A common question is when should I have my Fundraiser, because there are literally 365 days to choose from, and it can be very overwhelming! But this is one of the first decisions you need to make when planning for a Fundraiser, and it is kind of an important one.
First check with your main circle of people to ensure that the day you are considering works for them. That is obvious right? You would think so, but we thought we would mention it. Perhaps give them 5 dates and ask which ones DON’T work, and cross those off your list.
Which Day of Week
Most people choose a Saturday night to hold a Fundraiser, however Friday nights can get you a better deal on some DJ’s and Halls. Midweek Fundraisers are okay, but people have commitments with kids and work so you may not get as good of a response. We recommend sticking with a Friday or Saturday night for sure!
If its a Stag & Doe
If this is a Wedding related Fundraiser, the wedding couple usually has their Stag and Doe between one and three months before the wedding. This allows a good lead-time to generate needed funds and does not interfere with bridal showers or preparations for the ceremony and reception. With that said, we have had plenty of people hold a Stag & Doe one weekend, and get married the next weekend! WOW! We believe the thinking behind this is that they have so many out of town guests coming so this way they can attend them both. But that is a lot to ask from people. In fact, we have even seen a trend of people having a surprise Wedding at their Stag & Doe! Can you believe it! We strongly advise against this – too much pressure and trouble to do everything all in one day and you want people to bring you gifts don’t you?!
Holiday Consideration
Anyhow, back to the question at hand – when should I have my Fundraiser. Stay away from long weekends or too close to national holidays – you want to make sure you get the most amount of people to show up so be smart! Summers can be tricky because of vacations too – isn’t this a difficult task? Then you have to work around other Fundraisers or Weddings or big family events because you don’t want them to be back to back. Basically our recommendation is to check with your closest circle of people and just pick a day, and whoever is meant to come, will be there!
So how many people are needed to plan a Fundraiser? This is not something you want to do alone! You definitely need to start by getting a Fundraiser Committee of people together (perhaps the wedding party, family members, or close friends) to help organize the Fundraiser as it is way too much work for one or even two people. Choose people who have maybe done this before for another friend or family member and know what to do. Choose people that YOU have helped before at their event. Choose people that are responsible and helpful and that you know will have your back and are happy to help. There might be some people that you will ask to be a part of your Committee, but that you know won’t do squat! That is just the way it is as some people are quite selfish. Sometimes however, they just underestimate how much you really need their help, and they won’t really understand the importance of a team effort until its their turn to hold one for themselves.
Some people are lucky and have people lining up to help, but others have a harder time. If you are the first person to get married out of your friends’ group, the others will not yet understand what is entailed and won’t really get how much work and help is needed to make it successful. They may not grasp that the bridal party is supposed to do the majority of ticket sales and other running around and planning. Sorry about this! It is very frustrating to be stuck with all the work, and many of our clients complain about this. So it is up to you to tell people what their jobs are (in a kind way of course).
Pick an appropriate method of updating your Fundraiser Committee Members – whether it be over email, meeting in person once per week, creating a Facebook page, etc. We like the Facebook page because you can see when people have read things, you can see what others write, you can easily attach pictures, you can create events for meetings, etc.
For your first meeting, make a list of EVERYTHING that you will need to do (by following our handy guide of course), and start delegating. Please take people up on their offers to help, you will need it! A lot of people want to help but don’t know what to do to be helpful – so tell them! Sometimes you will have to be upfront when asking for help, but in the long run, their help will be very useful.
You might be wondering – How do I Book Dealers? When you book online with us, it will specifically ask you if you would like our Dealers if you are looking at one of our Casino Tables or Wheels. Check off that you would like them.
In the checkout, it will confirm that you still want these Dealers. Here is where you can enter the city that they would need to travel to, and the hours that you need them. Then it will give you a price.
Jack of all Spades will, on your behalf, contact the company that we subcontract our Dealers from, and provide them with all the information that you provided for your event. This company will take care of hiring the Dealers for your event, and they will contact you to figure out how you want the games run.
The Owner of the Dealing company (Vince) is fabulous to work with, and we have partnered with him since 2007! He might ask you questions like how you will like the games played, if there will be any raffles, how the poker chip structure will look like, or how the raffle ticket structure will look like.
