[SuburbanMom]

Ok. Here's what I'm thinking...you want something that will attract people and will get them there, but then you have to keep them there the entire time to make sure that they will keep upping their bids. Food and drinks are good for this. I'd keep food and drinks in with the items. Maybe put 1/2 the items and 1/2 the food in one room and the other 1/2 in the other if you need the space.

Theme - have to get food, music and I would suggest (cheap) decorations to match the theme. (hey - you can raffle off the decorations at the end of the night or auction them off in a non-silent auction) I'd skip the baby themes; IMO they don't appeal to men enough. You could do a Caribbean theme, a luau, or Miami Beach party. Give everyone who attends a lei (?sp) and put paper umbrellas in the drinks (about $3 for 144 of them at Wal Mart). You and your husband can dress appropriately (ie grass skirts) and everyone will easily be able to spot who is "in charge". Play fun music (steel band type) and sell jerk sandwhiches. You could do a fall festival. Have caramel apples, cider, pumpkin pie, etc. Or an "around the world" event. Have different ethnic foods (desserts could be good due to the timing of the event) for people to purchase samples of. Play a mix of music. Try different drinks (non-alcoholic) and have a general international decor. Whatever the theme, make invitations and send them out. Give them to friends to distribute. Stress that the event will be *fun* and social, in addition to charitable.

Are whole families invited? You might want to have some games and/or crafts for the kids (Again, the idea is to keep everyone there the entire length of time so they'll keep upping their bids). A great one is decorating a cookie. Get some plain sugar cookies, some tubs of icing and different toppings. You can charge a nominal fee for this.

And oh, I'd also been thinking of a "split the pot" raffle. It's where people buy a ticket (say for $1) and then 1/2 the money raised goes to the winner. Different variations on this are games of skill. Like putting a hole in one. Pay $1 for a chance and then pot builds by $.50 any time someone misses. If you get it, you get the pot. Sometimes you have to make this a min. $1.50 payoff. Can also do this with sliding a beer mug down a table and getting it completely in a square.

I could go on and on, but I'd get carpal tunnel LOL! This is a start. Be prepared to spend some $$ up front, but you can recoup it if you do it right.

[stynx9000]

Hi.

A 50/50 raffle is where tickets are raffled off for say $1.00 - $0.50 goes to the cause, and $0.50 goes into the pot. At the end of the night, whoever holds the winning ticket gets half of the total amount raised.

It's a great way to hold a raffle without having to worry about getting a prize for it

Ben

[organicmommy]

Hey, we don't have any ideas, but would be really interested in how to set one up. If you could, email me at organic_mommy@yahoo.com.
Thanks
Jessica

[musicmama]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone!!! If I can't figure out something now, there's just no hope for me!! lol

Musicmama

[slikmom]

A 50/50 Raffle:
You sell raffle tickets with numbers on them... 3 for $1 or an arm's length of tickets for $10... whatever you want... At a designated time you draw one of the numbers randomly. The winner gets half of the money collected from the 50/50 sales, and the benefactor gets the other half. It usually does well because people have a chance to win some cash!
Heather