Food
for thought:
If you don't have a well thought
out fundraising plan, you will likely
burn out the very people your group
can't live without, the givers and
the askers. This month we look at
the piggy back event.
If your not ready yet to stage
your own fundraising event, or
if you want to add another fundraising
event to your schedule but don't
have the time or people power
to produce the event, then consider
the piggy back event. With the
piggy back event all your group
does is sell tickets for an event
someone else does all the production
work for. It's a win-win situation
for both groups.
As many of you have experienced,
having to produce the actual event
itself is hard enough already
with out the additional burden
of selling tickets. By the time
you plan the event and stage the
event you may have used up most
of your experienced volunteers.
Ticket sales (and event profits)
will suffer if you can't sell
enough tickets. So forget producing
the event and just sell tickets
for someone else's event.
The beauty of the piggy back
event is this - You can't loose
money. If you don't sell as many
tickets as you thought you could,
your group won't loose money.
The danger of the piggy back
event is this - If the event has
an
embarrassing moment or an outright
failure, you will in some way
be associated with it. Pick your
piggy back events carefully!
Many producers of events not
only want you to sell tickets,
but are happy to have you sell
them and make money for your group.
Here is a short list of typical
events that you can sell tickets
for:
Theater Companies, Orchestras,
Ballet and Dance Companies- Many
of these best selling performances
have charity nights. Often they
will offer blocks of tickets to
sell for performances that they
know will most likely not sell
out. Week day afternoon matinees
and middle of the weeknite performances
are good examples.
Movie Distributors and Movie
Theaters are also open to booster
clubs hosting a gala opening night
for a new film. Another technique
is hosting a showing of an older
film (a series of nights featuring
the Indiana Jones Trilogy is a
popular one) or the re-release
of an Oscar winning or nominated
film.
Restaurants also participate
in charity nights. Generally these
fall into two categories. The
first is when a new or remodeled
restaurant hosts a charity night
before they open to the general
public. This event lets the restaurant
work out the kinks before they
start serving the paying public
and attracts potential customers
that might not otherwise come.
The second is a charity night
during the slow season or days
for a restaurant. They sell blocks
of meal vouchers for nights they
know will be slow ones, guaranteeing
more business for themselves.
MacDonalds is a favorite for letting
nonprofits host a night where
the booster clubs volunteers work
the dinning room as hosts and
clean up personnel and take home
a percentage of the gross receipts
for the night.
Piggy back events work best if
there is some relationship or
tie in between the nonprofit and
the event but can also be successful
even if there is no connection
at all.
Piggy back events also open up
the door for better publicity
for the event. When a local booster
club and a well known business
team up to raise funds it makes
for a more news worthy event.
Depending on the event you may
even be able to attract a sponsor
to pay for the advertising.
Now all you have to do is sell
tickets. To be successful make
sure your group puts all it's
energies into ticket sales.
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