I have a friend whose husband has 3 forms of cancer in his jaw. He underwent a major surgery in March, doing radiation treatments and will need many dental reconstructive surgeries down the road. They have two small children ages 4 and 8 months. He is going to be alright, but the medical expenses are adding up quickly. They are both self-employed and have insurance, but those dental surgeries? Yep. Not covered at all. Ouch.
I feel compelled to do something. More than just giving them some money of my own. Something that will allow all friends, family and community to come together and help this family in their time of need. I am thinking maybe a spaghetti dinner or a yoga event where we can charge an X amount for people's participation. Maybe a silent auction as well. Has anyone ever organized something like this? Was it very hard? Am I getting in over my head? I have experience with asking for donations from local businesses and hitting up the media for some coverage on charitable events. I enjoy doing it, but didn't want to bite off more than I could chew!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
A.
Oh my Lord, ladies!!! I am SO glad I had the good sense to post my question here! What wonderful advice you all have given.
I like the restaurant idea, but hesitant about the serving alcohol part. I can believe that would bring people out in droves, but how do I get around the liability piece? I would feel so terrible if someone got into an accident from consuming adult beverages at the event.
We don't have a Chic-Fil-a yet, but local restaurants do offer a percentage of their profits for causes like this, so that is another good idea to ponder. I like the idea of working with a non-profit organization to funnel the money through. Keep the ideas coming. A bunch of heads are way better than just my lil' ol' noggin!!! :-)
Try http://www.giveforward.com/
This is a website where you can create a webpage for people to easily donate online. I can tell you from personal experience that it works! Good luck!
Hi A.,
I do special events and marketing for a living.
PM me and I will be glad to help you.
Since you have some experience I think you could scale the event to something you are comfortable with. If one goes well, you could do another in 3 months or so - building community recognition and buy in.
The most important piece is to be transparent and clear in relating the financial needs of the family and how the monetary donations will be handled. Reporting back to community on funds raised and progress made and making sure that each donor receives a thank you for their participation.
Good Luck
God Bless
I've been to a few charity events like you are describing. All the events that I attended were beef and beers and had a DJ. It cost $25 to attend but these were all many years ago so maybe you could charge more. I think you will have a much better turn out if you serve beer. I didn't even know the person the beef and beer was for (I was invited as a friend of a friend) but a large group of us went to these things in our early 20's. It was for a good cause and it was fun.
This is really nice of you to do BTW.
Do yo have a Chick-Fil-A near you? We have held 2 charity events at them. People come and eat, and a portion of everything that night, is donated to the family. They were hugely successful. We invited people from our churches, sports teams, friends, family, etc. They were wonderful about letting us have it there, and were really great the whole night. It was awesome, because we had never hosted a charity event, either.
How nice of you!
My family held one for a friend. Her daughter was born with cerebral palsy. We went around to local businesses and asked everyone we knew that worked at a local business if they would donate stuff to a live auction for medical expenses. You would be surprised how much stuff was donated! We got rounds of golf at the local course, massages, mani/pedis, surfboards, gift baskets...
I would make it a live auction. People tend to spend a LOT more! Have a friend be the auctioneer. Do it at a local bar/ restaurant. They might donate a percentage of sales!
Good luck!
Edit- Yes, definitely have alcohol. That's what I kind of meant when I said have a bar or restaurant host it during the day, so it isn't a big deal.
My parents used to go to an event every year for a very sick little girl. The event was called, "Jammin' for Jess" and the evening began being held at a local fire hall and eventually became such a huge event that they held it at a local ballroom. Each couple paid a set fee (I want to say $100 or $50 per person) and was able to partake in beer/wine, appetizers, and there was always a local band who came free of charge for people to dance to. The event helped to cover all of her bills (which after years of treatments were VERY costly), and while my parents didn't even know her, they loved a night out on the town! Maybe something similar would work for you?
