Fund-Raiser Ideas: Trivia Earns Cash

Jeopardy is one of the most popular game shows of all time. You can give your neighbors a chance to demonstrate their own Jeopardy skills, contribute to a worthy charity, and have a great evening of fun.

Trivia contests can bring in hundreds of dollars in revenue but, to be honest, not without work, cooperation, and organization.

Above all, you need to make sure everyone who attends has a good time.

Here are some of the steps:

** You need a date for the event which is free for most people. Don't set it on the same night, for example, as graduation night or the season's big game.

** You'll need a hall to hold the event in, with parking, plus tables and chairs, a microphone and speaker(s) so you can be heard, and, of course, lots of volunteer help. You may be offered a hall by a local service organization in exchange for allowing them to sell beverages from their bar. Teams are always urged to bring snacks, but your advertising and publicity should note if a cash bar is available and they are not permitted to bring their own drinks.

** Get the word out. Start posting leaflets and passing them around. Send press releases to the local newspaper, radio and TV stations.

** Visit local businesses and ask for donations for door prizes.

** Now, you need 100 questions. If you make the questions too hard, people won't enjoy it nearly as much as if the questions were easier. Have others check your questions and answers to pick out questions they think are too hard.

For the record, I hate multi-part questions that are only good for one point, so that if you miss any part of the question, you lose it all ("name all the Seven Dwarfs", "name Santa's reindeer") so I recommend you try to avoid those or find a way to restate the question ("which of the Seven Dwarfs didn't have a beard?").

For source material, there are plenty of trivia books, almanacs, and websites that will help. Books on TV shows and music and all will help. You can rely on one dodge that works well but I think can be overdone, which calls for using audio clips for a: "Name That Song/Movie/TV Show Theme" round.

** Tickets can be purchased by the roll at discount or department stores or office supply stores. Ticketholders are also eligible the frequent drawinsg during the evening for door prizes donated by local businesses.

** To add to the fun, you can invite teams to decorate their tables and present the winning table a basket of snacks or even a cash prize of $25 or so.

** Prizes: This can be very simple...once you've taken in the cash, withdraw from the total the predetermined prize amounts, such as $100 for first place, $65 for second, and $50 for third place.

Contest Day

On the day of the event, everyone comes in and finds their own table which is numbered. Leave a packet there with answer sheets, instruction sheets, and an envelope for the entry fee (generally $10 per person) to be collected from teammembers to turn in before the contest begins. On the envelope, the team captain also writes down the score the team expects to receive. In a tie, the team closest to the project top score without going over becomes first place winner. In our last two trivia contest, we tied for first place and both times got seond place due to this.

The Master of Ceremonies using the microphone clearly reads the questions twice, with a slight pause in between questions to give teams a chance for a quick, quiet conference and to write down an swer. Don't wait too long. At the end of the round, teams can raise hands to have a question repeated.

An alternative that keeps things moving is to distribute a list of questions for the round to eachg table. When prompted to do so, they can turn the paper over and start filling out the answer sheet with a time limit of, say, seven minutes. This way there is no delay while questions are repeated. One question sheet is not enough. You need three or four copies so everyone on the team has a chance to contribute.

Have judges check the answer sheets or have tables swap answer sheets to score them as the MC reads the answers. Either way, the MC needs to read the answers aloud so teams can check the right answer to each question to how they did. That, also, is part of the enjoyment.

Take several bathroom breaks during the evening. Have door prize drawings between rounds, but do keep things moving.

The team that answers the most questions correctly wins. Teams can follow the results on a poster that is continually updated as answer sheets are turned in to the front desk.

Bottom Line

I have been to bigger, but one small-town, first-time trivia contest I recently attended raised about $1,000 for a local charity with just one table and a few side events in the form of drawings and games. Obviously, the size of the event and the effectiveness of your advertising can bring in more people and more revenue. By operating the event as an annual activity, you should build up attendance from year-to-year.

Again, is it imporant to make sure everyone has a good time while contributing to your cause.

Oh, yeah, the clean-shaven dwarf was Dopey.