Thanksgiving and Christmas are a time for giving. Helping out the homeless and giving back to your community is an excellent way of getting into the spirit of the season and doing a good deed. And what better way than giving to those less fortunate?
Whether it’s just you working alone, with your family, or getting your whole neighborhood on board, we have some suggestions to help you out. You must go over several steps to host a charity event, but we have you covered.
Read ahead to find out what you must go through to set up a successful charity event.
Setting a budget
Your local charity event will depend on the size of your “organization.” If it’s just you, you can go through your neighborhood, gather supplies and donations, and take them to your local homeless shelter or a soup kitchen.
However, if the organization is bigger, you should also think on a bigger scale. Getting as many people on board as possible will be the best option for this kind of event. It will be easier to organize and probably have a much bigger budget.
For bigger organizations, you can set up your own soup kitchen or a food service line for the homeless. Moreover, you can set up a storage space where people can come and donate food, clothes, blankets, etc. Another suggestion would be to have monetary donations, which you can later give to your local shelters. However, all of this will definitely require a venue.
Finding a venue
When you define your budget, you can look for a venue for your charity event. That, too, will depend on the size of your charity event and the number of people involved.
You must consider choosing the right place if it is a stationary event, as they most often are. These often include makeshift spaces and are usually outside, so setting up a tent is your best bet. Check with your local police department on where you can put one up.
According to American Pavilion, commercial tents are a great way of creating a makeshift space for your event. They are easily adjustable, come in various sizes and shapes, and are often used by non-profit organizations and community events.
Choosing a theme
When you have the funds and a venue, you can start thinking about the theme for your charity event. We’ve given you some suggestions above, but ultimately, it depends on you and the others involved in your organization.
You can put a suggestion box and let people give their ideas, or you can give a few ideas and let people vote for what they want the most. It can be a competition, where the winner will get a prize. But remember, your goal is to get as many resources for your charity event, so there are no huge prizes for the winners.
Another suggestion we can give you is to create a cook-off, a bake-off, or a cupcake contest, where there will be teams and judges.
Promoting the event
To help out more people or receive more donations, you must promote your charity event in every way possible. Luckily, there are countless ways you can do that now.
Whether it’s your neighborhood friends posting on various social media sites or going around the town and putting up posters and notes wherever you can, promoting the event will be a key step in ensuring its success.
You can even spend a small portion of your budget on ads, such as social media ads or your local TV station ads. Just let your local TV station know what the ad is for. Being a charity event, they might give you a discount or even let you run your ad for free.
Donating
Although not necessary for a local charity event, gathering monetary donations can be a good way of further helping the community. The goal of your event should be to collect any useful items and help in any way you can, and it doesn’t have to be monetary.
However, if you have already thought about it and want to donate money, setting up donations at your charity event’s venue can also prove beneficial.
After gathering all the food, clothes, blankets, and all other items people have donated, you can use the monetary donations and give them to your local homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
Conclusion
With Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons approaching fast, hosting a charity event would be a great way of giving back to the community. In this article, we’ve covered all the steps you need to host a charity event.
Depending on your budget and the size of your “organization,” we’ve given you suggestions to help you out. Whether you’re getting supplies like food and clothes or raising donations, this article has you covered.
