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Using Events for Fundraising with City Fruit

30 Nov 2022, by Admin in Development

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Using Events for Fundraising with City Fruit

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Written by Vera-Camille Ingressa, Fundraising and Development Specialist VISTA.

Through fundraising and development, work is an ongoing priority, City Fruit does a variety of fundraising events throughout the year to supplement these efforts. Three are GiveBig, a giving drive held in spring, City Fruit Celebrates, a gala held in fall, and End of Year Giving, held at the end of the year. City Fruit Celebrates is a good example of such event, because it brings together several fundraising methods and ideas.

Celebrates 2022

Celebrates is City Fruit’s annual fundraising gala. The event began with a cider-tasting hour. This got everything started, and gave guests a chance to meet and bond over a drink with staff and each other. If folks understand why others are connected and interested in City Fruit, they may grow more fond of the organization themselves, especially if they have a good time. A silent auction, which had been live online for about two weeks prior, wrapped up while guests were enjoying drinks and perusing the item display table. During the tasting and at registration, raffle tickets were sold. At registration, examples of the raffle prizes were displayed. These timings and placements were intentional because City Fruit wanted both fundraising strategies to be included in the flow and festivity of the event. 

As participants sat down for dinner, they had an opportunity to listen to volunteers and staff speak about programs and participate in a few games. In between speakers, everyone played Heads or Tails, and the winner received their choice of a free hoodie or t-shirt. After dinner was cleared, a dessert dash was held, where guests could contribute to their table’s fund to dash for a dessert first. The evening concluded with an exciting paddle raise to fund various needs around the organization. The atmosphere was great; people had been hearing about City Fruit’s work, several volunteers had shared their stories, and everyone had had fun with the games. All of this came together to make it a successful fundraising event for City Fruit.