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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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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 30th, 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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Planting the Seeds: Frank Murdock Hears a Need

by Monica Friedman on December 7, 2011

Pitching a Music Festival Fundraiser: The Diversity of Community and Communication

Frank Murdock hopes he can help raise $3,000 for his favorite local charity.
Frank Murdoch has Master’s degrees in Social Work, Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapy. He serves as vice president of a small local non-profit organization devoted to providing services to the physically disabled in the region of Lafayette, Louisiana. Their goal is to provide access to media that might not otherwise be available to those unable to read print materials. Murdoch, an avid comic book fan who lost his vision at the age of twenty-four, has a personal interest in this goal and can readily communicate the importance of the project.

The long-term fundraising goal is $10,000 over the next two years. In the short term, they hope to raise $3,000 to get started.

The group has held successful fundraisers in the past, but they have also experienced some fundraising disappointments, so it’s important that they get this one right. Murdoch plans to offer the board his own pitch for a music and cultural festival, dubbed “The Diversity of Community and Communication.” He likes the theme of diversity because the program addresses “the diverse ways in which to provide information to all of us equally.” The theme would allow him to “incorporate multiple things from the community to our advantage and still press our agenda: more inclusive inclusion of persons with disabilities into the community.”

Murdoch envisions an event showcasing a diversity of cultures, especially in regards to food and music. If his idea is approved by the organization, he will then pitch his idea to various sponsors.

“The first thing I’ll do,” he explains, “is pitch my idea about diversity and equality… then talk about the richness of diversity in the community appealing to their cultural backgrounds and appreciation for food.” He would also discuss how the proposed program could create “more access [for recipients] for everything from cultural awareness events to important governmental practices and then into their pockets: sales and advertising.”

To create a diversity of music, Murdoch would like to approach a diversity of artists. With help from others in the organization, he has complied a list of acts he hopes will agree to perform, including Acadian musician Nellie Harrington, indie group The Wooden Wings, classic rockers Strazza & Company, blues musician Dege Legg, rockabilly group The Howdies, Cajun rock and rap artist Michael Juan Nunez, zydeco groups Nathan Williams and the Zydeco Cha-Chas, Curley Taylor, and Rosie Ledet, and Southern Creole Blues group Henry Gray and the Cats. In addition, he hopes to showcase “an interactive act in between set-ups and breakdowns,” including belly dancers from long-time supporters, Desert Shadows, Oasis Bellydance Studio, and Trybe Habibi Bizarre.

In order to arrange for a prize draw, Murdoch wants to approach local restaurants, to showcase the diversity of food in the community including Cajun, Creole, Asian, Italian, Mexican, and Middle-eastern cuisine. He knows that many businesses “are happy to provide a thirty-dollar gift certificate to promote their restaurant at the gig,” and adds that he could further help his sponsors by providing them with additional publicity. If his pitch goes forward, “several weeks before [the event] people see four thousand fliers around the city and residential areas to inform people that there is going to be an event and who is sponsoring it.”

Murdoch advises those hoping to pitch a similar music festival to think about reaching the broadest possible audience. Of course, you want to create something new and different. Figure out who your crowd is, and then “appeal to that crowd’s mental and emotional aspects that will get them to help you out.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Small Scale Online Educational Fundraising

Nancy Salas-Herrera teaches art and literature at Peace and Education Coalition, Second Chance Campus
Peace and Education Coalition, Second Chance Campus offers a year-round alternative high school that “services urban at-risk youth, ages sixteen to twenty-one, who have left their traditional neighborhood school for various reasons such as safety, teen parenthood, going into the workforce, [or] relocation.” For the last nine years, Nancy Salas-Herrera has taught literature and art at one of Peace and Education’s two Chicago campuses, where approximately eighty-five at-risk students work toward their Chicago Public Schools diploma on an accelerated track, in a program that acknowledges their unique needs with features such as on-site daycare and classes held later in the day than at traditional high schools.

