Charity Craft Fair

princesspoppypop

I`m hoping to host a Charity Craft fair in 2009, proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Support.
Has anyone done anything like this before?
My idea is to find a venue (hopefully for free), invite stall holders to exhibit and charge them a table fee which will be donated to the charity.
I`ll also have some refreshments on sale, I`m hoping to blag some free tea and coffee from somewhere.
I have written to various craft companies to see if they had any end of line goodies they could donate or any bits I can use in a raffle but just seem to get ignored. It annoys me when people get loads of free stuff just for them and I get ignored when I`m trying to sort out something for a good cause. Nevermind!

Any help and advice would be great!

:j

love_lifer

little advice im afraid- speak to other craft fair organisers? but good luck with it, hope u get it off the ground

Savvy_Sue

Talk to MacMillan and ask for their advice, they may well have a fundraisers / supporters sheet with specific ideas for events like this.

Jo_F

You can always ask the stall holders to donate something towards the raffle, a lot of us do this when we do craft fairs.

Where are you thinking of having it? If you are doing it anywhere near East Lancs, then I may be interested in having a stall off you, I make jewellery and beaded gifts.

princesspoppypop

I actually work for Macmillan and no one has done anything like this before, so can`t get advice from anyone, plus I want to make this my own event and not have other staff nosing in ( which they would do).
The fair will be in NE England so probs somewhere in North Yorks.

Ianna

Contact your local freecycle group and ask for unwanted christmas presents for raffle prizes.

Contact nescafe, tetley etc and ask for free beverage stuff and say you'll have a poster thanking them for their generosity. Get the venue for free by offering to have their generosity advertised all over the venue, in leaflets and so on.

For practical advice with a craft fair - definitely ask macmillan and visit local craft fairs to get ideas and contacts.

You say you're getting ignored when you contact companies, unfortunately that's common. They get a lot of requests. I've found a handwritten letter with a copy of my certificate confirming I'm fundraising for the charity works best - also ring the company first and ask who to send the letter to.

Dizzie77

I did one of these last Christmas for the other cancer charity.

I doubt that you will get a venue for free - but a local village hall or church hall should be fairly cheap.
Like the others have said, stall holders are likely to donate a prize for the raffle - and you can get others from freecycle or pound shops.
You can probably get raffle tickets from freecycle too!!

Consider a tombola instead of a raffle though - that way people don't have to hang around to wait for you to draw the prizes and you're not left with prizes to get to people who have already left!!!

Make sure you advertise LOTS!!! and choose your timing very carefully.
Autumn time is really good, as people are starting to think about Christmas shopping - but beware of other people running events on the same day as yours.

The refreshments go down well - but make sure that you have enough room for people to sit and eat/drink....otherwise they won't stay.

When you actually have your fair, have some background music - it makes your shoppers a bit more relaxed, and they are likely to spend more, which means that your traders are likely to come back if you do another one!

If you decide to do a Chrstmas one, then consider having someone to wrap presents - the paper and ribbons cost little (esp if you buy them now ready!!) and you can charge people for wrapping their presents for them.
You might also want to look at gift boxes in the sales, as they will always sell well.

Get in touch if you want more ideas - but definitely advertise it well!!!

scotrae

My sons and I organised a one-off event one morning in October half term. It was at the local village hall, which charged only a nominal fee for the morning. We got a photos and a story in the local paper, letterboxed the village with leaflets, put a couple of posters up in shop windows, told all the families we knew and spread the word through our local Freecycle cafe group, family-based forums and other event listings sites. A couple of people approached me to have tradestands and they did very well indeed. We had over 200 people turn up in the space of 2 hours and they spent generously, many buying Christmas gifts.

Publicity was key, as was timing ... and doing something a bit different. there seem to be lots of craft fairs going on throughout the year but our event was perfect for taking children out on a half term morning, and even catching up with other mums for a cuppa. People spending so well was a bonus ... and the stallholders have been back in touch to ask if we're organising anything similar next year.

If you do want to stick with a craft fair, why not incorporate something a little different, like 'make and take' activities for children or card-making / homecraft workshops (tying in with being frugal!) You might well find a shop or stallholder who'd be happy to run something in return for a free stand. Perhaps you could time it with February half term and promote it ahead of Mothering Sunday, giving people a reason to come and buy the crafts as well as a cheap activity trip out to keep the children entertained. If there's a children's link like this the papers are more likely to pick up on it too.

Oh my - I think I've almost talked myself into organising one of my own(Midlands).

Good luck!

sams247

Hi, good luck with this, just two ideas - when we organised a charity do we approached a local golf course centre and they let us have the hire of their hall for practically nothing as it was good advertising for them and a different venue for people to come to. Being a clubhouse it was also set up for a bar/cafe/parking so that helped us too. And recently we attended a craft fair that had a side room for therapists to work in. They each did a five or ten minute therapy for a few pounds and paid for their pitch. It was nice for the shoppers to have something a bit different, and extra revenue. We'll be watching how you get along and may well be happy to take a stall off your hands!

GemR_2

I know it is taking it slightly off your original idea, but face painting is a brilliant fundraiser (and is also an art in itself! ). It works particularly well if you, or a friend/volunteer can do it so that all the profits go to your charity, rather than a one off fee from a pro painter. IMO anything that attracts kids, gets their parents into the spending mood and they are then more likely to put their hand in their pockets for the other goodies on offer.

Also how about having your own stall with DIY craft kits aimed at adults and children, ie an individual special card, a make your own xmas decoration etc. These can be put together really cheaply with bits from your own craft mountain (if it is anything like mine!) and bargains that can be picked up in some of the cheaper shops and sales.

One final thought, how about making the main raffle prize a huge crafting hamper. That way it will be cheap and easy to put together, but should be of greater attraction to those attending than say, a bottle of sherry or some smellies!

Good luck