We're having a guest speaker from abroad at our shul, and I have been put on the committee for organizing the event. We are planning a buffet dinner, workshops, guest lecturer, discussion/Q&A and a raffle.

It'll be an evening for women only (no men and no children!).

We are having the raffle to help raise money to pay for the event!

Do any of y'all genii/geniuses have any great ideas for raffle prizes? No food items, please, in case the woman whose number is drawn keeps kosher.

Thanks for any and all advice.

My favourite kind of raffle is a 50/50 draw - that way if I win I can buy the special treasure I really really want.

If you want to have an actual item for raffle, what is your budget or will you try to get it donated?

If it's all women, do you have a place they can go for a day of pampering? Facial, massage, nails, pedicure, .... like a day spa?

Thanks for your answers.

We have no budget for the raffle! We need everything donated, unfortunately.

I have procured gift certificates from my neighbor who has a skin-care clinic (two cert. for facials), my massage therapist (one cert. for ½-hour massage) and from the gal who cuts my hair, for a free haircut. I myself will put together two gift baskets with cake pans and cupcake papers and some fondant and food coloring (certified kosher).

I just hate this committee. It's too large (eight people), when three would suffice. Only three are active anyway... the other five are just dead weight and see our committee meetings as a chance to socialize. I can't stand when people waste my time. No one else has procured anything for the raffle.... they say 'it's soooo embarassing asking for stuff'.

Well, duh. Of course it is, but please don't shirk your responsibility to the committee.

I hate churchladies.

. . . it sounds like you have done a good job pulling some great things together . . . . . . I have no great ideas other than giving the 50/50 my vote of approval . . .

What is a 50/50 raffle?

It sounds like you have done a good job of gathering appropriate items. Excellent job!

chutzpah, I know exactly what you are talking about. Every organization I have been involved with evolves into the same sort of group... 90% watch and complain while the other 10% work their butts off and get no thanks. My sorority chapter, church, PTA, Boy Scouts...every group. It's deplorable. I am just so tired of it all. So are some of the others in the 10%. It got to the point if I chaired a committee, I ended up doing all the work. As a result in some cases, if I volunteered to do something, I requested to do it alone. It saved me the trouble of arguing/begging/fighting with the other members to get anything done. I no longer volunteer to do anything and decline if nominated.

. . . 50/50 raffle is where you sell tickets (usually a roll of 2 tickets side by side on a roll - one goes to the person who purchases the ticket the other remains in the raffle - to be "pulled") . . . then at the end of the function one of the tickets is pulled half of the proceeds brought in go to the "winner" the other half stays with the "function" (your case to pay for the event) . . . HTH . . . if you sell enough tickets obviously the pot is pretty big for both parties to have a sizable cash prize . . . . . . obviously the more you can sell the better, so there is usually one price for one ticket and another price for three (so for example $2.00 for 1 or $5.00 for 3 - trying to encourage folks to increase their chances and sweeten the pot so to speak) . . .

I wasn't even wanting to be on this committee, but at Rosh Hashannah the rebbitzen asked me... I said I wasn't sure - I would think about it, and a week later found myself on the committee. Once I'm there, I give it my all, but I think I'm just too effective.

Aha... I get it now. We want to have more than one prize, though. I think a raffle with just one big prize isn't much fun for the attendees as a whole.

. . . oh, yes I agree the more the merrier . . . but the cash prize is always well received (one size fits all ) . . . and for very little out lay the participants have a chance of sharing in a "sweet pot" . . . the bonus is it helps the organization fund the project . . . lots of sports organizations use this method to be able to bring in cash for the club or whatever (in addition to the typical donated prizes that are solicited by volunteers) . . .

I've had som great suggestions, but am on the lookout for more!

I once worked for a non-profit and the party committee put together the best packages for the Christmas Party. We all got one. Each package had a fun name and had different items in it - all donated.

Some were dinner/ hotel night, some were dinner/movie and some were makeover packages (haircut and new outfit). It was great fun. There were also a few smaller packages like fast food GC and a grocery store GC.

Do you have a list of church members and were they work? That might be a good start on where to get donations. Also if you have suppliers or service providers for your church maybe they have appropriate things you could ask for.

Personally I have always had better luck when I asked for a specific item. So if you approach a restaurant ask for dinner for two or a hotel ask for a double occup. room for 2 nights. If it's too much they will usually offer something less. I have always ended up with better donations this way.

