Catch the Spirit!

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On March 15, the Mary Louis Academy held its annual Spirit Night. The Mary Louis Academy is an all girls Catholic Academy in Jamaica Plains, New York. Spirit Night is “One of TMLA’s oldest traditions…dating back to 1940 when it was known as Sports Night.” All four class years join together in a variety of competitions. The 2012 Spirit Night Theme was “Hollywood Movie Studios.” The Student Council Coordinator, Beth, explained, “It is a school competition used to bring unity among the grades.”

Something to Look Forward to

Many organizations such as The Mary Louis Academy host annual recurring events. Annual events are a traditional way to bring members of the organization together, raise awareness for a cause, or bring in funds for projects that exist outside the regular organizational budget. While all events have similarities, there are special expectations for ones that reoccur.

Annual events build community and loyalty among attendees. Some families look forward to attending the same cultural festival each year. A proud alumni might looks forward to returning to her alma mater for the homecoming celebration. Traditions build around the tradition.

Tradition and Success

Annual events rely on wisdom and tradition.  Often there are elements that absolutely must be included, an opening dinner in honor of a Provost or a Sadie Hawkins dance. Some are formal, some are strange, like MIT’s annual Piano Drop. Whatever the tradition, it is an important feature of the event.

Each year, organizations and planners learn from the past year’s event, so they’re able to host more effectively and more efficiently the next year.  Organizations can learn what worked and what didn’t. By reviewing the event when it’s over, the committee can come up with ways to make the following event more enjoyable and memorable to everyone.

Marketing Annual Events

While it’s true, annual events will have more built in buzz than one time gatherings, organizers shouldn’t rely solely on word or mouth or loyalty to ensure attendees. For even the most established recurring events, it pays to look at different ways to advertise in order to keep bringing in new folks.

Traditional print media is great. Posters, flyers, and bill boards will get the message on the streets, but if the budget is tight, events can benefit from plenty of free advertising. It’s simple and quick to build Facebook and Google+ pages where information about the upcoming event can be posted and shared. A Twitter account dedicated to the event can be used to share small snippets of information. A more traditional website, even a simple one, can help keep folks informed. For organizers who aren’t comfortable with technology, it might help to arrange an interview on the local radio or news station or with the local newspaper. There are many ways to share information about the event.

Have Fun!

The event at the Mary Louis Academy was run by the school. “Students sold tickets and got the student body excited about the event,” Beth explained. For her the best parts of the event were the “students dances and cheer and the general vibe in the gymnasium.”

The most important part of hosting an annual event is the outcome. Have fun and enjoy your tradition.

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Fly Fishing, Cancer Survival, and Movie Ticket Sales

The tranquil waters of the Middle Fork River in West Glacier bring peace and a strong sense of belonging to the hearts of 14 women each year. For three days, these women cast their flies into the water and allow their battles with breast cancer to drift away.

Western Montana’s Casting for Recovery program currently has 11 community volunteers who support women with all different stages of breast cancer by providing them with an all expenses paid fly-fishing retreat. Community volunteers lend a guiding hand and are “River Helpers” who share their knowledge of the river with participants. Those struggling with cancer may find it hard to remember that they are not alone, but Casting for Recovery works to reverse this trend. As one participant expressed at the end of last year’s retreat, it was the “first time she felt strong community support.”

“My Heart Just Keeps Smiling”

The three-day retreats include more than just fishing. Medical counseling and group sessions fill the last day, providing time to reflect and build a network of support. Participants leave with new friends, new skills, and renewed hope. “It was an incredible weekend,” one woman stated. “My heart just keeps smiling.”

Casting for Recovery is a national organization but is rooted in local communities across the country. It was brought to the winding banks of the Middle Fork River by a woman moving from the East coast who had herself been a participant. While she was unable to make the first retreat in Western Montana, community members helped continue her mission to bring women with breast cancer closer together and provide them with therapeutic skills through fishing.

The Connection Between Fly Fishing and Breast Cancer

While the connection to fishing and breast cancer recovery may not at first seem apparent, participants come to an understanding by the end of the weekend. A participant shared with the group, “I was grateful to have been chosen, but I didn’t yet see the connection between fly fishing and breast cancer. Sunday morning, standing in the river, I got it.”  At the end of the weekend she shared her experience:

Fly-fishing is a “be here now” activity. It takes focus, balance and being centered, physically and emotionally, to stand in the river and cast. Living well after the diagnosis of breast cancer is best done in the moment as well. It takes focus, balance and being centered to avoid feeling victimized by the diagnosis or anxious about any future recurrence.  In both fly-fishing and living with breast cancer, the best that one can do is “be here now” and hope.

