Charity Ball

This isn't for my sorority, but actually for the Jaycees (a community service organization I belong to)

So, I volunteered to plan a charity ball for our local Humane Society. The problem is, I'm way the heck over my head. Has anyone ever planned a ball like this before? I haven't a clue as to where to start. So far I've figured out I need to make arrangements for:

• When
• Find a hall
• Music/Band
• Drinks
• Food
• Servers
• Advertising
• Decorations
• ???

How do I go about talking people into donating a hall/food/drinks/etc though? Or am I even going to find someone to donate? I want to use as much of the money as possible for the charity of course, so I really want to get as much by donation as possible, but aaargh!!! I've never done this before! Help!

[HBADPi]

hey that's a really good idea and although i have never planned anything like that or know of anyone on campus that has I will have to keep that in mind.

But have you thought about charging for tickets? Might help with some expenses or even local businesses might be willing to donate money or services to get their name out to college students...just a thought

Let us know how it goes

Yeah, ideally we'd like to charge between $25 - 50 per ticket, but we'd like most of that money to go to the charity.

As far as getting local businesses to donate...that's the thing, there's not really any particular group that we're targeting, other than animal lovers.... this isn't a college event or anything like that, so I'm not sure how to get businesses to contribute.

[sailboatgirl]

I work for a non-profit and do public relations and event planning. I'd be happy to send you sample ask letters, etc. and to provide any advice that I can. I just finished my big fundraiser for the year, and we had a profit of about $150,000. I can tell you that you make more money from sponsorships from companies than you do with individiual tickets. Please feel free to PM me and I'll send you anything that might help!

-Melissa
aka sailboatgirl

[SigEp42]

Hey, I’m in the same boat as you, but a little further along. My chapter is having a carnival charity event and I am trying to raise the money now.
How it works or the way I was told is you go to whoever you are trying to get money from and ask what they require, some places just need the basics but others require you to submit a proposal full of information and a budget. The first thing I would do is find out if the charity is tax exempt. A lot of companies won’t give anything unless they can claim it as a write off and if you already have the information it helps a lot.
Like I said all the companies are different but what I did was I put all the information I could into one information folder. And I’m going to send it to all of them so they all have as much information as I can give them.
Good luck ad does anyone know of a company that likes to donate? I’m still looking for some.

What sorts of things did you include in your budget? I guess one of the big places I'm hung up on is I have no idea how many people to expect, so I don't know where to start

[jess_pom]

I recently started as an intern at a radio station and I've learned a lot already about planning events like this. Contact caterers, banquet halls, etc and ask them to donate or give a very discounted rate on products/services. Then contact local radio stations/newspapers and see if they will also be "sponsors". By this I mean, give you free airtime/ad space to promote your event. My station does this frequently. They might ask for a couple of free tickets in exchange, but you definately get the better end of the deal. Point out to other sponsors that you will be advertising and if they sponsor the event, that their name will appear on WCCE and in the Anywhere Times or whatever. That way they get free publicity, too!

Good luck!

[SigEp42]

What sorts of things did you include in your budget? I guess one of the big places I'm hung up on is I have no idea how many people to expect, so I don't know where to start


I put everything in my budget because I didn’t know what had to be there. I broke it up into Refreshments, activities, booths/games, Advertising and incidentals. Everything I could think of is in there with an approximate price, why it’s needed and any other notes about how much it would cost for a patron to use it ECT. I guess you could also put the stuff you are going to get for free; such as we have a place to hold it thanks to the university and people to work it via my chapter, stuff like that. If it helps I can send you what I have just pm me.
As far as how many people to plan for I would start with a realistic number maybe 2 or 3 times the number of people in your organization (If everyone tells a friend and you tell local chapters of animal rights activists you will probably get a decent number of people). And no matter what you set the number for most places won’t have a problem adjusting as long as you give them enough notice. I used to work at a banquet hall and people would change the number of people coming all the time even as much as an hour before, but I would say at least a week before call and tell then how many people have bought tickets and how many more you expect to sell, I’m sure they will help you out.
Jess_pom any ideas as to how to ask a radio station for their services? I haven’t contacted one yet but would love to know any inside tips.


Wow alot longer than i thought it would be...

[sunnygirl]

Hey guys-

Good luck with your respective projects. All these charities are going to be so much better off because of awesome people like you.

I love planning these things, and I see that you two are writing from Pittsburg and Milwaukee? I have only planned philanthropy projects in my small college town, but the way I see it (correct me if I am wrong), that is to your advantage that you are in bigger cities because businesses won't be as tapped out. To solicit donations from businesses, I usually target the small-mid-sized ones. The bigger ones, like Staples (for paper and stuff) or Wal-mart (just in my experience) can more easily brush off requests because some managers say that they need to talk with the national office. The local businesses are MUCH more responsive.
First, I start with a business letter, so I don't have to ambush the manager with my request and then follow it up with a meeting/phone call about a week to a week and a half after the letter was delivered. Most businesses are happy to help!
(Ginger, I would try and get Maider's (sp?) and the Pfister to donate. They are my favorite places to eat and stay in Milwaukee.)

Of course, Jess_pom would be a better resource, but when I planned my projects, I just called the general manager and set up a meeting. I told him what we were doing and gave him a proposal, and he gave us all our radio spots for free and threw in an on-air interview. He is really awesome though, and I don't know if everyone is like that.

If you have a general timetable, maybe I could be of more help. I made the next philanthropy chair a pretty in-dept binder with timetables about a similar event, so maybe I can share. EIther way- GOOD LUCK!!

Whew- this was long. I get on a tangent talking about this and Kate Spade though .