How to present a successful charity dinner at home

There are many different ways that you can raise money for charity. From running a marathon to doing a bungee jump, there are lots of things that you can try but one of the most successful methods of raising money is to present a charity dinner.

Along with a big group of fundraisers, you could arrange a charity night in which you hire out a large venue and invite hundreds of guests. However, raising money for charity does not necessarily need to be a huge event; you can raise lots of money in your very own home.

Here are 5 simple steps to arranging your charity dinner:

      Plan well in advance

Regardless of how many (or how few) people you intend to invite, it is important to plan everything well in advance. Decide who you are going to invite, how you would like the evening to be run, and how much money you are aiming to raise. The earlier you send out invitations, the more people will be able to make it.

Provide a simple menu

You don’t want to waste money that can go towards the charity on trying to cater to the tastes of everyone. Make sure that you have meat and vegetarian dishes available as well as a mixture of salad and tastier (less healthy) food. Satisfying everybody does not require hundreds of dishes, just: 1 starter, a choice of 2 mains, 1 dessert is fine.

Have an auction

One of the best ways to raise money is of course to present an auction. Depending on your  budget, you might want to present one expensive prize – such as a holiday or visit to a nearby attraction – and then have other, less expensive prizes such as alcohol, an ornament, a signed object, or something else equally quirky.

Present a quiz

Everybody loves a quiz and it is a great way to break up the evening. Remember to include a mixture of easy and difficult questions so that everybody can join in. If you want to do something different have some sort of egg hunt or quiz take place all over the house, e.g.  cut up pictures of famous faces and rearrange the parts – the quiz is to unravel who is in the picture.

Get a DJ

Last but not least, book a DJ so that everyone can party the night away. Make sure plenty of alcohol is provided and pick a good playlist!

If you are wondering how to actually make money from all this, you can either charge people an entry fee (e.g. £5 pp) or simply leave a little donation bucket in each room for people to donate to as they please.