STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Collette · Chanel

Throwing a benefit at a bar, need advice

JackieO527 · Dooney & Bourke

I just had a benefit for a family in my neighborhood. We used the local neighboorhood bar where everyone knows everyone.

The bar owner donated 2 hours of open bar, for as many people as I could get in there. (The owner made out, because most people stayed past the 2 hours and drank, so he made up for his loss)

I had a raffle ticket and sold them for $10 each (you could probably get $15 or $20 but people are more hesitant) with the raffle they got to drink at the open bar and they were entered to win prizes.

Local restaurants and bars donated gift cards for me to raffle, I hit up local pizza shops, river front bars, locally owned movie theaters, wine shops, etc...then we raffled off a grand prize of tickets to a football game.

If you don't have a grand prize you can just have one big prize of a night out on the town, and put in all of the gift cards that get donated.

This is a very sweet gesture. I wish you the best of luck.

Just have fun with it, if you are having fun, it will come together nicely.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

JackieO covered it pretty well - A lot of my friends work with local bars to do an all you can drink from 8-10 pm, and everyone just pays a flat cover charge of $10 to $15, and all the money goes to whatever cause they're supporting. Tips, obviously, go to the bartenders. Bars are usually very happy to do this. Another idea is to do anti-karaoke, where people have to pay to make people stop singing, or pay to make other people sing. Raffles always work well, and local businesses are usually the best to hit up. I actually wrote an article about fundraising, and it was posted on www.youngmoney.com if you want some other ideas.

kmd · Kate Spade

I don't really have any suggestions, but if you need a donation for a raffle or silent auction, let me know, ok? :) I'd like to help if I can.

Collette · Chanel

Thanks everyone for your advice and
KMD thank you so much for your generous offer! I'll let you know as soon as we get a date set!

shopgirl82 · Chanel

I've had fundraisers where you pay $20 at the door for a wristband for a select time and the bar lets you keep $10 of every $20 collected. If you know the bar owner, I would think that it would be a larger portion of the $20.

The other thing to keep in mind, is there might be a pricing difference depending on whether or not you want call or well drinks included. And obviously, if you have the fundraiser at odd hours (6-9 is usually a standard) you probably have more room for negotiation because they want to get people in the door, spending money earlier in the evening to keep the bar busy. 9-12 the bar is probably gonna be more crowded and they don't necessarily "need" to help you. 6-9 you are more likely to be helping THEM.

GOOD LUCK