Want to support the Common Pantry? Hosting a fundraiser makes it a fun and rewarding event. Here’s a few simple steps to get you started:
1. Decide the goal of your event. What will the event involve? How much money do you want to raise? You may want to talk to fellow advocates/event hosts to share ideas and resources.
2. Contact the Pantry. Call or email us to let us know about your event. We might have suggestions or guidelines based on past fundraising events. With enough advance notice, we can also list the event in our newsletter and on our website. We will also work through scheduling with the hopes of having a representative attend the event if feasible.
3. Plan the details. Take a moment to make a schedule for the ‘who’, the ‘what’ and the ‘where’. Under each section, try to create a timeline working backwards from the date of your event. Examples of previous successful events: Collecting change at grade schools with classes competing to raise the most (Change for Change), garden walks, pub crawls, house parties, haunted house, walk a thon, bowl a thon, birthday parties, wine tastings.
4. Publicize the event. If appropriate, create signs and distribute them through the neighborhood. Contact local businesses to inquire about posting the information on their bulletin board. Social media and word of mouth work extremely well for awareness in the community.
5. Contact the Common Pantry. We’d love to hear how things went! We can arrange a time to drop off the donation and, if possible, we will publish highlights of the event in our next newsletter. If you have pictures…even better!
6. Follow-up after the event. Keep a list/database of people attending so it’s easy to send a thank you later. People will love to know the total amount they raised and will appreciate the contact. A list also helps you contact them again in the future should you decide to do it again.
