Thread: Any advice on organizing a fundraiser?

My students and I want to put together a fundraiser for sickle cell anemia.

I've organized student shows before, so I have those basic skills in place. And I used to participate in a fundraiser my troupe did, so I've watched my troupe director go through the process a little, but that was years ago.

We want this to also be an opportunity to showcase cream-of-the-crop dance to the general public.

I'm assuming the process works like this:
1) Select a charity and arrange to donate proceeds to them
2) Beg local theaters for a discounted rate, using name of said charity
3) Ask local luminary dancers to donate performances
4) The usual process of getting their music and program notes...
5) Work like a dog to publicize the thing.
6) Maybe organize a silent auction in the lobby? My students want an art auction.
7) Deal with the hurt feelings of any dancer or group in the community who isn't deemed 'cream of the crop' or who I choose not to invite for other reasons (history of last minute cancellations, tendency to bring unrehearsed students to public shows, overt sexuality, there were just more dancers than there were time slots and SOMEONE had to be left out, etc.)

Any other tips?

I'm thinking of doing 'world dance' rather than just bellydance. We have amazing Flamenco and Indian groups in the area, and I'm guessing I can find African and Hawaiian or Tahitian.

Or should I stick with bellydance/middle eastern folk dances? Otherwise I can only include a performer or two in this art form. (see item 7 above,r:;)

silent auction is good, but do not limit your self to art.get local business to donate.tell them to put big signs on the donation, so it is an ad, in these tuff times. local folk usually want to one up each other.
have little platters of cheese, crackers, ...wine, all donated with their name big as hell on them.you sell them.
have each dancer in the show, donate a dvd, hip scarf, SOMETHING to the auction as a thank you for asking them . put together a show with a theme, that keeps who you do not want in it , out of the question .

oh, our fire mystics bought a case of 2 buck chuck from trader joes.had new labels printed with picture, date, blah blah blah.
they ended up selling the ones we did not serve.

hey, if you make it world dance, ...the mid east portion is "limited"....yeah! that should help keep it under your control.

Thanks, Cory!

my pleasure!

oh, if you do world dance, you reach more people, and get more diverse donations.
world food!

Don't you think a world dance event would be exciting? I'd buy a ticket!!

We have one at a local university every year, but I think the St. Louis area is big enough for more than one.

Originally Posted by zamora

oh, our fire mystics bought a case of 2 buck chuck from trader joes.had new labels printed with picture, date, blah blah blah.
they ended up selling the ones we did not serve.

I love this idea - I would totally buy one of those bottles!

I've been thinking about a world dance showcase and I think you should go for it. It is a great idea. I want to do one here. I'm going to PM you about other stuff.

I think inviting other groups is a great idea. You might even want to think of auctioning off a trial lesson. Or asking the other studios if they'd like to do that.

From my (very limited) personal experience, I would say:
Be *really* enthused by your Cause, because that enthusiasm will be infectious. The one and only fund-raising haflah I did was for Just Because, which I think is a brilliant charity and one I wanted to be particularly supportive of. I think that my enthusiasm definitely got passed on to my students and the other supporters of that event, and it has led to subsequent support for the charity by my students (a small secondary donation went off to them last week!)

We've had great success at fund raising by selling 50/50 tickets. We've also had great success with silent auction, but you do need to have a variety of stuff that will appeal to many people. And....if possible...have it at a venue where they serve alcohol. People tend to be a lot looser with their wallets after a few drinks....we did a pub night once and actually got $75 for three Atari games at our silent auction! ..l;,

Originally Posted by beafarhana

From my (very limited) personal experience, I would say:
Be *really* enthused by your Cause, because that enthusiasm will be infectious. The one and only fund-raising haflah I did was for Just Because, which I think is a brilliant charity and one I wanted to be particularly supportive of. I think that my enthusiasm definitely got passed on to my students and the other supporters of that event, and it has led to subsequent support for the charity by my students (a small secondary donation went off to them last week!)

That's the easy part, unfortunately. One of our troupe members has sickle cell and was recently hospitalized.

I've been involved in a few fundraisers and it looks like you have all the main points covered. I second the 50/50 raffle and silent auction ideas. Those are both fun ways to get extra money coming in other than just ticket sales.

I would also say to make sure to give the charitable organization a presence. Having them set up a table with brochures or other information is a good idea, or if you do programs you could do a page or insert about them. It's also helpful to have representatives from the charity on hand and maybe give them an opportunity to make some brief remarks about their organization during the show, explain how the money that's being raised would be used, etc. Or if you or someone from your troupe feels comfortable doing so (and your troupe member with sickle-cell OKs it), someone might talk about your friend and her devotion to the dance and her battle with the illness, etc. It helps to personalize it. You will probably get some audience members who come because they're passionate about the cause, rather than dance, so they might appreciate the extra effort to educate about the organization.

what helped sell out my school was getting the students excited about both performin and raising money/selling a LOT of tickets...

i didnt do the raffle/auction cause i didnt want the extra hassle

oh, and i organised small workshops the weekend after the show, that way i could attract some decent names, have them donate the performance, but still make at least some money out of the trip. having out of town dancers perform, added to the interest in the show (attracting both GP AND the dance community)

Originally Posted by rachelw

I've been involved in a few fundraisers and it looks like you have all the main points covered. I second the 50/50 raffle and silent auction ideas. Those are both fun ways to get extra money coming in other than just ticket sales.

I would also say to make sure to give the charitable organization a presence. Having them set up a table with brochures or other information is a good idea, or if you do programs you could do a page or insert about them. It's also helpful to have representatives from the charity on hand and maybe give them an opportunity to make some brief remarks about their organization during the show, explain how the money that's being raised would be used, etc. Or if you or someone from your troupe feels comfortable doing so (and your troupe member with sickle-cell OKs it), someone might talk about your friend and her devotion to the dance and her battle with the illness, etc. It helps to personalize it. You will probably get some audience members who come because they're passionate about the cause, rather than dance, so they might appreciate the extra effort to educate about the organization.

I am doing this with the fundraiser that I am having tomorrow. I contacted the charity and asked for their support. Then I asked for their logo and letterhead in electronic form. we made sure to put the logo on any promotional and marketing material we've put together. (one of my troupemates is a graphic designer so we've put together quite a few things). The charity sent over laminated cards with the reason for the charity and why it was founded. we'll be putting those cards out ont he tables. the owner of the studio also has them on the counter next tot he flyer. He said a lot of his ballroom patrons have asked what the charity does and have shown some interest in the charity. I am going to give a speech during the intermission. Saying why the charity was founded, tell what it is that their goals are, what they have accomplished share my own personal story and build up interest that way.

I think the world dance theme is a good idea in terms of the fundraising. By including other dance genres, you increase the sphere of influence for selling tickets.

As others have pointed out, this would also give you and explanation for the limited number of slots for Middle Eastern dance.