Running Head: EVENT PROPOSAL

“A Night to Remember”

Fundraising Event Proposal

Caroline Douglass

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

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Introduction Our company, Give Back Events are “rolling out the red carpet” for A Night to Remember at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This fundraising event will be held to raise money for pediatric cancer research and will go towards St. Jude Children’s Research Hospitals mission to “advance cures, and means of prevention, for catastrophic pediatric diseases through research and treatment." It is Give Back Events goal to raise $200,000 towards St. Jude and their pediatric cancer research. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has spent more than half a century finding cures and saving children, and this groundbreaking research has helped push the survival rate for childhood cancer from less than 20% in 1962 to more than 80% today. More than a half-century ago, entertainer Danny Thomas envisioned a hospital that would treat children regardless of race, color, creed or a family's ability to pay; a facility where research would bring light and positivity to a dark and cold illness. Thomas’ vision became a reality when your research hospital opened on February 4, 1962. Since then, St. Jude has become one of the world's premier pediatric research institutions where families never receive a bill for treatment, housing, travel, or food. Give Back Events has been around for approximately ten years and specializes in fundraising events. We pride ourselves on our personalities, the connections we make with our clients, and the passion we have for fundraising events. Some other skills that make our team stand out are that we are organized, collaborative, adaptable, confident, and have strong time management skills. We also have excellent connections with our vendors and sponsors. We love coming together and planning an event that not only is an experience but raises money for the best causes. We would be honored if you, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, chose us for your fundraising Gala. We promise to plan an event that will promote your mission and vision. So please sit back, relax, and enjoy “A Night to Remember.”

Vision

Give Back Events has chosen to plan a Gala for St. Jude Children’s Hospital to raise funds for cancer research. This Gala will be Vintage Hollywood themed and titled, “A Night to Remember.” To grasp our intended theme, our color scheme will be red white and black. Walking into the Gala there will be a red carpet, red velvet ropes, and an area for picture taking. Each guest walking into the event will have their picture taken by our staff members who will be posing as paparazzi. Above the entrance will be a sign that says “Now Showing: A Night to Remember.”

Inside the Gala, there will be red draping across the entire ballroom with white lighting

behind the drapes. Each table will be covered with a black tablecloth and accented with a white feather centerpiece. The whole room will be decorated in Vintage Hollywood decorations, such as stars with the children's names on them, wax figures from Madame Tussauds Wax Museum from New York City, and posters from Hollywood movie premiers. This will allow the guests to experience that "Vintage Hollywood" and be surrounded by actors and actresses.

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We implemented our theme through our food options by creating a three-tiered cake that has the red carpet leading up to a gold Oscar award. Our other dessert options are macaroons, mini creme brulees, mini cheesecakes, and red velvet cupcakes which will be red and include red, white, or black icing. The staff who are not designated paparazzi photographers will be wearing Vintage Hollywood attire. The women staff members will be dressed as vintage cigarette girls, and the men will be dressed in black dress pants, a red blazer, a white dress shirt, and a red bow tie with a matching top hat.

Client Needs Analysis

Not only is it your goal, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to raise money for

pediatric cancer research, but it is also our goal as well. That is what makes Give Back Events so renowned. Each day, your hospital is trying new scientific methods and experiments to find a treatment for pediatric cancer. It is our understanding that you have two target audiences. The first being the families and friends of individuals dealing with cancer. The second being the donors of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. St. Jude has a donor list from previous events that we will be using. These families and donors will be interested in going to this Vintage Hollywood themed Gala to support the cause as the money raised will go to helping find a cure for pediatric cancer. This event will also give the children and families a chance to escape the seriousness of the hospital's atmosphere and be surrounded by ravishing details, decor, paparazzi, and fame. Not only will this event be planned to raise money for pediatric cancer, but this event will also celebrate the children. This will show the donors where this money is going and whom it benefits. We want our audience to want to make a change and give during this “Night to Remember.”

The needs of our target audience include an emotional and fun appeal which is displayed

with our atmosphere and theme, "Vintage Hollywood." This is why we are incorporating two celebrity speakers and videos of patients on a loop throughout the entire event. This will help to make our Vintage Hollywood themed Gala even more personable. Regarding demographic characteristics, the families of children who are being treated at your hospital currently or in the past, along with families who want to extend emotional support will be in attendance. There will also be those celebrities who are speaking in presence which will help increase donor attendance and donations. Give Back Events values our personality and want to ensure that we are planning an event that allows the attendees to have a positive attitude and want to give back and donate.

