Have you attended a family fun day/fundraiser recently and have any do’s or dont’s tips for an organiser please?

[CheekyFuckersDontGetPastMe]

What was the best bit, what was the worst. If you were organising what would you do differently?

How about prices for face painters, balloons, food, stalls etc

This one is free entry, free parking and all money raised going towards the cause. No profit is being made by the organiser.

There will be entertainment plus all of the usual. It’s an outside event..

I came to say don't charge entry and per stall, but you're not, so that's ok
Bunting - make it festive
Shelter if possible (If you're in UK!)
Toilets??
drinks: limit the options, tea, coffee, orange juice lemonade, beer, red white wine.
Start small and make next years bigger if it goes well!
Let people choose where to help, they'll be more willing
Good luck!

Agree with easy and cheap refreshments.
Make sure stalls say what they do. I went to one the other day and a woman was manning her stall and had a tiny A4 price list up but nowhere did it actually say the activity! It said something like 'ovals £3, rectangles and squares £4' so no clue. The table was a jumbled mess she was still sorting despite the start time of the event being 45 mins earlier. Just was offputting.

@MrsBosh I agree about stalls needing to be clear what they do. I saw one with lots of small notices, but what it really needed was a big "Guess the name of the kitten - 50p a go".

Games should be simple; the more visual the better, so that punters can watch people shooting goals, breaking plates, and so on.

Are games like Pin the Tail (or whatever fits the theme of the event) popular, or is that too basic?

Thank you
Clar signage is on the list as well as letting volunteers pick

I’ve hired stall fete equipment that we will do ourselves hook the duck that sort of thing.

We have been lucky enough to have a donation of 100 animal walker balloons, how much is a reasonable price? I’m thinking £2.50

When I've visited with DC the popular stalls are the 'cheap and cheerful' ones those with a quick and easy win where the prize is a dip in the sweet jar.

Things that come to mind...

Lolly sticks in a tray of sand - some are blank and some have a bit of red paint or yellow paint on the hidden ends . 50p to choose three sticks - a red stick wins a small sweet, a yellow stick wins a chupa chop.

Half egg shells in a tray of sand as above. Some have a blob of paint inside them.

Tombolas are popular (and can be easier to manage than a raffle).

Coconut shy, welly throwing, bouncy castle.

Dos and don'ts
Dos and don'ts
Dos and don'ts
Dos and don'ts
Dos and don'ts
Dos and don'ts

helpful fox

I really like it when there’s good info on what the money is going towards.
Real life stories of people who have benefited from the charity.
Or ‘We are raising money for x piece of equipment which will...’
Or “At this event last year we raised x amount of money, this paid for x,y,z”

Cheap and cheerful is what we are aiming for. We are lucky that the wish list is very popular so we have pocket money stalls, win a prize every time etc

There are some really nice people out there

How much for punch ball balloons?

Have more than one face painter and make sure they don't stand and talk when they should be painting. Nothing worse than waiting ages for it!

I would avoid having music if you can. At lot of these events have some local dj or band playing and it is always far to loud and people have to shout to talk. Especially the poor folks whose stalls are closest to the 'music stage'. For a family event it isn't needed. Kids make enough ruddy noise. A 15 minutes performance of a local school choir or the Sally Army band can be nice but you really don't need loud banging music over loudspeakers.
Anything involving Lego bricks is always popular. Guess (and win) the bricks in a jar or a free build if you have enough bricks (ask on local Facebook etc if there are any any AFOLS in the area - adult fans of Lego. They often have a good supply of bricks).

Oh I do love a bottle tombola but I find a lot of people donate wine/beer etc which is no good for children. Either have two - for adults which includes alcohol and one for children or just have one which is completely alcohol free. Make sure the prizes are stuff people are actually things people use. Bubblebath and blowing bubbles are always popular. A few 'dud' prizes like washing up liquid can make it fun but it's a prize that will get used.

Lego bricks is a great idea. I have loads here as well

Face glitter instead of face painting... Takes a fraction of the time. We were at a fair on Saturday where DDs got face glitter and it took about a minute. Have waited up to 30 minutes for face painting and there was only a few children in the queue.

We have 2 face painters on 1 stall and then face and glitter tattoos on another stall.

Had a fabulous offer of a fantastic cake being made tonight so the could be the prize for something?

Guess the balloons in the car, sweet jar etc

Does guess the name of the bear still go down well?

All of the above 30/50p a go?

I suppose for simple games, 50p a go works well, or with some it could be possible to do "£1 for three goes".

There's a game which somebody I know is doing, which seems a bit complicated, but she thinks it will work: the theme of the event is all about cats (fundraising for cat rescue). Her game is "Are you cleverer than Clever Cat?" She will be dressed as Clever Cat; she will cover her eyes while punters ask her a question about themselves, such as "what colour is my T-shirt?". They win if Clever Cat gets the answer wrong, so the idea is to ask something really tricky! A card with suggested questions is on display. I hope her game works!

I like the clever cat idea, hope it works!