Fundraising with Film Tickets

Casting for Recovery in Northern Montana typically has one major fundraiser each year to support the program. This year, they have teamed up with the Fly Fishing Film Tour to show a screening of the film to the community.  Admission tickets, donations, and raffle tickets sold at the event provide the funds needed to make the special annual retreat possible. TicketPrinting.com has been thrilled to be able to play our small role of printing to help make their fundraiser successful. We love working with nonprofits and small community organizations which are making big changes in lives across the country.

To learn more about Casting for Recovery, visit their website: castingforrecovery.org

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Fundraising Like It’s Second Nature

On March 10, 2012, the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin held a fundraising event: A Ride on the Wild Side with Jack Hanna. All proceeds from the event went to the Arctic Passage Project to fund new habitats for polar bears and seals.

Jack Hanna is a well-known zookeeper who was once the director of the Columbus Zoo. He is a recognized celebrity zookeeper who has done much to raise awareness about conservation and wild animal issues for many years.

Keeping Everyone in Mind

The sold out, adult only event offered both VIP and general admission ticket opportunities, so individuals of varying means were able to attend and contribute. Tickets for the event cost $75. There was also a VIP reception with Jack Hanna at the beginning of the evening offered to individuals willing to purchase a $150 ticket; this included a bottle of wine and preferred seating. For $1000 individuals could purchase a table. There was also a wildlife show hosted by Jack Hanna.

The lead up to the event included a raffle for a Toyota Prius, in keeping with the conservation theme.

Different funders learn about events in different ways. The organizers of the Ride on the Wild Side event reached out to their potential patrons through many different types of media: postcard invitations sent to 20,000 people, ads in local magazines, newspapers, newsletter, e-blasts, Facebook, Twitter, and a digital billboard

The organizers relied on traditional forms of media and word of mouth, which remains the most important and effective selling strategy even as technology advances.

Defining Success

“We received the most comments about the digital billboard. However, we did not survey attendees, so we do not have an accurate way to measure this,” Cathy Sheets of the Henry Vilas Zoo told me.

For those planning similar advance, Cathy offered this advice, “Begin planning a year in advance. Lay out the event in as much detail as possible, monitor advertising effectiveness. Define your goals clearly. Remain flexible and calm under pressure. Don’t forget to enjoy the event, and make sure you have a great photographer and/or videographer to record the event.”

After the event, the zoo posted galleries of photos to its site, so visitors could remember the experience.

For Cathy, the highlight of the event was, “The ability to share an important conservation message and raise funds for a vitally needed capital project by providing attendees with up close animal experiences and the opportunity to meet Jack Hanna and be inspired by his experience and stories.”

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Coffee Rock Live: For the Love of Good Bands

Talent isn’t always enough. Many great artists and musicians lack exposure and audiences miss out. Recognizing this, friends and music lovers Kevin DeMine and Jim Callery joined forces to found Coffee Rock Live. Their organization helps local bands from the Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington DC areas get the recognition they deserve. By promoting local and independent music through online means and local concerts, Coffee Rock Live gives talented bands a much needed boost.

The First Event

The first event of the year took place on February 25^th and featured the bands Minimus the Poet, Words On Paper, Evergreen and Jane Rittenhouse. It was “held at a local community hall in Hagerstown, MD where many members of the bands playing were originally from.”

The First Promotion

Kevin explains how the bands were promoted: “Our promotion for this event was done by social media outlets, flyers, and word of mouth.  We used Facebook to create events and event notifications, which were sent to each of the bands who were able to invite all of the fans, friends, and families. Flyers were made by a local production company and placed at locations throughout Maryland in which they were appropriate such as coffee houses, open mic nights, and music retailers.  By word of mouth associated with the event through its staff, bands, and advance ticket selling we were able to spread the word through much of the local community which assisted the most in helping us reach our goals.”

Coffee Rock Live was able to engage their intended audience through a variety of outlets, online and off. Social media allowed them to reach a wide audience, and it allowed for many people to take place in the promotion. Information about the show could be posted and reposted by others.

For the event, the bands were tasked with selling the tickets themselves. Presales were made at a lower price and allowed the group to gain a better understanding of how many people would be attending the event.

The Night of the Show

“Each of the artists that had performed did a fantastic job and we could not have asked for better,” Kevin says. “The reception to the event was our biggest personal highlight, as most attendees were impressed by how the show was presented.  We had also been noted by some of the visitors that it had been the best local show they’d seen in that area.”

