TIPS ON CONFERENCE ECONOMIZING AND FUNDRAISING

From Young Democratic Socialists

"I want to come to the conference… HOW CAN I GET THERE?"

TRAVELING:

BY PLANE:

BOOK YOUR FLIGHT EARLY! Students have found cheap airfares on the internet using various travel search engines including:

    * www.itasoftware.com
    * www.orbitz.com
    * www.southwest.com (covers only certain cities)
    * www.priceline.com (covers only certain cities)
    * www.cheaptickets.com

Other Tips:
Use your FREQUENT FLYER MILES or those of a parent or spouse!

CONTACT THE AIRLINES DIRECTLY. Occasionally they will give out free or low cost seats for good causes.

BY CAR:
CARPOOL! If you live within reasonable driving distance of New York City, email your classmates, faculty members and friends to see whether anyone would be interested in carpooling with you to the conference. This can be a great way to meet other students on campus interested in social and economic justice. There will be space on the conference on-line registration form to offer or request rides.  Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) will do its best to help coordinate carpooling.

BY BUS:

Plenty of Bus Lines go to New York.  In some cities, buses that leave from Chinatown can be the cheapest.  Bus Lines like Greyhound offer student discounts with membership.  Bus lines can be the cheapest and most effective way, outside of a car, to travel if a train or plane is outside your budget.  If you can get money from your school for travel, book buses in advance as they often offer early discounts.

 
SOLICITING FUNDS FROM YOUR SCHOOL:

STUDENT GROUPS - Depending on your school, sometimes student groups are well funded through student activity fees. Approach the student activities office or dean of student affairs and see if they may be able to help cover travel or housing.

FINDING FUNDING FROM A UNIVERSITY:

    * Talk to faculty members who you think may be supportive of your attendance - for example your chapter's faculty advisor, a faculty member working in the Political Science, Sociology, or Women's Studies departments, or your dean of student affairs. Many progressive and sympathetic faculty can be found all throughout campus, the important thing to do is ask around.  Ask for their suggestions in funding and ask them to approach the dean of your school on your behalf to request funding.  
    * Many schools have a special travel fund for students to allow them to attend conferences and events.  Funding can be provided through organizations like Student Activity boards or committees that facilitate school spending on student activities.  Please look into whether your school has some of this available for you and others to use. If needed, YDS can write a letter on your behalf explaining what you will gain by attending the conference.
    * Approach the university's public relations office and tell them you will be representing the school at the conference. Ask them if they have any funding to help you get to the conference and/or if they have suggestions of where to look for funding.
    * Talk to your alumni and development offices. These folks are in close contact with donors and may be able to make a pitch to a few donors on your behalf to help get students to New York City or at least give you other ideas of where to turn.
    * Ask around to see whether there are any progressive organizations (such as labor unions or activist groups) in the area that might be interested in helping fund you to get to the conferences. This would be good PR for their group and help get you there.

Ultimately, we encourage you to seek recognition from your university by forming a YDS chapter on your campus - in part to be eligible for student activity funding. This funding may help cover the basic costs of supplies and operations (like photocopying) of your YDS activities in addition to making it easier to host teach-ins and organizational meetings.  Contact the YDS office for more ideas on how to build YDS at your school.

YOUR OWN FUNDRAISER:

ORGANIZE A FUNDRAISER at your school or community to raise funds for several people to attend the conference with you. Some activity suggestions include:

    * Host a fundraising concert/coffeehouse
    * Host a fundraising party
    * Solicit Individual Contributions from faculty, students, family members, etc.

General Guidelines for Your Fundraiser:

What:
First you must decide what activity your group wants to hold. Determine what you want to accomplish through the activity and then brainstorm accordingly. Try to keep away from fundraising that requires too much money up-front and anything that has a high risk of losing money. Keep your event simple so that you can manage it.

Who:
Audience - Who is the activity aimed for? Pick a target group: students, professors, organizations, etc. The more the merrier! How many people are you expecting to invite? Is it open to everyone? How are you going to target (formulate interest in) that particular audience?

Collaborators - Are there other organizations on your campus that would be interested in being involved?

Entertainment - You need to decide who or what is going to be the highlight of the event so that you can attract people. If you are holding a concert, pick a musician. If you are coordinating a fundraising dinner, you need a speaker. If it is a talent show, who is going to be performing? Think about who the group knows that could speak or perform at the event, ideally for free.

Where and When:
Deciding a location and date are an important part of the process. You need to pick a place that is affordable, easily accessible, available and appropriate for the occasion. The date is also important. Make sure that not too many other events are taking place at the same time as yours so that more people will be able to come. For example, holding an event too close to exams might not work.

Organization:
To make sure that everything occurs in an orderly manner, delegate as many tasks as possible. Each member or volunteer should take responsibility for at least one task, so that one person is does not have to worry about everything. Set deadlines for each task so that there is time for mishaps. Prepare for disasters such as performers not showing up, lack of food, and weather. Think of measures that can be taken in these situations so that things still run smoothly. Always confirm everything (i.e. guest speakers, room reservations, and supplies). Get permits for food and merchandise sale where necessary.

Money
You need to come up with an amount that you can spend on the event. Create a budget for your event and stick to it. Make a list of all the items that you need to purchase and how much you will need per item. Mark those things that could be donated. Total all costs and subtract donations (confirm donation before finalizing it on the budget plan) to get your budget. Search alternatives for reducing high-priced overhead items.

