A Fun Fund-Raiser!
On October 18, 2001 my friend Jayne and I hosted a FALL FASHION FESTIVAL at the Three Village Inn in Stony Brook, New York. This was the first major fund-raiser we hosted and we went to the administration of our cancer center with an idea and lots of nerve. They told us to "Go for it". I'm sharing this with you because it can be a successful venture anywhere.
We wanted to host a fashion show and chinese auction. The models would be the breast surgeons, oncologists, radiation-oncologists, nurses and social workers - all those who were involved in the treatment of breast cancer. We contacted a local catering hall, explained our premise to them and they agreed to host the dinner at the cost of $20 per person. We decided to charge $40 for a ticket. Next, we contacted all our doctors, They all agreed to participate. Some reluctantly, but they did agree. Next we contacted the local florists and asked if they would each donate two centerpieces. They did. Since we live on Long Island, we have an abundance of wineries. We contacted them and asked each to donate 2 bottles of wine. (The catering hall was supplying coffee, tea and soda only for that price). The wineries came through. Next we approached a local womens' boutique and a mens' clothing store to lend us the clothes for the models. Then we asked two beauty salons to donate the hairdos and makeup for the female models. The biggest challenge now was to get prizes for the Chinese Auction. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a Chinese Auction has a group of prizes. Each prize has a box/bag for raffle tickets in front of it. You can opt to put all your tickets in the bag of the prize you really want or spread the tickets out among several or all the prizes. We wrote about 800 letters soliciting donations. We visited every local strip mall and shopping center. The prizes came rolling in. In the end, we had over $10,000 worth of prizes donated. We bundled them into 30 "baskets" and printed a flyer stating what was in each basket, donated by whom, and approximate basket value. We purchased Chinese Auction tickets at the local party store. These tickets come with one large ticket preprinted with the number and 25 smaller tickets that perforate and are deposited in the bags. We ripped apart some of the tickets and sold tickets 3 for $5, 10 for $10 and 25 (the whole card) for $20.
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