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Want your opinion / suggestion #7445527 02/27/19 01:21 PM
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Our newly formed Quail Forever Chapter is about a month away from hosting our first fundraising banquet. We need suggestions and opinions that will help us have a successful and profitable banquet. I’m sure most of you have been to lots of Duck Inlimited, National Turkey Federation, National Elk Foundstion etc, etc, banquets. My questions are:

1) what are tired, overdone, been there done that things that you would recommend NOT doing?

2) what sale / auction items would cause you to want to go to a fundraising banquet?

3) what could we do to set our banquet apart from all others in the area and make our banquet one that locals come to appreciate and tell their friends about?

It’s hard to reinvent the wheel but we need fresh eyes on this situation. Any and all opinions / suggestions are wanted. Thanks!

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445555 02/27/19 01:46 PM
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1) Have a game warden or biologist speak. Boring, we've all heard it before.

2) Access to very good, private land for a self guided hunt. Spa treatments (see #4)

3) Have a crawfish boil. Easier than you may first think. It's fun, will get people relaxed and in a good mood come auction time.

4) Don't have a speaker that goes more than five minutes unless it is a professional comedian that you've hired.
Music and video displays keep people from getting bored. Have two types of beer on draft, red and white wine. You need wine. Guys will bring women. No self respecting hunter wants to lose in front a room full of women that have been drinking. We bid more.


An unethical shot is one you take, that you know you shouldn't.
Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445563 02/27/19 01:49 PM
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My only opinion on the topic is make some of the sale/auction items something that the average person has a chance at. I realize money needs to be made but if you want the average guy to go and enjoy himself there needs to sensible items to bid on not just the for bankers in the room. I was invited to the Mule deer foundation banquet a few years ago and there were mostly average income guys like myself in attendance. When the auctions started there were two apparently loaded parties that bid up everything to the point no one else in the room had a chance. I really didn't enjoy myself and haven't been back.

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445570 02/27/19 01:55 PM
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Capture the contact info of who attends! Then reach out to them to grow your association. 'Can't tell you how many meetings of clubs like this I've attended that, unless there's a highly organized and energized lady doing all the real work, the guys just stand around talking to their good ol' boy buddies, and ignore the newcomers. Too many guys wanting to play bigshot instead of supporting the cause.


...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445587 02/27/19 02:16 PM
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One of our most successful raffles was a wall of guns.
At our DU banquets I was in charge of ordering guns for the raffle.
We had 20 guns to raffle and sold tickets at $50 each then drew 5 tickets every few minutes. Winners picked guns in order of their draw, they were allowed to choose which gun they won from the wall.
They also do table raffles where each person at the winning table wins a gun if they put money in the raffle.
Gun cases with unknown guns in them also sell well at auction.
We also donated a youth gun for a surprise raffle.
A good youth gun will bring high dollar in auction if you get the right youth gun.
We always have card raffles for $20 each for a gun.

Our banquets always have lots of guns for the size of them.
Good luck, hope you raise a ton of money!

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445589 02/27/19 02:18 PM
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I've never helped with putting one on but have been to quite a few. Below are just some of my opinions, so take it with a grain of salt.

1. Again, just my opinion...for a hunting banquet, limit the amount of antique store/boutique type of stuff for the auction and/or silent auction, if it's possible. Having some is nice (especially for the ladies showing up), but don't over do it. I've been to a few big game banquets that 75% of the silent auction items was home made picture frames, earring holders, soap baskets, little trinket stuff, etc. etc. etc ...at a big game banquet. There was way too much of that for the main targets of the banquet. It's a hunting banquet not a downtown Salado, Tx banquet. Try targeting your crowd. The biggest downfall of limiting the "type" of auction items, is that could be a "make it or break it" ticket for that particular person that's donating something. Better to have it to make $1 or $2, than not. Seems like there's a fine line on what to limit. I probably didn't word that the best, but I bet you get the idea.

2. Guns, guns, and more guns. Although I only attended a particular one last year for my first time, it had a BUNCH of guns. I will be back, even though I probably spent more money at that banquet than a couple of others combined. Better items bring a lot of money for raffles, at least for me. I bet they had close to 40 or 50 guns. Some were silent auction, a lot were raffled, and some were in the live auction. They also had one really big ticket item. I've seen gun safes and big protein feeders at some banquets, but the biggest I've seen was a 4 seater UTV. Tickets for it were $100 a pop, but you have to set a minimum amount of raffle tickets to sell, to help maximize profit. Those tickets went really quick.

