To Organize a Fund-Raiser

1. Question the situation for the event.
   • Subject: What will the fund-raiser be about? Will it have a theme? How will you raise money? Is it a one-time event, or is it one that happens often?
   • Purpose: Why are you putting on the event? How much money do you wish to raise? Why should people participate?
   • Audience: Who will attend the event? What do they expect? What response do you want from them?
2. Plan the event by completing a planning sheet. (See page 573.)
   • Fund-raiser ideas: Raffle, car wash, battle of the bands, dance marathon, beach clean-up, walk-a-thon, chili cookoff, youth-mentorship program
   • Organize: Recruit a team of people to plan and carry out the event.
   • Materials: List materials you will need and plan how to obtain them.
   • Budget: Fill out a budget sheet. (See page 574.)
3. Research the event.
   • Arrange to use the location you need for your event. Assign team members to reserve the space. Then decide how the space will be set up for the event.
   • Publicize the event using posters, fliers, social media, and other creative forms of publicity (see page 428).
4. Create the event, considering the following roles for team members.
   • Budget committee to keep track of expenditures, ticket sales, and donations
   • Publicity team in charge of creating publicity materials and building awareness for the event
   • Host to guide the group through the event
   • Entertainers for the event (DJs, actors, and so on)
   • Cooks/servers/dishwashers for food events
   • Refreshment people to provide and sell refreshments
   • Runners in charge of retrieving new materials and doing other odd jobs during the event
5. Improve your event.
   • Evaluate the event.

     Did the event fulfill its goals and objectives?

     Did it focus on an appropriate idea or activity? How much money did it raise? Did enough people attend or give money? How could it be improved next time?

   • Improve the event by adding value, removing inefficiency, rearranging the sequence, and reworking parts to make them more effective.
6. Present the results of the fund-raising event, including earnings generated, in a newsletter, school calendar, social media post, blog, or school newspaper article.