The More Light Presbyterians House Party Guide

The More Light Presbyterians House Party Guide
All portions except the final "How to Do a House Party" essay are copyright (c) 2004 More Light Presbyterians.
v1.05 last update 9/19/2008 DTK
Send questions and comments about this document to mlphouseparty@gmail.com
Get the latest version of this guide, and supplementary materials for your party, at www.mlp.org/morelightsunday
INTRODUCTION
Thanks for your interest in organizing a More Light house party! House parties are a widely-used and
excellent method for More Light Presbyterians to achieve a number of important goals:
- Raise funds by growing the membership base.
- Encourage additional donations from existing members.
- Raise awareness within a social community of MLP, its mission and activities.
- Promote new friendships, networking, and support among people allied to help the MLP cause.
- To combine activism and fun in the same event.
House parties are easy to organize and don't require a long lead time, they're a lot of fun since you get to
invite a lot of friends over, and they're excellent ways to sign up new long-term members of an organization
that you want to support. Research shows that people who sign up for membership at a house party have
higher long-term renewal rates, and donate more over time, than people who simply respond to a direct-mail
solicitation. Your personal contact and friendship with the people who attend your party makes all the
difference. More Light Presbyterians receives almost all of its funds from individual donors, so we need
your continued support to tell people about who we are, what we're doing to promote LGBT equality in
America, and sign them up as members.
The rest of this document provides the information that you need to put on your first house party. One of the
first sections below is the high-level set of steps, called "What you need to do". After that is a detailed
checklist that tries to provide you with everything you'll need to plan as part of your house party. After that
comes a section of house party tips, compiled from various sources, and then perhaps most importantly, at
the end is what you might call "The Canonical House Party Guide", from Kim Klein's Fundraising for Social
Change. You should read this entire document, including Kim Klein's article, to learn about how to do a
great house party.
Have a great party, and thanks for your support of More Light Presbyterians!
Yours for equality,
The MLP House Party Guide Team
HOUSE PARTIES: WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
This section is your high-level guide to throwing an excellent house party. The detailed checklist is in the
"Week-by-Week Checklist" section, later below.
1. Don't be intimidated
This guide has a lot of verbiage in it, but that's just to help you do your best, it's not because house parties are
difficult. Doing a house party is somewhat like learning to drive a car: once you've done it once or twice, it
becomes almost instinctive.
2. Read this entire guide
Everything in this guide is designed to help you put on a great house party, and each section tries to
supplement the others. The official heavy-details version of how to do a house party is the Kim Klein article
at the end of this guide. You really will want to read this article to understand how all the details come
together. The checklist section, later below, provides a week-by-week list of what you'll need to do, but
you'll need to read the full Kim Klein article to understand what some of the checklist items mean. Be sure
to read Kim's comments about "orchestrating the pitch".
3. Study the checklist and write key dates on your calendar
The checklist section below tries to provide you with all of the major, and most of the minor, planning and
follow-up activities that somebody will need to do to make the house party happen. Once you've chosen the
date for your house party, work backwards on your calendar and write in key deadlines, like "mail house
party invitations before this date" and "call house party guests today to confirm".
4. Recruit your planning team and call a meeting
This assumes that you have a planning team of more than one person, yourself. You don't need a team of
people to put on a house party -- in fact, the majority of house parties are organized by only 1 person, or by 2
people who live in the same house. Although Kim Klein's article may occasionally make it sound involved,
a house party isn't a logistically complex event that requires a 10-person church committee to execute.
Actually, if you try to organize a house party using a 10-person planning team, you're going to spend more
time organizing the planning meetings than you'll actually spend planning the house party. MLP
recommends a planning team of 1-4 people. You can later recruit some shills for the "pitch" portion of the
party (see the Kim Klein article). Larger planning teams should only be necessary for very large houses, for
cases where you're aiming for 50 or more guests.
If you have a planning team of 2 people, then a "planning meeting" is just a phone call. If you have 3 or
more people, you might need to set up a face-to-face meeting, use 3-way calling from your local phone
company, or you can set up a conference call for free using www.FreeConference.com, which is the service
that MLP and many other nonprofit groups use for their conference calling.