3. Good food. Banquets with bad food get a pass from then on from me. A kids raffle is pretty cool. I want to say one I saw was up to 10 years old and you had to have a kid present to buy a raffle ticket. There were fishing poles, bb guns, .22 rifles, and I think a couple of smaller caliber rifles like .223 and 22-250. The kids loved it. I've seen a women's raffle that had a bunch of painted and cerekoted guns that leaned more on the girly side. The ladies got really into that raffle as well.

The main thing is make it a lot of fun for everyone. At the end of the day, it's about raising funds for a good cause.

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445590 02/27/19 02:19 PM
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I haven't been to a Ducks Unlimited dinner in decades. I went to a few back in the 90's, but always felt like I was back in High School, eating bad food in the cafeteria and then waiting around to win a prize that I could have bought for less then I paid in tickets, and wasn't something that I needed. I understand that the goal is to make money at these things, I just hated the entire experience and finally gave up trying.

I do go to DSC and SCI every now and then and I enjoy the silent auction for items. I also feel that the price to enter those shows is more then reasonable for what you get, and consider it a nice donation to help out wildlife.

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445605 02/27/19 02:37 PM
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I can see myself paying $100 for a chance to win a $8000 UTV, but no way I'm paying that much for a chance to win a $400 firearm.



"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: Texas Dan] #7445619 02/27/19 03:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Texas Dan
I can see myself paying $100 for a chance to win a $8000 UTV, but no way I'm paying that much for a chance to win a $400 firearm.


Agreed. I want to say the firearm tickets at most of the ones I've been to were either $10 or $20 a ticket. All of the $100 tickets I've ever seen were for big money items...UTV, $2000+ blind, BIG protein feeders, etc.

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: ZK-315] #7445629 02/27/19 03:12 PM
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Originally Posted by ZK-315
Originally Posted by Texas Dan
I can see myself paying $100 for a chance to win a $8000 UTV, but no way I'm paying that much for a chance to win a $400 firearm.


Agreed. I want to say the firearm tickets at most of the ones I've been to were either $10 or $20 a ticket. All of the $100 tickets I've ever seen were for big money items...UTV, $2000+ blind, BIG protein feeders, etc.


I recently attended an event in East Texas where a $500 rifle was being raffled off and you had to purchase 100 tickets at $1 each. They must have thought people would overlook the fact that even if you purchased 100 tickets, your odds at winning are no better than anyone who else who purchased tickets.


"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: Texas Dan] #7445631 02/27/19 03:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Texas Dan
Originally Posted by ZK-315
Originally Posted by Texas Dan
I can see myself paying $100 for a chance to win a $8000 UTV, but no way I'm paying that much for a chance to win a $400 firearm.


Agreed. I want to say the firearm tickets at most of the ones I've been to were either $10 or $20 a ticket. All of the $100 tickets I've ever seen were for big money items...UTV, $2000+ blind, BIG protein feeders, etc.


I recently attended an event in East Texas where a $500 rifle was being raffled off and you had to purchase 100 tickets at $1 each. They must have thought people would overlook the fact that even if you purchased 100 tickets, your odds at winning are no better than anyone who else who purchased tickets.



That sounds like playing max bet on a penny slot.


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Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445636 02/27/19 03:20 PM
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I attended a lot of DU dinners when I lived on the coast and the wife liked them.

For me, guns were not high on my list of things.

We spent money on the silent auctions and cut of buying if we felt the items were to high and never on the raffles.

Our main interest was the paintings, prints and decoys. Some thing you can enjoy at home.

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: Texas Dan] #7445659 02/27/19 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Texas Dan
Originally Posted by ZK-315
Originally Posted by Texas Dan
I can see myself paying $100 for a chance to win a $8000 UTV, but no way I'm paying that much for a chance to win a $400 firearm.


Agreed. I want to say the firearm tickets at most of the ones I've been to were either $10 or $20 a ticket. All of the $100 tickets I've ever seen were for big money items...UTV, $2000+ blind, BIG protein feeders, etc.


I recently attended an event in East Texas where a $500 rifle was being raffled off and you had to purchase 100 tickets at $1 each. They must have thought people would overlook the fact that even if you purchased 100 tickets, your odds at winning are no better than anyone who else who purchased tickets.

clap Marketing scheme. $100 for 100 tickets or $100 for 1 ticket. To the average ding dong, the 100 tickets sounds like a better deal, but in reality its just a bunch of wasted tickets.

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445685 02/27/19 04:10 PM
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Veering off a bit, but related.

