Guest: Shilpa Alva, Founder & Executive Director, Surge for Water
Host: Jeff Porter, CEO, Handbid

NARRATOR: Welcome to Elevate Your Event, your favorite podcast for transforming fundraising events. Join us weekly for expert tips and creative ideas to make your next event a standout success. Welcome to Elevate Your Event, the podcast that's all about taking your fundraising game to the next level. This week, Shilpa Alva shares how a party with friends turned into a global nonprofit, Surge for Water. From DIY beginnings to high-tech giving, her story is packed with heart and smart strategies you won't want to miss. Let's dive in.

JEFF: All right, welcome back to the Elevate Your Event podcast. We talk about all the various ways your next fundraising event could be better. And so we've got a really special guest today. I'd love to welcome Shilpa Alva from Surge for Water, who has an extensive amount of nonprofit fundraising and specifically event experience. So, Shilpa, welcome to the show.

SHILPA: Thanks for having me.

JEFF: Yeah, give us a little bit of background on your organization, how you got started, what you guys do. I mean, obviously, Surge for Water. I assume it's about water. But tell our audience kind of what you guys are after. And then give us a little bit of a background on how you got started on the raising side of it.

SHILPA: Sure. So Surge for Water—you're absolutely right, we're a water organization, but we like to say "water plus" because we believe that it starts with water and our work is beyond water. So it's comprehensive water plus solutions that include sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health. And that's the foundation of what we do.

The way we do it is through community ownership and women-led partnerships. So working with community-based organizations currently in Haiti, Uganda, and Indonesia, in really remote rural parts of the world where our local partners happen to be the only organizations in partnership with us working on these water plus solutions. And it starts with water. And when you invest in water infrastructure and education, it leads to improvements in education, health, income, and just the overall well-being of a community. So that's what we're about.

And our journey as an organization—I'm the founder and executive director and started this organization with a fundraising event because that was, you know, I was used to throwing large parties with friends and decided that maybe we could take this work and raise some funds. And just a little bit accidentally, a little bit intentionally, a mix of different things, but it definitely started as an events-based fundraising kind of organization. We've evolved since then, but that's the start of us.

JEFF: That's awesome. And I love the water part. I went on a mission trip—I've been there a couple of times to Rwanda—and we did something very similar. We manually built these water filtration systems using parts, drilling holes in plastic containers and putting pipes together and stuff. But I was able to witness firsthand the impact that bringing clean water to a village can have, and just how desperate these people were for it. And so just applaud what you guys are doing. There's definitely an impact there.

And that's fun also to be able to show the people at your events, like, hey, this is where those funds go. I mean, because we did a lot of videos of these people carrying home their water jugs and the whole family walking together and proudly using them and whatnot. It's awesome.

SHILPA: Yeah, absolutely. And showing people the before and after has been quite powerful as well because you've all seen the gushing water out of wells. And just showing people walking to basically swamps and holes, which are springs, alongside animals—that's always quite moving for people.

JEFF: Yep, the yellow jerry cans, absolutely. They tested my fortitude. They made me carry many of those up a very steep hill one day.

SHILPA: I can't do it. I can't do it. I've tried. I've even tried on my head. I'm like, I don't know.

JEFF: Well, I'll be honest with you. When these three African women are walking up the hill with two of them on their head, I was like, okay, challenge accepted. I'm either going to toss my man card in this dirty water or I'm carrying these two jugs up there. But I was impressed. I mean, good. Yeah, I made it. It was good, I have to say.

But so tell us about that first event because you're getting started as an organization and you run this first event. It sounds like it used to be a party or you had experience running parties. And now you're running your first fundraiser. So how did it go?

SHILPA: Yeah. So the background to it is socially we would host parties, groups of friends, right? You're in your 20s. You have some money—I was in the corporate world. And I definitely got to this early midlife crisis, if you want to call it that, when I was like, here we're spending all this money on these parties that are themed and have several hundred people. And collectively we're spending thousands of dollars. So it wasn't crazy, but at the same point, it did feel wasteful to me for what end, right? Yes, you have a good time in your 20s, which is important as well.

And so just reflecting on that. And then in my story, in my journey, I was responding or dealing with this calling of wanting to do something in the world that made a difference and helped communities because I have privilege. And just sort of married those worlds because I had experience, had a network of co-workers and friends, and thought, why not try this where we host an event to raise money and see if that works.

