Is a Charity Event Booth Worth the Investment?

[chefHLM]

I was just checking our local newspaper's online edition for events that might be coming up and came across a charity event for our local Feed America Chapter. It's $350-$700 for a booth for 3 hours! But, tickets to the event itself are $75. I'm trying to decide if it would be worth the money before I even mention it to any other consultants to see if they'd want to split this with me.
I have a few ideas of what to do for displays, etc. but that's an awful lot of $ for 3 hours especially after just being burned by a $400 table (which I did alone!) for 5 hours at a bridal show with no leads, one booking that canceled 3 days later, and 2 canceled registries (they never did anything but sign up).

 

[Jolie_Paradoxe]

I was just checking our local newspaper's online edition for events that might be coming up and came across a charity event for our local Feed America Chapter. It's $350-$700 for a booth for 3 hours! But, tickets to the event itself are $75. I'm trying to decide if it would be worth the money before I even mention it to any other consultants to see if they'd want to split this with me.
I have a few ideas of what to do for displays, etc. but that's an awful lot of $ for 3 hours especially after just being burned by a $400 table (which I did alone!) for 5 hours at a bridal show with no leads, one booking that canceled 3 days later, and 2 canceled registries (they never did anything but sign up).

Personally, I think that's too much money.

 

[Chefgirl2]

Ditto...too much for only 3 hours.

 

[teresah551393]

Me too, I wouldn't do it for that much money. My limit for things I do by myself are $50, and those are all day events. I do not spend much on this.

 

[DebbieJ]

No way would I ever do that (or another bridal fair).

 

[chefHLM]

No way would I ever do that (or another bridal fair).

Yeah, I will never do another bridal fair. I wish I had known my HD before doing that one, she said she's done several of them and not one of them was worth it. Oh, well. You live and you learn I guess.

 

[msunn1973]

Ok, so most think this is too much to spend for a booth set-up. So my question is...what IS the right amount to spend on a booth?

We have several (one sometimes two a month) in the area where I live, during the summer months. The one I was especially interested in is called "the woman's show". But that is $200 for two days. Do you think that is worth it?

 

[gailz2]

If I were to invest $200 for 2 days, I'd split it with at least one other person, perhaps 1/2 day each day for each of you. I have a friend who splits with me, we work well together so split leads and work the whole event together.

 

[PamperChefCarol]

Regarding the $200 event, is it the first one they have ever had of that event? Do they have any numbers regarding attendance from previous times? Do you know any other DS vendors who did the event in the past? If so, you could ask them how their results were.

 

[pampchefsarah]

I was just checking our local newspaper's online edition for events that might be coming up and came across a charity event for our local Feed America Chapter. It's $350-$700 for a booth for 3 hours! But, tickets to the event itself are $75. I'm trying to decide if it would be worth the money before I even mention it to any other consultants to see if they'd want to split this with me.
I have a few ideas of what to do for displays, etc. but that's an awful lot of $ for 3 hours especially after just being burned by a $400 table (which I did alone!) for 5 hours at a bridal show with no leads, one booking that canceled 3 days later, and 2 canceled registries (they never did anything but sign up).

Find out the estimated attendance before deciding. 2 consultants (including my Director) and myself split the cost of a $300 table at an event a few weeks ago, because we figured if we each had one good show from it, it would cover our costs. This was the 3rd year for the event, and I knew it would have literally thousands of 'guests' (I was right, they estimate they had close to 5000 people come through).

We did a drawing (we each donated one prize), and received lots of leads. Personally, I have one show booked for June, one catalog show currently going, and one recruit who's going to sign in July (she's leaving in a couple of weeks for a month-long missions trip in Peru). I also have a a couple of people who want to book shows at the beginning of the school year, and another potential recruit. For me, it was well worth the $100.

The advantage I can see about your opportunity is the tie-in PC already has with Feed America. You can play that up, because if someone is willing to pay a $75 entrance fee, they must really have a heart for this ministry. However, for only 3 hours, go with the lower end booth, especially for your first time at the event.

 

[chef131doreen]

I am doing a car show next weekend $50.00 for the space I will also bring some cash and carry stuff to try and get at least that back.
take orders and maybe get some leads
I don't like to go higher than that

 

[chefHLM]

Find out the estimated attendance before deciding. 2 consultants (including my Director) and myself split the cost of a $300 table at an event a few weeks ago, because we figured if we each had one good show from it, it would cover our costs. This was the 3rd year for the event, and I knew it would have literally thousands of 'guests' (I was right, they estimate they had close to 5000 people come through).

We did a drawing (we each donated one prize), and received lots of leads. Personally, I have one show booked for June, one catalog show currently going, and one recruit who's going to sign in July (she's leaving in a couple of weeks for a month-long missions trip in Peru). I also have a a couple of people who want to book shows at the beginning of the school year, and another potential recruit. For me, it was well worth the $100.

The advantage I can see about your opportunity is the tie-in PC already has with Feed America. You can play that up, because if someone is willing to pay a $75 entrance fee, they must really have a heart for this ministry. However, for only 3 hours, go with the lower end booth, especially for your first time at the event.

See. This was my thought exactly about people who will be spending the $75 for the entrance fee and especially about the tie in with RUFTH & PC.