5. Week by week, work through the checklist
The week-by-week checklist section below is your guide to making sure that you don't miss any planning
details. Like most events that involve getting a group of people to all come to the same place at the same
time, much of the planning work is in generating the invite list, creating the invitations, and contacting
people to get them to come to the party.
6. Don't forget the follow-up
Your house party isn't done when the guests leave -- remember to send thank-yous to everyone who
contributed, to mail checks and membership forms to MLP's membership office in Minnesota, and to send
pictures, feedback, and names of prospective members to mlphouseparty@gmail.com. The details on how to
do all of these are in the checklist below.
HAVE A GREAT PARTY!
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HOUSE PARTY WEEK-BY-WEEK CHECKLIST AND INSTRUCTIONS
This checklist supplements the even more detailed information in the How to Do a House Party article by
Kim Klein at the end of this document.
5-6 weeks in advance:
- Decide the party location.
- Decide the general format of the party. Will it be a basic "food plus conversation" party (these work just
fine), will you show some video content, will there be a special guest, will the party be inside or outside, will
there be a theme, etc.
- Choose the date and time of the party. Saturday evenings tend to be better than Friday evenings. Sunday
afternoons can also work well.
- Invite and secure the commitment of any guests of honor and/or any special entertainment.
- If you have a planning team, choose who will create the invitations. If you have a planning team of 1, this
selection process is easy.
- Create the invite list. The party host brainstorms a list of friends, neighbors, acquaintances, people at work,
etc. to create an initial invite list. Other members of the planning team, if there is one, should supplement
with their own lists of friends and contacts. Remember that you'll need to invite about three times as many
people as the number you want to attend.
- Get MLP materials. Phone the MLP New Mexico office at 505-820-7082 (you'll usually get the voicemail
service), AND send email to mlphouseparty@gmail.com and leave a message with:
- A statement that you're planning a house party, so that we know why you called.
- The name, mailing address, phone number, and email address of the party host.
- The estimated number of attendees.
- The name of your presbytery and of any other presbyteries within easy driving distance.
- Whether you'd like a copy of a video interview with MLP field organizer Michael Adee to show at
your party, and if yes, whether you prefer DVD or VHS.
Please do both the phone call and the email, because different people within MLP handle these two forms of
communication. In response to your phone call and email, we'll postal-mail you MLP brochures and
donation forms for your attendees and, if you asked for it, a VHS tape or DVD. We'll also email you a
Microsoft Excel (.xls) file that lists nearby MLP members, so that you can supplement your invite list. Be
careful: you should avoid throwing a party solely for MLP members, since one of the major purposes of a
house party is to bring in new members for MLP. However, a small number of current MLP members can be
useful at your party as people who can speak positively about MLP and who can act as "plants" to have
checks ready to turn in when the host gives the pitch. See Kim Klein's discussion about "the pitch" in the
attached article for more about plants.
4 weeks in advance:
- Design, print, and assemble the invitations. An invitation is a postal-mailed letter that includes the
following separate items:
- A cover letter or flier written by the host which explains the purpose of the house party. This can
be a minimal-text flier with a lot of artwork, or a formal written letter, or anything you like as long as it has
the date, time, place, tells people to bring their checkbooks, etc. The cover letter should also give directions
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to the location, or there should be a separate slip of paper in the envelope that has directions. You can also
encourage people to "bring a friend!"
- A stamped return envelope for the RSVP, or for people who can't make it to send you a check
instead.
- An RSVP reply card that, ideally, also allows people to sign up for MLP if they can't attend. The
RSVP card should have a space for the invited guest to write in the number of people who will attend. MLP
is working on the creation of signup cards specifically for house parties, so that you don't have to create a
form - please watch www.mlp.org/morelightsunday for materials. However, it's sufficient for people to
enclose a personal check in the return envelope, since we can generally get the basic information that we
need about new members from a check.
- Fold and stuff the invitations, print onto labels and affix (or hand-write) the addresses, and stamp the
envelopes. Check the post office to see what type of pre-stick novelty stamps they're selling. Why use flag
stamps if you can have candy-heart "LOVE" stamps, for example?
3 weeks in advance:
- Mail the invitations.