I had no idea what the entire nonprofit fundraising world was like. Did it very naively, which I'm happy about because I think if I knew about it, I may not have made the choices I did. So quite blindly—it's quite amazing that we exist and have grown since that was our beginning.

But having no funds, right, having no sponsors, no network—the very first thing we're doing is like, oh, why would people give us money? Maybe we should apply for a 501(c)(3). So really came into it from that sort of side door angle. And we did get registered before our first event.

And yeah, just went out there and hustled. Got the first sponsors. Got restaurants to donate. It was all our friends that were donating their own stuff—glassware and using the backs of people's cars and picking things up. Yeah, just all hands on deck. And that's still very true to how our events run today because that's where we came from.

But we figured out how to do a really beautiful experience without the budget of that experience. So making sure that we branded well—that was really important from the very first event. I think our first event was at the Weisman Museum in Minnesota. It's a gorgeous space. We were able to get the space for almost free through a university connection. And we labeled the event, we branded the event "Think Water," and we did these beautiful art installations and our volunteers were dressed up in these vibrant, sort of crazy art exhibits themselves with crazy makeup. And we made the Sunday newspaper, the lifestyle pages. And that was event number one.

JEFF: And what year was this?

SHILPA: 2008.

JEFF: 2008. Okay, so I assume you start this first event. That's awesome. Yeah, I ran my first fundraiser in 2006. So back then, 2008, was this all manually done? Selling auction bid sheets, all that kind of stuff?

SHILPA: Everything was manually done except—one of our co-founders was BB Long. She was just amazing, a computer software engineer, now she's an executive in that space. But basically, she designed this really cool interactive system that guests could come in and vote where the money would need to go, like where we were going to drill the first well. And they could see it on this giant projection. But there was no—she did that herself because she just had the skills to do it.

JEFF: Yeah.

SHILPA: So that was probably the only technology player, but a pretty big technology player because people could see immediately—basically the guests voted where we would do our first project. And it was our very first one, right? So we were, I guess, willing to give away that authority. We may not do that as much anymore, but yeah.

JEFF: Were the votes free? Because I tell you, today I'd probably put a price tag on that vote.

SHILPA: I would today as well. We didn't know we could do that. I mean, this is our first event. So we're like, I don't know if we could charge for anything. But yeah, so we didn't charge.

Oh my God, I go back to those days and we say that they were manual, but I kind of have gotten a lot of that out of my memory banks, I think, at this point.

JEFF: I mean, so tell me about that first event or maybe the first few events—what did you learn from it? What were the things that you immediately started to change and evolve based on what you learned after that first one?

SHILPA: Do you know, I'm trying to remember because there was, like, there were things that were better, right? Like, we did get sponsors. I think the first thing to go was probably a lot of the manual piece of things. And I think a lot of that was probably cost-driven because there are easier and cheaper ways to process people's credit cards, right? And then to manage an online auction or auction features on top of what you're doing that are included in a software that would otherwise be free, right?

So I think a lot of it was cost-driven, like finding technology that was out there. So we went from swiping, like, old school credit card swipes into a Manila envelope to a computer registration and things like that.

I mean, manually, like those credit card slips—we would put them in Manila envelopes because this is before even Square was around. And then I'd have to go back later and enter all these credit card numbers. And a lot of the time, the slips weren't readable, right? You couldn't read the numbers. So I would have people's business cards and I'd be like, okay, this business card says Jane Doe. I'll have to figure out which credit card slip is maybe hers. And you just go through and match them up manually. It was nuts.

JEFF: So when did you guys start going digital? Let's talk about your event. So you mentioned you had registration. At what point did you add things like online and mobile bidding or self-checkout or card on file?

SHILPA: Honestly, it was a very slow sort of evolution. I don't think we went straight to mobile bidding. I think we did a lot of a hybrid where people could bid—like, the close of the auction was online but we had an in-person component and then people could continue bidding or we sort of had that hybrid thing going on for a while. And then we finally got to full mobile bidding. And it took a while. It took a while because you're just nervous, right? And you also don't think a lot of your guests are going to—you think your guests aren't going to be able to handle it. So yeah, it took years. And it was slow. So I'm glad we're past that.

JEFF: Yeah, I mean, that's awesome. I think we went through something similar with our own charity and now I look back on it and I'm like, I could never go back to paper. It just seems so antiquated now.

So now, today—what year is this? How many years have you been doing events?

SHILPA: So 2008 was the first one. So what is that, 17 years?