We plan to persuade our audiences to attend this event by promoting our two fantastic

celebrity guest speakers, Jennifer Aniston and Jimmy Kimmel. Jennifer Aniston has been a strong advocate for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for about a decade. Aniston's support for the organization began back in 2008 when she took part in St. Jude's Thanks and Giving Campaign. Ever since then, the Friends star has been a staple in campaigning for St. Jude. Jimmy Kimmel had personal experiences with St. Jude Children's Hospital when his newborn son had open heart surgery. Kimmel is a huge advocate and puts a lot of time and effort into the cause.

As far as moving our audience, we will be going through five different stages. First, we

will use pre-contemplation, which involves helping our audience by providing a support system

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by inviting emotional and financial counselors to help them cope with cancer. Then we will use contemplation where our audiences will consider taking action to donate after seeing our patients videos and hearing our celebrity speakers. Next is preparation, where we will prepare our audience to take action by having them sign a pledge to take action in their own life and educate others about cancer and how to prevent it. Then, we will be using action. This is when our audience will go and donate money to the cause which will hopefully lead to finding cures for pediatric cancer research. Lastly, advocacy or maintenance will be when our audience continues to give and support this wonderful cause.

Risk Management

As far as special needs for our event, we need to have this event indoors with controlled temperature. We will also need to have procedural face masks available as some of the attendees will be the children who have cancer. We also need a vast, spacious area that will be wheelchair accessible so the children who are in wheelchairs or have IV poles can maneuver easily. Having this event right at your main hospital in Memphis, Tennessee will allow us to have those accessibilities and needs met. The SWOT Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is provided below.

STRENGTHS:

The first strength is the volunteers from the hospital that is willing to help set up and run our event which will help decrease the cost of paying staff. On top of that, our event gives the patients the support from other children and families who are continuing their battle against cancer. It also allows an escape from reality for children and families and gives the children an opportunity to experience “Vintage Hollywood." The Vintage Hollywood theme is appealing to many of the guests because it is fancy and fun. This will encourage guests to want to dress up and take pictures. Lastly, guests will not have to pay for parking since hospital lots will be utilized. WEAKNESS:

A significant flaw with this event is the location because there is only one St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Another gap is the relocation of patients so they can all be together at the event. This is a weakness because not every child may be able to walk or breathe on their own. Therefore, wheelchairs, IV poles, and oxygen tanks may be difficult to transport when going to the Gala event. Another weakness is that not all the children can attend because they have conflicts or are affected by their disease. OPPORTUNITIES:

A major opportunity that comes with this event is the celebrity exposure. The celebrities will get recognition from going to the event and speaking there which can make the event and stars more well known. Another opportunity is that donors and other guests are going to feel willing to donate once they see how big the event is and hear the celebrity speakers.

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THREATS:

One significant threat is the other hospitals that have big fundraising events like this one. Another threat is sick people coming to this event because we are already going to have patients there from the hospital. Having our speakers go over their allotted time also presents itself as a threat. One last risk could be the other organizations that are having events on the same night that some of our guests may attend.

Promotions

We also want to promote what it means to attend our event and donate to your hospital

for pediatric cancer research. Our intrinsic motives for our attendees are that of community involvement, feelings of accomplishment, and being remembered as a leader or innovator. Extrinsic motivations related to this event are social recognition with a newsletter/magazine and gaining financial success by donating money to you, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Also, people who give a significant amount will receive recognition with a badge of honor and a thank you in the St. Jude Children’s Hospital newsletter.

We will be promoting this event to our target audiences by sending out invitations to the

patients, friends, and family of the patients at St. Jude Children's Hospital, St. Jude's donor list, and our celebrity guest. We will have Jennifer Aniston, and Jimmy Kimmel also promote this event to any other advocates that they would like to see come to this Gala. When they let us know whom they wish to invite, we will send them invitations as well. During the event, we will have Jennifer Aniston, and Jimmy Kimmel speak on behalf of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Some other ways we will promote our event is by putting out a press release to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as a reminder of the event and why they should attend. We will have flyers for this event hung up throughout hallways in St. Jude Hospital. This will allow us to receive as much exposure as possible.

To get everyone excited to come to our event, our theme will be “Vintage Hollywood!”

We are going to have posters of celebrities all around the venue. There will also be star plaques with patients names on them hanging in the venue which will represent two things, the first being a reminder to donors as to why they are at our event and where their money will be going. Second, it will make the children feel recognized and famous just like a star of Hollywood. Having a night themed around Vintage Hollywood will allow the kids to feel like they are celebrities.