Salas-Herrera’s love of teaching originated, she believes, in eight grade, when Ms. Rosemary Shedor at the Sacred Heart of Jesus asked her to teach a history lesson. She remembers, “I jumped at the opportunity!” and she “even threw in a pop quiz.” Then, she realized, “I knew I had to—not wanted, had to—get into teaching.” She wanted to “share, interpret, discuss, deconstruct…to inspire others.”

She describes her art classes as “organic and free,” including “touches of the traditional with a flavor of the unpredictable. I like to incorporate functional crafts, like paper lanterns and loom knitting, and multicultural art from around the world.” To imbue her students with a sense of ownership, she requires them to evaluate and critique their own work, with the help of a guiding rubric, and to defend the grade they feel they deserve.

As a literature teacher, she employs a decidedly interdisciplinary technique, bringing “art, food, film” into the lesson and using whatever methods she can think of to illuminate the subject. While teaching The Kite Runner, for instance, she invited an Afghani restaurateur to cater the class and speak about his homeland. The students also made and flew their own kites, researched the history of Afghanistan and, after they finished the book, watched the film. Other innovative lesson plans have included making papier-mâché helmets for Beowulf, hosting a costumed medieval feast for Canterbury Tales, and evaluating their own homemade Rorschach tests when they read “Flowers for Algernon.”

The Chicago Teacher’s Union provides all CPS teachers with a one hundred dollar stipend, Salas-Herrera’s yearly supply budget.

Typically, her principal provides a ballpark figure regarding available funds for art and selects and purchases student text books. Salas-Herrera researches economical novel sets. “Many times,” she explains, “I get free supplemental materials from the web or swap with other teachers in order to save money.” To supplement her funding, she finds free materials on Craigslist; asks friends, family, and students to donate materials; or chooses projects that require “recyclables or natural objects” such as “branches and sand.” But, to do the project she had in mind for this quarter, she needed markers.

Last year’s markers were done for: old, dried up, and unacceptable. Salas-Herrera required $186 for new markers, to complete a large poster project, as well as teach future lessons in which she wants to “introduce Seurat and pointillism, and pigment dispersion.”

The principal of Peace and Education Coalition, Second Chance Campus encouraged teachers to try a website called DonorsChoose to raise additional funds, and Salas-Herrera was further encouraged in this by the endorsement of other teachers, in addition to such personalities as Ophrah Winfrey and her “darling” Stephen Colbert (to whom she adds: “Mr. Colbert, I have another project brewing. Won’t you please, please help me?”). She found the site “easy to use” and its staff “quick to respond to questions.” She adds, “I like that they are honest [about] how and where the funds are being applied to satisfy the request.” To that end, she created her own DonorsChoose project, “Craving for Crayola Markers.”

Kids and Markers: A Brilliant Combination

Her students were encouraged to spread the word, and Salas-Herrera publicized the project on her own Facebook page. In short order, several patrons of the arts donated the money and she soon had her new materials. “It was a wonderful feeling,” she recalls. “People still believe in art education.” She will “definitely” be using DonorsChoose again.

The students at Peace and Education Coalition, Second Chance Campus face challenges that many high schoolers will never know. They may be culturally limited because they are “are afraid or reluctant to venture out of their neighborhoods,” and they often cope with “financial difficulties, run-ins with the law, drug/alcohol abuse, lots of peer pressure, and teen pregnancy.” Some of them are “struggling learners” who require assistance from special education teachers. Often, their emotional issues come to the fore of the classroom, resulting in “disruptions” and student who “shut down” until Salas-Herrera must talk to them individually to “get to the root of the matter, as much as they allow me to know. Sometimes, they just need to cool and calm themselves down before they can approach the daily lesson.”

It’s a challenging atmosphere, and while the work can be difficult, Salas-Herrera says it’s “awesome that I am teaching right by my old neighborhood, the Back of the Yards. I am grateful that I am giving back to the community where I was born and raised.” Alternative schools, she feels, often get a bad rap, but she wants the world to know that, “these kids are not bad. Most them just made some bad choices, but…aren’t we all flawed at some point in time? I commend them for trying to make it right and graduating with a high school diploma. I think it  is an excellent step onto the right path!”

