Trivia puts the fun in FUNdraiser! This is a great idea that you can adapt to host over a lunch hour or host as an event after work and invite your co-workers, friends, family and the community if you so choose. If you have a semi-regular get together, use that to add this onto. Your local pub may even have a board with questions if they do trivia times themselves. This is also an easy event to host online/virtually.

Step One – Know your Audience

Knowing your audience will help you with a lot of the planning process. Is it better to have it during a lunch or will it work better after work? Who will be your host? When choosing your host for the event, you want them to be entertaining and engaging as they are a key component to the events vibe. Another reason for knowing your audience, is to ensure your trivia questions fit the group. We have included a list in this package of trivia questions that can get you started.

Step Two – Location and Date

Determine where you are going to hold your trivia night; will you have it at your house, in a board room at work during lunch, at a pub after work, or maybe at your local community centre. Explore all options!

A Teams channel/chat can be started for a virtual Trivia event as well.

Once you have decided on a location, you need to pick a date. Make sure to give yourself enough time to plan and gather your items. Also, be sure your date does not coincide with a holiday weekend, important meetings or other events. The best days are likely Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

Step Three – Participant Recruitment

You will want to create tickets or some form of a registration process for teams to sign up for trivia night. It is suggested you charge between $5 and $20 per person to attend – keep it cost effective, however, remember, the more money raised, the more that goes to the cause! Teams of 4 – 6 usually work best. You want to fill the room so make sure you start promoting and getting people signed up as soon as possible.

Step Four – Up the Ante (play other games)

Come up with other activities and games to make your trivia night more fun and appealing. You could have a small silent auction as well as raffles (make sure to read the information later in the package about getting a lottery license if you are running any games of chance), you could also have a few games throughout the event to break up the trivia questions and get people mingling.

A game that is always popular and can generate some revenue is heads or tails. You have everyone pay $5 to buy in. Then everyone that is playing stands up. The host would have everyone put their hands on their heads for heads and their hands on their rear for tails. Everyone chooses heads or tails and then the host flips a coin, everyone that choose wrong sits down and are now out. You continue until you have one person left, the winner gets a prize. SUPER FUN and EASY!

For other games, the most common way to do this is charge everyone $1 to participate in each game. They can sit it out if they choose; however, most people choose to participate in a couple. You will find examples of these games in this package.

Step Five – Sponsorship

Sponsorship is a great opportunity to get both auction items and prizes for your trivia event. You will want a prize for the winning team, as well as prizes if you are playing any games throughout the event. You can also look at cash sponsorship for your trivia night. Lots of times folks have success getting table sponsors for each table at your trivia night. Table sponsors go for between $100 – $200 and you include the logo of the company that sponsored the table on the table on event night. A Community donation request letter template can be found at Campaign Resources – Federated Health Charities.

Step Six – Create a Buzz

You can advertise on your Ministry/Agency intranet site; flyers in high traffic areas in your offices or the main lobby of your building; distribution of flyers in employee’s mailboxes and through email/newsletters. If you are running your trivia night outside of work to community members, friends, and family, you can advertise in the newspaper or the location of the event. Be sure to place the ad or poster weeks before the event to ensure maximum participation. Check for deadlines with your local publication to ensure your ad will make it in at the right time. Advertising online is also a great idea try Facebook, Twitter, Kijiji, and community pages.

Be sure to include all the need-to-know details, such as date, time, address, and price. Highlight the key activities that will take place at the event. Make sure to let everyone know the proceeds from your event are supporting the 21 health related charities.

Step Seven – It’s all in the Details

Here’s a list of things you will need to make your day that much easier:

• Enough tables and chairs for all the teams that signed up, as well as the auction or other activities if applicable, and a table for the host at the front.
• A table to check people in as they arrive.
• Lots of change and small bills, especially important if you are having games and other activities.
• Table signs for your table sponsors.
• A calculator, pens, sharpies.
• A donation jar for anyway who just want to donate.
• A Teams group chat if done virtually.
• Your Special Event funds can be collected via the Federated Health Charities Special Event link found here: How to donate – Federated Health Charities.

Step Eight – Setting Up

Setting up for your trivia night is straight forward, you will want to make sure the tables and chairs are grouped in the size of teams you chose to go with. If you have table sponsors, make sure the signs are out on the tables. Setting up the auction is simple just make sure there is enough space for the items to be displayed and not on top of one another. Background music can enhance the vibe of your trivia night and make the experience more enjoyable for your participants.

Take some pictures with you and colleagues having some fun at your event and send them to Federated Health Charities to share your successful event with others.

Step Nine – Volunteers

There are a couple areas you will want to make sure you have volunteers to keep everything running smoothly. Your volunteer needs and numbers will depend on your event and what elements you decided to include. The following are the types of volunteers that will help make your trivia night a success!

• Greeters/floaters
  o They are here to welcome everyone and be around in case there are questions.
• Registration
  o To check your participants’ in
• Auction/Games
  o You will want a couple volunteers at the auction/games to answer questions, run the events, and then to complete the checkout process.
• Host
  o Your host will be the one to engage the audience as you go through the questions also to bring to life any of the games you decide to include.

Step Ten – Add it Up!

If you started with a float anywhere make sure to take it out and then add it all up and see how you did. There is a budget template included. Arrange with your Treasurer to have the money recorded and deposited.

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