Below you will find the invitation we created for this event, along with some SEO keywords, the press release for this event, and our logo and slogan for the event! This is another area where we will be closely coordinating with you to make sure you approve of our look and design for this event!

Invitation: The invitation will look something like this picture below. This invitation will get guests excited to want to see what we have to offer.

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SEO keywords: Cancer research, Vintage Hollywood, St. Jude, research, cancer, gala, awareness, celebrities, fundraiser, Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Kimmel, red carpet, guest speaker Press Release:

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRIENDS, FAMILY, DONORS: ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has spent more than half a century finding cures and saving children, and this groundbreaking research has helped push the survival rate for childhood cancer from less than 20% in 1962 to more than 80% today. More than a half-century ago, entertainer Danny Thomas envisioned a hospital that would treat children regardless of race, color, creed or a family's ability to pay; a facility where research would bring light and positivity to a dark and cold illness. Thomas’ vision became a reality when your research hospital opened

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on February 4, 1962. Since then, St. Jude has become one of the world's premier pediatric research institutions where families never receive a bill for treatment, housing, travel, or food.

St. Jude Children’s Hospital is “Rolling Out the Red Carpet” for “A Night to Remember” for their first annual Gala at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This fundraising event will be held to raise money for pediatric cancer research and go towards St. Jude Children's Research Hospital mission to "advance cures, and means of prevention, for catastrophic pediatric diseases through research and treatment." It is St. Jude Children's Hospital's goal to raise $5,000,000 towards St. Jude and their pediatric cancer research.

This event will be held at St. Jude Children’s Hospital on April 6th, 2019. This Vintage Hollywood themed Gala will help raise money for pediatric cancer research and celebrate the lives of these children. This event will be formal with lots of lighting and draping. The whole ballroom will be decorated in Vintage Hollywood decorations, with wax figures from Madame Tussauds Wax Museum from New York City. We will also be doing an auction of prestigious Vintage Hollywood prizes, such as Hannah Montana's guitar and Michael Jackson's coat. We will also be having fabulous decorations, food, drinks and much more!

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Social Media Flyer

Slogan: “Roll Out the Red Carpet for the Kids!” Logo: Our logo is going to be the star in front of a red carpet. This shows that the kids are the stars on the red carpet for the event.

Entertainment: The Experience

During this event, the guests will experience a fun, but stress-free night. From the beginning until the end of the event, we will have UpBeat Brass, a jazz band, play vintage Hollywood music at a low enough volume so that guests can still talk without any interruptions. Before dinner, we will encourage the guests to mingle, grab a drink at the open bar which will have alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for both adults and children. We will have multiple donation stations around the room which will allow guests to donate as they please. While guests are filing in and mingling, they will be able to take pictures with the wax celebrities to get that Vintage Hollywood connection. Also, during this time, waiters and waitresses will even be walking around the room offering hors d’oeuvres and taking drink orders. All the staff will be

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dressed in red, black, and white Vintage Hollywood uniforms. Female staff members will be dressed in "Cigarette Girl" attire which consists of a black skirt, red button-up blouse, white gloves, and a red circle top hat. The male staff members will be wearing black dress pants, a red blazer, white dress shirt, red bow tie, and white gloves with a matching top hat.

As everyone arrives, each attendee will place his or her dinner order before he or she

walks through the doors. At each table setting, there will be an itinerary so that the guests know what to expect for the night. Throughout the night, there will be montages and videos of celebrities coming to visit patients. This will be on replay throughout the entire night playing around the room on multiple projector screens. There will be a photo booth with Hollywood props that you can take pictures with as well. There will also be a photographer going around the event capturing moments from the event.

Our food choices will include four entree options such as Lobster Thermidor, Filet Oscar,

Salmon Oscar, and Pasta Primavera. The side dishes that come with the main dishes will be a vegetable, such as roasted broccoli and carrots and a starch such as garlic mashed potatoes. The beverages will include freshly squeezed lemonade, iced tea, soft drinks, and punch for the kids. The punch will be a fun, bright color to go along with our theme. There will be a glass of iced water at every spot at the table before everyone sits down. When walking into the venue, the guests will receive a glass of bubbly champagne in crystal clear glasses. If desired, the kids will receive sparkling non-alcoholic cider. As far as the desserts go, we want to have a “main attraction” per se. This big dessert will be a tiered cake that is designed around St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and what they stand for. Besides the tiered cake, we will have macaroons, mini creme brulees, mini cheesecakes, and red velvet cupcakes.

