How to hold a profitable fete or fayre
Ten must do's you must do for profitable fundraising
1. Committee
Keep it small and make sure that every person on the committee has a particular job. Free the secretary to be the number one trouble shooter on the day.
2. Planning
Check that there are no other fetes and carnivals near to you on this day. Don't run away with too many ideas. If you've got 1000 people coming to your event, every one of them, mums, dads and each child spends approximately £2, therefore your estimated income is £2000. With this in mind think and plan carefully.
3. Choosing
You must make it a Fun Day, you must entertain the people, you cannot take money from the public unless they are in a happy mood. You need side shows for the children to keep everybody happy. The main fundraising stalls are your instant lottery games which are also fun.
4. Ordering
You must first of all estimate your expected attendance. This is the most important question you have got to answer before you start any planning, e.g. if you are expecting 1000 people, divide it by 3 then you can expect 300 mums, 300 dads and 300 children. You have now got an idea of how many cups of tea you are going to require and, if you have got a beer tent, how many pints of beer and also a guide to the number of soft drinks and ice creams for the children. Don't wear rose coloured glasses, don't over-buy, the name of the game is to make a profit, you can always, after a successful event, plan bigger next year.
5. Weather
It is advisable when planning your event to have a school classroom or clubhouse available for you to rush indoors your stalls and side shows in case of a downpour. Some insurance brokers offer wet weather insurance.
6. Fancy Dress
Get your helpers to dress up in fancy dress costumes. It makes such a difference to your Fun Day.
7. Publicity
- Put small posters in local shops approximately two weeks before the event.
- Put up fate pointers the night before your event.
- Local press advertising is quite expensive but local radio is often free.
- Always make sure the gateway to your event is colourful - put up a banner and bunting - you cannot overdo it, it's very important.
- Dress up as a clown and hand out leaflets at your local supermarket (as long as the manager has okay'd it).
8. Layout
- Put your stalls close together, think of a fun fair where the side-shows actually touch each other.
- Have your refreshment tent at the back of your event so as the crowd come in they walk past the stalls to the tea tent and then have to walk back again through the stalls when they leave.
9. Music
Very important. It's all part and parcel of the scene. You should not be able to drive past or walk past a fete because you cannot see it or you cannot hear it.
10. Finale
Leave it tidy, you can then ask to go back there again next year. Have plenty of refuse sacks ready for the end of the event. Make this fun, get the children to collect the litter and give a prize for the heaviest sack or sweets to them all. A hand shake for your helpers and committee costs nothing, but better still a get together and a glass of wine is even more fun and you can chat about what went right and what went wrong.