- Optional: 4 business days after you mail the invitations, make follow-up phone calls to see who plans to
attend. (There's another round of phone calls coming up 1 week in advance.)
- Work out who on your planning team will do each of the following:
- Give the pitch (this should normally be the host)
- Prepare or bring food
- Prepare or bring drinks
- Set up the display of MLP materials, and do other general setup work.
- Recruit 2 or 3 "plants" (members of the organization who can have checks ready when the host
gives the pitch), and call the plants to explain to them what their special role is.
- Clean up.
- Write thank-you notes after the party.
- Email and postal-mail various follow-up information to MLP
Typically, most of these tasks can be done by 1 or 2 people. A third person as a setup and cleanup assistant
can be helpful for medium-sized or larger house parties.
1 week in advance:
- Call your RSVPs to confirm that they can still make it.
- Call people who didn't RSVP to see if they can come, and if not if they could make a contribution by mail.
- Shop for any supplies needed such as name tags, pens, business envelopes for donations, clipboard to hold a
sign-in sheet at the door, brightly colored posterboard or paper for signs, decorations, etc.
- For the host: Think about what to say for The Pitch and practice it on the phone, or in person, with another
person from the planning team. Practice in front of a mirror if you're in need of confidence-building... the
mirror is guaranteed to never jump out and bite you (and neither will any of your guests).
- Create directional signs for outside, to direct people to the party location.
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- Create and print a sign-in sheet. This is a simple one-page sheet that asks for people's name and address.
Note that it's not a sign-up sheet -- the sign-in sheet is just a way to find out who attended your party, and to
pass on addresses of any new people to MLP national so that we can send them a direct-mail invitation to
join, if they don't contribute at the party.
2+ hours before the party starts:
- Prepare food and drinks.
- Set out the sign-in sheet and blank name tags with pens.
- Set out MLP brochures and other MLP materials on a display table. Some house party hosts have also
obtained photos, stoles, or other show-and-tell items about MLP for people to look at.
- As necessary, put out the directional signs to direct people to your house, to parking, etc.
- Get excited! Your energy level makes a difference to your guests and to how well you'll do The Pitch.
Start of party:
- As guests arrive, ask them to sign in on the sign-in sheet.
- Make sure people are well-fed and that they have a chance to browse the MLP display table.
45 minutes after start of party:
- The host calls for attention. If a special guest is in attendance, the host might ask the guest to speak briefly.
If there's a presentation by somebody associated with MLP, or you plan to show the Michael Adee video,
now is the time.
- After any presentation, the host stands up and gives The Pitch. A pitch to join MLP doesn't have to be (and
generally shouldn't be) long -- your guests don't want to hear you go on for 10 minutes before you finally get
around to asking for money. You can do a typical Pitch in under 60 seconds. One possible example: "More
Light Presbyterians serves a critical role within the Presbyterian Church - they're doing work for gay rights
that no other organization is doing. I'm proud to support MLP with my money, and I hope that all of you
could join me in making a donation to More Light Presbyterians." Then you pass out membership forms and
give a where-to-put-your-check logistical explanation. The full details of how to do The Pitch are in the Kim
Klein article at the end of this house party guide -- please study them carefully, since The Pitch is what will
make or break the ability of your house party to bring in new members and generate contributions!
- After The Pitch and the donation-collection is complete, take a group photo, if the format of your party
allows you to work one in. If you use a digital camera, you'll be able to send us the photo for the mlp.org
web site.
Within 3 days after party:
- Write and mail thank-you notes to everyone who made a contribution.
- Mail all checks, MLP sign-up forms, and the sign-in form to the MLP Minnesota address. If you'd like to
save us processing time, you can type the names and addresses from the sign-in form, print them, and enclose
that printed sheet with your mailing to MLP. When you type in the information and print it out, you save
MLP the pain of decoding potentially difficult-to-decipher handwriting, which is the bane of every database
manager's existence.
The MLP Minnesota address is:
More Light Presbyterians
4737 County Road 101, PMB# 246
Minnetonka, MN 55345-2634
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We need to receive the checks and membership sign-up materials as soon as possible after your party, so that
we can send our official MLP thank-you notes (these will complement but not replace the thank-you notes
that you send yourself).
