Dessert Dash: A Revenue-Generating Game for your Fundraising Event

Looking for a crowd pleaser that will raise your organization more money at your next event? Look no further than the Dessert Dash!

Why the Dessert Dash is great:

It is a quick and relatively easy way to raise several thousand dollars more.

How much will people pay for dessert? A surprising amount. For example, just last week I did this with a small private school. Each table bid between $100-$2500 for the dessert dash. In a matter of minutes they raised close to $10,000 towards their fundraising goal. Imagine what your organization could do with that revenue!

Cakes and desserts are easy to get donated.

I know you are in the midst of soliciting items for you silent and live auctions, but what is great about getting cakes and desserts donated is that they are a low-ticket price that are relatively easy to get donated. You can get them donated a few ways:

1. Visit local grocery stores and bakeries and ask if they would donate a dessert (make sure to list the donors on cards in front of each cake so they receive recognition).

2. As your board or auction committee to donate a dessert as a part of their involvement.

3. Put it out in your newsletter, social media, Friday folders (if you are a school) and ask people to commit to donating a dessert.

You’ll find that these will come in relatively easily. Make sure you assign a volunteer to the coordination of this because they need to be fresh, it will be a bit of day-of coordination and someone should be designated to the Dessert Dash duties.

Who is the dessert dash good for?

I’ve seen many different types of organizations do the dessert dash and have it be successful, but there are some events that it may not be appropriate for. You should definitely try the dessert dash if:

You are a School

School communities love this one. This is a great way to get everyone involved in something at whatever level they can give. There is a certain level of anonymity which is great in communities where everyone knows each other. Some people may bid $1,000 for the first dash at the dessert, but others may only be able to bid $10 but they still get a chance to play (although they may end up with a sleeve of Oreos).

You have less than 30 tables

I would say 20 tables would be the max number of tables to do this with. So thinking a group of 300 would be perfect. The game could get a little long after this. If you have more than 300 guests and want to integrate a dessert activity into your program, try a dessert auction instead with 3-5 premium desserts.

Your program isn’t too long

If you don’t have a lot going on in your program. Maybe you have a Thank you, a video, live auction and Fund-A-Need, adding a Dessert Dash is a great way to fill a little time and get people excited and on their feet. However, if you have multiple speakers and/or a Keynote on top of all the other fundraising activities of the evening, adding a dessert dash could prolong the evening and distract from some of the more mission-focused activities.

How to play Dessert Dash

Get a variety of desserts donated

Based on the number of tables you have, start soliciting for those desserts. Look for a wide variety. Some should be amazing (I’ve seen full fledged wedding cakes donated) while others could be humorous and less enticing (think a thawed out Sara Lee cake still in the box, or some oreos). I recommend you stay away from legit homemade desserts. Stick with bakery quality desserts and prepackaged ones for the safety of your guests.

Note: make sure each dessert can serve the size of your tables. If you have 10-tops, you should not have a selection of 6 cupcakes as an option. Every person at the table should be able to eat the dessert!

Display Desserts with signs to identify them

Have all the desserts out on a display in an area that is easy to access from the dining area. Most often this is by the stairs, but if you have a bar in the dining area, that is another great place to put your display because people will be passing by it and thinking about their favorites as they wait in line for their drink. Make sure each dessert is labeled with what it is and which bakery it is from (if applicable). Some cakes may look vanilla, but have strawberry filling. Guests need to know what they are getting themselves into before they bid! I also recommend listing the donor on each dessert card so they get recognition for their donation.

Have a bid sheet at each table

Each table should have a bid sheet on it where each bidder can write their bid number and amount they want to bid. At the top of the sheet should be a place to write the table number and at the bottom there should be a place to write the total amount for the entire table. I have a free printable that you are welcome to use for your Dessert Dash below. Once you download it, you can print as many as you need.

Have the emcee or auctioneer explain the game

Once everyone is seated for dinner, have the emcee or auctioneer explain the game (this should happen before the dinner so you have time to tally all the cards) .

Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to take a few minutes to bid on our dessert dash! This is how you will receive you dessert tonight, so bid high to get the best desserts. On your tables you will find a bid sheet. Each person/couple will bid the amount they would like to contribute to your table total for the dessert dash. Please write your table number at the top and add up all the bids for the table total at the bottom. After dinner, we will announce the winners and the table that bid the most will get to send a table representative to pick out the dessert first. We will announce each table in 10 second increments to “dash” to the desserts in order from highest to lowest bids. With that in mind, pass around that sheet and bid for your chance to pick first!

Tally the totals and announce the winners

By the time dinner is finished, you should have all of the numbers totaled and entered for check out. Have the auctioneer or emcee announce that it is time to play and remind them that they will be announcing the winners in order from top bidders all the way down and each table gets a 10 second head start in front of the next highest bidder. I always tell them to pick their table representative and make sure they are swift, steady and have good taste in dessert. Then simply announce the table numbers every ten seconds and watch them run to get their dessert of choice!!

In case of a tie…

If two or more tables bid the same amount just simply say, “looks like we have a tie here…” then announce both table numbers at the same time and they have to race to the dessert line!

Will you try it?

What do you think? Will you try this game? I will tell you that this is a fun event to get people moving and energized after they eat their meal. I always love to see what the joke desserts are too. A box of twinkies is always a great idea for a good laugh.

