Guest Post: Facebook and Emails and Songs…oh my!
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Anne Marie Forbes and her event, Evening of Hope, raised nearly $19,000 in 2015. In this post, Anne Marie shares how she became one of The Longest Day's top fundraisers.
What an exciting time for each of us as we plan our events and raise thousands of dollars for The Longest Day. This blog post is all about fundraising which is the fuel in the engine of the fight against Alzheimer’s. Last year I raised nearly $19,000 and I hope some of these ideas spark ways you and your team can raise even more money this year.
My event is an evening of songs performed by an ensemble of friends from my church (and this year will have a couple of special guests). I sell tickets ($25) and tables ($500, $750 and $1,500). The only difference between the $750 and $1,500 table is that the $1,500 table is able to select a song that is performed that evening in honor of someone they love who has/had Alzheimer’s. Their loved one’s picture is in the program with their name.
Each member of the ensemble was asked to make a donation to the event. Pretty impressive group of people! 100% of the ensemble contributed, bought a table or sold a table.
Prior to the event I sent over 150 emails asking for support by either buying a ticket or table or making a donation. This was in addition to personal asks of anyone who I thought could afford a table.
While I posted on Facebook multiple times with the link to my webpage, I held a 24 hour challenge the weekend before my event. My goal was to raise $1,800. I told my Facebook friends that if I hit my goal within 24 hours, I wouldn’t ask for money again until the next year. I raised over $1,800!
The event is held at my church where I sing every week. Our pastor was very supportive and dedicated one weekend to letting me have a table in the courtyard to distribute information about the Alzheimer's Association, sell purple bracelets and tickets/tables for the event. Information was in the bulletin for 4 weeks and he allowed me to make an announcement at the end of every Mass that weekend that we would be in the courtyard providing information and collecting donations. It was a long weekend but it resulted in over $1,800.
I was determined to find ways to raise money during the event. In addition to selling drink tickets and cheese/fruit plates, I came up with an idea to have the audience determine what song would open the second half. Every vote was a dollar and whichever song had the most votes (money!) is what I would sing. This raised over $700. Here is the fun part! When someone’s favorite song didn’t win, he offered $400 (which was more than the winning song received) if I would sing it. Another attendee stood up and added $100 so that raised $500… all I had to do was sing 1 more song! I did.
I was very upfront with all table purchasers that there would be an opportunity during the evening for their guests to make a contribution and to please let their guests know. Close to the end of the evening, I invited everyone to pick up the donation form and make a contribution. This resulted in $3,575.
Bottom line, I was always looking for ways to raise money because I believe it is the best way I can contribute to the fight against Alzheimer's. This year I am hoping to raise $20,000 so I am going to have to be creative. In addition to everything I did last year, I am going to do some new things:
- When guests check-in they will be able to buy a Memory Candle which will be lit during our mission moment. Each candle will be $10.
- I invited two singers from outside my church so we can broaden the audience. I will be doing a table at their churches to collect donations and sell tickets/tables and provide information about Alzheimer’s and the Association.
- We expanded to two nights. Hopefully we will have great audiences both nights and maybe we will even sell out.
Written by Anne Marie Forbes, Sr. Director, Chapter Relations at the Alzheimer's Association, and Participant in The Longest Day
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05/07/2016 10:26am CDT
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