non-profit · downtown-los-angeles
A Foundation Gala That Raised the Room
A 420-guest black-tie fundraiser where dinner service had to disappear around a ninety-minute program and a live auction.
The brief
A foundation’s flagship gala: 420 donors, a tight stage program with speeches and a live auction, and a board that wanted the food memorable but never competing with the ask.
Our approach
We engineered service around the run-of-show — a grazing reception during arrivals, a plated main fired to land before the program, and a dessert-and-coffee wave timed to the auction’s close so no fork moved during the paddle raise.
On the day
The program ran four minutes long; we held 420 desserts in the wings and released them on the emcee’s cue, plating the room in under nine minutes as the lights came up.
The outcome
The evening cleared its fundraising target by 30%, and the foundation signed us for a three-year gala partnership.
“Dinner for 420 vanished exactly when it needed to and reappeared on cue. Our donors stayed in their seats, and we beat our goal.”
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