Breast cancer affects everyone either directly or indirectly. Fundraising helps raise money to inform the public of screenings and treatment options as well as funding research efforts to find a cure. Dinner fundraisers to support the fight against breast cancer is an excellent way to raise awareness in your community as well as funds.
Restaurant Night
Contact restaurants in your community to hold a "breast-cancer fundraiser night" in which you advertise business for the restaurants and they donate a certain percentage of all sales for the night to your breast-cancer fund. Typically, restaurants will jump on board because this creates a win-win situation. The fundraiser night usually takes place on a weekday, which is generally slower for restaurants, and they typically offer 10 percent of their sales.
Ask your local newspaper to run an article on the fundraiser. It may "donate" the advertising space to help you raise money. Make fliers to post on every bulletin board you can. Leave fliers with other local businesses. Call all of your local radio stations and ask them to announce the restaurant night as well. Most businesses, and people, will be more than happy to help you spread the word for your breast-cancer restaurant fundraiser.
Sell Dinner Spots
Host a fundraiser dinner at your own home or a banquet hall. You can prepare the food yourself or hire a caterer. If you tell the caterer the dinner is for a breast-cancer fundraiser, she may offer a discount by way of a contribution. Just as with the restaurant option, advertise your dinner. Use radio stations, newspapers, local blogs and websites, as well as asking local businesses to add a flier to their public areas.
Prepare "pink" foods such as pasta a la vodka. Rice and mashed potatoes can easily be turned pink with food coloring. Jello, pudding, parfaits and any strawberry dishes you can think of are other options. For drinks, try strawberry lemonade, pink Margaritas or Cosmopolitans. Dessert can be pink-frosted cupcakes, strawberry pie, shortcake, ice cream or strawberry cheesecake.
Beyond the Dinner
Include extras to raise money beyond the food or seats. For instance, hold raffle drawings where guests can purchase raffle tickets. Prizes can include little gift baskets of candles, soaps or baked goods. Talk to your local businesses to solicit donations of items to fill your baskets. If your local businesses won't donate the items outright, they may be willing to offer you a substantial discount on any items you purchase to go toward the fundraiser. As an alternative to a raffle, you can also hold a silent auction.
Raffle tickets and silent auctions are excellent ways to increase your fundraising potential without begging your guests to write a check. People generally feel good about this sort of fundraiser, particularly since the money will go to an excellent cause like the fight against breast cancer.
Tags: local businesses, your local, raise money, against breast, against breast cancer, breast cancer