JEFF: Seventeen years, okay. So tell me about your current events. Walk me through what you do, what the flow is like, and then we can talk about some of the things that you've incorporated over the years.

SHILPA: Sure. So currently, we have two events annually. One is in the U.S. in Chicago, and one is in Dubai, which is where I'm originally from. And the formats are quite different.

In Chicago, we have what we call a two-part event. So the first part starts at 7:30 and it's our VIP dinner. So this is a higher ticket price, more curated experience. It's still fun—we don't do boring dinners—but it's more formal. And at that dinner, I speak. I connect people to the vision of Surge. And my board members and I go table to table and meet everyone personally.

And at the end of dinner, before they leave—because some people leave early—we do a softer ask. We don't do a paddle raise at that time, but we inform them about the giving levels in case they want to give before they leave.

Then at 10 PM, the cocktail party starts. This is a lower ticket price, broader audience, younger demographic typically. We have a DJ, it's high energy. But at some point, we stop the music, we stop the bars, we turn on the lights, and we do our main presentation. We play our marketing video, and then I do the paddle raise.

JEFF: Interesting. So the paddle raise is at the cocktail party portion?

SHILPA: Yes, it's at the cocktail party. And our audience is standing. They're not seated. So when I call out giving levels—$10,000, $5,000, $2,500, down to $100—people raise their hands and then they walk over to the bar area where we have staff. They swipe their card—we already have their card on file from registration—and they get a blue light indicator.

JEFF: Oh, interesting. So everyone gets the same blue light regardless of how much they gave?

SHILPA: Yes, exactly. We don't distinguish. So whether you gave $10,000 or $100, you get the same blue light. And it creates this social pressure where if you're standing there without a light, it's kind of embarrassing. So people want to participate.

It takes us about 15 minutes to get through all five giving levels. And by the end, the room is full of blue lights, and it's actually quite beautiful.

JEFF: That's a really creative way to do it. I love that you've adapted the paddle raise for a standing, cocktail-style event.

So talk to me about revenue. What percentage of your event revenue comes from tickets versus in-room giving and auction?

SHILPA: Tickets are about 20% of our event revenue. The other 80% comes from in-room giving—the paddle raise—and bidding on auction items. That's the big lesson we learned over the years: don't just monetize the door. Monetize the experience. Your ticket gets people in, but the real money is made inside.

JEFF: That's such an important point. A lot of organizations focus so heavily on ticket sales and don't think about what happens once people are in the room.

So tell me about your auction. Do you do silent, live, or both?

SHILPA: In the U.S., we only do silent auction. No live auction. And that's an intentional choice. I would rather have someone donate $10,000 to our water program than spend $10,000 on a consignment trip that I have to fulfill. The margin is just not there on consignment.

Our auction is all digital display. And about 40% of our bidders aren't even in the room. They're remote bidders from our national base. That's the beauty of mobile bidding—you can engage your supporters across the country.

In Dubai, we do have a live auction with high-value items. Different audience, different approach.

JEFF: So you mentioned your board debates the auction every year. What's that conversation like?

SHILPA: Ha! Yes, it's an annual debate. Some board members question whether the auction is worth the effort. And honestly, the workload is significant. Collecting items, managing fulfillment, following up on deliveries—it's a lot.

But here's why we keep it: First, it gives guests something to do. It's engagement. Second, it captures donor data—name, email, phone, credit card. Even if someone only bids on a $50 item, we now have their information. Third, it lets our national supporters participate even if they can't attend. And fourth, it connects us to local Chicago businesses, which is important for an international organization trying to maintain local presence.

JEFF: Those are all really valid points. The data capture alone is valuable.

SHILPA: Right. And we also do a post-event auction on Sunday and Monday where we slash prices on anything that didn't sell. It's another revenue stream.

JEFF: Smart. Okay, let's talk about checkout and fulfillment. How does that work?

SHILPA: Our goal is always to have guests take their items home that night. But the reality is, that doesn't always happen. We charge a delivery fee, but honestly, it never covers the actual cost of delivery.

Items end up at my house, at team members' homes. And then we're constantly coordinating pickups for weeks after the event. It's one of our biggest operational headaches.

JEFF: Yeah, fulfillment is the unglamorous part of auctions that nobody talks about.

So if you could wave a magic wand and have any technology feature for your events, what would it be?

