Are you looking for fantastic ideas and tips on hosting a wine tasting fundraiser?
Before we getinto them though, let'sfind out why a wine tasting function can be such a great fundraising event! I'mpersonally a huge fan! :-) Maybe it's just because I love wine so much!
You'll also find some fantastic advice and guidance on how to run a profitable Wine Tasting Fundraiser in the Almanac of Fundraising Ideas ebook (click to read my review of it).
Some Benefits of This Fundraiser...
- WineTasting is an exceptionally popular social event. After all, whodoesn't enjoy tasting wine?! This means finding supporters/attendees for theevent is relatively easy.
- The abovepoint also means that you can pull in people outside of your supporter base,purely on the attractiveness of the event. And so grow your donor/supporterdatabase as well.
- Winecompanies and vineyards are constantly looking to promote their wines. Thismakes finding sponsorships for the fundraiser easier. And helps reduce costs.
- Like manyevents you can incorporate a few different fundraisers into it.
- Whichmeans the fundraising potential of a wine tasting fundraiser is excellent!
Let's take a look atthat fundraising potential...
Fundraising Potential:
There will be many fundraisingbenefits from hosting a Wine Tasting fundraiser that won't only include the actualfunds raised from the evening.
One of the biggestbenefits will be new people that are introduced to your cause, who you canbuild relationships with and potentially convert to recurring donors.
So how will you fundraise on the evening?
Ticket Sales
Obviously you willstart with ticket sales. Discuss carefully with your committee and your winemerchant partner on what the right ticket price should be.
When deciding, consider what you are(and are not) going to offer for free with the ticket - Tasting wine(obviously), dinner, snacks, cool drinks, etc. are all options.
Make sure youcover costs with the ticket price, plus make a profit on top, without being tooexpensive.
Wine Sales
You will obviouslyhave the wines that your supporters will taste during the evening on sale.
These wines will besold by the merchant you partner with, but you should also receive a percentageof the sales. So when partnering with a merchant, make sure this is discussedand a percentage is agreed upon.
Wine Pull Raffle
A wine pull raffle isa fantastic idea for your event.
Supporters purchase awine bottle that they pull from a selection of cheap and expensive wines, thathave been wrapped to hide their value.
Essentially purchasing the chance topull a top quality wine, but still coming away with at least a bottle of wine if theydon't!
Find out more about this awesome fundraiser here.
Other Raffles
Any raffle will alwayswork well at an event, as long as the prizes are desirable and the ticketsaren't too expensive.
So definitely consider adding a raffle to your function ifyou don't decide to do a wine pull. Or you can add it on top of the wine pull.
Silent Auction or Live Auction
Fundraising dinnersand Gala events are the perfect place to hold a silent auction... And the samething applies when hosting a wine tasting fundraiser.
It will mean moreorganizing and work. But it will also mean larger funds raised!
For some great silentauction ideas, check out Sherry Truhlar's Fundraising Auctionblog. You can also lookto incorporate your Silent Auction online to increase bidding before the event.
And of course theother option is to have a live auction during the function.
Supporter & Organizational Apparel
I believe you shouldalways give your supporters the opportunity to publicly broadcast their supportof your cause!
And one of the bestways of doing this is through branded apparel.
So definitely haveyour Fundraising Apparel on display and for sale, when hosting a Wine Tasting Fundraiser.
Hosting a Wine Tasting Fundraiser:
So now that youunderstand why this is a great fundraising event and how you will fundraisewith it, let's look into how to organize and host a wine tastingfundraiser.
For an event of thissize you will need a committee and at least a few volunteers. So make sure youhave that in place before you start making decisions.
Choose people withdifferent skills that can take care of different aspects of the event.
Then you need to organizeand decide on where you'll source your wine from, what venue you'll host it at,what prize items to solicit, ticket prices (and what that ticket includes), theformat for the evening, and a promotion plan.
Andimportantly, you need tohave a clear and defined goal for the fundraiser!
Find a Wine Merchant
to Partner With:
Without the wine,hosting a wine tasting fundraiser just won't happen. So this is your firstimportant thing to organize.
Lucky enough though, a well organized wine tasting event provides a fantastic marketing opportunityfor a wine merchant, with a few different benefits...
- Firstly they will make wine sales on the actualnight.
- But moreimportantly they will expose a widerange of their wines, to a wide audience of people. Many of whom will bewine fanatics.
- They willalso get the opportunity to mix with the attendees, build relationships, anddeeply promote their wines.
So make sure that youpromote those benefits when approaching a potential wine sponsor.
Shop around and find the best deal...
Don't just take thefirst wine merchant you approach. Make sure that you find the best possibledeal you can, by "shopping around."
Venue:
You will quite clearlyneed a venue that can cater for your event.
Restaurants, School orChurch halls, community halls, public gardens, or a Vineyard conference venue,all make very suitable locations.
Often restaurants etc.will be happy to give you their venue for free if they receive enough valuefrom the event. So look for a free hire, or find a sponsor to cover the costsof the venue.
You also need to makesure that the venue will be able to cater for all your needs during theevening.
The Event:
Obviously much of thiswill need to be planned and discussed with your committee.
But definitely getas much advice from the wine merchant as possible, as they will likely haveprior experience with hosting a wine tasting fundraiser.
You'll need an MC(Master of Ceremonies) to run the evening, and keep it flowing. Use him/her tokeep the audience involved and informed.
The MC should alsoupdate the crowd on Silent Auction Items that need promoting, or ones that aresteamrolling with bids, to increase interest.
The wine merchant willthen introduce the wines and run the actual tasting of the evening.
Format for tasting...
Discuss with yourcommittee and the wine merchant as to how the tasting should happen.
Will you havedifferent tables with different wines, where people can move around to? Or willeveryone be seated and have the wine delivered to them by volunteers/waiters.
Decide on what willwork best for your event and for the Wine Merchant.
Ensure it's a fun evening!
One of the mostimportant aspects is to ensure that you hold an absolutely mind-blowing funevent!
The more funsupporters have - The more inclined they are to give and support your cause!
Don't Forget To Also:
- Solicitraffle and/or auction items.
- Decide on yourticket price and what that ticket will include.
- Have a promotion plan. This is key to your events success!!! For ideas on promoting yourfundraiser, read here.
- AND THANK EVERYONE! Make sure you show full appreciation to allinvolved. Committee members, volunteers, attendees, the wine merchant, andother sponsors!
Good luck with your fundraiser! :-)
And remember to grab a copy of Joe Didonato's Almanac of Fundraising Ideas for more info on hosting a wine tasting fundraiser. Click here to read my review of this comprehensive cracker of an ideas book.
Other Great Fundraising Events:
A Golf Day Tournament
Tenpin Bowling
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