Last year, Thomas Spagnoli, Lodge ENF Chair for Red Bank, N.J. Lodge No. 233, hosted the Lodge’s annual Oktoberfest celebration as it’s ENF month fundraiser. The event was a success, and a good time was had by all who attended. Read on for Spagnoli’s description of the event as well as his advice to fellow ENF Chairs.
Description: On October 1, 2011 the Lodge held its annual Oktoberfest dinner to benefit the ENF. Dinner included traditional German fair such as wiener schnitzel, knockwurst, and potato pancakes. We entertained attendees with traditional Oktoberfest music, hosted a yodeling contest, and the children painted pumpkins. To help raise even more money, we held a 50-50 raffle.
Fundraiser Successes: The event was a complete success. A total of about 120 guests attended and we raised $1,400.00 for the ENF! Lodge members brought with them relatives and friends and as a result we had several new member applications.
Fundraiser Promotion: We advertised Oktoberfest in the Lodge bulletin, hung banners around the Lodge, and posted the event on our webpage offering online ticket sales. We also emailed members starting a couple of weeks before the fundraiser to serve as a reminder.
Suggestions for other ENF Chairs: My one suggestion to ENF Chairs is to come up with a reasonable price for any fundraiser they may hold. If you don’t charge enough, you will not have enough money to cover costs and then donate to the ENF. If you charge too much, people will not be able to afford to attend. So, I came up with an equation to find the ticket price for our Lodge’s Oktoberfest dinner to ensure our costs are covered and we could make a sizable donation to the ENF.