Within 1 week after party:
- Email your favorite digital photo(s) of the party to mlphouseparty@gmail.com. Low-resolution photos are
better - try to avoid sending multi-megabyte files. GIF and JPEG are the preferred format.
- Write a 1-paragraph description (even a few sentences is very helpful) of what you did for your house
party, how much fun you had, and how much money you raised, and email it to moreLightEditor@aol.com
for use in the MLP Update. Also email a copy to mlphouseparty@gmail.com for use in the online MLP
News and on the web site.
- If there were invited guests who didn't attend and didn't make a contribution, and if you'd like MLP to send
them a direct-mail solicitation, send their names and mailing addresses to mlphouseparty@gmail.com with
the subject line "PROSPECTS".
TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL HOUSE PARTY
This section has tips compiled from various sources, including a previous incarnation of this guide, and your
comments sent to mlphouseparty@gmail.com. This section simply supplements all of the other sections -you need to read the other sections to get the details about what to do for planning.
- Don't send invitations too early (6 weeks in advance is generally too early), but definitely don't send them
too late. You can end up with miserable attendance if you send late invites, so that people have already
booked their calendars by the time they receive your invitation.
- Those follow-up phone calls can really boost your attendance.
- There's no need to kill yourself (please don't!) putting on a house party. Most people enjoy attending social
gatherings, so there's no need to go all out to make your house party excessively elaborate or fancy. You can
leave the ice sculptures and the 20-piece brass band for some other type of fundraiser, some other day.
- Invite people from the local (generally secular) LGBT community. Even though they might not be
churchgoers, they'll often welcome the chance to support an organization working for pro-LGBT
transformation within a major denomination.
- If you have PFLAG connections, invite your PFLAG friends.
- Invite supportive or potentially-supportive pastors, and ask them to pass on invitations to members of their
congregation.
- For outdoor directional signs, it's hard to beat solid black lettering (laser printer or big magic marker) on
bright yellow paper or posterboard.
- One experienced house party host suggests that after you call your group to order as you're leading into The
Pitch, that you go around the room, have everybody introduce him/herself, and say what church they're
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associated with, or what brought them to the party. This round-the-room introductions approach can work
well for smaller groups.
- Be sure to make The Pitch enthusiastic, positive, and direct. People don't give because an organization
"needs the money", they give because they're excited about what an organization is doing and/or because
they have a trust relationship with the person who gives The Pitch. "More Light Presbyterians is doing
fantastic work!" is much better than "MLP needs your money!"
- As Kim Klein emphasizes in her essay, the host must either give The Pitch or a verbal strong indication of
support, such as a testimonial: "I am holding this party because I support MLP. MLP is important to me
because..." Remember: Your proceeds will be cut in half, at least, without a pitch, or at least a strong
indication of support, from the party sponsor.
- One house party in San Francisco had great success when one MLP member at the party offered a
"challenge grant" -- the member would match all gifts given at the party up to a certain amount. Everybody
wanted to help meet the challenge, so they gave generously, and the house party raised about $4000, a very
high number for a typical house party. This approach works well if you have at least one well-heeled donor
attending who is willing to offer the challenge.
- It's not required, but if you have one of your "shills" (not the host) who can count the checks and the new
memberships after you've made The Pitch and collected the envelopes, then you can announce to your guests
"We raised $____ and signed up ____ new members!" That announcement can be good for morale, if the
numbers are good.
- After you've finished the party and the follow-up mailings, take a break... you've earned it! Everybody
needs time to relax after doing activist work.
- Some talking points on More Light Presbyterians:
- We are the oldest gay-rights organization in the PCUSA, tracing our history back 30 years to our
predecessor organizations PLGC (Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns) and MLCN (More Light
Churches Network).
- The PCUSA, for reference, has about 2.5 million members and is one of the 5 largest Protestant
denominations in the United States. MLP believes it's crucial for all of us to put pressure on America's
Christian denominations to become more pro-LGBT, and prevent "fundamentalist hijackings" of the type
that happened within the Southern Baptist Convention in the late 1980's. MLP continues to play a key role in
guiding, and occasionally dragging, the PCUSA to become LGBT-inclusive.
