Responsibilities Of The Fundraising Committee

As you start planning a class reunion, a realization will set in that will make you re-think whether to continue anymore.

What you’ll realize is that in order to have a great class reunion, you’re going to need a lot more money.

In order to continue planning fun activities, entertainment and meals that folks will enjoy and remember, you are going to need to do one of two things.

Either raise the class reunion ticket price (not a feasible choice since many will not show up), or do lots of fundraising.

Every dollar raised at a fundraiser is one less dollar you have to get from classmates. It is the class reunion fundraising committees responsibility to ensure that adequate efforts are being made to lower the cost of the class reunion.

In this article, we are going to go cover different facets of the fundraising committee. Let’s start with the most important responsibility

Source Out Different Methods of Raising Money For A Class Reunion

Sell pumpkins at Halloween
This is a very specific example of something that can be done year round with other occasions. In this case, you can take pumpkins on consignment from the local farmer and sell them at your local church. Just place the pumpkins in the yard out front and put up a big sign that says “Buy your pumpkin here and support our class reunion”.

This kind of fundraising can be done with all occasions. During Christmas, decorations and wreaths can be sold. During Thanksgiving, you can sell turkeys to co-workers or to church members. Or how about selling chocolates or flowers the day before Valentines? Any of the above will work provided that the people that are selling are creative and exuberant.

Sell pizza cards at local stores
Pizza cards can be bought in bulk (on consignment) and then sold for a profit at churches, schools, and community centers. Your selling point should be simple. People are going to buy pizza throughout the year anyway, so they might as well prepay with a pizza card and get a huge discount too. The cards that don’t sell can be returned with no risk of loss to you. This works very well with co-workers and bosses that already host pizza parties at work.

Hold bingo night at the local church
Ask your church if they will let you hold a bingo night. Let the winner take half the proceeds and your class reunion can take the other half. As a show of good faith, offer to volunteer at some of their events for the rest of the year.

Ask for donations
Within your class, there are many that have done well financially over the years. A good way to find out who may be able to donate is to contact the alumni office to get a list of the largest benefactors in your class. Select the top 10-20 on this list and start dialing.

Sell ads in the memory book and on the class reunion website

Are you going to be giving local companies some business? Of course you are. So why not ask each one to buy a small ad in the memory book.

For example, out of town classmates will need accommodations so you are going to have to block hotel rooms for them. Why not ask the hotel to buy a small ad in the class reunion memory book. After all, they are getting business from the class reunion. If you need to reserve rooms as a group, start by getting group rates at hotels near your school.

Local businesses, real estate agents and insurance agents are all very good candidates for ads in your memory book and on the class reunion website.

Organize Fundraisers And Volunteers

Another responsibility of the class reunion fundraising committee is to find, recruit and train volunteers to help raise funds for the class reunion.

Recruiting volunteers involves sending out emails to classmates to see who can help. Remember that the more volunteers you have, the more money you can raise. It is in everyone’s interest to raise money because it helps lower the cost to attend the class reunion.

Meet with the volunteers monthly to go over the progress, and plan for future events. Fundraisers can occur in any city that your volunteers reside in so if you have people all over the country, use that as an advantage. For example, host bingo night in multiple cities over the same weekend to see who can raise the most funds.

The monthly meeting should also be used to brainstorm new ideas and go over successful ones that can be repeated. If a pizza card was a particularly good seller, then why not spread the word amongst the volunteers to make a push wherever they reside.

Create and Follow Budget

The fundraising committee is responsible for keeping track of a lot of money. This kind of responsibility should best be handled by someone who is trustworthy and has experience dealing with lots of cash and deposits.

A secondary responsibility for the class reunion fundraising committee is to create a budget with expected expenses, and expected income. Over time, both should be adjusted to reflect actual values.

Update Progress

Lastly, the class reunion fundraising committee has to provide regular updates to classmates, the alumni office, and the planning committee.

Classmates should be updated via the Class Reunion Website on a monthly basis. In addition to updating the fundraising goals, the committee should post their successes and failures in trying to raise funds. Doing so will engage more classmates and may endear them to either volunteer or give additional donations.

The class reunion planning committee should be updated with any budget changes, new donations and future plans at every meeting.

Being part of the fundraising committee is both exhilarating and frustrating at the same time. Regardless of how much money you end up raising, the end goal is to strengthen bonds with classmates and help lower the cost of the class reunion for everyone. This article has (hopefully) provided you with a class reunion fundraising road map that will help you succeed.bring success to your event.

What should you do next?

Check out our class reunion planning guide and get some more ideas on organizing a great event.