Preplanning To Prevent Problems

The show went great, but it didn’t take off without a hitch. There were some issues with timing that first night. The venue wasn’t ready at the expected time. Thanks to good planning, this was only a temporary obstacle. The team had planning meetings before the show and worked with checklists to ensure that foreseeable issues could be dealt with ahead of time.

Kevin also suggests keeping in touch with the talent, saying, “We would suggest making sure that all participants in the event are in contact with the event staff in case there had been any changes in their arrangements.”  This ensures everyone is on the same page the day of the event.

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Event of the Week: Dive Bar Crawl Wig Party

Every January, Christi, a registered nurse organizes a party bus “dive bar crawl” for a group of healthcare professionals. Each year has its own theme, and this year’s was wigs. Christi talks with the bars ahead of time to let them know the bus will be coming. She also plans on-board activities for the partygoers on the bus.

The Dive Bar Crawl Wig Party was “not a fundraiser.” No money was made.  Christi and the organizers charged just enough to cover the cost of the event, and at $45, it was well worth it for a night out!

This year, attendees wore hot pink wrist bands Christi ordered from TicketPrinting.com. This helped identify the group at the various venues they visited. Christi was able to keep track of attendees because she could tell by the wristbands who had paid and checked-in. It also gave the bus driver an easy way to know who was allowed on the bus. Christi, “thought they would be fun especially because we printed ‘adult supervision required’ on them.”

Of course, the wigs also helped to raise the group’s profile. Most of the bars on the dive crawl were even thoughtful enough to mix up a hair or wig themed drink just for the attendees.

This year’s event really drew a crowd, though it wasn’t advertised beyond word of mouth. There was a similar event last January, and folks were eager to attend again. In fact, Christi had to turn people away because the bus was full.

Not every great event has to be planned on a grand scale, nor do all events require complicated and coordinated marketing and advertising strategies. As Christi and the attendees of The Dive Bar Crawl Wig Party proved, some events just speak for themselves.

What’s next for Christi and her group? In July, they’ll host a party barge. It should be a great success!

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Event of the Month: The Big Bucks Raffle

The benefits of music education are vast and varied, but sources for fine arts educational funding are, unfortunately, not. A commitment to music education is all too often a commitment to seeking out donations to music programs, and every school has its own solution.

Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy has made good on both those commitments.

Serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, the private Catholic school is located on multiple campuses in the Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods of the city of Boston. The faculty, administration, and staff, including M. L. Greenidge, the Director of Advancement, pride themselves on an “exciting and challenging curriculum based on high academic benchmarks,” including, the “largest fine arts music program in Boston for elementary schools.” Every week, six hundred fifty students at PJPIICA take music classes.

PJPIICA’s year-round fundraising campaign involves the sale of Bishop’s Blend Coffee, a premium coffee roasted exclusively for the Academy by Caffe Appasionato Coffee Company in Seattle, Washington. One half of the proceeds support overall student experience. More information on purchasing Bishop’s Blend Coffee can be found here on the school’s website.

But, as in most schools, there is always a need for more funding.

To help support this amazing music program, along with other student needs including scholarships and reading and writing literacy, the school runs their annual Big Bucks Raffle, a cash raffle. This year’s raffle will be held on March 30^th, with the students selling tickets beginning in March when they return from their vacation.

For the last two years, raffle ticket printing was done in-house, but this year the decision was made to outsource the job to a professional online ticket printer. Greenidge had never used such a service, and didn’t really know anyone who had, so she went to Google and came across TicketPrinting.com.

The website, she found, was “easy to use,” so she had no trouble designing the tickets just as she wanted them. She chose the Color Money Raffle Ticket, and when her order arrived a few days later, she was impressed with the product and the quality. “I didn’t know what I was buying,” she explained, and had never purchased raffle tickets online before, so she “just went based on the website, which was accurate.”

The turnaround, Greenidge says, was “faster than I expected.” Her tickets actually arrived before she thought they would, and she was very happy with the order, which exceeded her expectations but was still very affordable.

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The Right Choice for a Nonprofit: Sharing Ideas for Success

The tickets we purchased were reasonably priced and very professional looking, which was great for our small not-for-profit group. 

~ Britt C. Menchhofer, R.S., Northwest Ohio Environmental Health Association Planning Committee

The Ohio Environmental Health Association (OEHA) works as a state association, but has four district planning committees that provide education for environmental health professionals and advocates for the profession.  Each OEHA district plans its own events throughout the year.

The Northwest planning committee organizes an “education conference each fall that is offered to local sanitarians (specialists in sanitary science and public health) and other environmental health professionals and industry workers.” Attendees are able to network with other members in environmental health fields, and they are provided with opportunities to earn educational credits.