The celebrity speakers are going to be a massive part of the night! Jennifer Aniston and Jimmy Kimmel are our selected celebrity speakers. These two celebrities are huge advocates of St. Jude Children's Hospital and have gone to many events in the past, which makes them great to speak at our event. They will be talking after dinner but before dessert.

After dessert, there will be time for the guests to walk through a gallery that shows

pictures of cancer patients. This gallery will include stories and images from previous events that St. Jude has held in the past. It will also feature art projects that cancer patients have created in their free time at the hospital. This is where patients can show the attendees their artwork and activities from their time in the hospital. This will make the patients feel like they are the celebrities of the night. We will also be doing a silent auction of famous Hollywood antiques that were donated. Some such as Hannah Montana’s guitar, Michael Jackson’s coat and glove, Dorothy's ruby red slippers from the Wizard Of Oz, and a Hollywood Dream Vacation! When wrapping up the event, our team will give a thank you speech to everyone who attended and donated. As our guests are walking out, they will each be personally thanked and given a goodie bag filled with St. Jude products, such as t-shirts, a Yeti water bottle with the St. Jude logo on it, wine bottles for adults, portable chargers, a years subscription for Amazon Prime and much more!

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Budget

Since we have this Gala at your hospital, we do not need to rent out a venue, which will allow you to raise more money for pediatric cancer research. This will cut down on our cost tremendously so we can spend money on other expenses. Usually, a venue would cost around $25,000, but we are now able to save that money and spend it on other items that will encourage the guests to donate. We will be having our event in the hospital's ballroom, so it is more convenient for patients and guests as well. Our event budget will be around $105,500. We are sending out 500 tickets but expecting to get 300 RSVPs back.

Even though we are not renting out a venue, we still will need to consider equipment

rentals for tables ($1,000), chairs ($800), stage materials, such as microphones, extension cords, speakers, electrical tape and a podium ($800). The programming details that we need consists of invitation and mailing ($500), thank you cards and mailing ($500), catering needs ($100 per person, which is $30,000 in total plus $4,000 for hors-d'oeuvres and then $4,000 for dessert which is a total of $38,000 for food), two alcoholic open bars ($8,000), two non-alcoholic open bars ($2,000), decorations ($6,000), photo booth ($1,200), music ($3,100), photographers ($4,000), and gratuity/miscellaneous items ($2,000). For transportation, we will have five SUV limos ($5,000) that will transport the guests from their hotels to the hospital for the event. The transportation will cost about $5,000. The shuttle limo will also be available after the event is over to bring the guests back to their hotels. The funds that we have available to us are from your fundraising event budget and donations from our sponsors.

The cost of our company, Give Back Events, is a separate cost and not included in the budget. The event planners are asking for a compensation of $40.00 hourly during the event (a total of $2,600). Give Back Events also has a flat rate for planning fundraising galas that is $30,000.

The cost-saving measures we have put in place for this Vintage Hollywood themed Gala

are good reputations with outside vendors. This will allow us to get better-priced items because of our status in the event planning field. Another big part of St. Jude is based on donations, and many people are willing to donate for such a good cause. People who are unable to attend the event will be able to give as well, and we can use some of those donations to go towards the event. As we said before, the venue is at the hospital, so we aren't going to need to put money into renting out the site. We will not be paying for our guest speakers because they are volunteering to guest speak at our Gala about their personal experiences with St. Jude.

As for sponsors, they will be given recognition in your newsletter and website as a thank you for their services rendered. Sponsors of this event are American Airlines who are donating a round trip to Hollywood, California for our auction, Best Buy who is giving the custom portable chargers for the goodie bags, and GameStop who is donating games and game consoles for the children that are currently at St. Jude. Our last sponsor is Amazon, and they are donating decorations and also a free subscription of Amazon Prime for a year that will also go into the goodie bags. These sponsors are appropriate for this event because they are already affiliated with St. Judes. We will be reaching out to sponsors via a professional email asking them to attend our event. Not only will our sponsors get the same goodie bags as the other guests, but

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will also be featured on your website following the event. In the website article, we will be extending thank yous to all the sponsors.

Catering

The guests will be ordering what they would like for dinner as soon as they arrive. We

will have four options which include Filet Mignon Oscar, Lobster Thermidor, Salmon Oscar, and a vegetarian option. The vegetarian option will be pasta primavera. The side dishes that come with the main dishes will be a veggie, such as roasted broccoli and carrots, and a starch, such as garlic mashed potatoes. We will also have a fresh house salad come out first before the main dish.