Costs: There are various costs in hosting an event, which include:

    * Publicity - You need to advertise your event so that people know that it is happening. This includes flyers, posters, brochures, and newsletters. Set aside an overall printing budget, which includes photocopying costs. Try to find a printer who is willing to donate the printing costs or at least give you a discount.
    * Location - Renting a hall, room, etc. Ask permission to hold the event at a public place (i.e., a park). Keep in mind the estimated attendance when booking a place. Also keep in mind additional people if you are selling tickets at the event.
    * Food - Food is a must at all events. If you are holding a dinner, include the price of dinner in the ticket. Search for a caterer who is willing to donate food for your event. At a concert you might want to sell snacks and beverages. Again, find people to make or donate food or provide a discount.
    * Speaker, Musician, etc. - The cost for the speaker should include travel, lodging and meals, unless they are willing to come for free.
    * Security - Depending on the event, you might need security.
    * Equipment and Decorations- Reserve and confirm audiovisual equipment such as microphones, VCR, projectors, and all other necessary equipment. Don't forget tables and chairs.
    * Miscellaneous - i.e. thank you notes to people who helped organize the event, speakers, performers and donators of supplies for the event. Earnings - There are two main ways to raise the funds:

* Tickets - How much are you going to charge for the event? Is it the same rate for everyone or is there a student rate? When deciding the ticket price, keep in mind the total cost of the event. Try to charge enough so that you are making a profit that makes the time and energy spent on the event worthwhile. Be careful of overcharging because you want to make sure many people can attend. Are you selling tickets at the event, or only before hand?

* Selling Merchandise - T-shirts, pins, and posters can be sold at your event. Remember selling merchandise requires initial funds to purchase the products, especially if you are designing the products yourself. You can also invite a vendor, who will give you a percentage of their profit for inviting them to the event. Set reasonable goals. Better to run out of merchandise than to have leftovers.

Important Things to Remember in Fundraising:

Plan Backwards - While planning, work backwards to make sure you are conceptualizing and thinking through all of the steps you need to have a successful event. For example, if you are holding a catered fundraising dinner on the 24th of April - then think through when you'll want to set up the space where dinner will be, when you'll need to order the food, when and how you're going to pay for the food, when you're going to follow-up with the speaker to ensure she's coming, when you're going to meet the caterer, when you're going to choose a caterer, when you're going to develop a budget for how much you can spend on a caterer and on decorations, who you're going to have as a speaker, etc.

Soliciting Donations - It's amazing how much can be donated if you know the right people, if you are creative in your solicitations, and if you are thorough and persistent in your search for donations - ask around for contacts and suggestions of people/businesses who might be able to donate food, drinks, material, event space, sound equipment and sound help, flowers, balloons, photocopying, access to phones, prizes, etc. This may be a time-consuming process if you are seeking several different types of donations. It will be very helpful to designate tasks and distribute calling lists early on in the planning stages.

Earnings - There are two main ways to raise the funds:

Tickets - How much are you going to charge for the event? Is it the same rate for everyone or is there a student rate? When deciding the ticket price, keep in mind the total cost of the event. Try to charge enough so that you are making a profit that makes the time and energy spent on the event worthwhile. Be careful of overcharging because you want to make sure many people can attend. Are you selling tickets at the event, or only before hand?

Selling Merchandise - T-shirts, pins, and posters can be sold at your event. Remember selling merchandise requires initial funds to purchase the products, especially if you are designing the products yourself. You can also invite a vendor, who will give you a percentage of their profit for inviting them to the event. Set reasonable goals. Better to run out of merchandise than to have leftovers.

Important Things to Remember in Fundraising:

Plan Backwards - While planning, work backwards to make sure you are conceptualizing and thinking through all of the steps you need to have a successful event. For example, if you are holding a catered fundraising dinner on the 24th of April - then think through when you'll want to set up the space where dinner will be, when you'll need to order the food, when and how you're going to pay for the food, when you're going to follow-up with the speaker to ensure s/he is coming, when you're going to meet the caterer, when you're going to choose a caterer, when you're going to develop a budget for how much you can spend on a caterer and on decorations, who you're going to have as a speaker, etc.

Soliciting Donations - It's amazing how much can be donated if you know the right people, if you are creative in your solicitations, and if you are thorough and persistent in your search for donations - ask around for contacts and suggestions of people/businesses who might be able to donate food, drinks, material, event space, sound equipment and sound help, flowers, balloons, photocopying, access to phones, prizes, etc. This may be a time-consuming process if you are seeking several different types of donations. It will be very helpful to designate tasks and distribute calling lists early on in the planning stages.

Publicly Recognizing your Business and Major Donors - This could be listed on the back of the event's program, verbally listed before/after the event, or written on posters around the event's entrance. Make sure to include every business and major donor who made significant contributions to the event.

Consider Having an Ad Book - This can be distributed, as part of the event's program. Ad solicitations may occur at the same time as donation solicitations, and there may even be a deal where for a donation and $100, a donor could receive a full-page ad. If you do create an ad book, use the opportunity to also include facts and stories about what you and your friends about been doing about social justice and/or with Young Democratic Socialists.  You can also contact the YDS office for ideas and national stories about what we are doing. 

Buy a Box of Thank You Notes - Always remember to thank anyone and everyone who helped you make the fundraiser a success - this can include thanking the individuals publicly at the event, including their names in a "special thanks" section on the event program, and/or sending personal notes to everyone who really enabled the event to be a success.

Have fun! You will expend a fair amount of time and energy into making this event a success. Make sure to enjoy the event as it all comes together after several months of planning.

Posted in Conferences |

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