Submission #27533 by Beth Torah Men's Club - Richardson, TX (1713)
2023
I have read the 2023 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Totally 80's Murder Mystery Event
Fundraising
Page 1
This very interactive program was designed to encourage both Congregation and Community involvement with raising funds and providing several hundred pounds of non-perishable foods & personal hygiene products to support our partnership with the Jewish Family Services of Greater Dallas. The program consisted of a Two-Hour Interactive Murder Mystery Program | Fully Catered Dinner | Costume Contests | Door Prizes | Drinks | and Silent Auction.
It’s totally like the 80’s and all the big names are here for a really big concert! Tensions run rampant as backstage secrets spill out into the spotlight with like, totally tragic results! This isn’t an episode of Miami Vice! This is like… MURDER! It’s up to you to help catch whoever did this bogus crime.
As with any program it all begins with communication and generating excitement. Our Men’s Club worked on this program for almost a year. There was pent up demand for a different event, and our sponsors were ready to participate in a community activity to fund a worthwhile cause. The secret is to engage your sponsor partners early in the marketing process so they can gather the approvals and resources to participate. Within 4 months most of our costs for the entire event were covered!
Communications:
It just seems there is never enough time to communicate your event. Unfortunately, that is normally the case. Why, because we wait until the very last minute, when in reality it should be the first item on the project plan. We are very blessed with fantastic community partners and when possible, we seed future event ideas well in advance of the first communication. This practice generates a substantial runway for both our partners and funding recipients to plan their resources and to generate their own advertising to their communities. For this event we advertised in the Texas Jewish Post, the Congregation Beth Torah Weekly and Monthly publications, the Congregation Beth Torah’s Men’s Club Weekly Newsletter. Our partners leveraged their business websites and Facebook pages and our funding recipient, Jewish Family Services created their own advertising campaign.
The Worthwhile Cause:
Jewish Family Services and the Congregation Beth Torah’s Mens Club has enjoyed a terrific relationship for almost 10 years. Starting with our Dallas Kosher Barbeque Championship and now through our yearly fund-raising event. Our ability to excite the surrounding community to donate hundreds of pounds of dry goods and provide financial support to Jewish Family Services is extremely satisfying at both the Club level and the individual satisfaction it brings to each of our Club members.
Catering:
Our partnership theme continues with The Market. Specializing in Kosher breakfast and lunch fare, the Market Local Comfort Cafe turns out bakery-quality breads, bagels, desserts and more, plus sides, dips, and salad and single-serve meals. The restaurant is meatless, serving only fish and vegetarian dishes with several vegan options daily. The Market catered an on-site dinner menu of Salmon, Grilled Vegetables and Potatoes, Steamed Rice, Veggies and Dip, Ice Cream and Assorted Toppings.
Our beverage partner, one of our major event sponsors, and recently one of our Men’s Club Breakfast speakers was BuzzBallz. BuzzBallz is a certified Women Owned® and family-operated Texas distillery, winery and brewery founded in 2009. They provided their ready to drink cocktails through out the evening.
Interactive Programs - Murder Mystery Program, Costume Contests | Door Prizes | and Silent Auction
Event engagement is one of the many keys to success. The 80’s theme screamed costumes and we were not disappointed! From Back to the Future to ET and everything in between. The program attracted a large diverse age demographic and at final count we had 160 attendees. Door prizes and silent auction items were donated by 70 companies and the financial results were significant with a portion donated to Jewish Family Services.
Actively Engaged Committee:
A successful event is spearheaded by a fully committed and engaged committee. We were blessed top down from our Event Chairman to our multiple committees’ chairs and huge crew of volunteers. It’s important the committee believes in the purpose and planned outcomes of the event. Maintaining consistent communication throughout the project plan and providing event progress transparency with the entire committee and your vendor partners is extremely important.
Workable Timeline:
June / July
• Confirmed quote / costs of hiring murder mystery performance group.
o Booked event thru murder mystery company.
o Chose theme of event / show options
• Confirmed with Jewish Family Services that we could work with them as our beneficiary for the event
o Worked out agreement, in principle, to what we would be doing for them and how they would be a participant in the event
• Created basic sponsorship packet in order to solicit financial support for the event
o Sent out packet to previous supporters of our club’s events as well as many new contacts
o Started to receive positive, and negative, responses to the sponsorship requests
Followed up continually on unanswered requests through October, with each round of follow up netting multiple replies either way
August / September
• Created basic budgeting tool to account for costs and sponsorship monies coming in and expenses for event.
• Began to craft menu options with caterer, confirming costs and outline for execution of the menu plans.
• Began to develop plans for decorations, favors, advertising, etc. and purchasing of items to support event.
• Began solicitation of items for silent auction / door prizes from businesses and individuals
o Created a spreadsheet to track items donated for silent auction.
o Separated items based on value to create raffle prize subset of donations to be used during event as door prizes.
o Created raffle tickets for door prizes.
o Created bid sheets for silent auction.
October / November / December
• Ongoing solicitation of items for silent auction / door prizes
• Purchasing of serving pieces needed for dinner (plates, napkins, etc.)