- MLP pays a full-time field organizer, Michael Adee (M. Div. and PhD), who travels all over the
country speaking at and networking with Presbyterian churches and other concerned groups. There is a great
hunger for information and support on LGBT concerns within the churches of the PCUSA. Much of MLP's
day-to-day work is on education, to win the hearts and minds that need to change so that we can change the
anti-gay policies and laws of the PCUSA.
- MLP is recognized by the PCUSA as a Presbyterian advocacy group. This means, among other
things, that we get to have a booth on the floor of the biannual Presbyterian General Assembly. We always
hand out enormous quantities of material to people at General Assembly. We're also very active at each
General Assembly on the legislative front, working with allied groups to get pro-LGBT changes made to
Presbyterian law.
- MLP holds an annual conference, which we sometimes do in conjunction with other organizations.
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- In 2008, the General Assembly passed an overture that will replace the anti-gay provisions of the
Presbyterian Book of Order (rule G-6.0106b) with language that identifies service and faith, not sexual
orientation, as the standards for ordination. Between November 2008 and May 2009, all the presbyteries will
vote whether to ratify this change. MLP supported this overture at General Assembly, and we are already
working hard to advocate for its ratification.
- MLP has consistently advocated that the Presbyterian LGBT equality movement always seek to
immediately remove the anti-gay provisions of rule G6.0106b. Since 2003, MLP’s official written policy has
been to support overtures to every General Assembly that will address the anti-gay provisions, whether we
believe we have the votes to pass such an overture or not. Between 2003 and 2006 we sought deletion of G6.0106b. In 2008 we supported efforts to replace G-6.0106b as well as efforts to delete it. MLP holds this
position because we strongly believe that, win or lose, by taking a “delete B” or “replace B” overture to
General Assembly we continue to win hearts and minds to our side, since we get a chance to talk about
LGBT issues. MLP has worked to build stronger partnerships with other pro-LGBT Presbyterian
organizations to achieve this goal, up to and including the 2008 General Assembly. Support of More Light
Presbyterians, then, is among other things support for a very specific opinion: the belief that justice delayed
is justice denied.
- We publish a newsletter at least 4 times each year, with news of the movement and upcoming
events. Every MLP member receives a copy in the mail. Membership dues are $50 per year ($25/year
student rate).
- MLP has both individual members and church (institutional) members. The vast majority of our
income comes from individual members, probably a lot like the guests at your house party, giving roughly
$50 to $250 per year. There are over 115 "More Light Churches" today -- these are churches all over the
country whose governing bodies have passed an official statement declaring themselves to be in support of
the MLP principles and declaring themselves to be a "More Light Church". The number of More Light
churches grows every year.
- MLP maintains and distributes one of the largest sets of printed resources on pro-LGBT issues
within the PCUSA. We have dozens of fliers on topics like "More Light on the Bible", "More Light on
Transgender", etc. Michael hands out these resources constantly as he travels, and we're always creating
more of them.
- MLP has recently (March 2004) made arrangements with PFLAG San Jose to distribute a series of
30-minute TV programs of LGBT people and allies talking about their lives and their activism. We call this
"Project Hearts & Minds", since we're designing it to win the hearts and minds of people who are fencesitters on the issue of LGBT equality. The web site for this project is www.mlp.org/heartsandminds, and
people can buy the shows online at very low cost.
- For the budget hawks in your midst: the MLP budget passed by the board of directors for 2008 is
balanced.
- MLP isn't a litigation or legal defense organization -- we aren't the "Lambda Legal" of the
Presbyterian Church. Our primary efforts are for education, advocacy, Presbyterian legislation, and grass
roots mobilization.
