|
Create a Good Quality Event |
|
If your event is a play performed by 6 year olds – you don’t need to strive for West End stage settings and Emmy winning performances, but you do need it to be a good play by 6 year olds, and the rest of the event (ticketing, organisation, communication, promotion) can be of good quality. In many respects, good quality can cost little or nothing to achieve. For example, making sure that the tickets have all the correct details on them, and are well laid out (on a PC) can take no more effort or cost than poorly laid out tickets that omit the time the show starts, for example. Use tidy and professional looking promotional materials make your tickets and promotional materials look tidy. Whether printed on a PC in black and white, or professionally done in colour – they should be clear, attractive, and should have all the necessary information on them such as when, where, how much, and where to get more information. If you are printing A4 sheets and cutting them up, use a guillotine to make the ticket corners square and even and the tickets all the same size. Have someone check your ticket drafts and give feedback on the look, the details, and the proof reading before you print them all off. |
|
|
Charge a Fair Price (Not too Little, Not too Much) |
Don’t undersell!
If people say they will not come for come for $10, they might as well not come for $20.
A movie costs $15 per person
3 beers will cost about $10.50
Many people will pay $25 - $40 for a good night out. And if they really can’t afford $15 for a show, or $20, then they probably cannot afford $10 either. So don’t price your tickets too low.
But what about people with families you may ask? If you price tickets at $20. Then a family of four would cost $80 – and if that seems too pricey for your local community then have a family ticket price. $20 per Adult. $15 unwaged. Kids $12. Family groups of 4 $55. etc. Remember it’s a fund raiser – you want to make a profit ahead of the costs. You and a team of volunteers will be putting in effort to make this a quality show, and can charge accordingly.
People will pay $40 - $50 to see an overseas stage hypnotist. That Hypno Show is genuinely world class and you can afford to charge a premium for it. We guarantee that you will be 100% satisfied with our show. |
|
|
Make it Easy to Get Tickets |
Make sure that it is really easy to get tickets though – if someone wants to come it should be painless for them to get a ticket. So pop back to places you’ve visited and offer tickets – or ask the company receptionist where you left a brochure to take bookings and money for you and give them a number where they can contact you to have the tickets delivered to the buyer. |
|
|
Ask Friends and Family to Help |
Talk to friends, relatives, parents etc. – will they come, will they organise a group of 10 from their work or club? Could they put up a poster? |
|
|
Contact Your Community Media |
Talk to the local “free” newspaper at least 6 weeks in advance. Talk to the local radio stations – they’ll generally mention your show on a community notices bulletin, and will often support you with additional promotions and adverts. |
|
|
Ask Local Businesses to Help |
Approach some of the local businesses and see if they’ll let you advertise your show on their canteen notice board. Maybe they’ll let you come in at a lunch break and you can sell tickets then and there. Offer them a discount if they organise a group and 10 or more people come. |
|
|
Drop Flyers in Letterboxes |
Enlist some people to help you post flyers into mailboxes of local residents about 3 – 4 weeks before your event. You might not like receiving direct mail yourself, but the reason that there is so much of it is that it works! |
|
|
Put Up Posters Well In Advance |
|
Put up posters at local stores and shopping precincts. Put up posters at least 4 weeks before hand. People need time to plan ahead and to get organised. |
|
Sales Phobias: When faced with the idea of selling tickets, some of your team will immediately think that the tickets would be easier to sell if they were cheaper. Perhaps this is true sometimes, but it is also true that discounting is the bane of all sales roles. If you have a good “product”, like That Hypno Show, and you genuinely believe that your donors/guests will have a good time and will receive excellent value for money, then you can ask for a fair price with confidence.
If you are reluctant to ask for money at all, fear rejection, or don’t believe in the product, then no price will be low enough for you. |
|
|
Cheque in Before They Check Out |
|
It’s a sad fact that many people say they’ll come to your event and then don’t show up. I guess it’s not so bad if they paid for their tickets, but often they will have been fobbing you off.
If they’re really coming, then they’ll buy a ticket. If they don’t buy a ticket, then they’re not really coming. To discourage people from postponing, if they say they are coming, get their money right then, and to make it worthwhile, have the ticket price lower for advance purchase than on the night. That way, if they are really coming, they will buy the ticket in advance because it is cheaper. It is OK to ask for the money. Yours is a worthy cause (I assume). If you have issues about asking for money – get over them. Without having purchased a ticket, some people will change their minds about coming simply because it may be raining on the night – even though your show is indoors. So advance purchases are the key to the success of your fundraiser. |
|
Offer tickets on Trademe and Ebay etc. of you can. Make sure the auction finishes early enough (or has a fixed price) so that people don't hold off buying a ticket until after the auction, and miss out entirely. |
|
|
If the venue is not so easy to find – say a school hall on a campus – put up signs so that visitors can find it easily from any car park or bus stop.
Consider printing a small map on your tickets if your venue is not easy to find.
|
|
|
Quality - Clean and Tidy Your Venue |
Make sure the venue is clean and tidy. People will appreciate the effort and it will influence their decision to come back next time. |
|
|
Follow Up Interested People |
Keep a list of people who have expressed interest but not yet bought tickets and follow them up at least once per week in person or by phone. Be organised. Get your team together next week and talk about successes you’re having and set goals together.
Email may seem like an easy way to communicate, but it is impersonal and easy to ignore. It is better to telephone. Better still to visit in person. |
|
Keep your energy up. Don’t accept excuses from yourself and your team. If you set out to raise funds, then raise funds. If you make an agreement to do something – then do it. Make sure that the fundraising team has bought into the idea early and are willing to give their energy and effort. Too many fundraising efforts are really the work of 1 or 2 human-dynamos and a number of passengers. The more actively useful people you can enrol in your fundraising efforts and the fewer passengers you have on the team to drag down your spirits and dilute efforts, the more successful you’ll be. |
|