• Working with committee members, starting to assign tasks such as picking up items, printing materials, scheduling kitchen and set up assistance, etc.
January
• Confirmation of show with actors
• Confirmation of menu execution with caterer
• Confirmation of decorations layout, room layout
• Purchasing of needed food / serving pieces / etc. as outlined by needs list.
• Day of event
o Set up of room.
o Decoration of room
o Set up of silent auction.
o Execution of event
As with any program it all begins with communication and generating excitement. Our Men’s Club worked on this program for almost a year. There was pent up demand for a different event, and our sponsors were ready to participate in a community activity to fund a worthwhile cause. The secret is to engage your sponsor partners early in the marketing process so they can gather the approvals and resources to participate. Within 4 months most of our costs for the entire event were covered!
Communications:
It just seems there is never enough time to communicate your event. Unfortunately, that is normally the case. Why, because we wait until the very last minute, when in reality it should be the first item on the project plan. We are very blessed with fantastic community partners and when possible, we seed future event ideas well in advance of the first communication. This practice generates a substantial runway for both our partners and funding recipients to plan their resources and to generate their own advertising to their communities. For this event we advertised in the Texas Jewish Post, the Congregation Beth Torah Weekly and Monthly publications, the Congregation Beth Torah’s Men’s Club Weekly Newsletter. Our partners leveraged their business websites and Facebook pages and our funding recipient, Jewish Family Services created their own advertising campaign.
The Worthwhile Cause:
Jewish Family Services and the Congregation Beth Torah’s Mens Club has enjoyed a terrific relationship for almost 10 years. Starting with our Dallas Kosher Barbeque Championship and now through our yearly fund-raising event. Our ability to excite the surrounding community to donate hundreds of pounds of dry goods and provide financial support to Jewish Family Services is extremely satisfying at both the Club level and the individual satisfaction it brings to each of our Club members.
Catering:
Our partnership theme continues with The Market. Specializing in Kosher breakfast and lunch fare, the Market Local Comfort Cafe turns out bakery-quality breads, bagels, desserts and more, plus sides, dips, and salad and single-serve meals. The restaurant is meatless, serving only fish and vegetarian dishes with several vegan options daily. The Market catered an on-site dinner menu of Salmon, Grilled Vegetables and Potatoes, Steamed Rice, Veggies and Dip, Ice Cream and Assorted Toppings.
Our beverage partner, one of our major event sponsors, and recently one of our Men’s Club Breakfast speakers was BuzzBallz. BuzzBallz is a certified Women Owned® and family-operated Texas distillery, winery and brewery founded in 2009. They provided their ready to drink cocktails through out the evening.
Interactive Programs - Murder Mystery Program, Costume Contests | Door Prizes | and Silent Auction
Event engagement is one of the many keys to success. The 80’s theme screamed costumes and we were not disappointed! From Back to the Future to ET and everything in between. The program attracted a large diverse age demographic and at final count we had 160 attendees. Door prizes and silent auction items were donated by 70 companies and the financial results were significant with a portion donated to Jewish Family Services.
Actively Engaged Committee:
A successful event is spearheaded by a fully committed and engaged committee. We were blessed top down from our Event Chairman to our multiple committees’ chairs and huge crew of volunteers. It’s important the committee believes in the purpose and planned outcomes of the event. Maintaining consistent communication throughout the project plan and providing event progress transparency with the entire committee and your vendor partners is extremely important.
Workable Timeline:
June / July
• Confirmed quote / costs of hiring murder mystery performance group.
o Booked event thru murder mystery company.
o Chose theme of event / show options
• Confirmed with Jewish Family Services that we could work with them as our beneficiary for the event
o Worked out agreement, in principle, to what we would be doing for them and how they would be a participant in the event
• Created basic sponsorship packet in order to solicit financial support for the event
o Sent out packet to previous supporters of our club’s events as well as many new contacts
o Started to receive positive, and negative, responses to the sponsorship requests
Followed up continually on unanswered requests through October, with each round of follow up netting multiple replies either way
August / September
• Created basic budgeting tool to account for costs and sponsorship monies coming in and expenses for event.
• Began to craft menu options with caterer, confirming costs and outline for execution of the menu plans.
• Began to develop plans for decorations, favors, advertising, etc. and purchasing of items to support event.
• Began solicitation of items for silent auction / door prizes from businesses and individuals
o Created a spreadsheet to track items donated for silent auction.
o Separated items based on value to create raffle prize subset of donations to be used during event as door prizes.
o Created raffle tickets for door prizes.
o Created bid sheets for silent auction.
October / November / December
• Ongoing solicitation of items for silent auction / door prizes
• Purchasing of serving pieces needed for dinner (plates, napkins, etc.)
• Working with committee members, starting to assign tasks such as picking up items, printing materials, scheduling kitchen and set up assistance, etc.
January
• Confirmation of show with actors
• Confirmation of menu execution with caterer
• Confirmation of decorations layout, room layout
• Purchasing of needed food / serving pieces / etc. as outlined by needs list.
• Day of event
o Set up of room.
o Decoration of room
o Set up of silent auction.
o Execution of event
Page 2
Original Program
Gold