Lisa Wheeler is the President of GreasieWheels, which specializes in putting on some of the world’s most successful fundraising events. Media coordination, video production, advertising, talent coordination, and photography are just some of the aspects that Wheeler and her team take care of at charity poker tournaments with the industry’s biggest names. The Las Vegas-based organization has put on fundraisers for the National Kidney Foundation, Las Vegas Springs Reserve, Children Uniting Nations, and the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, among others. Wheeler sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss her charitable efforts.
Poker News Daily: Tell us about the development of GreasieWheels.
Wheeler: GreasieWheels actually started out as a photography company. We opened GWPhotoStore.com and our website was built around that. We photographed events that we were hired for and sold those photos for editorial use and cover shoots. We were really busy.
We got into charitable causes after a phone call from a person in Chicago who was doing a charity tournament with Robert Williamson III. It was an incredibly successful event, but while I was there, I identified that there was a need for charitable gaming coordinators. There were a lot of elements that could have made it more successful and generated more revenue for the charity.
Jennifer Harman called me while I was on my way to an event at the Playboy Mansion. This was back in 2007 when over 1,000 animals were euthanized and she was very distraught. She has been working with the only non-kill shelter in town that made a desperate attempt to rescue as many animals as possible. They ran out of space and money. She asked me to help put together a charity poker tournament.
Harman had been working with someone for three months trying to get the word out before calling me. A lot of people can’t combine advertising, marketing, and grassroots promotions with the actual technicalities of putting on a charitable event in a hotel or casino. What I had done my whole life was advertising and marketing for large companies. I was also a copyrighter and understood the writing aspect. I worked at the Bellagio doing a little bit of everything. When someone asks me to do something for charity, I know all of the elements needed to ensure a successful event.
Jennifer and I were so scared no one would show up. We ended up with 197 pros and only had seating for 200. It was watched by hundreds of people and the venue was jam packed. That put me on the map.
PND: How does GreasieWheels generate revenue?
Wheeler: A lot of our revenue comes from writing and putting out press releases. We also generate revenue from photography. We shoot for pros and online poker rooms and will film anything companies need for ads. A lot of times, companies are looking for something unique. We’re also subcontracted by the World Series of Poker and Poker Players Alliance. It’s straight contractual work.
PND: Is the success of a poker event the result of the faces that turn out, the charity, or a combination of both?
Wheeler: You have to have goals. I’m a poker player too, but that’s not my strength. However, I’m just as competitive. That’s what makes a successful fundraiser. I don’t want to produce just any event. I want to make sure we have the best events with the highest participation possible. Our goal is to be the best. We want to have the best prizes, the largest turnouts, and the most poker pro participation.
We also want to generate awareness using our database, viral marketing, and educating media outlets about the charity’s mission. If you haven’t raised awareness of the cause, you’ve lost a big opportunity. Another goal is to generate the most revenue. We try to help charities by raising revenue online. At the event, we’ll hold silent and live auctions and raffles. We’ve also held merchant fairs and boot camps. We constantly come up with creative ideas.
If you want to produce a charity poker tournament, the number one piece of advice is don’t do it for the money. This job isn’t for you. I get a lot of calls assuming that, because our events are successful, they’re lucrative for us. We take less than 3% of the funds raised. We’re sympathetic to the charity, so in many instances, we’ve donated a large portion of our fees back to the cause.
We’re not profiting off desperate charities. We’re in the business of being the best. Events are costly, so once you’ve put together things like signage, press releases, graphics, printing costs, video production, trophies, and gift bag purchases, it adds up. The actual cost for the event is around $18,000, on average, which is before our fee and doesn’t include labor. As an organizer, plan to invest about 30 to 40 hours a week for two to three months straight, including weekends.
PND: Talk about some of the challenges of fundraising.
Wheeler: Most charitable organizers lack resources. They do not understand the importance of investing in marketing materials. You need to create materials that will not only enhance the current charity event, but also future ones. If you want sponsors, you need media to show up. If you want players, you need to promote them. The number one aspect of your success is your media campaign.
PND: What facet of event planning do most organizers overlook?
Wheeler: The number one most neglected aspect, and the one we’re most adamant about, is that you have to invest in your promotional campaigns. You have to invest in press releases. I’m not interested in doing an event unless you want to invest at least $1,500 in your press releases. You need at least three of them and you need an AP-certified writer. You need to write content that fits the guidelines of sites like CNN.com and the Wall Street Journal. You have to write to a very high standard.