“In the past our district has had a raffle where prizes were available and tickets were purchased by attendees and placed into the buckets for the prizes. Prizes were usually items donated by individuals and businesses for the event. In the past few years, it has been harder to get businesses to donate prizes for the raffle,” Brad told me.

For that reason, the Northwest Planning Committee needed to rethink its fundraising strategy. It looked to the Northeast Planning Committee for advice.

A Reverse Raffle

“We decided this year to try a reverse raffle to raise more money and also be able to reach more people because the tickets could be sold prior to the event and to people other than attendees. Our Northeast district has a reverse raffle and gave us the details on their raffle.”

The Northwest district learned from the Northeast’s district’s success and adopted its fundraising strategy.

In the most common version of a reverse raffle, tickets are sold as they would be in a regular raffle, but the goal is to not have your ticket drawn. Instead, tickets are drawn in a reverse order. The losers are the ones that are drawn early, and the winners are the remaining tickets. For this raffle, the grand prize was $500, and $25 for every twenty-five tickets sold.

The money from this reverse raffle went to the George Eagle scholarship fund. “The scholarship fund aims to provide one graduate and one undergraduate scholarship each year for individuals studying a field of Environmental Health.”

Everyone is Responsible

In order for the reverse raffle to work, all the planning committee members needed to be on board. Each was asked to sell at least ten tickets each. “The tickets were marketed through email and mailings related to our conference. Asking people face to face is one of the best marketing strategies.” The organization employed both digital and physical mediums in order to reach its intended audience and did not downplay the importance of word of mouth sales.

Unfortunately, some of the tickets were not sold, and the fundraiser fell a little short of its goal, but, “[We] were still able to give a significant amount back to the scholarship fund,” Brad explained. And for that reason, “the event was a success.”

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A Little Transparency: Creating Customer Confidence by Inviting Customers Behind the Scenes

The ticket legitimizes our event; it makes it look special with a specific date and time and the incorporation of our photos & logos on the ticket as well.

~Paul Komorowski, Seaway Window

Custom printed tickets can mean so much more than “Admit One!” Take, for example, the case of Seaway Window, a  replacement window company in Northwest Pennsylvania.  In the business for over 50 years, Seaway is always looking for new and interesting ways to expose its products to customers.

To show off its process and products to its customers, Seaway Window invites them onto the factory floor. “Our Event is an Open House. We open our factory for tours of one of our production lines showing how a double hung window is made. The purpose is to get people to come to the factory and see how our windows are made, thus making them confident in choosing our company for their replacement window project,” Paul told me.

For the factory tour, Seaway uses the General Concert Ticket. This ticket can be printed in several flashy colors. It has space for event information as well as custom images.

For the factory tour that took place on October 8^th, the Seaway team chose orange as a background color and included images of the factory and the company logo. Besides featuring a detachable stub and individual numbering, the ticket has discount information printed on its opposite side, which can be a handy reference for customers attending the event.

“We do not charge people to come to our event; it is free. We use the tickets to legitimize the event. Plus if they go through the factory tour, the tour guide will sign the back of the ticket for a discount applied to their project.”

For Seaway the ticket serves as a valuable form of advertising. It gets customers through the door and helps to incentivize customers to purchase replacement windows through them.

How does Seaway keep the public informed about its factory tours? “We use a multi-media approach. We use TV, radio, signage, print, direct mail, newspaper, and we use the ‘Open House’ ticket that I order from TicketPrinting.com to promote this event.” Seaway uses an all avenues approach. Rather than settling for one form of advertising, it utilizes a number of different outlets to build a buzz around its factory tours.

Paul urges others to, “Use a multi-media approach to drive people to your event.”

Those who attend the factory tour at Seagate have a good time, no matter how they learned about the event. “The best part of the event is the actual factory tour; people love to go though it,” Paul said.

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Charity Dance Event to Prevent Suicide

The tickets were really professional looking. I would definitely use the service again!

~Patricia Pupek, Event Organizer

On September 17th, the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention held a Zumbathon to raise money for their annual “Out of the Darkness” Community Walk held in early October. Zumba is a combination of Latin dance, music, and exercise. It is meant to be fun and motivational and provide a great workout. A Zumbathon is a charity event hosted by a licensed instructor or instructors.

According to Patricia Pupek, the fundraiser was a great success with,  “about 100 people, which is great, considering we put this together pretty quickly. The best part of the event was the enthusiasm of the people who attended, and the fact that we were able to get the word out about our organization to so many people.”