At the beginning of the event, when the guests are first arriving and mingling, there will be waiters and waitresses walking around the room offering hors d'oeuvres and a glass of champagne to the guests. The kids will receive sparkling non-alcoholic cider. These hors-d'oeuvres will consist of stuffed mushrooms, bacon wrapped scallops, dressy deviled eggs, star-shaped pesto grilled cheese, mini shrimp cocktail cups, and fancy pigs in a blanket. There will be fresh French and ciabatta bread and whipped butter on the table to snack on as well.

There will be four open bars that guests can go up to as they please. Two of the open bars will have alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and liquor. The other two open bars will have non-alcoholic drinks that both adults and kids can go up to. The beverages at this bar will include fresh squeezed lemonade, iced tea, soft drinks, and punch for the kids. The blow will be a fun, bright color to go along with our theme. There will be a glass of water at each table setting as well. As far as the desserts go, we want to have a "main attraction" per se. This main attraction dessert will be a tiered cake that is designed around the Vintage Hollywood theme and has St. Jude Children's Research Hospital written on the golden award at the top of the cake. Besides the tiered cake, we will have macaroons, mini creme brulees, mini cheesecakes, and “red carpet cupcakes” (red velvet cupcakes).

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Logistics Selecting a Site/Venue Analysis

When considering a venue for this Vintage Hollywood themed Gala, we took into consideration lighting, sound, weather, access to the site, parking, seating, decorating, safety, cost, physical space, restroom facilities, clean up, and potential damage to site areas. Most importantly, we selected our venue based off of convenience for parents and patients. We have chosen to host this Gala in the main ballroom at your Memphis, Tennessee location. Holding this event at the actual hospital not only connects donors directly to the cause, but is convenient with cost, parking, restroom facilities, safety, and limits potential damages to the venue area. Having our Gala event at your Tennessee location also promotes safety because there will be nurses, doctors, and medicine readily available if a child were to need medical assistance. Hospitals are also required to have an adequate amount of bathrooms throughout the whole hospital. The restrooms closest to the ballroom will be open for our guest to use. Parking limitations will not be a problem considering that it is a hospital; therefore there will be adequate amounts of parking available to all guests. In each parking lot, there will be signs directing the guests to the Gala, so they do not get lost if they are not familiar with the layout of the hospital. There will also be valet services as this event is upscale. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is, so we want the guests to have the option of pulling up to the main entrance, and the valet driver will take care of their car.

This event will be held inside which limits any weather concerns regarding rain dates

since the event will be held during the springtime. Since we will be reserving a space in the hospital for this fundraiser, there will be no cost for the venue which allows more spending money on decorations, catering, promotions, and entertainment.

The way we will be executing the theme of Vintage Hollywood and “A Night to

Remember” is by hanging stars from the ceiling and having photographers act as paparazzi when taking pictures of the children and the event. Each person who donates will receive a star that says “I am donating for/to/because” which they will fill out and it will be placed on the back wall of the room, so that is one of the first things guests see when entering into the Gala. Decorations will be kept to a minimum on the ground because we don't want any children to trip or get stuck trying to maneuver around them.

To attend this Gala, attendees must be extended an invite via mail. As the theme of our

event is Vintage Hollywood, our guests and families will be excited to attend and have "A Night to Remember." Once they arrive, they will have multiple opportunities to donate if they would like. To persuade people to give, we will have two celebrity guest speakers, Jennifer Aniston and Jimmy Kimmel. We will also have two families talk about how your hospital has positively impacted their life. We will coordinate with you about who those families should be.

We will also be doing an auction of famous Hollywood prizes, such as Hannah

Montana’s guitar, Michael Jackson’s glove and coat, and the red ruby slippers from the Wizard Of Oz, and much more! This will allow us to raise more money and make the guests more eager to come!

