How to Fund Raise with a Bingo Night

Find a place to host your fund raising event. A good location is important for a bingo fund raiser. An ideal location will hold plenty of people, be comfortable, have the facilities you need for setup and for hosting your event. Another important consideration is to find some place that's affordable. Many banquet or recreation halls offer discounts for a charitable event and some venues will even host the event for free. Check with local churches and recreation centers who might be able to help host your event or make a recommendation.
Choose the prizes. Some bingo events operate on a flat fee structure but for fund raising success, you may want to consider either doing a 50/50 draw where half the proceeds go to prizes and the other half to the cause or you could have prizes instead of cash. A combination also works and can maximize the amount of money you are able to raise. You should canvas to local businesses who may offer prizes to use for honorable mention or advertising perks. If your event is a registered charity, you may also be able to offer a tax receipt to donors.
Rent and purchase equipment and supplies for the night. There are bingo supply or party supply stores that will sell raffle tickets, bingo cards, bingo supplies and rent bingo machines to help you make your event a success.
Ask for help. Trustworthy volunteers can help you get ready for the bingo night and help at the actual event with bingo calling, ticket sales, help with refreshments and help with your advertising efforts.
Advertise for your event. Place an ad in the local newspapers, hand out flyers, contact your local radio station to announce the event and tell people about the fund raiser. By sharing information about the cause you are raising money for, you can increase your attendance. People enjoy playing bingo and want to help with worthy causes.
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How to Plan a Swim

Contact USA Swimming. Prior to hosting a Swim-a-Thon, your organization must complete a contract with USA Swimming that states certain conditions to follow. Once the contract is completed, you will receive a handbook about how to host a successful Swim-a-Thon, with forms and promotional materials. Swim-a-Thon is a registered trademark that is owned by USA Swimming.
Select date and location. Once you have a contract signed with USA Swimming, seek out a location to have the Swim-a-Thon. City, county and school pools may offer facilities for a small fee or free if used for fundraising events. Compare calendars with venues and pick a date to hold the event.
Hand out fliers. Use the promotional materials provided by USA Swimming to promote participation in your Swim-a-Thon. Hand out these items to members of your organization and others who would be interested in participating. Make sure to include the date, time and location of the event, instructions on how to collect pledges and your contact information.
Plan your Swim-a-Thon for an entire afternoon, offering different activities to encourage spectators to come out and watch. Collect donations from local businesses, such as gift certificates, gift baskets or merchandise that can be raffled. Offer food to spectators from a concession stand operated by volunteers or find a food vendor to set up during the event. Other activities for spectators can include music by a DJ and games for kids, such as water balloon toss, sidewalk chalk art and a sprinkler play area.
Give out awards. At the end of the Swim-a-Thon, offer awards to all participants and top performers. Hand out ribbons for participating, raising the most money and swimming the most laps.
Collect pledges. Once participants have completed the Swim-a-Thon event, have then collect money from friends and family who pledged. Give participants one week, or other amount of time you are comfortable with, to collect the money and turn it in to you.
Send out thank you notes. Write up a thank you note to send to each participant for helping raise money for your organization. If addresses are available, send thank you notes to those who donated to the Swim-a-Thon, such as vendors, friends and family.
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How to Estimate a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser

Set a fundraising goal. Whether the event is for charity or to raise money for new team uniforms, you need to have an idea of your fundraising objective. Set a realistic, achievable goal. Make sure that the goal is flexible because you might have to amend the number once you figure out how much supplies cost.
Select a venue. To maximize profits, try to pick a place that is free of charge. Check with your local church or school to see if you can use a spare room or cafeteria. If it's a small fundraiser, you can possibly use someone's house. For venues that charge, ask when payment is due. If you have to put down a nonrefundable deposit to secure the space, you must be comfortable taking a financial risk in the event you do not sell enough tickets.
Estimate attendance. Once your venue is chosen, you will have a clearer picture of how many tickets you can sell. Figure out how many people can comfortably sit and eat in the space. Do not plan on overbooking to make extra money.
Price supplies. For the menu, plan on serving a simple salad, garlic bread and spaghetti with or without meat. For the pasta, plan on the typical serving of 4 oz. per person, or 1 lb. per four people. One jar of sauce is generally needed for every pound of pasta. Plan on 1 cup of salad and two slices of bread per person. For drinks, you can serve water, iced tea or soda. To be safe, plan on everyone drinking at least two servings, or 16 oz.
Calculate cost. Once you have priced how much it will cost to feed your estimated number of guests, add any applicable venue fees. Add this total cost to your fundraising goal and then divide by the number of guests. This will be your ticket price. If the ticket price seems unreasonably high, then you can buy cheaper brands of food, select another venue or amend your goal.
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How to Host a Poetry Slam Event (4 Steps)

Find a venue. Speak to the owners or managers of local coffee houses, theaters, auditoriums and cafes. Many businesses are willing to let you use their space to host if it means it will generate more business. Have information about dates, times and the expected number of attendees and competitors before you make your proposal. Poetry slams are usually not free events. These competitions depend upon of drawing in a crowd of people who pay to watch the competition.
Generate interest in your event. Make sure you include information about where the event will be and what the competition requirements are. Post your information in places where it will generate the most interest, including places where local artists and poets might frequent. Try posting flyers at bookstores, coffee shops or at other weekly venues that host weekly open mic nights. Visit local night clubs where local artists and writers frequent, and hand out flyers by hand. Many cities also have local spoken word artists who are well known within their 'poet' community. You may draw a bigger crowd by extending a special invitation to well-known artists, especially if he or she is going to compete. Most poetry slams require competitors to prepare a selection of poems. You also need to include information about how much the event is going to cost to attend and enter. Many times the poetry slam's cash prize is obtained from the money made at the door. If you plan to give a cash prize of $100 you will want to make sure your door entry fee accommodates that.
Find qualified competition judges. The best judges for a poetry slam are artists and poets. Components like word play, delivery, flow, creativity, originality and stage presence make all the difference in a competition. A fellow artist will understand how the blending of these components can make or break a performance.It is also a good idea to have a diverse selection of judges. Poetry comes in all forms. Some spoken-word artists have a style that is very theatrical and animated. Others can be rather soft spoken. Others have a very abstract style. It's best to get a variety of judges to represent all different styles. Judges should also be aware that they should not hold any biases for the competitors to ensure a fair competition.
Set up the venue the way you want it to be. Make sure to have plenty of seats for your guests, and include a row of chairs on the 'stage' for the competitors. Rules for slams vary depending on the event, but most slams ask competitors to choose another competitor to battle. This means each person will recite a poem. The judges will decide who gave the best delivery and select a winner. This process continues until their is one poet remaining. That poet receives the grand prize.
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