Fandom High School

"Today we're going to talk about planning a fundraising event," Josh said, pacing around the room. "The most important thing to remember is that the entire point of a fundraising event is to raise money. You might have the greatest idea for a party in the history of history, but if it costs you more than you made, it's stupid. Also, you're normally tossing these things together with at most two weeks' lead time, so they have to be realistic."

He waved his hands. "Events, done right, can generate momentum for your campaign, can be used as a reward for major donors, can help you build your list of contributors, and can give you a specific deadline for getting money into the campaign. However, they can also be a gaping black hole of a time-sucking pain in the ass."

He grinned. "They tend to fall into several basic categories: dinners, receptions, breakfast/luncheons, and home parties. Home parties are the cheapest for the campaign: someone else, normally a major donor, comps the food and forms the guest list. All you have to do is show up. Dinners can be huge catered things where you can charge ungodly amounts of money for rubber chicken dinners. The other types fall in between, and are good to spread around throughout the campaign schedule." He raised his eyebrows. "If you are going to be doing this for a living, the fundraising things start to be thought of as dinnertime. And sometimes the only time you get out of the office. But remember that campaign staff won't be paying for the food--make sure you've got some actual people there to raise some funds."

Josh sat down. "Okay. Form into pairs--I don't care with who--and plan me a party. Decide how many people you'd invite, how much you'd charge, and what kind of thing it would be. Bonus points if you don't serve chicken or chili."