Gala Theme: Game Night (these ideas will raise you more money at your event)

A great way to make your event stand out and engage your guests is to create a theme or the night and everyone loves a GAME NIGHT! Even those people who “hate games” get caught up in the playfulness once the festivities get started. The best part about hosting a Game Night Themed Fundraiser is that you can use your game stations as a way to earn more revenue at your event!

I recently worked with one of our largest school districts in our state and they hosted a game night and they went all out!

Their centerpieces were giant versions of Monopoly pieces (simple and inexpensive to make).
They brought in an awesome Bar Trivia company to run a fun game during the program.
AND they had awesome game themed stations where they raised extra revenue and kept their guests engaged!

Revenue-Generating Games for your “Game Night” Themed Gala

There are so many games you can play at a gala to generate revenue.

Some of the most popular games are Heads & Tails, the Wine Pull, Punch Board, or the Golden Ticket, but this particular client had some fun takes on classic gala games!

Plinko

If you can get your hands on a plinko board or build one yourself this game is a great option to raise some money and use some of the smaller donations you received for the silent auction. Maybe a $10 gas card or a discounted service to some company in your community. You could also have them win cash prizes. You’ll see in the picture below that they had the prizes listed at the bottom of the Plinko board. When one of the non cash prizes was won, they’d remove the sign and replace it with a different prize. This is a great option for those items that were generously donated, but wouldn’t raise much revenue in the silent auction. Think of items that aren’t worth much or maybe don’t have a broad appeal. It’s still fun to win something, but you’ll end up raising more money in the long run!

“Sorry” Wine Pull

The wine pull is a crowd favorite and always one of the first games to sell out at galas (especially when the price is right. To learn the basics of a Wine Pull, visit this post or go here if you want to learn how to get wine and alcohol donated to your event. Now, let me tell you what made this wine pull so special.

Guests paid to play and everyone won.
When they paid to play, they rolled the dice.
All the wine bottles were wrapped to look like the pieces from the game “Sorry”
Guests picked the corresponding color that went with their roll.

This was a hit! All of the bottles were hidden and you didn’t know what you got until you unwrapped them. I’ll be honest, I even played this game a handful of times (we all have to do our part, right?).

“CLUE” Photobooth

While this was not a “pay to play” game, it was a fun way to give guests memories from the event. They had a giant “clue board in the background, a huge selection of “CLUE” themed props and a professional photographer there to snap a photo of the guests pretending to be their favorite clue characters. Most people pretended to murder their loved ones with a candlestick during the photos, which left them all laughing.

Follow me on Pinterest for more ideas for revenue-generating games!

Wine Pull: A revenue generating game for fundraising events

The Wine Pull is a great way game to play throughout the night of your fundraising auction or charity event. The majority of the wine pull will happen during the cocktail hour or silent auction.

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What you will need:

• A variety of donated wine: a couple really nice bottles, mostly $10-$15 bottles, and you can even throw in a one or two $3 buck chucks if you are feeling particularly silly (see here how to get wine donated for auction items). Ideally 25-50 bottles.

• Wine sized paper bags (these would work, but even though these are a little more expensive, people appreciate having a handle so they can still mingle while carrying their wine).

• Corks (as many as you have bottles), so start drinking. Only sort of kidding, you can get some on amazon too. I’ll let you decide how you acquire corks, but I know which one sounds more fun.

• A basket or something to place the corks in

• Permanent Markers

• 1-2 volunteers to run the booth

• optional: Red and White ribbon. This is if you want to give your guests the option of selecting a red or white wine. Poll your committee and see if this matters to them. I don’t believe it impacts the success of your wine pull, but some guests may appreciate it.

• optional: gift tags

How to set up the wine pull:

You will start by collecting all your bottles and placing them in the paper bags and then number each one. Then take your corks and use a permanent marker to number the corks. You will have the same number of corks as you have bottles. You can reuse the same corks year after year (yay!). If you are choosing to let your guests choose red vs. white, make sure you separate the corks with the corresponding bags so they don’t get mixed up.

When you get to the venue, you will have all the bottles out on the table, with the numbers facing forward. (note, if you would rather have the bottles on display, you can use gift tags to number the wines).

Place the numbered corks in a basket (two separate ones if you are doing red vs. white)

How to play the wine pull:

After the guests pay to play “Wine Pull” the volunteer will hold out the basket and the guest will pick a cork. The volunteer will grab the corresponding wine bottle for the cork.

Side note: many guests will ask if the volunteers can hold their bottles until the end of the night. This is why I recommend using the bags with the handles because it allows the guests to take the wine with little inconvenience. If you have multiple volunteers at the table, you could receive the bidders name and bid number and bring the bottle to silent auction checkout. It’s a hassle, so my recommendation is that you just encourage the guests to carry the bottle with them so there are no mix-ups at the end of the night.

How much should a single “wine pull” cost and how should they pay?

If you are asking the guests to pay cash, it should cost $20. Most of the bottles donated will be around that $10-$20 mark, but a few will be worth way more. This is the fun of the game.

If you are using a mobile bidding software, talk to your contact with the software you chose and they can help you set up an option to buy a turn at the wine pull in the mobile bidding software. This is my recommendation because fewer people are bringing cash to these events since mobile bidding makes purchasing items and donating so accessible.

If you are not using a mobile bidding software, and you want to offer your guests an option other than cash, have the volunteers collect the guests’ names and bidder numbers and then they can pay at the end of the night during checkout with the rest of their auction items and donations.