Looking for a delicious new way to raise funds for your cause? Tried and true spaghetti dinners are affordable, attractive to a crowd, and fun! Read on to learn how to host a spaghetti dinner fundraiser to bring in more support for your organization.
A spaghetti dinner fundraiser is a popular way to raise funds for nonprofits and individuals. And planning this event is a large part of fundraising since spaghetti dinners differ from most other events. For one, you will need to be more careful and strategic when it comes to the menu. Which includes knowing your community and what will attract your potential donors.
If you’re looking for the best way to host a spaghetti dinner fundraiser, or are wondering if it fits your budget or fundraising needs, this article is for you.
In this article, we’ve included details on meal expectations, how much this event with cost, and other important additions that will help you raise more.
As is evident from the name, a spaghetti dinner fundraiser involves people buying tickets to get together and eat delicious spaghetti. Nonprofits run spaghetti dinner fundraisers because they’re easy to run and have an excellent return on investment.
Anyone can hold a spaghetti dinner. If your donors or volunteers want to raise money on their own, they can find a location and run this event without much trouble. Individuals that wish to support someone going through a tough time can also run a spaghetti dinner and bring in a significant amount.
Since running this type of event doesn’t cost as much as others, nonprofits can sell tickets at low prices and bring in a crowd. Donorbox Events lets you create a customized event page and ticketing form with unlimited ticket tiers. You can highlight tax-deductible values for each ticket tier, set the ticket quantity, and a deadline to purchase tickets, and accept additional donations from the ticketing form. There’s even more you can do with our powerful event ticketing tool. Learn more here.
One of the greatest perks to holding a spaghetti dinner fundraiser is it doesn’t have to cost a lot. The venue is the largest expense. Nonprofits can rent a room at a restaurant or hotel but can also hold the dinner at someone’s home, your organization’s location, or even outdoors.
When determining the menu for your evening, spaghetti is filling and doesn’t cost much, but you’ll also want side dishes, bread, dessert, and don’t forget the drinks! You can save money on the meal by asking for donations from local businesses for the food and location.
Spaghetti is an inexpensive meal. You can either go traditional or put your own spin on it. The following suggestions can help your organization highlight its mission and raise more funds.
Spaghetti doesn’t have to mean boring. There’s nothing wrong with a traditional meal, but if you’re located in an area with a younger demographic, you may want to offer this meal with a twist.
One idea is to make it vegan and gluten-free. If your donors are willing to pay more, you can also increase ticket prices and turn the meal into a sit-down meal with servers and entertainment.
If your organization is located near a winery or brewery, this can be an excellent chance to solicit the company for sponsorships or in-kind donations. A well-known local wine or beer will also entice more attendees to check out the event.
One way to solicit this type of organization is to talk with them about becoming a vendor and asking for wine or beer donations for the event’s live or silent auction.
Dessert is another opportunity to connect with local businesses. Contact local bakeries and restaurants to see who may be willing to offer free desserts in exchange for marketing at the event.
You can also sell vendor tables to businesses that let them sell their products. Another way to include desserts is to let volunteers and supporters of your organization show off their favorite dessert recipes and skills.
Find a way to include your organization’s mission or purpose with the menu. A spaghetti dinner can be an excellent fundraiser for a food pantry. These organizations can connect event attendees and beneficiaries through a free meal for all.
The York City Independent Restaurant Association does this with their spaghetti dinner at YorKitchen, providing a hot meal to everyone who needs it.
We don’t mean famous like Gordon Ramsay, but a local celebrity chef can go a long way in growing event attendance.
Are you located near a popular restaurant? Do you have a personal connection with a local politician? Your attendees may get a kick out of seeing their mayor in an apron.
Ticket prices for a spaghetti dinner can cover a wide range, but most dinners will be inexpensive. This is often the appeal. Spaghetti dinners are often casual and cost from $5 to $20 per ticket, including discounts for early registration, children, and additional guests.
The lower-cost ticket pricing aims to encourage more people to attend. Nonprofits will benefit most if they choose a larger venue that allows at least 100 attendees.
Before you choose a ticket price for your next spaghetti dinner, check out our article on how to create an event pricing strategy.
Once people enter your fundraising event, they’ll expect to come across a few opportunities to spend more money. This is where a donation kiosk can come in handy.
