Planning a “ Fun”draising Event

1. Planning a “Fun”draising Event Andrea Adkins 4-H Volunteer & Librarian Washington County Find this and more online at tips4hvols.wordpress.com

2. Washington County 4-H Endowment Dinner • Organized as a sub-committee of the Washington County 4-H Advisory Committee • Committee has own EIN, checking account, officers, constitution & by-laws • Meets bi-weekly beginning in January with a wrap up meeting a few weeks after the event • Held in late March/early April depending on when Easter falls

3. 5k Run/Walk for Hervida • Organized and ran by the Oak Grove Explorers 4-H Club • Benefits Camp Hervida, our local 4-H Camp. Money has gone to the Camp Hervida Endowment for the past three years but can be put to use for Hervida as the club sees fit. • Held in late May/early June depending on what other races are in the area.

4. Steps in Planning • Decide what you want to do • Find people to create a committee for a county-wide event /head up a club event • Find a location, date to hold your event, what will happen at the event, and cost for entry • Find sponsors, collect donations, prepare/serve food, and volunteers to work at the event • Publicize your event • Carry out your event • Send out thank you notes/letters • Evaluate your event

5. Decide What You Want to Do • What need are you trying to fill? • What is your goal? • What transferrable skills do you or others have that can be used to the benefit of the county/club?

6. Create a Committee • At the county level make sure to go through the 4-H Advisory Committee • At the club level make sure to go through proper procedure as you would for any other club business

7. Pick the Location/Date • Free is best! • Big enough for what you think you’d like to do at your event. Too big is better than too small. • What transformations need to be made in the venue for the event? • No other large fundraisers are being held on the same date nearby. • Not a holiday or holiday weekend.

8. Washington County 4-H Endowment Dinner

9. 5k Run/Walk for Hervida

10. What Do People Do at Your Event? • Endowment Dinner • Silent Auction • Eat Dinner • Live Auction • Hervida 5k • Run or Walk 3.1 miles • Eat Snacks and Wait for Results

11. What Do People Do at Your Event?

12. How Much Should You Charge? Endowment Dinner Pre-purchased or reserved: $20 Adults/$10 ages 19 & under(bill for tickets not picked up) At the door: $25 Adults/$10 ages 19 & under (first year we’ve increased at door amount) 5k Run/Walk Postmarked by a certain date $12 Postmarked after a certain date/day of $15

13. Finding Sponsors/Donations • Write a letter and mail out to everyone in the Chamber of Commerce • Visit in person and use personal connections

14. Serving Food at Your Event • Fundraising Dinner • Find someone in your area who knows how to cook a large amount of food and is willing to donate their time and the time of their helpers. • Find a local supplier for most items. Hopefully some will be donated. • Save yourself a headache, if you do not have experience prepping food for 450+ people find someone who does! • 5k Run/Walk • Water for before/afterwards • Cookies, apples, oranges, bananas, grapes

15. Finding Volunteers to Work Your Event • Endowment Dinner • Endowment Committee, 4-H Club, & Jr. Fair Board Members • Master Gardeners • Donated time of an auctioneer • Donated time of food preparation • 5k Run/Walk • Club Members/Families • Club Alumni • Camp Hervida Board • Personal connections with thosethat have the skills you need • Local running club

16. Publicity The Key to Success!

17. Press Release • Send out four weeks before your event or deadline! • You local extension office should have addresses they use • Troll the internet looking for local contacts at newspapers and radio/tv stations • Proof read! Have someone else read it for content/clarity/grammar/spelling. 4-H Endowment Dinner & Auction The 2014 Washington County 4-H Endowment Dinner and Auction will take place on Saturday, March 22, 2014 at the Washington County Jr. Fair Building. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. for the Silent Auction. Dinner will be served at 6:00 p.m. with the Live Auction starting at 8:00 p.m. Dinner includes a choice of grilled NY strip steak or grilled chicken breast with salad, green beans, baked potato, roll, dessert, and beverages. Tickets in advance are $20 for adults and $10 for youth 19 & under. Tickets at the door are $25 for adults and $15 for your 19 & under. To purchase tickets call the OSU Extension Office at 740-376-7431. Check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/4HEndowment to find out more about the Washington County 4-H Endowment and to see some of the auction items as they become available. 5k Run/Walk for Hervida The Oak Grove Explorers 4-H Club will host the 5k Run/Walk for Hervida on Saturday, June 1, at 9 a.m. starting at the Oak Grove Recreation Center. Pre-registration is $12 and must be postmarked by May 20. After May 20, registration is $15. Registration forms for the event are available at http://www.rivercityrunners.com/images/aps/2013%20Aps/Hervida%205K%202013.pdf. All proceeds from the event benefit the Hervida 4-H Camp Endowment Fund. For more information or questions, contact Andrea Adkins at 740-350-4669 or abradkins@yahoo.com.

18. TV/Radio Appearances Contact your local TV and radio stations and see if they have a time people come and talk about local events.

19. Posters • Make sure all pertinent information is included. • Make in different sizes. 8.5x11 and 11x14 are good – regular weight paper • Ask local business if you can hang a sign. Most libraries have public bulletin boards. • Put up about six weeks before the event.

20. Facebook Create a facebook page to help promote something like an endowment dinner. For an event like a 5k race, create an event using your personal facebookaccount.

21. Carryout Your Event • Have a plan but be flexible. You never know what might come up or not work right. • There are many specifics that will not be enumerated on but you can think about. • Endowment Dinner • Who has to have a ticket? If people are working the event, when do they eat? • When should we setup? How much time should we allot? Who will help setup? • How should the tables be arranged? How can we find enough tables & chairs? • The venue is not the prettiest, what can we do to make it more appealing? • How many serving lines should we have? • Who serves? Who cleans up? • How we keep track of who buys what? • How do people pay for and pickup their items? When and where? • 5k Run/Walk • How in the world do you make sure the walkers walk and not run? • How do you time people and assign awards? • Do I have to have t-shirts? • Are we going to find enough sponsors? • It’s raining!!! What do we do now?

25. Evaluate the Event • What did the attendees think? • What worked? • What didn’t work? • Are there any suggestions for improvement? • Do we need to continue the event? (Has it met it’s ultimate goal? Is it not time/money worthy anymore?)

26. Recognize Your Supporters • Signs work great for a 5k. • Supporters of the Endowment Dinner are put on the placemats along with the auction order. • Thank you notes should go out as soon as possible and hopefully within a month of the event.

27. Contact Information Andrea Adkins 4-H Volunteer, Washington County OLC Certified Public Librarian Email: abradkins@yahoo.com Facebook: Andrea Beth Twitter: @abradkins LinkedIn: Andrea Adkins Find PowerPoint and other resources here: tips4hvols.wordpress.com