Planning
Your Fundraising Special Event
Three Things To Think About
A special event is a great way to raise awareness
for blood cancers and make a significant charitable
contribution. Before you begin to create your
event, make sure you consider the following three
criteria:
Committee – The
More, The Merrier
The more people involved in your efforts, the chances
of the event being successful increases. Ask people
that you know to help plan the event and assign
each person a specific task like obtaining raffle
prizes or sending out the event invitations.
Time – Start
Early
How much time can you or your team commit towards
the event each week? It is very important to
plan out your event a few months in advance.
One suggestion is creating a timeline and duty
sheet for each person involved with the event.
Budget
How much money is needed to cover the event expenses
and reach your fundraising goal? Events such
as golf tournaments, black tie galas and beef
and beers usually need a deposit or commitment
of people from the establishment hosting the
event. Obtaining cash or in-kind sponsorship
is a great way to minimize expenses and increase
your profit margin.
Promoting Your Event
Mail a flyer or brochure to friends, family and
co-workers containing the Who, What, When, and
Where. Some Internet sites like Evite.com allow
users to create an online invitation to your
event.
Contact local newspapers, television
networks and radio stations in your area. The Society
can
also create a news release about your event and
post it on the Web.
Place posters in local stores, restaurants and
supermarkets.
Get local community and religious organizations,
public servants such as police and fire departments,
and youth programs involved with your recruitment
and planning. Ask them to distribute flyers to
their members or set-up the day of your event.
Event Ideas
Here is a list of some proven fundraising ideas:
FUNDRAISING
TIPS/IDEAS:
WINE TASTING/AUCTION
- A wine tasting event can bring in a large amount
of money… This is a great solo or group activity.
Sell tickets before the event ($15 - $50), so you
don’t have to worry about conflicts that may keep
people away the day of the event. Invite everyone
to bring along a bottle of their favorite wine.
People like to share their “good taste”, and every
bottle someone else brings is less money out of your
pocket. Set out some easy, inexpensive snacks.
Crackers and cheese always goes well with wine.
Include a raffle or silent auction as part of the
event. While people are tasting wines, they’ll have
an opportunity to bid on auction items. Try to get
the wines, auction, and raffle items donated.
CONSIGNMENT SHOPS:
Take your old business suits, clothes and
accessories to a Consignment Shop. Ask the owner or
manager if you can put tags on each item indicating
that all funds for the item will go to The Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society. Mention the idea to friends and
they might give you their old items still in good
shape, rather than donating them to another
organization. A real win-win ... your friends get
rid of their old items and get a tax deduction, and
you get the funds.
WEAR
MONEY PINNED TO YOUR LAPEL:
When someone asks you what it is there for, you have
your 15 seconds to tell them what you are doing and
get their donation.
BOOK/VIDEO
SALE!
Have your co-workers donate their used books and
videos to your cause, then sell or “rent” them to
other co-workers to make a profit! (You can set up
your own Team In Training Lending Library or Video
Store!)
SILENT
AUCTION:
Get a weekend getaway: a nice bottle of wine, a stay
at a B&B, concert tickets, museum tickets, play
tickets (… anything!) donated; then hold a silent
auction for the items. You can either send out
email bid forms, or have bidders submit a printed
form. The highest bid wins the prize! …and all
proceeds go toward the cause. It’s a win-win
situation!
RAFFLE A DAY OFF
(or a casual day!):
Ask your company if they would be willing to donate
a paid day off (or casual-dress day) to the winner
of a raffle. It is a painless way for companies to
make a donation without actually giving any cash.
Make up some tickets. Schedule the drawing and
publicize the event. Sell the tickets for $5-$10
each to all employees. Many people will buy lots of
tickets for the chance of winning a day off. A past
participant raised $900 in her company with this
great idea!
DONUTS/BAGELS:
Buy a box of donuts or bagels on the way to work and
sell them at the office for $1 each!
LOOK
TO YOUR TALENTS:
Do you like to cook?…Cook up a hot sizzlin’ meal for
your friends and have them donate at the door. Are
you a Martha Stewart?…put together a small “how to”
party for your friends and family…how to make
holiday decorations, etc…Can you garden? Sew?
Crochet? Needlepoint? Fix things around the house?
You get the idea! Whatever your talents, cash in on
them and raise funds doing something you like!
