

The addition of Chris Hrabe as Emcee and Fletcher Lane as auctioneer contributed greatly to event's success. The two complemented each other nicely throughout the event and helped to bring in record breaking amounts of money during the appeal and live auction.

The evening ended with a fantastic dance party with local band Griffin and the Gargoyles - and even a little live band Christmas karaoke.

Goals 1. FUNDRAISING To generate and increase funds from $375,000 to $400,000+ to support Easterseals Midwest’s mission and autism programing.

To keep expenses below 25% of total revenue.

2. GALA EXPERIENCE To create new and long lasting relationships as we educate our guests about our mission.

To provide a memorable experience that will bring our guests back year after year.

To provide a smooth registration process, entertaining program, and exciting silent and live auction experience.

To inspire our guests to be a part of the Easterseals family outside of the Festival Gala & Auction.

To engage our volunteers and demonstrate their impact on the larger Easterseals Midwest mission.

3. FRIEND-RAISING To engage and re-engage individuals and friends of Easterseals Midwest who want to better the community from the services we provide and the mission we promote to the St. Louis community.

To give our guests, volunteers, and sponsors passion and purpose.

To introduce new people to the Easterseals Midwest mission.

To engage the Gala committee to be our leaders and ambassadors for autism in the St. Louis community.

Festival Gala & Auction Experience As soon as the guests walked into the hotel lobby, they were embraced by an Easterseals Midwest staff member and were directed to the line for registration. After being checked in, each guest was instructed to use their smartphone device to browse the silent auction, raffle and fixed priced items, as well as the elegant trees, centerpieces, and wreaths.

The champagne reception was held in the hotel lobby and hallway leading to the ballroom. As guests entered this space, they were greeted by a row of beautifully decorated Christmas trees, with silent auction items lining both sides of the hall. The silent auction featured elegant items such as jewelry, experiences, tickets, gift cards, children’s toys, wines, and liquor.

After the cocktail reception, the doors opened to the beautifully dressed and lit ballroom. Five gorgeous live auction Christmas trees, each with its own character, lit the back of the ballroom.

The ballroom linens, from BBJ Linens, featured the colors silver and blue, with subtle hints of silver metallic. Each linen brought its own character, along with holiday-themed centerpieces created by Botanicals Design Studio, Thorn Studio, and Zengels Flowers and Gifts. As the program began, AV Staging LLC brought the room to life with the dramatic stage and room lighting, and two large rear projection screens flanking the stage.

Milk 'n Cookies Experience On the night before the Festival Gala, Easterseals Midwest also produced Milk ‘n Cookies, a sensory-friendly evening with Santa in the DoubleTree ballroom for clients and families. Our dedicated Co-chairs, Sharon Abel and Lori Putnam, were at the helm of this joyous family event.

Spectrum was the Presenting Sponsor, while CVS Health sponsored the Kid’s Korner. The St. Louis Culinary Institute of Hickey College donated over 1,000 cookies for the event. Lori Putnam also rallied her friends to make several batches of homemade cookies.

The event started at 5PM and featured a sensory friendly hour, during which the room was kept intentionally quiet with no on-stage entertainment or music. Marquis Photo booth was there to take an individual picture of each child with Santa.

Starting at 6PM, entertainment arrived, included, Circus Kaput, the Lancer singers of Lutheran High School South, and the Support Dogs Inc. Oh My Gosh Josh from Circus Kaput was the entertainer of the night, who delighted the children with magic tricks and jokes from the stage.

After guests got their picture taken, volunteers from CVS Health staffed the Kid’s Korner and helped attendees create holiday picture frames to hold their photo with Santa. We were very happy to have 48 volunteers work the event to engage our families and staff.

In total, more than 250 members of the community attended the event.

