Ideas for my event? 30 May 2017 at 7:06PM in Charities 7 replies 9K views

kaylynch92x

Hi, I'm holding an event at my place of work in memory of my fianc! who passed away suddenly in December, aged 23. We're holding a band night and all the entrance fee will be donated to the charity, along with staff tips and we'll also be holding a raffle. Iv'e managed to accumulate some really good raffle prizes thanks to many generous friends and local businesses. I'm just wondering if anyone had any other ideas that I could incorporate in to the night to appeal to as many people as possible. I was thinking of getting a face painter in but other than that I'm a bit stuck really.
Thanks in advance

davemorton

If some of the raffle prizes are particularly nice/different, hold an auction. It can be incorporated into the nights entertainment.

SueMaggie

You could also do a "living fruit machine". You need to get 3 volunteers and seat them side by side at a table, ideally with some kind of curtain or barrier between them so they can't see each other. They each have a pile of fruit or other objects in front of them - they all have to have the same things. Someone pays their money to spin the fruit machine, shouts go and the three people in the "fruit machine" grab something from their pile and hold it up - if all three are the same the competitor wins a small prize.

We do this at events for a charity I support and people love it. You could also adapt it so that two the same wins something really small or particular combinations win a bigger prize.

pippa75

Hi

I can donate a Pamper & Prosecco Night voucher for your raffle

monkees84

I've been involved in a few charity nights and things that are always popular are -
* Raffle (where have items on display on a table but also go around the room selling tickets)
* Sell food/drinks e.g bulk buy from Costco
* Silent auction
* Heads & Tails - works well if it's seated around tables, everyone on the table puts £5 into the table envelope & just before you toss a coin they have to put their hands on their head/bum, if the coin is heads then everyone with hands on their head stays standing & others sit down. Keep going till just 1 person wins (e.g win a prize). Is a bit of fun & gets v.competitive & great way to raise some extra money
* Matched funding - see if the company you work for will match the ££ or up to a certain amount of £ raised on the night

Hope it all goes well, I'm sure people will donate lots in memory of your husband & to help those in the futur

TBagpuss

Who are you trying to appeal to? Band night sounds like an event for adults / older teens, but face painting sounds more like an event for young children or families.

I agree that if you have good good prizes donated you could consider an auction or silent auction (check with the donors that they are OK with you using their donation slightly differently to what you originally planned)

You've talked about staff tips - do you work in a bar or restaurant? If so you could perhaps create a signature cocktail or dessert (or both!) for the night.

Oakdene

davemorton wrote: »

If some of the raffle prizes are particularly nice/different, hold an auction. It can be incorporated into the nights entertainment.

Great idea, though I hate standard auctions as it means people who can't afford to spend too much often miss out.

So how about a pound auction, where by at the start you give pens & paper out to people. You will need one person on the microphone & 2 or 3 people on the floor going around. Basically the long & short of it is that you start at number 1 & people buy a number for a pound. Beforehand you need to put a random number into an envelope & write the prize on the front of the envelope.

So the auctioneer states the prize & shouts out 'number 1' & whoever puts their hand up first (as judged by the people on the floor) gets that number, they write it down & give their £1 to the people working the floor, then the auctioneer shouts 'number 2' & it carries on until no one wants to buy any more. The envelope is then opened & whoever matches the winning number wins the prize. If the winning number is higher than the amount of numbers sold, it goes to the highest number.

Its a great way to get lots of people buying tickets & often you cant get lots of money spent for items that don't cost that much.

CharleyYpres

When I worked for a charity, a pub quiz was always well received for fundraising. Everyone pays a pound to enter and the winner gets something trivial like a bottle of wine or a drink at the bar depending on the venue. If it's part of a night of entertainment then people will be more inclined to join in.