Setting up Thank You Day Celebrations in Your Town
CONFIRM A VENUE
Where to hold Thank You Day Celebrations?
Indoor play centres provide the perfect backdrop for Thank You Day celebrations, being that they already cater to the needs of parents & their young children. But you don’t have to be limited to such venues.
When choosing a location it is important to consider:
How do I approach a play-centre/venue?
SEEK DONATIONS FOR SHOW-BAG GIVEAWAYS & RAFFLE
A large part of Thank You Day is made up of the actual show-bag giveaways and raffle prizes that are awarded to the parents. This is the best way for us to really give back to parents and show them that we appreciate what they do.
But in order to be able to give them a Thank You Gift, first we need to enlist the help of local businesses to assist with donations.
Who could we enlist? Well the list is endless.
The only thing that we are limited by is our own mind and willingness or unwillingness to go out there and ask.
Usually the only difference between a successful event and an unsuccessful event is the organiser’s ability to be willing to fail & take risks.
Most people don’t even make the necessary phone-calls to ask for help because they have already decided that it IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE.
So I urge you to push beyond that fear & that doubt and just start calling people/companies/businesses. Treat them as if they are already a YES!
Compile a list of possible candidates in your area and start calling them or even better, go and visit them.
And that list could be huge. Think outside the square. What gifts would parents love to get? What would be a real treat for a parent? It could be anything.
Also, think about people that you already know who work at businesses that could be of assistance. Networking is your biggest ally in running a successful event. Just start talking to people. The more people that you speak to, the bigger your scope of possibility becomes.
The list below gives you some ideas, but I encourage you to come up with more of your own – there are plenty more out there!
Show-bag ideas:
Raffle prize ideas:
Remember - this is a win win situation for both yourself and the businesses that choose to be involved. Let them know that they will appear on all advertising material related to the event & that through affiliation with the day they will be seen as a company who is in support of parents in the home.
PREPARE A GOOD MARKETING PLAN – TO PROMOTE THE EVENT
The biggest dilemma with setting up and hosting an event is in making sure that people are going to turn up. To do that, you need to ensure that people know about the event. So figuring out your target audience, and how to best access them is important. This will form the basis of your marketing plan.
The question you need to ask yourself is: How do we make sure that all parents in the area know about the Thank You Day event?
And the answer of course is: By getting the word out. But how do we do that?
We download event posters/fliers & press releases and we….
It is also very important to thoroughly document all of the people with whom you have spoken with, or intend to speak with. Get your contact list template here
ORGANISE ACTIVITIES & GIVEAWAYS
Another way to make Thank You Day celebrations extra special is for you to set up extra complimentary activities and giveaways for parents &/or their children.
In the same way that you would seek donations for raffles or show-bags, you can enlist the help of local businesses and members of the community to offer their time and expertise to set up special activities on the day.
Activity ideas may include:
These are all services that would ordinarily be a treat for parents and/or their children and are extra ways that we can show our appreciation for these special people on THEIR SPECIAL DAY!
