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Game Show Fundraisers Raise the Roof & the Funds
Vicki Blazejowski
TV game shows have been a huge success for
many years. Dating back to the 1970's and
80’s with The Price is Right, Jeopardy, and
Family Feud; more recent crazes include Do
You Want To Be A Millionaire, Deal or No
Deal, and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth
Grader. All of these game shows have a few
things in common - contestants, a host,
prizes, challenges, anticipation, and humor.
A game show event makes a great fundraiser
or simply a school spirit event. Here are
some tips to plan an evening where people
can laugh out loud with their friends,
family, teachers, and principal.
Design your own game or stylize it after a
popular game show. Make the game your own by
implementing your own set of rules and time
limits. Organize the game in a way that
several people can participate. For
instance, in a Family Feud style game, have
two teams of five players each compete
against each other. If you have 3 rounds of
play, then 6 different teams can play -
that's 30 people! You may want to play two
or three different games throughout the
evening and have a different host for each
(but plan to keep the event to no more than
two hours long). At least one of the games
should be one where the contestants are
randomly chosen from the audience. This will
sell tickets and keep the audience
interested and entertained at the
anticipation of being chosen.
Include a mix of academic and fun questions
and competition ideas submitted by both
students and teachers. For instance, “Name
something a hockey player has to put on
before a game”; “Name three types of
clouds”; or “Name a punctuation mark on a
computer keyboard”.
Although your committee volunteers are the
ones to make up the game rules and
questions, the game show host is the person
responsible for announcing the rules of the
game to the audience and contestants and for
keeping the game running smoothly and
continuously. Remember if the game does not
proceed steadily, the audience may get
bored. The host of your game show has to be
well-spoken, personable, quick-witted, and
humorous. A high school aged student may be
able to handle this role, but for middle and
elementary school, we recommend an adult.
Reserve the school auditorium where the game
show will take place. You will need a stage
and seating for the audience. If possible
have the event in a carpeted auditorium with
stadium seating. Avoid a gym or cafeteria as
the noise levels will detract from the event
if the audience cannot hear the
conversations on stage. Utilize microphones
whenever possible.
Begin advertising 4 to 6 weeks in advance by
distributing flyers to parents of all local
schools and hanging flyers in visible
locations at the school. Offer tickets for
sale and request contestant sign-ups.
Encourage every student to purchase a
ticket, encourage parents to purchase
tickets themselves and to sell to family and
friends, and set up sale tables at student
pick-up and drop-off locations, in the
cafeteria during lunch hours, and at school
sponsored events.
Sell tickets as an entrance fee to be part
of the audience, keeping this cost under
$5.00. Since the goal is to have as many
audience members as possible, the lower the
ticket price, the more likely you will fill
the auditorium. Tickets can be sold in
advance, but you can count on most of the
tickets being sold at the door on the day of
the event. Since it is more fun to laugh
with the people you know, plan to sell
tickets to students, friends, family and
school staff.
In addition to ticket sales, sponsors are a
key element in reaching your fundraising
goal. You'll want to obtain corporate
sponsorships to offset the cost of the
prizes, custodial fees, hall fee, food and
beverage costs, ticket printing costs, and
advertising costs. Recognize the sponsor's
generous donation at your fundraising event
by publishing their name in promotional
material.
Every game show offers prizes to its winning
contestants. This will be one of the draws
to selling tickets and filling the
audience. Consider gift certificates to
local restaurants, grocery stores, toy
stores, or movie theatres, pre-paid phone
cards, or even a free car wash by a group of
students. Prizes should appeal to your
audience. Be creative!
As with any event that has generated an
audience, complement your event by selling
soda, water, candy, pizza, or raffle tickets.
And finally, send thank you notes to
sponsors and let your committee members know
how much you appreciate their hard work. A
letter can also be written to your local
newspaper, along with photos, thanking
everyone for a successful fundraiser. This
will serve as additional publicity for
sponsors as well as publicity for your
event.
For more information on planning a game show
and other fundraising events, visit PTO
Ideas at http://www.ptoideas.com.
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