GARAGE SALE:
This can be done individually or in a group. Gather
all items you want to donate, then ask your
teammates and neighbors to donate items as well. Be
sure to put an ad in the paper, pass out flyers and
put up lots of directional signs. Many local papers
will publish free ads for garage sales that benefit
nonprofits. Check with your local law enforcement
agency to see if you can post flyers around town.
Ask friends and neighbors to help put up flyers in
local churches, supermarkets, schools, etc. Many
people are willing to pay more for items when you
let them know that all proceeds go to the LLS. Also
have a donation jar and plenty of copies of your
letter--many people who come for the garage sale
will sponsor you.
COCKTAIL
PARTY:
Throw a "donate to the cause" cocktail party
(checkbooks required).
SPEND
A DAY IN THE PARK:
Sit in the park for a day with a table entitled
"stop here to sponsor an athlete with a cause.” Then
when passers-by stop, be ready to tell them about
what you’re doing and why you’re doing it! Have a
flyer on-hand or a copy of your fundraising letter.
Include facts about blood-related cancers in your
letter, or have a separate sheet that gives facts
about leukemia and related cancers and about The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Be sure to have your
donation jar out!
HAVE YOUR
CO-WORKERS GUESS YOUR MARATHON TIME:
Have a pool in your
office to guess your marathon time! Have each
co-worker pay ($1 or $2 or $5…) to enter an estimate
for your time! The person whose guess comes closest
to your actual time wins a percentage of the pool.
The remaining money goes toward your fundraising.
Publicizing the pool may even inspire colleagues to
donate a check towards the cause!
OFFICE
BREAKFAST:
Whip up some
old-fashioned pancakes for breakfast or make
sandwiches for your co-workers and charge them for
the meal! If you’re a really good cook, you can
make some extra-fancy breakfast or lunch items and
charge accordingly.
OFFICE LUNCH -
TNT MEALS ON WHEELS:
Bring lunch to your
co-workers! How many of you work in a company with
20 or more people, or know someone who does?
Everybody knows how hard it is to fix a lunch
everyday to avoid spending money on cafeteria or
restaurant food! On Monday, e-mail or call your
co-workers and invite them to join you for lunch on
Friday (or whatever day works best for you and your
co-workers) in the breakroom for homemade lasagna!
Make both vegetarian and regular lasagna and you’ll
probably catch the vegetarian crowd too. Charge
between $7-10 per person, basing the price on your
costs. If you get a good turnout, consider making
this a weekly event until your fundraising is
completed. Your final Friday could be a “thanks for
helping me meet my minimum” lunch.
FACE PAINTING:
(Requires face paints.) Ask a local store or
shopping center if you can set up on a Saturday, or
find out about setting up a booth at a local street
festival, art show, or carnival. Charge parents for
painting children’s faces as clowns, animals, or
other characters. (By the way, who says it can only
be done on children?)
Answering machine message or auto-signature on
e-mail:
“I
can’t come to the phone right now. I’m training for
the ______ marathon/century/mountain bike/triathlon
event and raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society. If you haven’t made your contribution yet,
it’s not too late! Leave your name and phone number
after the tone and I’ll call you back!”…or “300
miles of training, 17 gallons of Gatorade, 10
blisters, etc. For what? I’m training for the
_______ marathon …etc. If you’re interested in
making a contribution, email me at…” You get the
idea!
RESTAURANT
DONATIONS:
Contact a local restaurant and ask that a portion of
their business be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society. For example, Armadillo Willy’s donated 20%
of dinners purchased between certain hours during a
specified time period to a participant on the
Triathlon team, if diners mentioned The Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society.
ˇ
Potential restaurants:
Chili’s, Chevy’s, Scores, Cucina! Cucina!, Elephant
Bar, Fresh Choice, Chuck E Cheese, T.G.I. Friday’s,
Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Max’s, Bucca de
Beppo, Gordon Biersch, Hobee’s, …Click
here for a more complete list!
This event takes LOTS of leg work to make it
profitable – be sure to get flyers out as soon as
you decide on a date and location – put them up
wherever you can publicly, pass them on to friends
and acquaintances, put them up in your office, at
church, clubs, etc., and email them to your team
manager, mentor, and co-participants so they can
pass it on to people they know! It will make all the
difference in the amount of money you bring in.
