Organize it yourself

Organising an event can be great fun and hugely rewarding for you, the people who join you and for The Food Chain. There are a few key pointers to success:

Plan well.
Leave yourself enough time to organise properly.
Let us know what you are doing.
Involve enough helpers.
Tell everyone what you are doing and keep telling them.
Engage everyone you know.
Have fun !

And remember the team responsible for cleaning up at the end are the first to identify and the hardest to get!

The kinds of events you might think about include a quiz night or karaoke evening at your local pub, an at home casino night, a stall at a car boot sale, a bring and buy cake sale at work, a dinner party for friends, a weekend car wash ( a great way to involve kids and get to know your neighbours), a cabaret night, a celebration party, guess the baby photo competition (a really good one for a workplace) – almost anything can raise money and the more fun you have the more money you are likely to raise.

Planning an event is easy if you create an action plan complete with a time line. Even small events need about 4 months from idea to success.

Decide on your activity
Get a team to help you
Decide on a budget and how much you intend to make
Allocate key tasks(who is going to do what?)
Find and book a venue
Apply for any licences you might need
(late night, entertainment, alcohol, gambling etc)
Book entertainers, equipment etc
Prepare publicity materials
Sell tickets
Tell the local press
Know what you will do with any cash at the end of the event
Send the money and hopefully some photos to The Food Chain
Thank everyone

There are several useful things to know.

Companies will often match any money raised at fundraising events by their staff. It is always worth asking.

Gift Aid means that The Food Chain can get an extra 28p for every £1 donated from a UK tax payer, so get names and addresses of your supporters and give them a gift aid form (available from the office)

Direct Debit givers can be gained at events. Forms are available from the office. Displaying them at your event could turn a one off donation into a much longer commitment.

Most venues have their own insurance but do check that what you are planning is covered.

Never send out or create publicity material in the name of The Food Chain without checking it first. There are some restrictions to what you must and must not say so just run it by the office once you have designed it.

The Food Chain keeps a range of publicity materials and if you need them or any help at all, just ask.