Thinking about
a Fund-Raising Casino Party?
(This is a long
section, but well worth it in order to earn
more for your cause)
Casino Parties
make great fund-raisers
If the casino is operated just like
a real Las Vegas casino, then your guest will get caught up in the excitement
and will spend more money. Metroplex Casino Parties reproduces real Las
Vegas style gambling better than anyone.
Metroplex Casino Parties, has been involved
with hundreds of major fund-raising events
with associations such as: March of
Dimes, American Cancer Society, Juvenile Diabetes Association, just to name a
few. When these "giants of the fund raising world" need a casino party,
they turn to the expert, Metroplex Casino Parties for more information.
Below is a list
of recommended steps to help you get more out of your fund-raising event.
Hire the right
casino party company:
Make sure the
company you hire uses professional adult dealers who understands the
games. Many companies hire the cheapest labor they can find, which is a
big mistake. It is very important that the casino operates just like a
real Las Vegas casino. If the players never lose, (Or the dealers are
letting them cheat and win) then the players will never have the need to buy
more casino chips. When you hire
Metroplex Casino Parties to handle your casino, you are getting the best dealers
in town.
Secondly, hire a
reputable casino party company. The Dallas /Fort Worth area has over 30 casino
entertainment companies, however only a few are legitimate businesses and are
fully insured. Metroplex Casino Parties is both legitimate and fully insured,
and we pride ourselves on our reputation and customer service.
Make your event a
yearly event:
The most
common phrase from first timers is
"I'll never do this again." Please keep in mind that the first
year is the hardest. Once you establish your event as a yearly event, the
next year will be much easier and more profitable, especially when it comes to
getting local support and sponsorship money. One of the major
keys to success is getting the word out and build a following for your annual
event.
Get your casino
tables sponsored:
Get local businesses to
pay for your casino tables by becoming a sponsor. In return you give them
a small sign that goes on the table that they sponsor, plus you allow them to
place their business cards on the table. Also, give them several tickets to
the event to give to their best customers. For example, if you are paying
$200 for the table, then you will want to get a sponsor to pay $500 so that you
make a profit on the casino before the doors even open up. Getting all
your tables sponsored guarantees you a profit for the event. You should
make up sponsorship packets that include tickets to the event, chips tickets for
the casino, and maybe a few drink tickets. Listing the sponsors on your
web site is also a big plus. It
gives them exposure all year long. This is much more valuable that just a
one night event. You will find that lots of restaurants will be happy to
give you a gift certificates for free meals. Why? because they usually don't
include alcohol which means that most people who drink will end up spending more
money on drinks with the meal.
Have a live
auction:
After the casino closes, have a
live auction for "real cash." I would recommend saving a few
prizes to be auctioned off, or raffled off using casino chips,
vouchers or funny money.
Where do these prizes come from? Sponsors! When you
are asking businesses to become sponsors, several will
turn you down because they don't want to spend that much money.
Once
they have declined the offer to sponsor a table, you should ask them if they would
be willing to donate something for the auction. Most companies will give you
something, especially since you are going to announce the
name of the companies that provided the
prizes for the auction.
Most companies won't turn down an inexpensive advertising opportunity.
Sell casino
chips:
When your guests arrive, they
should have just enough casino chips, vouchers or funny
money, to last them about 20 minutes.
(About 10 betting units, $50 at a $5 table). This will get them started and
will normally make
them want to buy more. Offer the opportunity to buy more chips
throughout the event and run announced specials like;
"2 for the price
of 1, for the next 10 minutes". People like to play in casinos, and if the
casino is realistic, then the guest will enjoy playing the games.
Get free
publicity:
If you are collecting funds
for a "non-profit" organization then you can get a
lot of free
advertisement. Radio stations, TV stations, newspapers etc, will be happy
to promote your event. Radio and TV stations must supply the community with a
certain amount of Public Service Announcements. Don't be afraid to ask,
that's the only way you will get the free publicity. Many newspapers will
allow you to submit a "Press Release." This is
when you write
your own article and give it to the newspapers for printing.
Make sure you
mention the address to your web site!
Pre-sell guests
tickets:
Use your web site to pre-sell
tickets to the event. Sometimes sponsors will help by selling tickets for
you. For example, if you get a chain of pizza stores to become a
sponsor, you might get them to place a sign up at all of their locations, and
sell tickets to your event. Try to get a mailing list of people who have
sponsored past events. Make sure that you get everyone's email and mailing
address when you sell tickets. This will make selling tickets
in future years a
very easy task.
Get Free
Printing:
Make a deal with a local print
shop to do all of your printing for free (Or at least at a much reduced rate). When
you have any printing done such as event tickets, posters, brochures etc, let
the print shop advertise at the bottom of each piece. Don't just talk to
one print shop, look around and get the best deal that you can. Explain to the
print shop owner that the exposure would be great for his or her business. Also offer to list them as a sponsor, and place their ad on your web site.
Again, why would they pass up an inexpensive advertising opportunity.
Give, or sell
T-Shirts:
T-shirts are great if you
intend on building a yearly event. You can give, or sell t-shirts to
guests. Make sure your shirts include your web site. You could have
hundreds of walking billboard signs all year long!
Once again, work out a deal with the shirt company as you do with the printing
company.
Build a web site:
Having a web site is very
important. A web site will allow you to pre-sell sponsorships and guest
tickets to your event. Allowing sponsors to advertise on your web site is
a great way to entice them into becoming a sponsor. Also you can use your
web site to ask the general public for donations for your event. You can
set up your web site to accept credit cards inexpensively by
using
paypal.
