A group of young people started an 'Iron Chef/Chopped' type competition as a fundraiser in our community 4 years ago. The funds are split between the Food Bank and the venue that hosts the event, which is a non-profit for special needs kids. This year they made over $100k. They have 4 local chefs competing, food & appliances used for the competition is donated. The chefs get additional points added to the judges scores for money raised from donations. Tickets are a reasonable cost and include a pre-show food sampling provided by each chef. There were some additional details too. It was fun!

Galas are a TON of work. Unless there is already a core of good volunteers that are committed to planning and running a fundraiser, completing something this year is going to be a stretch. There are only four more months left!

Does the soup kitchen have a board of directors? A BOD meeting would be a good place to discuss ideas and gauge interest. A community yard sale or a raffle would be fairly easy to put together.

Our local school district partners with a food bank and kids in the art classes (most of our schools have kilns) produce bowls that are sold at a large soup meal held in the fall between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Does very well as a fundraiser.

I like some of the ideas above for the type of charity you're speaking of. For some reason, "Gala" (to me meaning fancy venue, fancy food, etc.) seems insensitive to the mission of feeding and helping disadvantaged people.

Something that has worked well in our community are concerts with some kind of auction or raffle of donated goods/experiences, etc. The performers are usually people with a niche, loyal following (ensuring an audience), who donate their time or reduced fees - performers with a social conscience.

I think it's great you've become involved and wish you great success!

Hmm, Galas, usually meaning an evening dinner with music, require lots of volunteers, companies that will discount and or donate, and a large base of people willing to come to an event and pay a fair amount per person to make their ticket profitable. Usually at least $100/per person. It has to be aimed at a group that has some interest in socializing together, because they are paying more than the event is worth, and why would they not just send in $200?

Galas work if you have a lot of people who are potential guests, the aforementioned free labor and goods, and even after that the biggest money-raisers are not usually profits from ticket sales but silent auctions, paddle raises, etc.

If this charity is 4 years old, I doubt they have all they need to pull off a successful gala. It is not easy. I would also echo that a gala seems a bit discordant with the particular charity's focus; probably why you used the term in quotes.

I think you need to learnmore about the organization, its board, its current funding, its mailing list, etc, to see how you can help raise funds. Good luck and good karma to you for helping out!

One of the things our local community does is soup competitions in the fall and spring-- they generally have two categories, professional and amateur. Professionals usually include local restaurants who donate their chefs, ingredients (and often supplies). There's a modest ticket price for entry and then they sell other goods/soups and accept donations. I don't think it's a BIG money earner but it greatly improves visibility and gets the community engaged.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply! I have many of the same questions and thoughts that have been mentioned here, but he hasn't answered my last two emails (since Tues), so I plan to try to phone him tomorrow. I may have frightened him a little -- first, because I was able to quickly obtain info about some web-related problems that he wasn't aware of, and then because I may have overwhelmed him with options for fundraisers. :p

I cannot find evidence of a Board of Directors, so I doubt it, but I will ask. I also have no idea of their paid or volunteer staff, in number or position -- I really don't have any idea what they're capable of doing or who supports them. I'm beginning to think it's just a few people affiliated with a specific church that run and do everything. I also wonder who his target benefactors might be!

They are located in a very small city, so I searched and provided him with info on the few 'gala' fundraisers and other big charity events in the area. I'm hooked into the art community there, and golf in many charity events, so I suspect I know more about fundraisers than I realize. ;^) I gave him many other fundraising ideas -- thinking they'd be more appropriate for the cause and therefore more successful.

OutsidePlaying, that chef thing sounds like it would be fun, but I don't think this organization would have the connections it would take to go in that direction...

d_gw, still trying to find the answer on a BoD, what their staffing is, other fundraisers they've tried, etc. I think he's throwing 'gala event' at the wall and hoping it sticks. :)

amyktexas, I love that idea and think it would be a great fit. I know several of the area school art teachers, so I can ask if there's any interest on their part.

Olychick, I agree. I did suggest variations on auction ideas, specifically thinking that the Art Association members would be willing to support them if they were able to take a cut as well (the AA funds their own art scholarship awards).

MtnRdRedux, I agree on all! I definitely have more questions than answers at this point. :)

Funkyart, I did suggest a chili cook-off, which are very popular around here, but a soup competition would be perfect for them!

Thanks again for the replies and suggestions, everyone. He may be avoiding my questions at this point because he doesn't have good answers, but I do think I can help him.

The soup night event where each person gets a bowl of soup and keeps the bowl is a very appropriate for your cause. They do them here for the food bank and it has grown an been quite successful. The bowls are created by art students, artists and others. Tickets sales are limited by the number of bowls donated. The dinner is just soup and some kind of bread -- resist the temptation to get fancier. The simple meal and the take home bowl are reminders that many have nothing more on a daily basis and that message is part of the long-term cause. It has the added benefit that the costs are low and the money raised goes right to the cause --- and every time a person uses their cup or bowl, they are reminded of the need of your organization.

I've been in non-profits and fundraising all my career. Start with the basics. If the organization does not have a board, they need to get one asap. Fundraising starts with a board. You need supporters and volunteers. You need regular reports on progress to volunteers and supporters. You need to keep track of volunteer hours for grants. Then, a straight out "ask" for money, which is an annual appeal to those who would be likely to donate. IMHO, unless the fundraiser does something to raise the profile of your organization, it is a waste of time for staff to work on it based on time invested vs money raised. You need a whole functioning volunteer team to do it. A community meal at the soup kitchen would raise your profile and raise money, better than a gala or golf outing, which would not appeal to as many families and potential volunteers. And be easy to do since you are already feeding folks. Get some entertainment and games for the kiddies and you might make some money. But it will just be a small amount. You need to do multiple things throughout the year, including the appeal that I just mentioned, and looking at grants, and donations and fundraisers. Fundraising should also be FRIEND raising, a way to get new folks interested and involved in your organization. Networking, constantly. Something more snazzy could come later and be organized and run by the board along with a committee to do the task. Beware, fundraising is very tricky, you have to carefully look at energy expended vs money raised. I do a fundraiser plant sale every year for my Arboretum. Yes we raise money, but we also make friends, grow things for the Arboretum, and get folks interested in our other programs along the way. This is the best approach, highlight who you are and what you do as well as raise money. Even a bake sale run by volunteers would be easier and probably have a higher profit to effort ratio than a gala. Unless you have big donors already who want to be wined and dined. Doesn't sound like that is the case.

ok, I got clarification. They do have a Board of Directors. I also learned that his idea of 'gala event' is an "Empty Bowls" dinner, which is a soup & salad version of what lascatx describes. :)

Just sounds fabulous! I'm a foodie and someone who works on hunger related issues and this would be such a great event. You can help make sure it has maximum effort by working on publicity and rounding up as much gratis donations for the event as possible. And make sure those coming have maximum investment, get them on your mailing list and signing up to volunteer if possible. Don't be pushy, but many will be glad to get in the loop if they know their contact information will be kept private within your organization (not sold to other marketers or groups, etc.) Work with your local churches and other charities and business groups to publicize the event in their newsletters and social media, etc. You might even be able to get the local schools to help publicize if you approach them properly. Have fun and keep us posted. You are a good person who helps keep the world on the right path!!