I've watched folks for years at charity banquets mark their programs diligently what something went for during the live auction and then start shaking their heads when something gets above what they think is a "deal". Hello. It's a charity banquet. For charity. Not for you to get a good deal. bang


...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445793 02/27/19 05:33 PM
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Been to a few, I like guns raffles. The one I remember the most was where they had about a $500 gun and used a deck of cards. Each person paid $20 and got a card. Torn it in half and dropped one part into a hat and kept the other part. So you had a 1/52 chance of winning and they raised $500 per gun. They had 4 guns that way with four different colored decks. They reached into the hat and said, "Red deck, 9 of clubs." I think most of the guys bought a "card" from each of the decks. Anyway, they made a little over $2,000 on the four drawings.


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Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445815 02/27/19 05:48 PM
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Be sure you have a PA system that gets loud enough, there is always that group that just keeps talking.


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Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: westtexaswatkins] #7445838 02/27/19 06:24 PM
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Originally Posted by westtexaswatkins
My only opinion on the topic is make some of the sale/auction items something that the average person has a chance at. I realize money needs to be made but if you want the average guy to go and enjoy himself there needs to sensible items to bid on not just the for bankers in the room. I was invited to the Mule deer foundation banquet a few years ago and there were mostly average income guys like myself in attendance. When the auctions started there were two apparently loaded parties that bid up everything to the point no one else in the room had a chance. I really didn't enjoy myself and haven't been back.


I sat at a table with an oilfield guy who kept buying all the small stuff. I had my eye on a painting of a WT buck, likely would have been about 100-150 as several other paintings all went under $100. For some reason he started bidding on it. I dropped out after pushing him to $350 on it. He spent $3800 that night. Fool and his money...


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Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445852 02/27/19 06:47 PM
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Can you get guys to donate hunts? Landowners can do them as a write off, and they generally are very cheap and easy to run.

Make sure the food is good. Most big banquets have the same bland, boring food. Hunters are generally decent cooks, or have a decent cook at camp.

What's overdone? cheap guns. You aren't going to raise much money off of a base 870. If you're auctioning off firearms then work with local gun shops to get something fun and unique.

For all raffles and auctions I've found if you have the items displayed where people can touch them you generally get more tickets sold or more bids.

Not sure what type of venue you'll be at, but generally alcohol helps people hand over cash.

Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7445994 02/27/19 10:07 PM
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I've been the VP of the Ducks Unlimited chapter at the U of A for the past two years and both years I've ran the banquet. The biggest thing I can think of is knowing your target market and hopefully you have an understanding of how many people will attend and, I feel bad saying this, but the amount of money those people have. It's hard to have a crazy profitable banquet when 50% of people attending are college students.

One good idea that I've done both years is to auction off private hunts, ATV's, etc. You'll typically see a lot of people bid on those.

Second idea, and its already been said multiple times, is to get good food. No one will bid on anything if they're on the crapper recovering from the food.

Third idea, and TKandMike already said it, is put the auction items out in the open for people to walk through and touch them. They'll generally think about it too long and put down a bid.

My last idea, and best idea, is to provide plenty of alcohol! When people drink, they'll be more tempted to buy/bid on something. For our banquet this year I went to Jonesboro and bought 125 cases of beer (all kinds) and 85 handles of liquor (mainly whiskey) LMAO thinking about this, but my big in my fraternity drank way too much and ended up spending over $200 for a DU beer tower. He had some regret that next morning. Also, having a nice venue with plenty of decorations helps too!

Last edited by B Razorback; 02/27/19 10:07 PM.

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Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7446324 02/28/19 06:00 AM
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Coleman Chamber holds one opening eve of rifle season each year. They have a BBQ dinner for $10 and with your ticket you get an entry into the gun lottery. It appears to be very successful. They have some entertainment as well. It would be worth your while to go out there and check it out.


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Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7446331 02/28/19 10:13 AM
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1. Do not select an anti-gun speaker (Check VERY closely)
2. Use shotguns for door prize/ auction items (you do not hunt quail with a rifle!)
3. Put a sticker under ONE chair at each table. Winner gets a Buck 110 knife (or similar item)
4. Get a good bar-b-q team and advertise locally.
5. Advertise on social media.


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Re: Want your opinion / suggestion [Re: pharmvet] #7446634 02/28/19 04:56 PM
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I've been to our local DU banquet for the last 10 years, some of the best games they have are card games, where you take a deck of cards associate it with a gun and people pay $20 for each card, rip the card in half, keep half drop other half in a bucket, and you draw winner from bucket.

Another is the pluck a duck or goose, where they drill 151 holes in a decoy take raffle tickets write $5 on 50, $10 or 50, free on $50 and $100 in free raffle tickets on 1, roll them up and stick them in the decoy, as they draw them they either pay what each one says or they get it free or they may get the $100 in free raffle tickets. Raises $750 so most guns are either donated or worth about $400.

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