There are no rules on how to set up a donation kiosk, but the purpose is to offer donors the chance to donate in person with a quick swipe or dip of their credit/debit cards or using their digital wallets.
Adding one or a few different kiosks around your venue during the dinner lets donors give any amount without feeling like people are watching. Many donors will appreciate the convenience and privacy of a donation kiosk.
Donorbox Live ™ makes setting up a donation kiosk at your spaghetti dinner fundraiser easier. You can easily activate the add-on on the tool and create a live campaign with four suggested ask amounts. Then, download our app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store and add it to your Android tablet or iPad. Log in to the app with your Donorbox account, select the live campaign you created, and launch the donor view which will automatically pair the app with your card reader device. You can even use it as a point of sale to collect entry fees at your event. Learn more on our step-by-step guide.
Since spaghetti dinners are more casual than a traditional gala, your nonprofit can have a bit of fun. One way to do this is by connecting the dinner to your organization’s mission. You can do this by choosing an event name that stands out, including a costume contest, entertainment, or asking people to bring in-kind gifts catering to your beneficiaries’ needs.
Community Cat Angels does this excellently with their Spay-ghetti & No Balls Fundraiser Dinner. This dinner is in honor of Spay and Neuter Awareness Month. In addition to selling tickets to the dinner, the organization asks attendees to bring dry or wet cat food or cat litter. Donors receive two additional raffle tickets in exchange for their gift.
(Please note that the ticket sales for this event have ended and that is why the ticketing form on this page is not visible. But you can still check out the event page with its description and other details.)
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QR codes are another easy way to promote your spaghetti dinner and sell tickets. You can create a QR code for free online and link it to your event’s ticket sale page or online donation form.
The benefit of QR codes is you can add them to your nonprofit’s website, email, and printed flyers and invitations. There really is no limit to where you can place a QR code.
When you create a fundraising campaign on Donorbox, a QR code is automatically generated. You can use it for free by downloading it from the tool and adding it to your event venue. Or you can also customize this QR code to include a different link, change the download format, and more.
Nonprofits can add a text-giving campaign to their spaghetti dinner to raise funds from attendees. Donors appreciate the convenience of this type of fundraising because they don’t need to bring cash to show their support. The safety and ease will encourage more donors to give.
Nonprofits that use Donorbox to start a text-to-give campaign can set it up in minutes and link donors to their online donation form. You can easily activate Donorbox Text-to-Give on the tool. It will give you unique campaign ids for your campaigns. You can share this ID and the texting number with your event attendees to encourage them to quickly make a text donation. They can also easily repeat their donations by simply sending a text message. Learn more here. We have also curated some of the best and most successful text-to-give campaigns at our blog – read for inspiration.
Promotions are one of the best ways to share your event online and entice people to attend. An easy and free way to do this is with a hashtag challenge.
Create a hashtag that fits your nonprofit’s mission or program the event will fund, and share the hashtag across all social media channels and via email. You can also promote your spaghetti dinner with flyers, press releases, mailed postcards, and more.
Auctions, raffles, and other fundraising games are some of the most common ways to raise additional funds during any event. Sometimes you can include all of them, but you’ll make sure these games fit your event’s donor base.
Gaston Youth Sports found out a bingo game was the best way to reach their donors and were able to sell out their Spaghetti Dinner & Bingo Night. The organization also found a way to sell bingo cards and collect more donations online from all supporters who didn’t attend the event.
Social media and personal contact with your supporters are best, but they’re not the only way to spread the word about your event. You can invite members of the media to attend your spaghetti dinner. But remember that you’ll need to give them a reason.
Write a press release or email highlighting your organization’s mission and why they should be interested. If your organization focuses on an issue that’s been in the news lately, you’ll have a better chance of catching their attention.
Spaghetti dinner fundraisers are a fun and easy way to raise funds for a cause. Anyone can hold them and the cost is so inexpensive that strategic ticket prices will help bring in a crowd.
If you’re about to hold your first spaghetti dinner, be sure to use as many ways as possible to promote your event. Use the tips shared in this article. And Donorbox is there to help with efficient fundraising tools to help boost donations and ticket sales revenue with your event.
Try Donorbox Events. You can start selling tickets by creating a customized event page and ticketing form in just a few minutes. Plus, you can also embed this form on your website. Learn more about Events and our other fundraising products and tools on the website. Sign up to start fundraising today!
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Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor