Planning a Successful Banquet
NABC Summit, Chatfield, MN
April 19 & 20, 2008
Lou Compton
Maryland Bowhunters Society
What Kind of Banquet Do You
Want?
Camaraderie building social event
 Fundraising focused only
 Combination of both

Pro’s and Con’s

Social
– Fun focus
– Camaradarie
– Family feeling
– Labor intensive
– Still need
fundraiser
– Financial liability if
low attendance

Fundraiser

Combination
– Can be profitable
– Develop
benefactors
– Build membership
rolls if ticket
includes
membership
– Can be profitable
– People will want
to attend
– Member rolls
increase with nonmembers/guests
joining
– Labor intensive
– Cost of items for
raffle & auction
– $$$ vs. members
– Need the right
venue
– Labor intensive
– Cost of items for
raffle & auction
– Need the right
venue
Banquet vs. Convention

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 Banquet
more economical
smaller organizations better
served by a 4-6 hour banquet
still requires fair amount of
planning and volunteers
adaptable to a wide array of
halls (fire hall, community
center)
Compressed schedule; Good
MC becomes critical
avoid a broken floor plan where
communication is difficult



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 Convention
more expensive to stage
may be best venue for a large club
with 500+ attendees
labor intensive and requires many
volunteers
usually requires hotel/conference
center/civic center
multiple rooms can offer a wide
variety of entertainment, auctions,
dinners, etc.
usually offers lodging package for
attendees who have to travel
A Successful Banquet
+ A Good Location
+ Some Good Planning
+ A Mix of Donations
+ A Variety of Fundraisers
+ Effective Coordination
_____________________
= A Successful Banquet
Location: Your First Key
Decision

Your venue should
– Be centrally located
– Near the majority of your members
– Provide a quality caterer with an attractive
menu and affordable prices
– Have the capability to grow as your
attendance grows

Don’t just look at hotels or conference
facilities; check out caterers & halls
Planning: Getting Started
Start small if this is your first event
 Learn what works from successful
organizations

– NABC
– RMEF
– NWTF
– DU

Name a Banquet Chairperson and a
Committee
Planning: Budgeting

Establish a Working Budget
– Cost of hall/caterer
– Advertising
– Prizes/games
– Cost of speaker/entertainment if used
– Event insurance
– Supplies (duct tape, raffle tickets, poster
board, etc.)
Planning: Setting Ticket Prices
Keep Prices Affordable
 Offer Early Bird Specials that offer raffle
tickets and/or membership renewal
 Avoid making membership fee a
mandatory part of ticket price
 Ticket price should cover cost of
hall/caterer
 Make purchasing tickets easy (PayPal on
your club’s website)

Planning: Get Sponsors

Table Sponsorships
– Local businesses get a sponsor’s
poster/centerpiece at table

Raffle Sponsorship
– Pro-shop could donate a raffle prize, etc.

Adult Beverage Sponsor
– Local beverage distributors
Planning: Advertising

ADVERTISE-ADVERTISE-ADVERTISE
– Your organizations newsletter at least 2
issues prior
– Posters/flyers in pro-shops and stores
– Web sites (Your own as well as other local
hunting sites with potential attendees)
– Calendar of Events boards, newspapers, etc.
– Hunter friendly radio shows
– Public access cable ads (usually free)
– Mass mailing to membership
Planning: Speaker or No
Speaker
Must be entertaining and interesting!
 Is cost justified by increased
attendance/profits?
 Will your speaker detract from
fundraising efforts?
 Would the time devoted to the speaker
be better spent with fundraising events?
 It may be better to not have a speaker.

Donations: Soliciting Donations
Face to face from local sources
 National sources such as Cabela’s,
Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gander Mt., etc.
via solicitation letter on organization
letterhead
 Phone solicitation to above sources
 Solicit membership via your newsletter
and website

Donations: Making Money
Sometimes Takes Money
Don’t be Afraid to Spend Money to Make
Money!!!!
 Purchase Prizes at greatly reduced prices

– End of season sales
– Closeouts
– Offers from previously solicited vendors

Be prepared to spend some money to get
decent hunt packages
Donations: Build a Database

Start early building an extensive
database of outfitters and guides
– Web sites
– Magazine ads
– State/Provincial outfitter organizations
Send out solicitation letters well in
advance of event
 Don’t forget local guides AND members
who may have access to great hunting
areas. Not all hunts have to be guided

Donations: Don’t Refuse
Anything
Remember no donated prize is too small
or insignificant. Small items can be
combined to make a good “package”
 Don’t forget DVD’s, Books, releases,
scents, packs, camo clothing, raingear,
etc. Be creative!!!!
 Ladies and youth prizes should be
obtained for women and children
attending

Donations: Think Outside of
the Box
Jewelry, artwork, vacation packages,
weekend get-a-ways, Diner gift certificates,
spa/resort certificates all have a broad
appeal EVEN to bowhunters
 Consider leasing a tract of prime private
property, local or out of state, and then
auction off a series of week long packages.

