Some Great Fundraising Tips

As Conference Director for The Canadian Culinary Federation, I was asked to offer ideas on how the local chapters could raise funds to send their junior chefs to the annual conference. 

Everyone realizes the value of attending a conference, of the face time, the education, the networking, business development and so forth. However, it definitely is challenging for students or newly entering the work force to attend these wonderful career building events - heck, in today's economy it is a challenge for all budgets to send everyone who would gain from attending a conference.

here are some ideas - (also posted on our CCFCC2011 blog)

Some Great Fundraising Tips

Want to attend the CCFCC 2011 National Conference, but don't know how to fund it? Keep reading!

The CCFCC 2011 Conference Committee was asked if we had any thoughts on chapters raising money to attend the annual National Chefs Conference – asked by many groups actually. 

We wish to share a few ideas with you.

Saving Money takes a lot of time and effort – nevertheless, if you invest some time into research on the internet, into networking and business development, and into your community, you can always save money.

The Short list of Ideas: (for those who don’t have time to read everything below)

· Fundraise – sell your services – people love good food – cook for them!

· Ask people to donate points for air or hotel

· Ask people you do business with to sponsor your association

· Invest in saving money with your time and research on the internet

· Ask experts for their help – travel agencies, marketing and sales, chamber of commerce, successful fundraisers – ask them for advice – not to do the work for you

· Give back to those that help you – support their business, write thank you letters, mention them by name in print, Facebook, Twitter

o Network – that is the key to success, and a big reason to attend conferences

The longer list – with more details:

o Host a fundraiser as an association

§ Each chef could cook dinner for 8 people, in someone’s home, with 4 courses and wine, that you could auction this off, or raffle this off for a $1000 per dinner

· Invite food and beverages partners to provide the ingredients

· Make sure your written menu includes their names and companies

§ Chef Poyan Danesh donated a dinner for 8, with appetizer and welcome cocktail, three course dinner with wine, dessert (and of course, shopping, menu planning, and cleanup) – sold for $2000!

o Host cooking classes

§ It is truly a time that families want to get back to preparing their own meals

· People want to learn to cook healthy, wholesome, family meals

o Organize with your local hardware stores or plant and landscaping stores or…. Well you get it

§ to cook hot dogs and sell pop every Saturday and Sunday – many businesses will match your funds, give you the storefront space

§ think outside the box – barbecue veggies, stuffed potatoes, “prawns on the Barbie”

· whatever your community will allow you to do

· include your suppliers and new products – great marketing opportunity for suppliers

o Make chocolates, caramels, etc - box them up and sell them – Easter coming up, Mothers day – get your local supplier to sponsor the ingredients

§ You could raise 10K in no time with chocolates

o Host a soup cooking competition – cold days, coming to spring – hit the local fairs, or farmers market – sell soup each Saturday and Sunday for a few weeks

§ Great homemade soup! People love it

· Add in an artisan bread or roll; even do soup and sandwiches!

· Be a member of airlines, hotels, car rentals

o Sign up online – watch for their specials and deals

· Go to your local travel agency – especially if you spend any money with them

o Ask them to see if they can get you a flight and/or hotel package sponsored thru their partners

o Maybe even visit a couple travel agencies and invite their support

· Ask your associates and corporate members if they have airline points they will donate to you and your members to fly out

o Oftentimes sales reps have so many airline points they would love to help out

· Ask the suppliers you do the most business with to sponsor the association to come out

o Or a portion of it – something is better than nothing

· Put together a letter of request to potential sponsors

o These sponsors can be numerous

§ Your suppliers and business associates

§ Local chamber of commerce

§ Local bank

§ Local car dealerships

§ Local associations that your association has helped or donated time and food to

· Outline what you are asking for – flights, hotels and conference package - $1500 to $2000 per person (with hotel, flights and conference package, it can be done for as little as $1500)

§ Outline the benefits to them

§ You will support their business and buy this amount of product over the next year (a shorter timeline if you can commit to it)

§ You will have their logo put on your delegate badge

· We can do that for you

§ You will write a thank you letter to them

§ You will write an article about them and their support for Mis en Place

§ You will mention them on facebook, twitter, and social media

o Outline why you should attend this conference

§ What this education, seminars, and networking does for you, your company, and your association

§ Read my article in mis en place – or the blog, about why people should attend conferences

§ Include this in the letter

o Take the attached sponsorship package to Cogeco and invite them to be a sponsor

§ They have a good opportunity to get involved with the association and gain recognition

§ As your employer, the article in Mis en Place would help for you to apply to them for financial support

For the Vancouver 2011 conference – specific ideas

· Google cheap flights – yesterday there was a $200 round trip flight from Toronto to Vancouver with Sunwing

o Sign up for flight alerts – when seats go on sale – grab them

§ Check out last minute sales, vacations, etc

§ Often you can get a hotel and flight package, with transfers, at a great price

· Fly out of the States – there are always cheap, cheap flights – fly into Bellingham or Seattle

o Right now Bellingham to Vancouver on Amtrak is on sale for $13 each way.

§ There is a shuttle from Bellingham airport to Amtrak.

§ Seattle to Vancouver is on sale with Amtrak for $36

· Reach out to your associate members in Vancouver – ask if they will pick you up at the Bellingham airport – it is only an hour or so out of Vancouver – depending on traffic

· Finally, consider investing in your own education and development

o This is a great 4 days to a week, in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with the delegate fees subsidized by 50%

§ Where in the world could you eat, drink, learn, and network, for 4 days, for $500.00

· All food and beverages, plus a black tie gala, for such a low, low price

· Not to mention the education seminars, and the world class chefs that will be in attendance, hosting round table sessions

· Make it a holiday with your family

o Research Tourism Vancouver, get a good deal on a suite or a condo – there are good deals to be had if you work at it

§ As long as you are staying anywhere downtown, you are only a 15 minute walk from the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside–

§ If you get closer to false creek you are a 30 minute walk, or a 10 minute bus ride

§ Or, stay on the north shore (north Vancouver) – the seabus comes right across to the waterfront – a five minute walk to the hotel

§ Or, stay in Richmond, near the Canada Line Sky train – 30 minute ride into the hotel

· Remember, a good idea is only good if it is put in place

o Raising money is hard work, and takes time – but, if you commit to it, then, you will be successful

o Make a list of everything you and your chapter have done for the community

§ Then ask the community to give back to you now

o Make a list of everyone you spend money with – all 7 of you

§ Your bank, insurance agency, cars, furniture, equipment, food and beverages

· Ask them to sponsor you

· In return, you will continue to do business with them

Start Now for the 2012 Conference!

Put Fundraising for the Annual Conference into your Chapters Annual Strategic Plan.

Cheers

Dawn Donahue. Strategic Planner, Event Producer

National CCFCC Conference Director

Supplier Relationships - the added value

Just today we were asked for references for a company that is about to be sold. Another company asked us for a testimonial for their newly designed website.

It was a pleasure to be able to write a reference and a testimonial for both these companies. Even though we are extremely busy, we knew the value our words could bring to both these groups.

I chose to set aside the time and complete this request.Surprisingly the words came easily, and in half the amount of time that I had allotted. Which made me realize the true value of added value and investing in your relationships and clients. And that I would be challenged to write these testimonials for many companies. We pride ourselves on adding value, on being able to enhance the service without having factored it into the original quote because so many people want something for nothing. Being truly able to support without breaking the budget.

The two companies below received the following testimonials - and we were very proud to write them. Thank you cards, notes and letters are always wonderful - perhaps we should make it a prioirty to send a few more to deserving associates.

Capture Action:

We have worked with Jay Etherington and Capture Action since they started in BC in 2010 – we were his first client. We worked with Jay because we could count on him, he had great customer services, was an honest, hardworking associate. His products were great, and we never had to worry about this supplier.

Capture Action was always an added value to our events, and good sponsor benefits and return on their investment.

Laxa Internet Solution

“Thank you, WiL Laxa and Laxa Internet Solutions. Chocolate Festival 2010 would not have become what it was without your website design, mentorship, support and guidance. Not only did you provide the design and services your contract outlined, your above and beyond added value was truly the definition of customer service.”

Our website has allowed us to attract new sponsors, Media support and recognition, which in turn has supported our mandate – creating mentored work experiences for youth. Laxa Internet Solutions offered us the tools and resources to get to this level

WiL, you and your team supported this not for profit association in a manner that blew the Board of Directors and the team of volunteers away. Your support took the Festival to the professional level we aspired to; a level that we did not have the resources to get to – until you came along. Thank you.

We look forward to working with you in the years to come. Our co-op students and interns are already excited about having you as a mentor.

With Warm Chocolate Regards

Dawn Donahue

Why do people attend conferences

Some go to learn, some go to play, some go to teach.

However, the paramount reason to attend a conference: Take all of the above, add in the networking, business development opportunities, and the health advantages, (a change is as good as a rest) and then you have all the reasons to attend. 

What all conference delegates offer – their time, expertise and knowledge a transfer of knowledge. All of these reasons are excellent as the underlying theme of any conference, however, we all participate in something more important, more useful. Conferences offer the highest potential to advance our careers and industry. 

Why? Face time.

Throw like-minded people in a room and you’re bound to get something good out of it. Conversation is the inspiration for innovation. When you attend a conference the opportunity to contribute to our careers is huge.

Conferences present a unique opportunity for innovation due to the vast melting pot of expertise and interest. When delegates from across the world come together, the sharing of products, ideas, and flavours create that fabulous global pot of expertise.

To those who are attending a conference that interests them, I encourage you to get out and talk to people. You have unique knowledge and unique interests that can pollinate new ideas. Breakout sessions and hospitality suites, more than conference sessions, offer a low barrier to entry to talk to like-minded professionals. Consider those sessions as the jumping point for new and interesting conversation. Sessions are designed to make you think. Conferences are designed to make you think together. That’s where The Next Big Thing lies in waiting.

To those who are not attending conferences, but have the means, I offer a thought. Anyone can sit at home reading books and consume knowledge. Likewise, anyone can approach the world and provide knowledge through computers, blogs, our virtual world. Choose to give back, choose face time, that’s how we grow. 

To conclude this thought, go to conferences to teach, learn, and play. We attend conferences to make things happen - your industry can benefit by you being there.

Mentorship and experience - awesome value

Volunteering with great mentors and team leaders is an amazing experience - hands on practical skills. An undervalued and sometimes underappreciated career determining and resume building opportunity.

I had the privilege of volunteering with the Hands on One Hundred at the Special Events Conference in Phoenix. It was a great reminder of the necessity of mentorship and experience. And the value of well trained team leaders, who have knowledge and experience in the areas they are leading.

This past week reminded me that training the trainer is a necessity. It also reminded me why getting involved in a team project will always teach you something. That the best education only supports the practical application. That many minds are so much better than one. That the expert team leader is always open to learning from the team, and willing to implement something new, or the majority consensus.

I relearned the value of team meetings before shifts, the exchange of hellos, smiles, goals, and the importance of understanding the critical path to the end result. And insuring everyone is working as a team.

I watched a wonderful team leader teach volunteers how to simplify the project of getting wrist bands ready for the 700 guests arriving in an hour. He taught with a smile and a compliment (yes, we were taking the wrist bands apart one at a time)

I watched a team leader totally ignore the catering experts in her group, all the while allowing a team of volunteers set tables for 700 guests - volunteers who had never set a formal table, much less tried to set silverware and stemware for 700 on a deadline.

I had the opportunity to volunteer with two young ladies who were just starting out in the industry. They were truly starting their business correctly - matching their education with hands on practical experiences. All the while listening to people around them tell stories, which gave them practical advice to take away. This conference was part of their education program, their volunteer program, and their learning experience. These ladies will be successful. Plus they had the  personable attitude to be great event planners - a love of life, a desire to create, strong work ethics, a genuine friendliness, and a love of people.

The best advice I heard from many experts - get a great education, study the theory, insure you have the practical, share with your network, listen to those around you, and keep learning from our youth, while helping our youth and entry level people on their career path. It is a win/win for everyone.

Face to Face - how to lose value

Over the past few weeks I have been asked to speak on the value of events, event budgets, and why corporations, charities, and groups should host conferences, meetings, and special events. The answer is relatively simple - to build face time with clients, donors, potential clients, and to develop business. To put a human face to the ever increasing digital world. To create a relationship with the people and the product.

Our digital world offers us most everything anyone needs - real time communications, information, green, sustainable, up to the minute information. Even face to face communication with Skype, Web conferencing, and smartphones. However, the digital world will never replace that face to face meeting - it merely supports the meeting.

We believe the digital and real world are growing closer and closer together and that is a great thing. Events supported by technology - a hybrid of all that is good.

However, today, at the BC Foodservice Show, I saw the worst waste of face time one could possibly conceive of. The president and CEO of an association, and the Member Development Director of an association, both standing at their tradeshow booth, both with their heads down, reading their smart phones.

Every booth around them was busy with guests, laughter, interaction, and products. These two people, whose members attend this show, were totally oblivious of who was around them. They gave every indication of not wanting to meet anyone, not talk to anyone; they certainly never made eye contact with one person in the ten minutes I stood back and watched them. They spoke to each other, while scrolling through their messages. This was a complete waste of face time, booth space and their members time and money.

In fact, having these two people at this event probably had many people questioning why they were a member of that association?

Almost every other exhibitor at this tradeshow looked people in the eye, said Hello, invited them to meet them. The value of face time, and a memorable event experience.

Insure you have the right people in the right place when it comes to making the person to person connection. Face time is valuable, only when the right people are making the connections.

Face to Face - the value of events

Last week I attended the Special Events Conference in Phoenix. I was reminded once again of the great value events bring - the reason conferences, meetings, and events are held. To move the digital world and the real world closer. While almost anyone can gain a great education from online research, articles and study, the true value of the education comes from face to face discussions. The implementation of all one's skills. The meeting of great minds, excellent business development and colloborative efforts in real time. What a great week it was.

West Coast Chocolate Festival Founded on Passion and Desire to Make a Difference

Chocolate… an amazing food. The food of the gods. A food that is mysterious. Sensual. Respected. A food that brings people together in shared delights, offers brief pauses to our hectic lives. A food for the senses and the soul. The platform the West Coast Chocolate Festival was created on.


Passion is the currency the West Coast Chocolate Festival was founded with. The desire to make a difference. To offer youth the opportunity to gain experience. To mentor our next generation in seeking knowledge, develop resume building experience, career path guidance, to offer a well rounded base or platform to build the next steps of their lives.

Chocolate. Passion. Talent. Hard work. All attributes of successful artists, great business leaders; in fact any flourishing business or person. However, without opportunity, and the chance to gain experience, the path to success can be extremely challenging.

Chocolate seems to transcend careers, to take people to the next level. Who would expect someone who studied nuclear physics and engineering at university to become a leading expert in chocolate and fine foods? Growing up in the food industry, the lure of great chocolate, in fact great food, carved a successful career path for Mr. Yves Farges, founder of Quaifirst Foods and epicurial.com. Mr. Farges is one of the business leaders supporting the West Coast Chocolate Festival.

Passion is especially important when it comes to our careers, which is the major part of our daily lives. You should be devoted to something you love and enjoy — something you believe in. This is true for all areas of life. The longer your true passions are suppressed and ignored, the more you forget the way back to them.

In 2005, while speaking at Stanford University, Steve Jobs said this: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs [Stanford Speech 2005]

What is it about your life, careers or hobbies that moves you, excites you, keeps you up at night thinking about them; wakes you up in the morning excited to get to them? What are some things you can’t stop believing is possible, daydreaming about making happen? Deep down inside, what do you truly want for yourself? If you had all the money, time, and resources you needed, how would you live your life? What would you stand for? The West Coast Chocolate Festival creates opportunities for you to perhaps find out.

The one suggestion we have: stand up for what you believe in. Express the things you love - end what you don’t love. Be clear on what you want, and what your values are. Don’t compromise, and never settle. Say what needs to be said, sing when you feel like singing, dance when you feel like dancing. Don’t apologize for it either.

Passion isn’t something that just happens to you one day. It’s something that you have to continuously dig to connect with. It’s like a never ending well that has life-giving water, which will never run out until you stop lowering the bucket to draw from it. Stay connected to your passion. Do whatever it takes to move towards everything you truly love, and cut yourself off from anything that you don’t. Everything else will fall into place. Even the money will follow…

In our society, we tend to identify people through external things such as their age, their job, the clothes they wear, the car they drive, and while our outer appearance is important, an external casing becomes irrelevant if there isn’t much value underneath. It’s your level of passion that leaves your unique thumbprint on the minds and hearts of others. If you’re doing anything in your life that’s not in line with what you truly want, you are not living with passion. Without passion, you’ll never be your most charismatic, joyful, and influential self, you will never live a life you fully love or be the someone that others always enjoy being around.

Do you ever find yourself remembering others by their exuberance, their passion, their joy of life? As you live joyously, you unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. You can’t be truly living or truly yourself, unless you express what you are truly passionate about.

And for anybody that’s coming up with excuses, it’s never too late to start living, And to have some fun doing it…

Happiness, wellness, enjoyment, love of life is your birthright. It may not be easy; in fact it may be a bit scary. Many people don’t live, but merely exist. They follow the trends and live reactively to their environment, instead of taking the time to really connect with what they really want. We are all unique individuals, but most of us let the world tell us what we should like and enjoy, what we should buy and believe. Most of the time we don’t even realize this is happening to us. Some of us never had the opportunity to see what is out there for us.

Why have I chosen to connect the West Coast Chocolate Festival, our artists, performers, speaker, volunteers, sponsors and partners with the message of passion? Because passion breeds excellence; at the very least the pursuit of excellence. And the chocolate festival is about passionate volunteers, mentoring and being mentored, understanding and supportive - volunteers choosing to develop excellence in so many ways. Flavours, tastes, goals, life, leadership, team work and the arts, our volunteers have chosen to create an environment that mentors excellence, new paths and career building opportunities through the message of chocolate…

The Chocolate Festival is completely run by volunteers. Governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, a fabulous volunteer Advisory Council, a truly devoted group of mentors and team leaders, this successful festival thrives on team effort. Individuals sharing their strengths, skills, visions, and positive influences, guiding others to their level of success.

The only paid staff are our wonderful summer interns, thanks to a Service Canada Grant. Each year our summer interns create the platform for the festival; most years our interns come back to volunteer, to complete what they started, to be the team leaders. And to continue on as volunteers for the next year. As with all successes, individuals always contribute to the whole.

Are you tapping into that passionate part of yourself? It may be deep down, under all the junk that inevitably gets piled up on it. Sometimes we have to stop and remember to brush off all the false negative influences that hold us back, and get back to that raw and pure form of expression.

When I am not volunteering full time as the Festival Director of the West Coast Chocolate Festival, I find time to manage my own company, Go Golf Events Management, an event production company that specializes in charities and not for profits. I wish to share a quote with you, from Will Smith in The Legend of Bagger Vance. This has particular meaning for me, and will be loved by the golfers in the audience. For those who don’t golf, substitute the word song for the word swing…

“Inside each and every one of us, is one, true authentic swing, something he was born with. Something that is ours and ours alone, something that can’t be taught to you, or learned, something that got to be remembered. Over time, the world can rob us of that swing, and it can get buried under all our would-haves, and could- haves, and should-haves. Some folk even forget what their swing was like.”

I hope each and every one of us never lose our swing. We created the West Coast Chocolate Festival to offer our youth the opportunity to find that swing. Over the past years I have seen the festival offer opportunities to high school students, university students, new graduates, people re-entering the work force; to adults, mentors and all our fabulous volunteers – the opportunity to find their swing.

We look forward to many more years of offer a “hand up” through the message of Chocolate.
Dawn Donahue, West Coast Chocolate Festival Director
http://www.chocolatefestival.ca/
President and CEO
Go Golf Events Managagement
http://www.gogolfevents.com/