How to Organize a Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Event
I’m a firm believer that the more you give in life, the faster you’ll reach your goals, as well as the life and lifestyle you have always wanted. By giving back, you can change the lives of many people, while simultaneously building trust and credibility with your customers. Organizing a charity event not only benefits the charity, but also exposes your business to new customers, and helps convert them into customers for life!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, which makes it the perfect opportunity to host a charity event through your business. This allows you to raise funds for a worthy cause, help people in need, and build your business at the same time. It’s a win/win situation for everyone involved!
Reasons to Host a Breast Cancer Awareness Event
The American Cancer Society estimates that 231,840 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2015 alone. By hosting a charity event you can help fund research, and provide much needed services for women who are diagnosed with breast cancer.
Additionally, your business will benefit from the added trust & credibility that a charity event provides. A charity event may draw in new customers, who may in turn, become long term supporters of your business.
Getting Started
Pick a Date
The first step in organizing your event is selecting a date and time. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, any day in that month would be ideal. When selecting a time, consider when your target audience will be available. For example, if most of your target audience works from 9am-5pm, an evening or weekend event would ensure the highest turnout.
Do Your Research
Educate yourself, and your staff on breast cancer awareness. It would also be wise to research the most efficient way to deliver the funds once the event is raise. The National Breast Cancer Foundation is a fantastic resource for information.
How to Raise Money
There are many options for structuring your fundraising event. You can utilize a single option, or combine several options to find the event model that is an ideal fit for your business.
- Breast Cancer Awareness Walk – A breast cancer awareness walk is a classic fundraising option. You can pick a date and time for participants to meet at your business, and have a route selected for the walk. The participants are then responsible for soliciting donations, and collecting the funds. You can also offer incentive prizes for participants who reach certain fundraising goals.
- Donate a Percentage of Food or Drink Sales – Another popular option is to select a date, and then donate a percentage of all food or drink sales on that day to your charity partner.
- Host a Pizza or Pasta Dinner – Pizza and pasta dinners are inexpensive to organize, yet are always well attended. The actual cost is typically between $2-3 per person, so even if you charge $10 per plate, you still have a good profit margin for the charity. If you want to donate even more to the charity you can either have your business cover the cost of the food, or see if your food and drink vendors will donate products to reduce your overall cost.
- Dollar Amount Per Drink – Another option is to donate a set dollar amount for every alcoholic drink that is sold on a certain day. You can also get creative, and offer a special pink cocktail for the event.
- 50/50 Raffle – A 50/50 raffle is a straightforward fundraising option. You can sell your tickets for a set amount, or give a discount per ticket if someone chooses to buy tickets in bulk. At the end of the event, draw a ticket to see who the winner is. The winner gets 50% of the ticket sales, and the charity receives the remaining 50%. About 80% of the time, the winner will donate their winnings back, so the charity ends up receiving 100% of the ticket sales.
- Gift Basket or Prize Raffle – Finally, you can choose to solicit donations from other local business to create gift baskets or prizes. You can then raffle off the prizes and donate the funds that are raised.
How to Promote Your Event
You will need to promote your event across multiple channels in order to ensure a successful turnout.
- Press Release – A press release is an effective method of communicating the details of your event to local media outlets. You can send a press release to local television stations, radio stations & newspapers.
- Signs and Flyers – You can have signs or flyers printed, and hang them in your bar or restaurant to advertise the event. You can also add a small sign at each table with the event details.
- Facebook Ads – Facebook’s Power Editor gives you a variety of marketing options. You can choose to target your ad by interest, or even target people who have previously donated to cancer charities by selecting the Target by Behavior option.
As a member of Bar Restaurant Success Inner Circle, you will have access to sample press releases, signs, and a Facebook ad tutorial video. These tools can help you optimize your marketing campaign, and skyrocket your event to success.
When you take the time to organize an event for a good cause, it will benefit not only the charity, but also your business. You can feel good knowing that you are making a positive impact in the world. If you have any questions or comments about how to effectively organize a charity event, please leave them in the comments below!