- MLP has consistently advocated that the Presbyterian LGBT equality movement always seek to
immediately remove the anti-gay provisions of the Presbyterian Book Of Order, rule G6.0106b. As of 2003,
in fact, it's the official written policy of MLP to always support a "delete B" overture at Presbyterian General
Assembly, regardless of whether we believe we have the votes to pass such an overture or not. MLP holds
this "always seek to delete" position because we strongly believe that win or lose, by taking a "delete B"
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overture to General Assembly we continue to win hearts and minds to our side, since we get a chance to talk
about LGBT issues. Another major Presbyterian advocacy organization, which shall remain nameless here,
does not support this position and has in fact actively opposed the passage of "delete B" legislation in the
past, arguing that "it's better to wait until we have the votes" (which will never happen unless we force
General Assembly attendees to talk about the issue.) Support of More Light Presbyterians, then, is among
other things support for a very specific opinion: the belief that justice delayed is justice denied.
- MLP is a single organization, incorporated as a 501c3 tax-exempt organization, with a single,
nationally-constituted and democratically-elected board of directors who live all over the country. (See
www.mlp.org/board.html for where our board members live.) Since we're a single organization with one
board of directors and one mission statement, we can coordinate resources nationally to implement proLGBT campaigns on a national scale. We believe that this type of structure is the most effective way to build
a national movement for change within the PCUSA. Not all Presbyterian LGBT advocacy groups use this
single-board, single-mission-statement model, and not all groups recruit their board members from a
diversity of locations throughout the country.
Got a house party tip based on real-world experience? Send it to us at mlphouseparty@gmail.com!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
9
How to Do a House Party
from Kim Klein, Fundraising for Social Change (4th ed. revised), www.chardonpress.com
minor edits by B. Hahne for MLP
[Editor's note: This is THE article to read before you do a house party. Kim Klein is a nationally-known expert in
grassroots nonprofit fundraising, and her book is THE book to read for small nonprofits looking to raise funds. You can
buy her books online at http://www.josseybass.com/go/chardonpress ]
_______________________________________________
One of the easiest special events, and sometimes one of the most lucrative, is the common house party. In
some ways, it seems ludicrous to describe how to do a house party since anyone who has ever put on a
birthday party, school picnic... already knows most of what there is to know about putting on a house party.
However, because sometimes the seemingly most simple events are fraught with pitfalls, I want to describe
the obvious and not so obvious details.
A house party is when a person or persons involved in a nonprofit group invites his, her, or their friends to a
party at their house. The purpose of the party is to educate the friends about the work of the nonprofit group
and ask them to make a contribution.
The house party sets up a cordial atmosphere for the request, and allows someone not familiar with the
nonprofit group to learn a lot about it, ask questions, and get some personal attention without being obligated
to give.
House parties are a useful venue for an organization to explain a complicated issue to many people at once,
allowing them to ask questions and get more information. House parties have been widely used over the past
30 years to raise money for the United Farmworkers, anti-apartheid work, gay and lesbian organizing, as well
as hundreds of political initiatives and candidates.
In addition to explaining an issue, a house party can also be the venue for a group of people to meet someone
famous or important, or someone who brings interesting information about the issue your group is working
on.
No matter what else you ask people to do, ask them to give money. It is the only thing they can do right on
the spot, and it's usually the most passive action, requiring the least amount of work. The final use of a house
party, which underlies all the other uses, is to expand the organization's donor base.
There are five steps to putting on a house party:
1. Find the person who is willing to host it at his/her house and take on other responsibilities related to the
event.
2. Prepare the list of people to be invited.
3. Design the invitation
4. Choreograph the event, particularly the pitch.
5. Evaluate and follow up.
1. FIND A HOST
The host of a house party has several responsibilities, the least of which is providing the house and the food.
The host invites anyone (s)he thinks might be interested in the organization or the topic being discussed. At
the party, the host or another person gives an appropriate description of the organization and the issues.
Then the host makes a pitch for money.
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The host must be a donor who has contributed a gift, regardless of size, that was significant to her or him.
The donor asks the guests to join him or her in making a significant gift of their own. In some cases, the host
cannot bring him or herself to make the pitch. In that case, the host needs to introduce the person making the
pitch in such a way that the audience knows the host has made a gift. A staff person or another board person
will then ask the guests for money.
The "ideal host" is someone close enough to the organization to understand the importance of the group and
be willing to conquer his/her fear of asking friends for money, but not so close as to have all their friends
already be donors. A major flaw of house parties is that the same people attend several house parties for the
same organization. These people may enjoy each party, but wind up feeling "nickel-and-dimed to death" and
the donor base of the group isn't expanded.