Don’t have any clue how to run a Casino Night for profit? Or is this just for entertainment yet you aren’t sure how to make it all come together? Don’t worry! His company is wonderful and he will guide you through every step till you are comfortable.
Well of course it can be hard to predict what Percentage of Guests will Gamble during a Casino Night. You see, if you have couples coming, they may watch each other play so there might only be one participant at a Blackjack Table even though there are 2 people standing there as an example. If it is all coworkers, then you may have more participation but this depends on the ratio of females vs males. Males typically are bigger gamblers but that is not to discredit the females. Certain games attract certain genders too.
Now that we have totally confused you, we will try to help you with a number. A good rule of thumb is to try to find enough games for 40% of your people. So if you expect 100 to show, only find games that will accommodate around 40 at any given time.
Lucky for you, we have put together a spreadsheet that breaks down our recommendations based on the number of people you expect to come, and based on that 40% figure. Aren’t we kind?! CLICK HERE to see a breakdown of how many people can play a Casino Game at any given time.
It helps to be able to understand How Many People each Casino Table Accommodates so that you can do your planning properly and have the right amount of tables. You don’t want too many because it is a sad party when the room looks empty, but you also don’t want too few because not everyone will get a turn. People might not feel like waiting in line to play, and will just give up. Below we have a list of our Casino Games so that you can judge how many people will be able to play at any given time.
The following can accommodate up to 6 people at any given time:
Roulette
Craps
Crown & Anchor
Horse Race Wheel
Car Race Wheel
Jungle Race Wheel
These Casino Tables can look after more:
The Blackjack Table seats 7 plus a dealer
The Poker Table seats 9 plus a dealer.
Now that you have this info, it should help guide you in choosing the appropriate amount of games suitable to the size of your party, and it should answer your main question of how many people each Casino Table accommodates.
We have tons of tips for you to consider so that you know How to Avoid Breaking Even on a Game. Keep in mind however, that there are many variables involved when trying to maximize your profits and your success is dependent upon so many things! So although we cannot guarantee success on raising money for any of our games, we definitely have some excellent tips on how to avoid disappointment.
Your Success Depends on:
How well organized you are (if you are forgetting lots of things and are running around last minute, that will not make for a smooth event and you could be losing out of the effectiveness of games)
How well you pump up the excitement about the games (whether you advertised on your Facebook page ahead of time the games that will be there, how much the DJ talks up a game on the mic, etc.)
If you had someone manning the game the whole night (we have been to Fundraisers where they had all of our games lined up, but only one person watching over them… IF they were there. So we walked up to a game to play, but nobody was there to take our money so we walked away)
You didn’t choose games like Roulette or Craps – although these are fantastic fun games for a Casino Night, you cannot run them in a way to guarantee yourself a profit. In games like Blackjack and Poker, you can run it to guarantee yourself a profit, so keep that in mind.
How well you advertised the games around the room (be sure to rent our Signs as they stand out and explain the price and prize efficiently)
Who you have chosen to run the games (pick fun outgoing people who are happy to help. Not your quiet sister who sits on a chair not making eye contact with anyone and giving off bad vibes)
If your helpers are quick with counting (honestly, sometimes these helpers are either too drunk or not super good at math and end up giving away your profits without realizing it)
If your helpers are sober and on the ball (so they might have one or two, but if they are hammered at your Event, don’t expect too much from them in terms of reliability and efficiency)
Where you set up your games (don’t pick dark places are in the back corner, but put them in people’s faces. For instance some people like to set up the Jail & Bail game right in the middle of the room, rather than against a wall)
Average age group of your guests (young 20 year olds may not have as much disposable income as 40 year olds so they will spend different amounts. The younger crowd might be more willing to spend money on drinks, where the older crowd would be a mixture of games and drinks. Seniors typically do not drop hundreds while at these events either, as they are known to be more conservative spenders. Also if you are the first person to get married in your friends group if this is a Stag & Doe, your friends won’t get it yet. They won’t understand that the point is to make you money and they are expected to play some games)
How much variety of games you are offering (don’t rent 3 types of Golf games – have some variety to suit all tastes and skill levels)
How much you are charging for your games (too high, and nobody will play. Too low and you are losing out on profits)
What the prizes are if they win (make it worth their while but don’t be reckless and spend thousands on prizes as you should aim to get them mostly donated)
What else you may be focusing on (entertainment, DJ, dancing, silent auctions, etc.)
