The Human Touch: What It Actually Takes to Build Events That Last — with Keith Clarke
- Amy Milne
- 4 hours ago
- 1 min read
He's back! Keith Clarke, Senior Director of Corporate and Community Partnerships at Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and the most-listened-to guest in Real Talk history, returns for a conversation that's just as good as the first time — maybe even better. Keith manages a $7M+ community events portfolio that consistently holds multiple spots in Canada's Top 30 fundraising events. In this episode, he and Amy get into the real stuff: how you build a portfolio of events that don't cannibalize each other, why passion is still the thing that separates good fundraisers from great ones, and what Princess Margaret does differently that most organizations miss. If you've ever wondered what it actually looks like to run events at the highest level without losing the human touch, this one's for you.
Key Components:
How Princess Margaret manages multiple rides, walks, DIY programs, and social challenges without losing participants to their own events — and why the "competing with yourself" fear is worth rethinking
What white-glove service actually looks like in practice, and why Keith says it comes from putting culture first, budget second
The best practices Keith shares with every third-party event organizer who calls him: where most people start too big and what to do instead
Why human contact is the one thing AI can't replicate — and how Princess Margaret is doubling down on it
"If people trust you and like what you're doing, they will open up their heart, open up their wallet, they will open up their network. And that's key to peer-to-peer fundraising."
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