HTH

My hotel always gives Brunch for 2 gift certificates. People seem to like it, and it's usually leftovers from the weekend weddings, plus some other stuff so it doesn't really cost us anything.

Here's a partial list of donors from my son's school. Maybe that will give you some ideas.

Avon-gift basket
Applebees-GC
Carrabbas-GC
Jewelry Store-$50 GC
Pizza Joint-GC 2 lg pizzas + 2 2 liters
Friendly's-Dinner for 2
Little Gym-Membership fee-$35 value
Longaberger-Tote/gift bag
Master supply Line-Baking Basket $30 value
Silpada-$25 GC
Silpada-Cross Sterling earrings
Soccer Tots-free 12 week session
Subway-5 free 6" sandwich coupons
Interior decorator-1 room redesign $150 value
Tastefully Simple-sample basket
Garden Center-garden flag and stand
Bookstore-book and CD collection
Phone Store-car charger and case

man, y'all are brilliant! I will keep these in mind.

Thanks so much!

I've received some really great ideas for the raffle prizes, but I am always open to more suggestions!

Thanks!

Well I have had to help raise money for several events over the years...

The 50/50 raffle is the easiest, because other then tickets it's no cost to you. We do put a twist to it though. As dragonflydreams stated they usually sell tickets for $2 or 3 for $5.00. Well we do that, but we also sell your body length for $10.00. Which tends to make people think they are getting this enormous deal. You do have to have more tickets on hand, but it's worth it because you'll make it up in sales!! Almost everyone that buys a ticket will go for the deal!! And if someone short comes by, we do let them use a taller friends body length.

As far as getting people involved in helping you with baskets, can you ask members outside your committee to particpate/donate? If you can't open it up to others, suggest a quota from your counterparts. It's not embarrassing to ask people to donate. Large companies are WILLING to donate, it's a tax write off. I'll admit, I don't like having to ask either, but I'll do it. Usually all they reguire is that you type your request out on the company, or in this case, the church's letterlead for tax purposes.

And if you can't get everything donated, maybe you could have some bake sales or a carwash (actually it might be getting to cold for this) beforehand to raise money to help fund the event. Ask if you can do it after service/mass is done. Maybe you have enough time to do it a few weeks in a row. Just a thought!

chutzpah

I just did a really huge company function where we asked all our vendors to donate items that could be given as door prizes to our employees. It worked out very well for us. We ended up with over $23,000 in prized donated.

My suggestion would be to ask local grocery stores, diners, florist, candy stores, restraurants, for donations. If possible compile a list of prospective donators and divide them up amoung your group. Put the burdon on your group and have each person make 3 - 4 calls to different businesses in the local area. What's the worst they can say - NO. Sometimes you might be surprised at the results.

I used to volunteer at a centre that provides inexpensive housing to women from out of town who were receiving breast cancer treatment. Every year they hold one HUGE fundraiser which mostly women attend. They sell dinner and hold a fashion show - professional models and breast cancer surviors.

We sell tickets for raffle items - $10 for 10. There are usually about 10 items/baskets (photograhpy packages, GC, sports event tickets, weekend getaways) and you can divide up your tickets anyway you want - 10 tickets in the photography raffle box or 1 in each raffle box. That way people only put in for the raffle they want.

They also have a donation for the beautiful table centerpieces. The biggest 'fundraiser' of the night besides the incredibly expensive dinner, is the tablescapes. They ask big department stores, interior designers, florists to put together a dinner table for 8. Tablecloth, plates, napkins, centerpiece, candles. They are very beautiful. They have silent auctions set up for each of these tables.

First of all good luck! I've done many a fundraising events and recently did a few raffles here at work - it can be a headache sometimes, so I feel your pain.

The rescue shelter I volunteer at has an annual silent auction event (coming up next week) and here are some of the things we usually have - everything is donated!

-gift certificates to local restaurants
-airline tickets
-spa/hair salon certificates
-certificates for pet grooming or boarding services
-certificates for photography sessions
-autographed paraphernalia (sports, tv, etc.)
-bed and breakfast stays or other weekend getaways
-cleaning services
-jewelry (check local artists who want to get their name out there)
-artwork
-gym memberships/personal trainer sessions
-personal chef to come cook dinner at your home


As previously mentioned, hit up your local shops/vendors. Many would love the advertisement in exchange for a donation.

If I think of more, I'll post.