2. PREPARE THE LIST OF PEOPLE TO BE INVITED
Once someone has volunteered to host the party, that person, or the house party planning team if there is one,
need to decide who should be invited. A house party can have any number of people, but generally works
best when there are at least 12 guests and not more than 50. Figure out how many people the house can
comfortably accommodate. If you're planning a presentation, you'll need to make sure that most people can
sit down at that time.
Generally you need to invite three times as many people as you want to attend. To the extent possible there
should be one person from the organization such as a board member, volunteer, or staff for every five to
eight guests, so include them in the numbers.
Obviously, start with the host's friends. Don't forget neighbors. The host should think about people at
church, synagogue, social clubs, work, and relatives. Except for those people specifically invited to mingle
and represent the organization, don't include very many people who are already donors. (If you do invite
donors and use the house party as an upgrade strategy, focus on those who could be asked to give more
money than they currently do.)
3. DESIGN THE INVITATION
The invitation doesn't have to be fancy. It should reflect something about the host and about the crowd being
invited. This will make people want to attend. Whether your invitation is serious or light, educational or
assuming knowledge on the part of the invitee, always include the following:
- An indication that people will be asked for money. "Bring your checkbook" is the most direct way to make
this known. You might also say, "Bring your questions and your checkbook," or "Find out how your
contribution can be instrumental in starting/stopping/ending/creating/saving/helping _______".
- A way for people to give without coming to the party. On the invitation's return card include the option "I
can't come, but I want to help. Enclosed is my donation."
- Encourage people to bring friends. Require an RSVP so you'll know how many people are coming.
- Give people clear directions to the house. If finding the house is at all confusing, draw a map. Include the
phone number of the host.
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4.1 CHOREOGRAPH THE EVENT
Where most parties fail is in not having thought through exactly how the event will go. To avoid this danger,
imagine yourself a guest at the event and play over in your mind what will happen.
You walk or drive up to the house. Is it obvious where to park? This can be important if the host shares a
driveway with people not attending the party, if there's a hidden ditch near the house, or if the neighbors are
the kind likely to call the police about a guest parked too near the crosswalk. Is the house obvious? Is there
a porch light? Is there a sign saying "MARVIN'S HOUSE PARTY HERE"? This is particularly important
in rural communities where homes can be hard to see, and in big apartment complexes where it may be
confusing to find the right number.
You come in to the house or apartment. Is it obvious where to put your coat? if not, someone needs to be
stationed at the door to provide that information. Ditto for the bathroom. Is there a place where people will
sign in and that has literature about the group? There should be a guest book for everyone to sign their name
and provide their address and phone number.
You look around for people you know and make your way to the food. Is there a traffic jam at the food
table? Pull the table out from the wall, so people can service themselves from all sides of it. Put the drinks
on a separate table removed from the food table to force people to move on from the food or from the drinks.
If possible, have several small platters of food rather than two or three large platters. Are the plates big
enough? You don't want people to have to have five helpings to get full, or stay hungry because they're too
embarrassed to keep going back for more food. People returning to the food table create a traffic jam, and
people feeling hungry create a non-money-giving atmosphere. If the house allows it, there can be several
food tables in different rooms serving different kinds of food. Serve things that are easy to eat while
standing up -- finger food rather than things that need a fork and knife. Don't serve anything that would be a
disaster if spilled.
Once you get your food, you (thinking as the guest) look for a place to sit. Are there enough chairs? Make
sure no chair is sitting alone or obstructing people coming in and out of the entrance or the bathroom or
kitchen. when you're done with your food, where will you put your empty dish?
4.2 ORCHESTRATE THE SPECIAL MOMENT: THE PITCH
Everything at the house party should be built around the pitch. Make arrangement ahead of time with at least
two and not more than four people that when the host says "I hope you will make a donation," they will pull
out their checkbooks or hand over checks to members of the organization. They don't have to be ostentatious
about it, but a few people have to break the ice and show that this is the time to give money.
