My marketing class has been working on planning a fundraiser for a few weeks now. We're planning a concert and barbecue dinner at the Fat Frogg to benefit HOPE.
HOPE (short for Helping Other People Eat) is a non-profit run by Elon University students that benefits the residents in Alamance County. Elon is located in one of the poorest regions of North Carolina, where many children are food-insecure, so HOPE attempts to give back. Its genius is in the easy way that it gains donations: HOPE certified restaurants offer their patrons a chance to donate to HOPE with the bill. The donations benefit Allied Churches, a food pantry near the university.
My class is in charge of marketing the fundraiser, so I've learned so much about the planning that goes into an event. All of the members of our class made websites and Eventbrites for the class and we picked whose to use. One of the girls in our class made us a Facebook event page and we're all inviting our friends. It's frustrating to see how many people are invited versus how many people have replied.
We also made commercials in groups. Filming a commercial is much more difficult than I realized; I never expected that getting the initial idea for the commercial is the hardest part! But even once that's figured out, you have to resolve the logistics of filming and editing. You can watch my team's commercial below.
Right now, we're learning how to use email marketing and write emails that will actually gain attendees. Even the subject line can make a difference in whether or not someone reads your email so the stress is definitely building.
There is so much that goes into the marketing of an event, before you even consider the planning of the event which our teacher has mostly taken care of for us. Websites, Facebook pages, commercials, email marketing...it seems like the list of things to do never ends. As the event is approaching (November 12th is no longer a far-away date!), it's becoming much more real. I truly appreciate that Professor Kelly has given us an opportunity to have real experience with event planning instead of teaching us how to plan a fundraiser from a textbook.
Interested in the event? Check out our website, Facebook page, and Eventbrite.
HOPE (short for Helping Other People Eat) is a non-profit run by Elon University students that benefits the residents in Alamance County. Elon is located in one of the poorest regions of North Carolina, where many children are food-insecure, so HOPE attempts to give back. Its genius is in the easy way that it gains donations: HOPE certified restaurants offer their patrons a chance to donate to HOPE with the bill. The donations benefit Allied Churches, a food pantry near the university.
My class is in charge of marketing the fundraiser, so I've learned so much about the planning that goes into an event. All of the members of our class made websites and Eventbrites for the class and we picked whose to use. One of the girls in our class made us a Facebook event page and we're all inviting our friends. It's frustrating to see how many people are invited versus how many people have replied.
We also made commercials in groups. Filming a commercial is much more difficult than I realized; I never expected that getting the initial idea for the commercial is the hardest part! But even once that's figured out, you have to resolve the logistics of filming and editing. You can watch my team's commercial below.
Right now, we're learning how to use email marketing and write emails that will actually gain attendees. Even the subject line can make a difference in whether or not someone reads your email so the stress is definitely building.
There is so much that goes into the marketing of an event, before you even consider the planning of the event which our teacher has mostly taken care of for us. Websites, Facebook pages, commercials, email marketing...it seems like the list of things to do never ends. As the event is approaching (November 12th is no longer a far-away date!), it's becoming much more real. I truly appreciate that Professor Kelly has given us an opportunity to have real experience with event planning instead of teaching us how to plan a fundraiser from a textbook.
Interested in the event? Check out our website, Facebook page, and Eventbrite.