Casino Fundraiser Party Tips & Planning
The Advantages of a Casino Party Fundraiser:
- Casino Parties Are A Proven Method of Fundraising
- Easy To Plan
- Since the VegasStyleParty.com staff runs most of the party for you, your staff and/or board of members can follow the basic steps outlined her to implement a successful event.
- Everyone enjoys a party and casino games provide an excellent way to bring people together. Your organization can invite their friends and be assured that everyone will have a great time!
- Donations are easy to solicit (people like donating for a good cause)
- Donors like to participate in casino nights because they get entertainment for their donations.
- It's FUN!!!
Planning the Party:
The purpose of these notes is to serve as a guide to anyone planning a casino party fundraiser event. There are certain points listed that may not be applicable to your event. However, we have attempted to address the typical scenarios an organizer will likely encounter.
1. Goal
Having a realistic goal of how much money you would like to raise is the first step. It will help determine the price of your entrance fee and the limit of your expenses. The key is to maximize your revenue and minimize your expenses and it's important to keep your bottom line in mind.
2. Set Your Date Early
We suggest you confirm your date at least 90 days in advance to allow adequate time for planning, gift solicitation, and ticket sales.
3. Appoint Committees
- Ticket Sales/Promotion
- Table (Game) Sponsorship
- Auction, Raffle Prizes
- Food and Beverage
- Facilities - Set-up/Clean-up
4. Revenues:
Below are the different ways to make money from your fund raiser using all or multiple combinations:
- Ticket sales
- Table Sponsorship
- Drink Sales
- Food
- Auctions
- Raffles
Ticket Sales:
This is the single most important factor in having a successful fund raiser. Having a ticket committee or multiple people in charge of selling the tickets is key. It is easier for 10 people to each sell 10 tickets than it is for 1 person to sell 100 tickets. Ticket sales are your primary source of revenue and the success of your event depends on meeting your goal of tickets sold.
Table Sponsorship:
Find at least one table sponsor for each casino table being used. This will help cut the overhead cost and help make your casino party more profitable. There are different ways to have table sponsors:
Sponsor Pays $100.00 Table Fee
Sponsor Pays $150.00 Table Fee + One Ticket
Sponsors can even provide gifts to promote their business. Examples: We had a local burrito shop give away coupons every time a person got blackjack or a bad beat in Texas Hold'em Poker. A local sports store gave away $5.00 gift certificates every time their sponsored table got blackjacks. This helped the sports store as well as made for an exciting blackjack table. Ensure your sponsors feel they are getting value for their donation and they will more than likely to attend the fund raiser.
Drink Sales:
Drink sales can add revenue to your bottom line, but beware buying too much inventory can hurt your bottom line. A good way to keep the cost down is to take donations for your drinks. Running a fund raiser for a baseball team? Have members of that team donate twelve packs of soda or bottle water. If your location allows alcohol, beer and wine are great ways to increase drink revenues since most people expect to pay $3.50 - $5.00 per glass.
On a typical event entrance fee usually includes two “drink tickets” which are typically redeemed at a rate of one ticket for a soda and two tickets for beer or wine. Additional beverages require the purchase of more drink tickets.
Food:
Food is similar to Drink Sales and in some events is including with the ticket price. (completely up to you) We recommend having a separate fee for food for those that only want to eat and don't feel comfortable in participating in the casino games. Again, a great way to keep cost down are to get food donated my families or business. Ensure there is enough food for everyone, even those that buy tickets at the door.
Silent Auction:
Silent auctions are often the backbone of revenues generated at fundraising parties. However, they do require a lot of time and effort to coordinate successfully. Delegate at least one person whose sole responsibility is to manage the silent auction of the event.
Raffles:
Raffles require less time and are easier to conduct during a fund raiser. People purchase tickets in the hopes of winning donated prizes. We suggest you obtain 10 gifts per 100 guests. We also suggest that everyone have an opportunity to be a winner via an ongoing raffle. Raffle gifts can be given out every half-hour throughout the evening.
Re-Buys:
As part of their entrance fee guests are usually given an initial “stake” of funny money. (fake money) If they lose this initial stake they should have the option of acquiring more money for a donation. This is an additional source of revenue and will vary depending on the games played at your event. You will get the most Re-buys during a Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament. It's not uncommon for some guest to re-buy two or three times. Ensure the Re-Buys are amounts that encourages people to re-buy rather than setting it too high and not having anyone buy in again.
5. Expenses:
Typical expenses incurred hosting a casino party:
- Facility Costs
- Decorations
- Casino Equipment Rental and Dealers
- Beverage Costs
- Food Costs
- Insurance
- Clean Up
Facility Costs:
Attempt to secure a facility at no cost to your event. There are generally several organizations that are open to making their facility available at little or no charge.
Decorations:
Balloons and streamers are a good way to decorate and keep the cost down. Most of the time just adding the casino table games and our dealers is enough.
Casino Tables and Dealers:
Provide an accurate head count so the appropriate amount of table games and dealers can be supplied. Too much equipment on hand results in a bigger expense while having too few tables is a way of disappointing guest.
Beverage and Food Cost:
Keep cost down and get donations for both food and beverage.
Insurance:
Some facilities might require a one-night insurance coverage policy for your event, especially if you are not being charged for the venue.
Clean Up:
Designate a team of volunteers to take care of the facility cleaning. In most events this can be as little as two people but often a team of four can accomplish this quicker.
6. Determining Ticket Price
Remember you have some over head expenses to take care of so don't sell your tickets too cheap. On the other hand don't make them too expensive where your event suffers from lack of sales. You may want to consult the casino party company to find out what has worked in the past for other events.
Things to know before the event:
 Set up early at the facility - Have change available at the “cash desk”
- Have additional drink and food tickets at cash desk
- Have a public address system on hand to announce prizes etc.
- Have sponsors signs in place on all tables
- Post information about Re-Buys
- Clearly indicate location of cash desk
- Designate all tasks ahead of time - specifically breakdown and clean up
Good Luck!
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