Safe, Welcoming, and Within Budget: Planning Secure Events

In the aftermath of recent acts of violence at public events, many nonprofit event planners are thinking about the potential risks of inviting a large group of donors to come together. Entering the busy season for fundraising gatherings, the planning should ideally balance safety, fun, and budgetary limitations.

Security doesn’t have to come at the expense of openness and hospitality, says Michael Masters, chief executive officer of the Secure Community Network, which works with Jewish institutions. By controlling access to events and being meticulous about plans and processes, even organizations with modest means can implement smart security measures.

What carries a bigger cost, Masters says, is “mental resistance” to establishing security protocols. He notes, for instance, that one of the most critical steps an event planner can take — spending ample time in advance of an event carefully vetting the guest list — doesn’t cost a dime, but is sometimes given short shrift.

“We cannot effectively welcome the stranger if we cannot secure the facility we are welcoming them into,” Masters says, referring to a Jewish custom that calls for hospitality and openness to visitors. “Part of welcoming the stranger,” he says, “is ensuring that, by the time they come in, we’re not strangers.”

So he advises nonprofit event planners to view old-fashioned outreach as the first step toward strong security. Introduce yourself to unfamiliar guests, ask questions, make connections — all in advance of the event. Development professionals, he adds, should be particularly good at this.

The Chronicle spoke to several security experts for advice on how to hold safer galas, luncheons, and other donor-focused events. Here are several key points to keep in mind as you plan your next big gathering, and a checklist for covering key aspects of security at invitation-only events.

Choose a venue with care.

Effective security begins months before the event. Don’t rush: Find a site for your event that suits your needs and will be manageable to secure. Be open to cost-effective ways to assemble a security presence: For instance, do you want to hire off-duty law enforcement officers or security guards for your event?

“Look for a place that has in-house security,” recommends Lisa Bell, a business leader based in Phoenix who also serves as a development consultant and event planner for nonprofits, including reproductive-rights organizations. “It’s a built-in cost.”

Carefully vet your guest list in advance.

This is a vitally important step, experts say. “It takes time, but it doesn’t take money,” Masters says, and must be done thoroughly and with enough time for your staff to address all misgivings.

Check your guest list against your membership list, Masters says. This is where the outreach comes in: If there are unfamiliar names, contact those individuals and ask how they learned about your organization and your event. You should also search for them online and check their social-media activities. Keep inquiring until you feel satisfied that their intentions are good.

Keep the details of your event private.

The only people who should know where and when your event is happening are registered guests. “Unless you’ve RSVP’d, and we have your name on the list, you won’t receive the address,” Bell says. “That is a security measure.”

Bell says she never sends out save-the-date notices in advance of major events because they give agitators too much time to prepare. Masters, for his part, says he thinks save-the-dates can be fine — as long as they don’t include the time and location.

Coordinate with local law enforcement.

In many situations, all you need to do is notify local law enforcement of your event, its location, date, time, and number of guests.

In others, you may want to request that law-enforcement officers accompany you on a walkthrough of the venue prior to the event, or that they be a visible deterrent — like a parked squad car in the parking lot — during the event.

Control how guests enter the venue.

“Access control is really the single most important thing we can do to keep our facilities or our events safe,” Masters says. “You want to make sure you have ways to limit access to people who shouldn’t be there — but move [invited guests] through quickly so you don’t have a bunch of people congregating at the front door outside.”

You can avoid bottlenecks by creating multiple stages of greeting guests. For instance, a designated person can welcome people in the door and check their name off a list, then usher them to a check-in table inside where they’ll undergo a more thorough registration or screening process.

Support the check-in team.

Staff and volunteers working the welcome table do more than check names off a list. They are your front line, and they should possess, or be trained to develop, soft skills to handle a person who shows up without having registered, or to distinguish between, say, a guest who has autism and a guest who is behaving in a suspicious manner.

“The world is very rarely this black-and-white,” Masters says. “There’s a lot of gray. And that requires layered security, redundancies, good training, and thoughtful processes — not reflexive ones.”

Most importantly, Bell adds, the check-in staff should know whom to tap if a situation becomes unsafe and an individual needs to be escorted out by a security officer.

Stay vigilant through the end, and don’t forget to debrief.

The event isn’t over until the very last person working is safely on their way home. Afterward, it’s important to review with your planning and security team what went well and what didn’t go well, so you know where to make adjustments for your next event.