2016 Festival Committee Judy Kent | Festival Chair Sharon Abel & Lori Putnam | Milk & Cookies Co-Chairs Kathy Hietter | Silent Auction Chair Maureen Gillardi | Floral Chair Lori Graff | Live Auction Chair Rhonda Wehking | Silent Auction Chair Maureen Orbe | Social Media Chair Carole Barford Linda Bennett Norene Bennett Cindy Boucher Kim Boyll Roger Bresnahan Mary Ann Buckner Sarah Cohen Kathy Cordova Leslie Deeba Susy Dolan Sarah Dow Debbie Estes Julie Ettinger George Farrell

Bernadette Federko Mary Beth Fossell Melissa Fox Tracey Gans Lisa George Dan Gibson Linda Gibson Mimi Hammack Donna Hibler Kathy Howard Marie Kelly Wendy Knudsen Amy Kohlbecker Sandy Koller Carol Landgraf

Annette Lanman Terri LoRusso Sharon Mason Brigette McMillin Mary Meduski Kelly Messmer Thom Messmer Barb Michael Debbie Milner Cindy Mineo Ellen Moriarty Tricia Newell Beth Petti Lois Pfeiffer Paul Pfeiffer

Julie Rempe Shelley Ririe Darina Stastny Kathey Taiclet Michele Taormina Lynn Wedel LeAnn Were Chris Wickham Lori Willibrand Heather Wood Monica Zeller Rhonda Zevan

EVENT FLOOR PLAN Doors Wine Pull

Existing Auction Items from Tuesday

Existing Trees from Tuesday Live Auction AV Table

Existing Trees from Tuesday

Dance Floor

Screen

Screen Band Stage 8’ x 24’

ATTENDANCE 2016

Total number of guests 367 Total number of tables 38

2015

Total number of guests 346 Total number of tables 36

2014

Total number of guests 346 Total number of tables 30

2013

Total number of guests 344 Total number of tables 40

2016 INVITATIONS & PROMOTIONS 667 save the dates postcards and invitations were mailed.

Pre and Post press release was sent out to all major media stations Channel 5 News picked up our story for Milk and Cookies with Santa Online promotions were posted on Facebook, an event was created, and a private group was created for the event.

Challenges and Opportunities for Growth Registration Seamlessly checking in hundreds of attendees continues to be one of the biggest challenges of this event. Unfortunately, this year a major car accident on Interstate 64 caused a backup and as a result, many attendees arrived at the same time as the accident was cleared. The result was a huge line at registration, and we chose to delay opening the doors to the ballroom by 30 minutes.

Technology While the BidPal electronic auction software generally worked well for guests and staff at registration, we experienced significant challenges with the BidPal on-site staff and struggled to get the data we needed throughout the night. The packing room was given incomplete packing lists which led some guests to go home without items they purchased. BidPal also failed to send out several key text messages to guests that had been scheduled for the night.

Lighting Staff had pre-programmed only two lighting levels, one very dark and one very light. The Auctioneer needed an additional level that was dark enough to quiet the room, but bright enough for him to see the winning bid paddle numbers. These should be pre-programmed and approved by the event manager.

Food Due to the delay in opening the ballroom doors, the hotel staff had to hold back the food and the quality

of the meal was inconsistent. Some guests reported having an excellent meal while others complained of undercooked meat and room temperature food.

Volunteers All of our volunteers were very good and exceeded our expectations, but there is an opportunity to create a more efficient way of recruiting our volunteers. We would also like to add more clients volunteering for our events.

AV in the Hotel Because we used an outside AV company, the hotel would not allow us to hang projectors from the ceiling of the ballroom. As a result, we had to use rear projection screens, which took up significant floor space and disrupted the floor plan. Staff recommends stipulating in the contract for 2017 that ceiling mounted projectors installed by an independent AV contractor will be allowed.

Live tree setup Several live auction trees were not decorated until a few hours before registration opened. All of the trees were very beautiful, but this prevented staff from properly photographing and describing the trees for the printed program and in BidPal. Staff recommends that we have all trees decorated on the day we are setting up for the event so everyone has enough time to record each item.

Strengths DoubleTree Staff All of the management and catering staff were outstanding and very accommodating to us and the Gala committee. They kept things moving with setup and kept everything on track during the program.

Gala Committee The wonderful volunteer-led committee not only put in the majority of the work, but really made the event look exceptionally beautiful. The hours that each person put in to make this a success really made a difference.