Benefit
Party at a Local Bar or Nightclub:
Call the manager and say “I am a volunteer with the
LLS and we would like to hold a fundraiser at your
club. We will do all the publicity promoting that
your club is hosting a benefit for the LLS and the
great band that is playing.” If there is a cover
charge you can say, “It won’t cost you a dime,
because you can raise your cover charge that night
and donate the difference to the LLS for a tax
deduction.” If there is no cover charge you could
say, “That night you can have a cover charge of $xx.xx
and donate the door proceeds to the LLS.” The bar
generally receives the proceeds from the food and
drinks.
BAKE
SALE: Not
just cakes and cookies - include preserves,
guess-the-weight-of-the-cake competition, and have
refreshments.
BARBEQUE:
Hold a lunchtime, afternoon or evening barbecue in a
private garden or on hired grounds (the latter
requires a budget). Sell tickets in advance.
BINGO:
See if a local bingo hall will hold a benefit night
for your charity. If not, hold your own bingo event,
charging entry and supplying prizes for winners. Be
sure to check on local laws regarding bingo or other
gaming activities where cash is exchanged for a
chance to play/win.
CAR WASH:
Offer to wash friends’ cars for a small fee. Ask
your company if you can hold a car wash in the
company car park, or see if a local organization
will allow you to use their property.
DOG WASH!
Enough said.
(See Car Wash and apply the same principles.)
WINE/CHEESE EVENING:
Requires
a budget. If possible, get local suppliers to
provide cheese and wine. Sell tickets in advance and
donate proceeds to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
If you're enthusiastic and knowledgeable, each table
could have a theme, e.g., a particular wine-growing
or cheese-producing region.
FEE FOR TALENTS:
Do you have a special talent? Are you a computer
whiz, amazing cook, writer, singer, juggler? Have a
night where you teach people these special skills
and charge for your service!!
KARAOKE NIGHT:
Sell tickets for an evening of singing at a pub or
private venue; you could get people to donate money
to stop their friends from singing or invite local
companies/pubs to send teams (for an entry fee).
PET GOODIES:
Make doggie or
kitty goodies and sell them at local dog parks or
pet stores. Once the pets get a whiff, the owners
will have no choice but to purchase one.
TUPPERWARE PARTY:
Tupperware has a special program set up for people
trying to raise money for non-profit organizations.
You can raise up to 40% of the retail profits.
You can contact your local Tupperware sales
person, or go into the Tupperware.com web site, for
more info.
5-FOOT RULE:
Let everyone within 5
feet of you know about
TNT
and what it is that you are doing. You never know
where your next donation will come from.
POSTCARD UPDATES:
After you recommit to the program, send a postcard
out to everyone you have asked for a donation. Tell
them how your training is going, how much you have
raised, how your honoree is doing and remind them it
is not too late to donate if they have not done so
already. Many people intend to donate when they get
your letter, but it gets lost in the shuffle. This
will remind them and it will increase your response
rate!
DUCK RACES:
Buy little rubber duckies and have a competition
with heats, 5-10 ducks per race. Ask for permission
to race them in a blow-up swimming pool at your
office. Have the heats during the day with the
final winning race during a company Happy Hour.
$1.00 rental per duck for each race. Ask your
company to donate a prize that would appeal to
everyone for final awards (a chance to park in the
President’s parking space for a day; an extra hour
for lunch; etc.) Obviously, more ducks entered into
more races increase the chance of winning.
COVER CHARGE NIGHT:
Do you have a neighborhood bar that you go to on a
regular basis? Do they have a cover charge for
getting in? Why don’t you ask your favorite bar if
they are willing to donate a portion or all of the
cover charge for one night or a portion of the sales
from the bar that night? It is a pretty easy route
to go.
COFFEE MORNING:
Requires a budget. Invite friends to a cakes and
coffee morning. This can be combined with a book
sale, etc. We all know how much it costs to get
coffee at a shop. This is an easy way to make at
least $5.00 a person.
SPEED DATING: (This was done by the SF office and
generated about $2,000. Following is a copy of the
flyer that was sent out.)
Join us for an
outrageously fun fundraising social for The Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society!!!
If you're interested in Speed Dating read on and
contact us via email or phone ASAP to secure your
spot. (By the way, to participate, it's a $20
donation to The Leukemia Society.)