Number of people in attendance (having 50 people show compared to 300 people show is a large difference!)
So take these into consideration and have a good plan in place to avoid all of these, and maximize your profits!
The age old question we are always asked is how much people make at Fundraisers? We got the inside scoop because year after year, our clients tell us! We have had people break even from their Fundraiser (OUCH!) and we have had several people make just under $30,000. The people who broke even (honestly maybe we have met 5 over the past 12 years) obviously did not plan this out too well, and obviously did not follow Jack of all Spades’ suggestions. ? CLICK HERE to see those suggestions by the way.
The ones that made over $20k, did well with pre selling tickets, perhaps offered a dinner so charged more for the tickets, and had some pretty big booze drinkers. The games obviously contributed to their success but it was probably more of a booze fest from what we have heard from clients when your profits are that high.
We estimate the average to be somewhere between $2500 – $6000 in profit. How much have the games contributed to that number? Nobody has ever been able to tell us! It is such a chaotic night with so many people helping at once that you cannot possibly break it down that finely unless you are a total control freak lol. We do know what are the generally profitable and popular ones, and those you can find in our Packages.
If you only end up making $100 off the games, just remember that you have provided your guests with entertainment, which kept them happier and there longer spending money on other things like booze and raffle tickets. However we highly recommend referring to that list of suggestions, which will definitely maximize your profits.
We need to know what we are walking into before delivering. For instance, we would need to be able to schedule enough time to climb 4 flights of stairs, if that is your situation. That is a lot of extra work and time required, and we need to be prepared. Or if we have to take an elevator – we have to load it all in, take it up to the particular floor, unload it all one by one, etc. Also very time consuming. Obstacles just add on to the time that it takes to do your Delivery, and our Delivery personnel are paid by the hour. This is why it is important to ask so that we can schedule it in! We take pride in arriving on time for your Delivery, and if our last Delivery held us up for an extra 45 minutes because we were not made aware of these Obstacles, then that is not too fair to you. So during the booking process, you will be asked the question about Obstacles, and now you know why!
Here are some examples of Obstacles:
Parking Issues
Long walk from Entrance
Elevators or Escalators
Narrow Space to Maneuver
Stairs
Itemized Obstacle Fee Charges
Each game will be subjected to the following Obstacle Fees:
Unloading Situation
$0 Unload at Entrance
$4 Unload in Parking Lot
$5 Unload in Street Parking
$5 Unload in Loading Dock
Walking Distance
$0 Room is right inside entrance
$2 Small Distance to walk
$5 Somewhat of a long distance to walk
Stairs / Elevator / Escalator
$0 None
$0 – 1-3 Steps to climb
$5 – 1 x Flight of Stairs to Climb
$7 – 2 x Flights of Stairs to Climb
$9 – 3 x Flights of Stairs to Climb
$3 Freight Elevator
$5 Elevator
$5 Escalator
As an example, if we have to unload at the loading dock, have a somewhat long distance to walk, and have 3 flights of stairs to climb, there will be a charge of $19. If you have 3 games, the Obstacle charge will be $19 x 3 = $57. Note that a charge of $19 is the most you will ever pay per game, but most people’s total is $0 for Obstacles to be quite honest.
You paid for your rental 100% when you booked, however it is quite common to add on some items before your big day. You can pay for the balance in 3 ways:
You can bring the exact change with you when we meet
You can send us an E-Transfer to info@jackofallspades.ca and please make the password “carrie” if it asks for one
You can let us know that you wish to pay by credit, and we can send you a link to pay, however note that you will be subjected to a 4% processing fee from Stripe.
We do not assist in helping to load it or unload it into your vehicle for liability reasons. We always advise you to bring a second person to help just in case, as we are not liable for any injury or damage to your car, so having another person there to help you will minimize any issues.
With that said, on each product page, you will see a list of tabs FULL of info! One of the tabs might say “How to Transport” as well as “How Heavy is This”. Check out those tabs. You can do this by clicking on the search button and typing your game name in the search bar. Alternatively, after booking you are sent a list of items in at attachment that you booked. In this attachment under the “Notes” column, all of the links will be right there! So check that out, and it should help guide you so that you know if you will need help loading and unloading this into your vehicle.
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