Volunteers Each volunteer was trained and was given specific instructions that led to a very positive and engaging experience at Milk and Cookies and the Gala.

AV and Wifi There were little to no issues with the AV. The Event Manager and Director of IT took every precaution to keep the Wi-Fi up and running. Having the addition of AV Staging LLC’s Denny Smith made a huge difference.

Ylang-Ylang Raffle Item A new feature of the auction was a high value, limited availability raffle. We sold 100 tickets for $100 for a chance to win a gorgeous necklace from designer

Temple St. Clair. We sold out of tickets before the night had ended, and raised an additional $10,000 in revenue.

Emcee and Auctioneer Chris Hrabe was our emcee for the evening and added wonderful energy to the room. Auctioneer Fletcher Lane moved quickly, but was also able to carefully explain our available state tax credits, which several guests took advantage of for the first time that evening.

The Packing Room The process we have in place works and is very organized. There were few to no complaints about the checkout process.

Ambassador Video The work of Larry Eberle at Eberle Productions was exceptional and contributed greatly to the success of the Angel for Autism appeal.

2016 ACTUALS

DESCRIPTION

2015 ACTUALS

2014 ACTUALS

2013 ACTUALS

INCOME Sponsorships

$

230,262.52

$

186,000.00

$

226,000.00

$

211,500.00

Individual Ticket & Table Sales

$

46,225.00

$

29,500.00

$

28,250.00

$

30,750.00

Silent Auction

$

41,075.00

$

32,255.00

$

33,075.00

$

36,025.00

Live Auction

$

41,800.00

$

45,400.00

$

24,950.00

$

25,025.00

Angels - Fund a Need

$

128,765.00

$

79,425.00

$

90,725.00

$

107,350.00

Wine Pull/Raffle

$

15,800.00

$

2,520.00

$

2,120.00

$

2,775.00

In-kind

$

83,300.92

$

70,550.00

$

76,000.00

$

163,000.00

Donations

$

4,485.00

Total Gross Income

$

591,713.44 $

445,650.00 $

481,120.00 $

576,425.00

EXPENSES Angels

$

-

$

1,902.50

$

2,475.00

$

2,726.50

Auctioneer & Emcee

$

650.00

$

850.00

$

-

$

800.00

Audio Visual

$

8,930.00

$

150.00

$

3,351.00

$

6,376.05

BidPal

$

5,690.00

$

1,990.00

$

-

$

-

Gifts

$

327.41

$

553.00

$

-

$

207.76

Centerpieces

$

500.00

$

500.00

$

500.00

$

450.00

Credit Card Fees

$

562.50

$

125.00

$

5,508.80

$

-

Band

$

2,600.00

$

2,600.00

$

2,750.00

$

2,750.00

Food

$

40,268.18

$

33,965.13

$

30,588.24

$

45,625.12

Printing/signage/bid paddles/postage

$

5,784.54

$

4,514.78

$

478.50

$

4,073.67

Linens

$

1,836.65

$

2,045.59

$

952.85

$

425.70

Milk and Cookies

$

1,126.26

$

1,442.39

$

4,192.51

$

4,028.02

Photographer

$

700.00

$

-

$

-

$

-

Security (Overnight)

$

200.00

$

212.50

$

-

$

-

Storage

$

-

$

43.65

$

-

$

-

Valet

$

780.00

$

780.00

$

780.00

$

650.00

Video

$

788.30

$

400.00

$

-

$

-

Volunteer & Miscellaneous Expenses

$

654.75

$

3,472.71

$

1,411.82

$

812.54

Two Men and a Truck

$

-

$

-

$

-

$

-

Wine

$

-

$

-

$

-

$

-

Total Expenses

$

52,988.72 $

68,925.36

TOTAL NET INCOME

$ 520,314.85 $ 390,102.75 $ 428,131.28 $ 507,499.64

Cost per dollar raised

$

71,398.59 $

0.13

$

55,547.25 $

0.14

$

0.12

$

0.13

Together, we’re changing the way the world defines and views disability by making profound, positive differences in people’s lives every day.

eastersealsmidwest.org | 1.800.200.2119