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QR Code Posters for Educational Fundraising and School Events

What do you know about QR codes?

You’ve probably seen these distinctive, randomly-checkered, black and white squares on advertisements in magazines and other print publicity. Anyone with a smart phone can scan them in an instant, and be transported to a sponsor’s web page for more information.

How does that help your raise more money for your school?

What if that QR code sent students, parents, and other potential donors to a website where they could instantly purchase tickets to an upcoming dance, theatrical performance, fundraising event. What if that site allowed them to make an instant online donation? What if you could do it all at an affordable price?

By combining the power of QR codes with the convenience of our TicketRiver online box office, we’ve created a reliable tool for your school. TicketRiver helps you collect money, whether you’re selling tickets or just asking for charitable donations to support the arts, athletics, the building fund, or any other program that requires cash.

It’s Elementary

We know you’re busy, and that’s why we’ve made the process as streamlined as possible. You can start with a call to our friendly customer support staff at 888.771.0809 and tell them you’d like some QR Code Posters. While you’re setting up your page on TicketRiver (totally free, really easy), they’ll help get your Posters started. You can send our designers any image you’d like to use, have a custom design created just for you, or even choose a combination, like a custom design that incorporates your school logo.

We won’t print or ship your posters until you’re satisfied with the proof, so there’s no risk. When you receive them, the unique QR code will feature prominently in the image, letting everyone know that they can instantly buy tickets or send money with their smart phones.

Time to Shine

Just hang your Posters around the school or wherever you suspect your supporters may lurk. Wherever you go, whatever you do, those QR codes keep working for you, so you can sell tickets or collect donations literally any time, utilizing zero human resources. No one has to sell tickets, collect money, count change, or answer questions. Your TicketRiver page does it all for you!

If you’re looking for a way to move your fundraising campaign into the twenty-first century, capitalize on your students’ love of technology, or raise more money while committing fewer resources to the cause, QR Code Posters are smart way to achieve your goals!

 

 

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Event of the Week: OEHA Reverse Raffle

by Lance on November 12, 2011

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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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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Event of the Week: Fighting for Damion

by Lance on October 17, 2011

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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From Tragedy to Triumph: A Literacy Event in Honor of Alex Johnson

“The tickets were beautiful and added class to the event.”

~Denise Johnson, Event Coordinator, Mother of Honoree

On September 17, The Alex Johnson Memorial Concert was held to benefit the Mississippi County Literary Council.  The fundraiser included an artists’ reception, silent art auction, and a concert. It was held in memory of Alex Johnson, a student and a tutor at Northeast Arkansas College, where he volunteered for the literacy council. In 2009, Alex died in a car crash while traveling home from his college choir practice. He was 22.

Along with honoring the memory of her son, “the event was an effort to raise money for adult literacy in our county,” Denise told me.

In order to advertise the event “we used Facebook, posters, newspaper articles and ads.” The Facebook page for the event was frequently updated with information about the event. The page was a hub of information. Announcements were made when new art was donated for the auction. Information about the performers, The Reba Russell Band, Jo Jo Jefferies, and Lincoln Lane, were included. There were also links to interviews and articles that had been written in advance of the event.

Denise participated in interviews and a number of articles were posted online advertising the event.

For Denise the value of word of mouth advertising could not be overestimated. You can sell more tickets “one on one” than by advertising for patrons to go elsewhere and buy them.

For the ticket, the organizers chose the “Natural Riffs” design. This ticket features a warm color palette. An acoustic guitar and stage lights provide the backdrop for the event’s information. With sequential numbering and detachable stubs, these tickets help organizers keep track of sales and attendees.

The fundraiser was a success, ” Everything went very well.  [The] highlight of the event was song sung by a former Miss. Co. resident and sister of the honoree.” Denise said.

 

 

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