People enjoy watching local celebrities compete.
People enjoy watching local celebrities compete. They also believe in donating to a worthy cause. Americans gave $295 billion to charity in 2006, estimates Charity Navigator. (See References 1) Put together a winning charity event by staging a football game for charity with local celebrities.
Instructions
1. Find a venue. Public parks, schools or sports arenas are locations to consider. Approach the marketing director or park or arena supervisor with your idea. Public parks will usually provide free space, but must be notified in case scheduled events conflict. Commercial arenas may consider donating the space for a few hours in exchange for the publicity they'll receive from media personalities competing in the event.
2. Set a date. Give yourself enough time to contact local celebrities while giving them plenty of up-front notice about the event. Plan according to your local climate. Putting on a football game in the middle of the summer probably won't garner many spectators or participants. An ice-cold winter event will kill attendance also. Plan your event well in advance for a mild-climate month.
3. Approach local celebrities. Ask if someone in your organization has ties to any local media or has worked with media in the past. Having a person with contacts can prove indispensable. If there is no one with contacts, put together a professional letter asking celebrities to participate in the charitable event and email to the television or radio station, corporation or organization of the person you wish to participate.
4. Sign up as many individuals as you can to participate and sign people up to fill in in case participants drop out. Even if you have perfect attendance resulting in more players than you need, substitute players so everyone gets a chance to participate. Don't overlook prominent business owners with a large number of employees or customers; they'll provide their own personal cheering section and probably donate. Sign up volunteer coaches for each team as well.
5. Sell tickets. Pass out a specified number of tickets to each participant so he can help raise money and allow his friends, family and fans to either come and watch or simply donate to a good cause. Set up a Facebook page for the event and a free blog and provide a click-on button that takes Facebook users to your blog, where people can buy tickets. Provide tickets to each person in your organization to sell for the event. Post flyers at local coffee-houses and grocery stores. Print out a media release for the media celebrities participating to read to publicize the event.
6. Obtain a vendor license to sell snacks and drinks at the event. Contact your local food and health licensing bureau and apply for a temporary vendor's license so you can sell food and drinks and raise more money.
7. Ask for donations from suppliers. Food suppliers, tent rentals -- anyone whom you buy supplies from for this event will likely donate goods or at least give you a discount because it is a charitable event.
Tags: local celebrities, celebrities compete, charitable event, enjoy watching, enjoy watching local, event will, football game