A holiday festival of trees event can be an exciting way to raise funds for a non-profit or worthy cause.
A holiday festival of trees fundraising event can be an exciting way to raise funds for a non-profit or worthy cause. What makes this type of event so unique is the ability to celebrate the holidays and raise money for your organization at the same time. Here are some ideas on how to make sure that your holiday festival of trees is successful:
Get people involved!
You want your guests and attendees to have fun at this party. In order to accomplish that you need them to be engaged and interested in what’s happening. Make sure there are lots of activities going on throughout the night, from live music performances and dancing exhibitions all around town; these types of activities will ensure that everyone stays entertained throughout the event.
A festival of trees fundraising event usually starts with a call for holiday tree donations from individuals, businesses and groups.
A festival of trees fundraising event usually starts with a call for holiday tree donations from individuals, businesses and groups. The best time to announce your call for donations is about 9 weeks ahead of the actual event date.
You can start designing your festival of trees once you have received all your trees.
Festival of Trees Event Format
Here are some of the most important steps you’ll need to take:
- Pick your venue. Festivals of Trees fundraisers are held in country clubs, community centers, libraries, schools or churches. If you’re planning a smaller event at a private home or another location, make sure it’s large enough to comfortably display all of your trees.
- Get the word out about your festival by placing ads in local newspapers and contacting local radio stations/TV stations/newspapers.
- Find Tree Sponsors. Many companies are looking for unique ways to advertise during the holidays so adding sponsorship levels is a good way to add extra revenue. You can differentiate tree sizes or different categories for the sponsorship levels. The idea is that companies or families purchase a tree and bring decorations to decorate the tree at the venue to be auctioned off.
- Collect donations. Collect donations, sell raffle tickets, or host a silent auction during the event itself.
The display of trees at a festival of trees event will vary depending on the space available at the venue.
The number of trees you can display will vary depending on the space available at your venue. Take into consideration how many people can be accommodated in your location when creating your ticketing and seating plan for guests. You can charge an ticketing fee, usually in the $10-$20 range, with discount prices for children and seniors.
Set up online bidding to auction off decorated trees to raise funds for your cause this holiday season.
Online bidding allows people from all around your community that may not have attended in person to bid on items in real time. With Greater Giving you can set up an auction with a silent auction format where anyone can place bids on the items. You can also add a live auction to your event for higher priced items. Online bidding is useful because it allows access to bid from anywhere.
Start Hanging Tinsel on the Tree
Your next step is to get the word out to your community and start collecting decorated holiday trees. If you need more information on how to set up your fundraising event, we can help.