Raising awareness is one of the main goals of the organization. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is “the only national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research and education, and reaching out to people with mood disorders and those affected by suicide,” The AFSP hoped to raise $50,000 at the Community Walk event to fund a number of local initiatives. The Zumbathon helped put them on their way.

For the Zumbathon event, the AFSP chose the General Admission Concert Ticket. The colorful ticket had plenty of room for event information plus space for two logos. The images chosen included a life preserver and the Zumba emblem. This provided attendees with visual imagery to accompany the event. The ticket featured a detachable stub as well as individual numbering.

How did Patricia and her team sell tickets to their event? “We sold tickets by word of mouth, posters in our workplace, we posted our event on Facebook, and we had four Zumba instructors who all work at various gyms and health clubs in Western Mass. They promoted the event at the health clubs, put up signs everywhere.

“Also, I gave out a stack of tickets to each AFSP volunteer in our chapter and asked them to sell as many as they could.  Some people bought a ticket even though they knew they could not attend the Zumbathon, but wanted to give a donation.”

The AFSP really covered its bases with this event using every available resource. From sharing the news one on one, creating printed resources such as posters to relying on “ambassadors” to spread the word on the organizations behalf and utilizing social media, as well as professionally printing custom tickets, the AFSP was able to reach individuals in many different ways. In turn, it was able to raise the profile of the organization and the cause.

What advice does Patricia have for those planning a similar event?

“Start planning and marketing the event a couple of months ahead.  Use Facebook- it works!”

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A Fundraiser for Spinal Muscular Atrophy

TicketPrinting.com gave us the ability to be professional, and offered us the tools we needed to make our event into a great one! Thank you for making our event a success!

~Charlotte Dunn, Co-Founder and President of Fighting For Damion

Just five months old, Damion Antonio Carbello has already touched countless lives. Born in May 2011, Damion was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), “a genetic disorder that is carried by 1 in 90 people and affects 1 in 2000. SMA is the number one genetic killer of toddlers and infants in the world.”

“Fighting For Damion is completely not for profit, and our sole goal is to help this little family with medical bills, and Damion’s needs, to make things just a little easier,” Charlotte Dunn, Co-founder and President of Fighting for Damion explained to me. She founded the organization with Vice President and Co-Founder Rachel Kessleski when they learned their dear friend’s son had been diagnosed with the disorder.

The organization’s most recent event was a benefit get together sponsored by Scale’s Grill and Deck Bar to raise money for Damion and also raise awareness of SMA. The group “held a Chinese auction, a 50/50 raffle, featured live entertainment and a dinner buffet. One hundred percent of the proceeds went to a secure account strictly for baby Damion.”

For the event, the organization chose the Blue and White General Admission Ticket, a simple but professional ticket with plenty of room for event information. The event ticket featured the details of the event on the front, as well as a logo and slogan on the back. The tickets were individually numbered and featured a detachable stub, which can be used to track attendees and keep account of the raffle.

“Because we are just starting out, we have set our goal very small and I am pleased to say we greatly exceeded it.” Charlotte told me.

To get the word out, Charlotte and her team relied heavily on Internet and radio advertising, “We advertised greatly on all social networks, and local radio stations. We also pre-sold the tickets that your company printed, which [were] a big hit! We also list every event and detail on our website, www.fightingfordamion.com.”

Some event planners choose to focus only on one method of advertising, which means they may reach only one audience. By using more than one channel of communication and reaching out to an online audience, as well as one that might hear about the event from a more traditional route, the team maximized its message and reached more potential attendees.

Another effective method that helped with ticket sales is offering a presale discount.  “We offered our tickets to anyone who would listen for $10 presale or $15 at the door. We advertised them the same way we advertised our event,” Charlotte said. “It worked very well in my opinion. If you can get the word out there on as many sources as you can, your event will sell itself.”

Though the weather didn’t cooperate, the event was still a success. “For me, the best part of the event was seeing everyone who came out having a good time for a great cause. Most of these people have no idea who this family is that they are helping, and yet they still come out to support and donate. It is truly amazing to see people put aside their busy life and help someone in need. ”

When you’re planning a fundraising event, a strong advertising and sales strategy will bring out many people who were unaware of your cause. You may find allies who come to believe just as passionately in your message as you do.

For those planning a similar event, Charlotte has this advice, “Plan ahead! Make sure all loose ends are tied a week prior to your event; it saves a lot of time and money. And remember to have lots of helping hands to help set up and break down!! That is truly the hardest part of any event.”

To donate to Fight For Damion visit FightingforDamion.com.

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