Some people object to this practice, claiming that it imposes too much pressure. However, a little more
thought will show that it's the considerate thing to do. Few people have the self-confidence to be the first to
do anything. When the host asks for money, many people are prepared to give, but everyone has a brief
attack of anxiety. "Perhaps this isn't when you give the money," or, "Perhaps I'm the only person in the room
who believes in this cause" or "Perhaps everyone else already turned in their money and I'll look odd if I give
my money now." Having some people go first gives permission for everyone else who wants to give to do it
now. Much like ushers at plays who show you your seat without being asked, or clerks in clothing stores
who hand you the appropriate accessory, without you having to reveal that you wouldn't have known what to
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put with that outfit, the people planted to make the first donation show that giving is the right thing to do at
this time.
Time the pitch so that the most people will be there when it's made. This is usually 45 minutes to an hour
into the party. The host calls for people's attention. The members of the organization discreetly get
envelopes ready and the two to four "plants" space themselves around the room. The host introduces
her/himself and welcomes everyone. If there's a presentation, the host introduces the presenter. If there's
more than one host, such as a couple or a group, they should take turns talking so that it's clear that both or
all are involved.
After the presentation, the host should be the person who gives the pitch. If the presenter is a famous person
or somehow special to the work of the group, that person can sometimes make a formal request for money,
followed by the host saying "I hope you will join me in helping this important cause." It doesn't matter if the
host is nervous or doesn't like asking for money. Your proceeds will be cut in half, at least, without a pitch,
or at least a strong indication of support, from the party sponsor.
Sometimes people argue that doing the party -- loaning the house, arranging for the food, giving up the time - should indicate the host's interest. Indeed it does. It shows that the host helped save the group the cost of
renting a conference room at a hotel. But, in order for the guests to give money, the host must also say that
he or she gives money and wants anyone who agrees with him or her to do the same.
How the pitch is made determines how you'll collect the money. You also decide the money-collection
process ahead of time. The best way to get the most money at the party is to pass around envelopes
immediately after the host speaks. If you'd prefer, the host can say, "Please put your donation in the basket
over there," and point to a place. Or the host can say, "You can hand me your check, or give it to any of the
people wearing an 'End the Death Penalty' T-shirt." In any case, tell people how and when to give the
money.
After the pitch is made, the host should remaining standing in front of the group and give people a few
moments to write their checks. A very effective method is to say, "Let's just have a moment of silence right
now so that everyone can write a check. For those who have already given, just sit quietly for a moment
while everyone else has a chance to catch up with you." Then wait a minute and say, "When you've finished
writing your check and putting it in the envelope, pass it to _________", and then tell people whom to give
their envelope to. This method ensures that no one who wants to give will leave without making a gift, but
gives people who don't wish to give a way to sit quietly without being embarrassed.
House parties often fail at the moment right after the pitch. For example, at one house party, the host said, "I
hope you'll all think about making a gift to this group, which is my favorite." Then, without missing a beat,
he said, "Now that the fundraising part is over, eat up and drink up! Let's have fun!" People did exactly as
they were told. For a few seconds they thought about giving a gift, then they headed for the food. No
envelopes were present, and no method of collection was obvious.
At another party, the hosts showed a videotape about the group, then took the tape out of the VCR and went
into the kitchen. People sat around chatting about the tape, then got up to get drinks and food. After a while,
the hosts re-emerged and went on with the party. People could be heard asking "Are we supposed to give
money?" or, "What are you supposed to do with the money?" Perhaps out of fear of being rude, they didn't
ask the hosts.
In those cases, the parties raised almost no money and left people feeling that house parties are a waste of
time. They are, if not done properly.
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5. EVALUATE AND FOLLOW UP
After each party, take some time to evaluate what went well and what could have been done better.
Particularly if you have a regular presentation, think about the length, the relevance, how to get a discussion
going and so on.
Be sure to write thank-yous to everyone who gave money. If the host failed to make a pitch, then
immediately send the guest list an appeal letter. If people gave, go over the list of donors with the host and if
there are people missing from it who the host thinks would have given but didn't take the opportunity or
forgot, she or he should call those people.
Like all fundraising strategies, house parties only work if someone actually asks for the money. Otherwise a
house party is just a party -- fun but no funds.
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