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Event Timeline Event date: Saturday, April 6, 2019, at 5:00 pm Timeline:

- 6/1/18-6/30/18: Contact the celebrities we want to come and speak at the event - 7/1/18-7/31/18: Create promotional posters, newsletters, and press release - 8/1/18-8/31/18: Create stationery items for the event; ex. invites, signs, and RSVPs - 9/1/18-9/30/18: Start researching catering companies and go to food testings - 10/1/18-10/31/18: Talk to the hospital about venue details; talk with other rental

companies about draping, follow up with families/celebrities - 11/1/18-11/30/18: Provide hospital with logistical set up and make changes if necessary,

start contacting potential donors and attendees - 12/1/18-12/31/18: Continue contacting potential donors and attendees - 1/1/19-1/31/19: Send out invites, finalize catering; finalize the celebrities and speaking at

the event; contact volunteers to help - 2/1/19-2/28/19: Finalize rentals; finalize volunteers - 3/1/19-3/31/19: Put together a PowerPoint/video of the families stories to show

throughout the event, finalize who will be working and doing what duties the day of the event

- 4/1/19-4/4/19: Start gathering up supplies, finalizing work schedules - 4/5/19: Set up tables, chairs, decor, catering station, and bar area - 4/6/19: EVENT DAY

- 11:00 am - Arrive to finalize event details and adjustments for setup - 2:00 pm - Catering/drinks arrive - 3:00 pm - celebrities arrive to get a feel for the venue and to get ready and

comfortable - 3:30 pm - All staff are at the event and ready for the event - 4:30 pm - Guest start to arrive - 5:30 pm - Opening speech - 6:00 pm - Dinner is served - 7:00 pm - Celebrity speeches - 7:30 pm- Dessert is served - 8:00pm - Silent auction - 9:30 pm - Closing words and announcement of how much money was raised - 10:00 pm - Guests depart - 10:15 pm - 12:00 am - Clean up

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Staging Considerations

The staging will all be set up one day before the event taking place. This will give us some room to breathe and make adjustments to the layout if needed. Inside the venue, there will be a mingling floor directly in the center of the room. It will be a flat surface so it can be easily accessible for wheelchairs. There will also be circle tables because they are more accessible for wheelchairs and IV poles to fit. They will be set up on either side of the room which will connect at the back of the room creating a semi circle shape. This shape will allow all guests to have access to the floor and be able to see each speaker without a struggle. Each table will be covered with black tablecloths. The tables will be decorated with a large glass vase centerpiece that has white feathers in it. Outside of the semi-circle table set up, there will be donation stations, and beverage stations to get drinks from both sides of the room. As stated before, the venue will be a larger conference room. Conference rooms are already equipped with proper lighting and sound requirements.

We want to make the clean up as easy and quick as possible. In between each meal, our

staff will clear any dishes and cups and transport them on a cart to the kitchen so there won't be a pile-up of dishes during and after the event. We will be donating all the centerpieces from the tables to the hospital and our celebrity guests. The stars will also be kept and placed at the front entrance of the hospital so that each donor can be greater recognized and people can see how well the event turned out. After the event is over, we will be utilizing our volunteer's team to help clean the whole room and break down tables, bars, and chairs. Staffing

Staffing for our event is crucial because the success of our event comes down to the

quality of our staff. We will have about 50 volunteers from the hospital that will work the event. 10 of those volunteers will help the day before with setup and ten will help with clean up at the end of the night. The other 30 volunteered for working during the event by checking people in, donations, and making sure the event runs smoothly. There will also be paid staff that is included in the budget with catering, set up, and the technicalities of the event. The person on our team in charge of logistics will be making sure the staff knows what to do. Before designating roles, we will be educating everyone about the mission, rules, and success for the event. The people being paid will be those who are supplying food, entertainment, and safety. The volunteer staff will be helping out with the setup and cleanup. There will be an hourly schedule handed to everyone to avoid any confusion. There will be lots of refreshments provided to the paid and volunteer staff so that workers are energized and in a good mood! Workers will arrive on time and not leave early without notifying the managers of the event.

Assessment Our fundraising team, Give Back Events, will be judging if this specific gala is successful based off of attendees, how much money we raised, and the media exposure after the event. We will also ask our clients to give us online reviews and help to refer our team to others based on their experience. Our company is exceptionally qualified to manage this event because we are strictly a fundraising corporation. When planning an event, we become wholeheartedly dedicated

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to the cause. In this case, our purpose would be helping to change the lives of the children at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. We want to ensure satisfaction among all guests; therefore we tailor the event to our target audiences. Our team is the most qualified for this event because we have done our research on planning galas and we each have unique event planning experiences. Based on our research we have done a side by side comparison of our major fundraising competitors. We understand what clients are looking for and are always looking for ways to keep up with competitors. We will keep the client updated with as much information as possible to ensure that there is no confusion or hesitation. We want to maintain relationships with our clients and turn them into repeat clients. Our specialized skills include trustworthiness, positive attitudes, and friendliness. Each of us possesses strong interpersonal, public speaking, organizational and time management skills.