I planned and hosted a fundraiser for a friend with cancer also, and the first thing I did was to contact a local non-profit cancer support group that helped coordinate with the media. The non-profit group also allowed us to funnel money through the group (people wrote checks to the group instead of to me or another individual). Thus donations were tax-deductible. Also, if I don't personally know the sick person or the event organizer, I would prefer to write a check to a non-profit, because I'd know for sure where the money is going...
HTH
I was invovled with one a few years ago and it was diferent and went over well. We had a group of home business persons, Tupperware, Mary Kay, Avon, Home Interiors, ect and had them each set up a table. 10-15% of all sales generated fron that day went to the charity. Most of the time there are very few sales from tha actual day but if parties are generated they donate part of the procedes. You should be able to get a room in a local school gym, senior center, park pavilion. Since it is a fund raiser email the sales or community outreach dept of local radio and TV stations to put out a community message.
O. easy thing to do (we did it for a local family that lost a child) is to get a local restaurant/bar combo to do a % of their intake on a certain date & time range. THEN ask if you can do a silent auction thing for donated gift baskets from local businesses. All you'll need at the venue is a table & a big roll of tickets--sell them for a buck each or 5 for $10--whatever you decide.
The O. for our family was VERY successful--do a FB event page & invite everyone you/they know!
Hello!
I think it is awesome that you are willing to help your friend in such a meaningful, tangible way! Good for you!
I organize an annual Spaghetti Gala fundraiser that includes a dinner (spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, brownie, and lemonade), a silent auction (usually 90-100 items), and a live dessert auction. It takes place on a Saturday evening from 5:30-8:00 and we raise over $4,000 every year in just that couple of hours.
After being asked repeatedly for "tips" or "instructions" by people who have seen how smoothly the event runs and want to organize one themselves as a benefit for a friend, I finally typed it ALL up into one document that I could just pass along. I also have forms I use for the silent auction bid sheets and master list.
If you are at all interested in reading what I've learned over the last few years of doing this, please message me your e-mail address and I will be happy to pass it and the forms along to you.
Best of luck on your event!
I did a charty event for a friend who had cancer. The first thing is to find a large hall and then get some posters made up stating where it will be, when and who it is for. A little background on the person is good, such as cancer patient and medical bills needing to be met. Then go to different businesses and ask them to put up the sign and would they like to offer something to be raffled off. It is also good to have a place where you can have food and include a spaghetti dinner or such during the raffling. Mine was done in a bar and dance hall, which really was nice. In fact, the girl it was for was part owner of the place, so that really helped out, as people bought not only the food we had, but also hamburgers, etc., from the establishment and also drinks. It is a lot of work, but really worth it when you can see the finished results and how much it has helped a friend.
I organized two separate benefit concerts years ago. I happen to know a lot of talented musicians, I asked my musician friends to play for free. An artsy fartsy friend of mine offered to design the posters, which we hung around all the area restaurants and stores. Another friend (one of the musicians) makes her own soaps and lotions as a hobby. SHe offered to make a basket of homemade body products to raffle off.
I walked into an electronics store one day and asked the manager if he would be willing to donate an iPod for the raffle. To my utter amazement, he said, "sure!" Easy as that! As a token of my gratitude I offered him a free VIP pass to the concert, as well as promotion for his store. I also got restaurant gift certificates, massage gift certificates and other donated items for the raffle. For every "yes" I think I heard about 5 "No's." Don't take it personally. Just say thank you, and move on. I think the live auction is a great idea.
This will be a lot of work for you, but you can handle it! The more you talk about it (with friends, family, strangers at the supermarket) the more help you will recruit. It's all about networking.
I second Chik-Fil-A.
We just went to a benefit for a female police officer who's husband died in a boating accident.
A portion of all proceeds between the hours of 5-8pm goes to the charity.
The PTA uses Chik-Fil-A, too.
I think it is a great idea,
I may be able to help, I am attending a home and local mom business showcase event in Minneapolis on Aug. 6th. There will be a lot of vendors that may be interested in donating a portion of their profits. There are still vendor spaces left if you would like the information just email ____@____.com restaurant idea is great too, you many consider several events to raise enough to really make a significant difference for them. Bless you!
