We did well at the fund raiser last night. As they often do in silent auction draws, the winner of one draw, draws for the next prize. One lady drew her own ticket for the next prize and graciously declined, asking them to draw again. And the next ticket drawn was mine! I had won two blocks of cheese, and some little signs to use to identify them on a cheese board. (Whoopee!) So I drew the next ticket and it was mine again! I don't think I've ever seen it happen twice in a row before! But this time it was for the prize I really, really wanted--a Safeway gift certificate--so I graciously accepted the second prize and brought it home too. My friend Rose Anne had gone with us and won a prize as well.
The dinner itself was nice, and well presented, but I thought a little pricey. Unfortunately, the lady organizing it for us had promised tickets at the door to five people who didn't show up. This meant that we had to pay for 5 extra meals. So roughly estimating things in my head, we didn't do so well with the fund raising. I have inside info, as I had to sign the cheque.
Overall, the whole affair gave me food for thought. The donated draw prizes were pitiful. Ticket sales were poor. We didn't reach our fundraising target. How can I get this organization to perform an objective evaluation of their activities? They will be happy to have made @$600.00. Nevermind that this took about three days paid staff time and as much, if not more, in volunteer time--our most valuable resources. I'm betting that the only people who might come back next year would be Board members and their families--and how long can you "milk" your Board. Successful fundraising needs to have outside support. We have some activities where fundraising isn't our primary goal ( Yes, I've spent the last three years actually asking them to list goals for specific activities--a strange concept), but in this case it was. Oh-h-h, maybe I should head for a corner and beat my head against the wall!
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