Hispanic voices were heard in unprecedented numbers in the 2008 presidential election, and the Latino community united in a unique way to mark the occasion. Latino elected officials, community leaders, and celebrities came together with guests to celebrate a night of history-in-the-making at The 2009 Latino Inaugural Gala, an event co-hosted by some of the nation's leading Hispanic nonprofit and advocacy organizations.

Project Overview

Think fundraising in a recession is impossible? Think again.

Plus Three helped The Latino Inaugural Gala 2009 set an online fundraising record for Hispanic organizations. Ticket sales via Plus Three’s ARCOS platform fueled the gala’s 1 month, $1 million campaign.

Plus Three worked closely with the gala planning committee to coordinate and develop the website for the first ever Latino Inaugural Gala. We also developed the design and branding for the website and directed the online strategy, including planning the communications sent by the national Latino non-profit organizations to promote the event. The Latino Inaugural Gala sold over 4,000 tickets and raised $625,000 online in 25 days—a record in fundraising for a Latino organization.

An Online Fundraising Record for Hispanic Organizations

Plus Three helped the Latino Inaugural Gala 2009 set an online fundraising record for the Hispanic community. In just one month, over $625,000 was raised online through the sale of 3,000 gala tickets at LatinoInauguralGala2009.org. The event raised more than $1 million.

"We are extremely proud of this accomplishment and having been able to support the Latino community," said Plus Three President Juan Proaño. "The Hispanic community will increasingly play an important role in political and issue activism and now we've proven that we can turn that activism into a strong fundraising tool."

Given the plethora of inaugural events occurring in Washington, the Latino Gala distinguished itself with a very high-quality website design and superior ticket processing capabilities. This coupled with the superior event management capabilities of Plus Three's ARCOS technology gave Plus Three a competitive edge over other technology companies.

The ARCOS platform can handle over 5,000 transactions per minute, provides industry-leading reporting and was designed to handle targeted email messaging to ticket holders, volunteers, and media. Another major factor was the significant cost savings; Plus Three does not charge per-email or per-transaction payment-processing fees. In addition, Plus Three was able to go from initial concept to a fully functional, custom-designed website and online ticketing system in just ten days.

"Plus Three helped us design a great website that made it possible to sell 3,000 tickets in a short time frame," said Latino Inaugural Gala Event Planner Grace Garcia. "The website allowed us to get out key information in a timely way and to provide tight coordination with the media and with volunteers."

The gala was held Sunday, January 18 in Union Station and drew over 4,200 attendees including Latino elected officials, community leaders and celebrities from across the country to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama.

The gala, which was covered by local, national, and international media and recognized as the "sexiest" party by Politico, was co-hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI), the Democratic National Committee Hispanic Caucus, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and Voto Latino.

The event benefited Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, a 501c3 nonprofit that supports the creation of a national museum in Washington, D.C. that recognizes and celebrates the contributions Latinos have made to America.

News About the Latino Inaugural Gala