SHILPA: Oh, that's a good question. I think AI-powered package bundling would be amazing. Something that could look at our donor base and suggest optimal item groupings based on historical bidding patterns, geographic proximity by zip code, value optimization.

Right now, we follow the 70% rule—start items at 70% of value—but that's pretty generic. What if the system could learn from our specific donor base and recommend different starting points for different items?

And on the back end, better collection management. The front end of our current platform works great for guests. But the back end for managing items, tracking what's sold, coordinating fulfillment—that could be way better.

Oh, and one more thing: volunteer-assisted guest sign-in. We have some guests who aren't tech-savvy, and we need volunteers to help them. A simpler interface for that use case would help.

JEFF: Those are all great ideas. The AI bundling especially—that's the kind of intelligence that would make switching platforms a non-starter. If your platform learns your donor base over time, you'd never want to leave.

SHILPA: Exactly. We've switched platforms before because of cost, and we left data behind. If a platform could offer that kind of learning and intelligence, I would stay forever.

JEFF: Let's talk about guest information collection. How aggressive are you about capturing data before and during the event?

SHILPA: Very aggressive now. We weren't always. In the early days, we were nervous to even ask for pre-registration. Now, we push hard to get table buyers to submit their guest lists ahead of time.

One field we require: "Who do you know?" We want to understand the network connections. If someone bought a table, who else in their network might support us?

Our team is pretty annoying about getting complete contact information. We encourage self-registration, but we have staff at the door as backup. It's not perfect, but we maximize what we can.

JEFF: The "Who do you know?" field is brilliant. That's smart prospecting.

How has your donor base evolved over the years?

SHILPA: When we started, it was our 20-something friends. Cocktail party pricing. But that donor base has matured with us. They're now in their 30s and 40s, with more disposable income and different expectations.

That's why we added the VIP dinner tier. Our original supporters wanted a more curated experience and were willing to pay for it. But we kept the cocktail party accessible for younger supporters and newcomers who might not be able to afford a $500 dinner ticket.

The two-tier structure lets us serve both audiences.

JEFF: That's a really smart evolution. You grew with your donors instead of pricing them out.

Okay, let's talk about the Island of Misfit Toys auction items. Every organization has them—those items that never sell year after year.

SHILPA: Oh God, yes. We have a few regulars. There's this hand-quilted item that a board member made. It's been in our auction for eight years. Never sells.

JEFF: Eight years!

SHILPA: Yes! And at this point, the board member needs to just buy it herself to retire it. That's actually what some of us do—we purchase our own items just to get them out of circulation.

We've also tried trading items with other charities. A Chicago trip might not sell well in Chicago, but it could do great in Denver. And a mountain home package would sell better here than in Colorado where people already have access to that.

JEFF: Cross-charity trading is such a good strategy. Geography matters so much for auction items.

So as we wrap up—where do you see your event strategy going in the future?

SHILPA: We're not expanding the number of events. We're staying at two—Chicago and Dubai. Our focus is deepening revenue from existing events.

In Chicago, there's opportunity for high-value donor cultivation beyond the event itself. And we haven't tapped the corporate connections of our attendees. This year, our event happens to be the Saturday before a major water industry conference in Chicago. We've never strategically planned around that before—it was accidental this time—but now we're thinking about how to leverage conference attendees, water companies, global industry leaders.

Maybe a smaller corporate event tie-in. How do we take what we're doing and grow it strategically?

And in Dubai, it's the opposite opportunity. Our revenue there is 80-90% corporate, 10% individual. So there's a huge untapped individual donor base we haven't cultivated.

JEFF: That's a great strategic assessment. Knowing where your revenue comes from and where the gaps are.

SHILPA: And of course, technology is guaranteed to be part of this. We can't grow without constantly being open to what's out there—AI, automation, whatever comes next. We know we're limited without technology advancement.

JEFF: Absolutely. Well, Shilpa, this has been an amazing conversation. Thank you so much for sharing your 17 years of event wisdom with us. And continued success with Surge for Water. What you're doing—bringing clean water to communities around the world—is incredible.

SHILPA: Thank you, Jeff. And thanks for this opportunity.

JEFF: All right, everyone. Thank you for joining us on Elevate Your Event. Until next time, happy fundraising.

NARRATOR: If you enjoyed our show, please take a moment to leave us a review. You can find us on Apple, Google, and Spotify. Don't forget to subscribe for more great content. And if you're a fan of video, check us out on YouTube. Until next time, happy fundraising.

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