Filed under: Chile | Tags: California Cantina, Event Planning, Fund Raising, Lindsey Chapman, NGO's, Santiago, VE Global, Zorro Martini
I recently planned my first fund raising event to raise money for VE Global’s annual campaign that is taking place right now.
It was a lot of work but it was also a lot of fun and turned out to be a big success.
Since it was my first fundraiser, I didn’t have high expectations but it went very smoothly and I found that people are very willing to help out for a good cause if you take the time to ask and explain about the cause.
Booking vendors, venue and entertainment
In the beginning stages I had to meet with possible vendors for the event. I had a short list of places where I knew there would be a mix of both gringos and Chileans. I ended up choosing California Cantina, a place where they were willing to donate a percentage of drink sales, prizes for our raffle and give me contacts to find live music.
California Cantina also has a bar down stairs with televisions showing every sport playing at the moment around the world, and an open air patio upstairs where the band could play.
I found a band that was willing to play for free, called Zorro Martini. They were really awesome and didn’t hesitate to lend their services when normally they would get paid a decent wage. All they asked was that we covered their food and transportation for the evening.
Soliciting raffle prizes
The next objective was to find people to donate prizes for our raffle. I asked all of the businesses with which I had any connection to so we ended up getting donations for complimentary meals, some English classes, Spanish classes, a bottle of Pisco, bike rentals and tours, and some wine.
People were very generous and wanted to help out in whatever way they could.
Outreach
I emailed every person I knew and asked a good friend to help me spread the word. We had a couple events on facebook advertising the event, inviting over 1000 people and from this we had a great turn out.
Success!
The place was packed on a Monday night. I made a couple of announcements from the stage about the work we do at VE Global to encourage people to buy raffle tickets.
Everyone enjoyed the live music and almost no one refused buying raffle tickets. Thanks to a bunch of fellow volunteers and friends assistance the evening was a really big success. I had a lot of fun doing it and I am so thankful to everyone who helped out and contributed in any way.
If any of you have any questions about planning your own fund raiser, don’t hesitate to ask. Buena suerte!!
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