If you're already spoken for, please come after 8 PM
for a night of partying and dancing (it's only a $5
cover and yes, there will be a DJ!) Also, don't miss
out on the raffle and a silent auction for prizes
such as gift certificates for the Gap and Sharper
Image as well as vouchers for free gym memberships,
kickboxing lessons, haircuts and massages...and
much, much more!
**************
So, you may be asking yourself what exactly is Speed
Dating?
Most of you have been on the date from hell before.
You know the one: there's no connection between you
and your date, not even a remote chance of sparks,
but you're stuck on the date for the next several
hours, sighing as you pick at your appetizers or
watch the opening credits of American Pie 2 roll
across the screen.
And then you think to yourself, "Wouldn't it be
great if I could go on a date that lasted only five
or ten minutes?" If you like the person, you can go
on a longer, real first date. If you don't click,
you don't have to contemplate sneaking out of the
restaurant's bathroom window to escape.
What are the advantages of Speed Dating?
* The system guarantees 8 dates over the course of
about an hour -- without the need for uncomfortable
ice breaking.
* Avoid nightmare 3-hour blind dates.
* Speed Dating has a proven track record of success
- over 50% of participants meet someone with whom
there is mutual interest in another date.
HOW IT WORKS
* There will be 25 tables in all, with one woman
and one man assigned to each. All start at the table
with the number on their badge.
* At the ring of the bell or “Ready, Set, Date” the
pair have 7 minutes to talk. Participants are also
given suggested topics to help break the ice.
* At the end of 7 minutes, a bell will be rung and
all dates come to a halt. Participants are asked to
write on a form if they would be interested in
seeing this person again. This entails simply
checking a 'yes' or 'no' box.
* If both sides checked off the 'yes' box, we will
let participants know within 48 hours which matches
have been made, and give each side the other's phone
number.
* The men then get up from their seats and move to
the next table, where another woman is waiting to
meet them.
* By the end of the evening, each participant has
met 8 people of the opposite gender.
Cost: $20.00 per person
VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
(can be almost any sport!):
One participant was an avid volleyball player who
played several times a week with two teams. She set
up a round-robin volleyball tournament in order to
help her raise funds (in addition to her letter
writing campaign). She talked to the recreational
department that ran a couple of the leagues she
played in to see if they would help her with her
charity tournament. The leagues ended up donating
the gym space for her tournament, and allowed her to
flyer all around town at the gyms that have
volleyball leagues. I think they even allowed her
to put something in a mailing they were sending
out. She signed up 10 teams and each team paid
$200. She got friends to referee the games and a
local vendor paid for winner’s t-shirts. She also
got several other prizes from other community
businesses. It was a lot of fun and she was able to
raise $2000 towards her minimum.
This you can
translate for several other sports: baseball,
softball, football, soccer. It’s a great fundraiser
for participants who participate in organized
sports.
Sample Event Flyers
5K
Race Flyer (PDF)
Race Entry Form
Bake
sale flyer (MS Word)
Bowlathon
Flyer (MS Word)
Texas
Hold Em Flyer (MS Word)
Sponsorship
To help maximize your efforts and provide a sizable
donation to the Society, contact local businesses
and individuals for cash or in-kind donations
(food, beverages, printing, shirts, etc.) and
reward them with their name or logo on your event
banner, t-shirt or ad journal.
This is a great
avenue for businesses to showcase their community
spirit and provide you with the
necessary funds and/or materials for your event.
Fund Raise During Event
Charging an entrance fee is not the only way to
raise money for your event, games of chance such
as raffles and auctions are another opportunity.
Raffle
Charge individuals a chance to win a prize or
half the proceeds (50/50).
Chinese Auction
Participants can buy chances for specific raffle
prizes. For example, if someone wants to win
an autographed sports item from the local professional
hockey team, they can purchase chances just
for that item. Place a bowl or box in front
of each
prize for participants to place their chances
in.
Auctions
A fun and exciting way to make money. Auctions
consist of two or more people bidding against each
other for a particular item. High priced items such
as jewelry, art and vacation trips are the most
common items to use. A more low-key method is a
silent auction where participants write down their
bids, and it concludes at a certain time during the
event
To make your special event a
smooth success, try using the Team In Training
Fundraiser Information Form. This will
ensure your special event location is well informed,
and that you get credit for your hard work!
The Tax Identification Number
for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is 13-5644916.
Contact
us for more helpful ideas and suggestions.
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