– This was recently done in MD and netted a
$6000.00+ profit.
Hunting Lease Prize

Secure annual lease to a QUALITY
hunting property
– Break the year (season) down into week to
10-day blocks and allow a rest period
between weeks
– Auction off the hunting blocks to a group of
3-4 hunters
– Prime periods (rut) should have the highest
minimum bid
– Name a lease coordinator / hunt master
Fundraisers: Bucket Raffles

Consider Having Two Levels
– Lower Tier ($1 tickets)

Mostly small items such as knives, broadheads,
sights, etc. Do put a few better prizes in Lower
tier to keep interest and ticket sales high.
– Upper Tier (5 tickets)

Better items such as GPS’s, Optics, Scent Loc
clothing, youth bow, a 3-D target, smaller
artwork, etc.
Fundraisers: Silent Auctions
Better quality items such as framed prints,
local and/or out of state hunts, traditional
or custom bows, custom arrows, etc.
 Set minimum initial bids and minimum
increments; e.g. - start at $120 with $5
increments
 Avoid duplicate items; if you have two
bear hunts, make one a silent auction and
one a live auction

Fundraisers: Live Auctions
Higher value items
 Get a professional auctioneer. Some donate
their services; pay for a good one if not
 Find someone who knows bowhunting and
the members!!!
 Have him help decide which items gets
auctioned first, second, etc.
 Collect payment immediately after close of
auction item

Fundraisers: Card Raffle
A standard 52 card deck of playing cards
used at $10 a card
 Raffle off a single prize such as a bow,
hunt, or package
 Limited number of “tickets” improves the
odds for those buying cards/tickets
 Call these throughout the event

Fundraisers: Dart Throw
Set up safe backstop in secure area
 Participants pay $5 for 5 darts to throw
at a 3-D target.
 Score is based on standard 3-D scoring
and tickets awarded for prizes such as a
custom bow, game camera, scent loc,
optics etc.

Fundraisers: Glass or T-Shirt
Raffle

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Raffle off a medium value item selling a club
T-shirt or Banquet Glass for $5 or $10 with a
raffle ticket attached.
Banquet Glasses can be obtained for as little
as $2 ea. Attendees like to buy these as
they get an instant memento and a shot at
winning a prize.
Remember if you’re serving adult beverages
many folks want a souvenir glass anyway
Coordination: Make a
Schedule
Six hours goes by in a flash
 Use the schedule to

– List all activities
– Estimate how much time each activity will
take
– Determine how many things you can do
– Determine what you can do concurrently

Use an MC to keep things running
smoothly
Coordination: The Value of a
Good MC
Can serve as your stage manager and
keeps banquet on schedule
 Should be personable and a decent
public speaker
 A MC with a good sense of humor could
eliminate need and expense of guest
speaker

Coordination: Keep Records
and Gather Information
Keep Detailed Records and Receipts
 Collect and Maintain Names/Addresses
From Each Attendee
 Survey Attendees for Suggestions to
Improve the Event
 Build on Each Year’s Success

General Words of Wisdom
Remember the “Average Joe” member.
Be careful to appeal to those on a
family budget as well as those with
deeper pockets.
 Avoid a broken floor plan that detracts
from ability to communicate to all
attendees at the same time.
 A good MC is a MUST!

General Words of Wisdom;
cont’
Be very detailed in explaining all the
small details about hunts being offered.
Let potential bidders/winners know
about license fees, travel expenses,
trophy fees, etc. right up front. Auction
items should be detailed in your
banquet program with ALL details.
 You want hunt winners returning next
year and telling their friends what a
great hunt they had.
 Keep very detailed records.

General Words of Wisdom;
cont’d
Set ticket price = cost per person for
lowest expected attendance, then
consider adding a few dollars profit. If
you get more people then your price
point goes down and you make more
money on each ticket.
 Consider having packages with raffle
tickets for early purchasers or a
discounted membership

General Words of Wisdom;
cont’d
Outfitters fill their books in the first
quarter so they know what they can
donate in the second quarter
 Many attendees will already have their
Fall hunts already booked, so for out of
state hunts try to get the option to use
it the next year (banquet in Spring of
2008, ask to use hunt in Fall of 2008 or
2009).

General Words of Wisdom; cont’d
Pick a venue that looks nice, has good
food at a good price, and can handle
your event as it gets bigger each year.
 Start working on the next banquet right
after this years is over. Don’t’ try to
cram it all into a few months before the
next banquet.

– A full year to get good hunts and merchandise
donations,
– Enough time to plan well, and
– Enough time to get the volunteers you will need.
General Words of Wisdom;
cont’d

Track what works well and what things
cost
– Where did people hear about the event (what
advertising works and what doesn’t)
– When did they place their order for tickets (when
to expect orders and when to panic)
– How many orders did you get each week (tells you
what to expect next year in terms of ticket sales)
– How much each kind of raffle or auction item
brought in (what things are worth having and
what are not)
– Build a database/list of attendees with name,
address, email, and phone number
Questions????