If you don't know how to setup a web
site, we have several contacts who will build your web site at a reasonable
price.
Share the work
load:
Doing all the work yourself can
become overwhelming. If possible, form a committee. Make a list of all the things you want to include in your
event, then assign the tasks to different
committee members. Organize a meeting and discuss
all your ideas with your committee. Pick the best possible people for each
job. Keep in constant contact with your helpers and over-see their
progress. Make sure that they understand exactly what their job is,
and document everything. This way when you assign the task next year, you
will have notes to go by, like a "how to" manual.
Sell raffle
tickets for an expensive prize:
How about
a big screen TV? Lets say you buy a big screen TV for $3000, then you sell
a limited supply of raffle tickets, for example 500 tickets for $15 per
ticket. You could collect $7,500 giving you a profit of $4,500 for your
cause. This is just one example, you can use any big-ticket item you
want. You might even get a major airline to give away a trip, and use that
as your item. Check with various stores, airlines, travel
agents and so on to determine the best possible prize and price to ensure you
make as much profit as possible.
Promote your
event:
Contact every radio, and TV
station in the Metroplex, let them know what you are doing. Contact all the
local newspapers. Don't forget to advertise on-line. There are many places
where you can place your event for free. Check out places like digitalcity.com.
Where to look for
guests:
The best source for guests
is from your past events. Make sure you have everyone's email or mailing
address. Usually you can get a list of past supporters depending on the
association. Make it very easy to buy tickets to your event. The best way, is to
allow guests to purchase tickets on-line through your web site. This way you can
sell tickets 24 hours a day, and automatically collect their contact information
at the same time. Each year your event will grow and become easier to
organize.
Have local
celebrities attend your event:
If you are
able to get a local radio or TV station to become a sponsor, you can
probably get one of their DJs or News Anchors to attend your event. There
are a lot of celebrities who live in the Dallas area and depending on the cause,
you might be able to get them to attend. Football players, baseball
players, hockey players, basketball players, movie stars etc.. How do you
fine these people? Contact all the sport teams in the area. Ask for help
from local TV and radio stations. If you get a local celebrity to attend,
try to get them to agree to deal at one of the casino tables (along with one of
our professional dealers to oversee the game). Everyone will want to play at
their table!
Share the credit
for more success:
Allow sponsors to claim
that they are sponsoring the event. For example, if you are lucky enough
to get a radio, or TV station to promote your event, let them advertise the
event by saying "This event is being produced by: Your Association and XYZ
TV". This will give your association more creditability, and it will
give the station a big reason to promote it. After all, they are concerned
with their reputation for caring for the community. In fact...The more
exposure/credit you give them, the more publicity you will get. The bottom
line is, you will make more money for your cause.
Things to avoid
in fund raising:
Sit-down
dinners:
When people sit down to
eat, they aren't spending money. Keep your event active by having people
playing at the tables, not eating. If you are going to feed your guests,
have a buffet. I would recommend having a very light meal, if any
at all. Just finger food, chips and dip, drinks etc.
Wrong time of the
year:
Stay away from national holidays,
forget the entire month of November and December, everyone is busy planning
their holiday parties. The best months for fund-raisers
seem to be February through May, and
September through October. Indoor
fund-raising events are fine for the summer months (June-August), but try to
stay away from outdoor events during these months as your attendance will be
low.
Wrong night of
the week:
The best night of the week is
always Saturday night. I have personally seen big events completely flop
because they were held during a week night. The coordinators got a great
deal on the room because it was an "off night" but no one showed up
for the event. Remember, people general don't like to stay out late when
they have to wake up early the next day and go to work. The last thing you
want is to have an event where everyone is trying to leave early.
Wrong Locations:
The best price isn't always the best deal. Look for
free parking. Try to keep it close to the people, the longer the drive the
less success you will have. If your party is on a Friday night, avoid the
downtown area due to traffic, otherwise downtown is OK. Try to use a location that is familiar
to most people, you might be able to save money by using a unknown location, but
you will lose more than you save because people won't attend.
Wrong starting
time:
If your party is on a Friday night,
don't start before 7pm.
The best time to start the party is 7pm, and open the casino at 7:30pm. Run the
casino for 2.5 hours and close it at 10pm. Remember, after the casino, you
still have another 1 to 1.5 hours left for the auction and/or raffle. This is
when you will make a lot of money, and you don't want your
guests to have to wait until late to start the auction.
One of the biggest mistakes you can
make is to have the attitude: "I paid for this room until midnight, and I
am going to get my money's worth!" Don't be afraid to make changes
during the event. If you see that the event is slowing down, then stop the
casino early and have the auction. You want to end on a high note and
leave your guests excited. This is the best way to get them back
year after year.
Free Drinks:
If you want to give your guests
1 or 2 drinks, that's one thing,
but generally speaking "Free drinks = a loss in profits." People
will always drink more if it is free. Unless it's a company party, most
events have a cash bar. Having free drinks also increases your liability
risk of someone getting drunk and trying to drive home. Let the hotel sell
the drinks and assume the liability.
Unrealistic
casino games:
This is a big issue! Make
sure the casino company uses professional dealers who understands the games.
Your guests won't be buying more chips if the dealers are letting them win
(cheating for the players). The games must be played using the same rules
as Las Vegas casinos. The last thing you want is to have a group of
dealers who have no idea how to deal correctly. Many companies hire "just
out of high school kids" because they work for less money. Most of them
have never stepped foot into a real casino, and they have no idea what they are
doing. Metroplex Casino Parties trains all their
dealers in house ensure our dealers are the real
thing .
