Fundraising Race Nights

Race nights are a fun way to raise funds for a good cause and cost very little to set up. Raise nights can cost as little as £50 to arrange and there are a lot of different ways that funds can be raised during the event.

How Do Race Nights Work?

Race nights don’t actually mean live horse racing, the action all takes place on screens at a nominated venue. Races been have pre-filmed onto DVDs and videotapes and are then shown on screens. The attendees bet on the winners of the race, and if they are the winner they will take a share of the winnings of that race. Usually there is a preset percentage amount of winnings, which could be 50% to each race winner and 50% to the fundraisers. There are a number of different variations, such as number of races per evening and type of racing.

The Cost of Organising a Fundraising Race Night

The basic costs of organising a race night will be split into the price of the race night hire pack and the venue cost. There may be additional costs for advertising the event. There are online companies that will hire all the equipment needed to stage a race night including the sealed race films, betting slips, race cards and payout forms. These race packs will usually vary in price depending on how many races are being held; the more races the higher the price. The cost is quite reasonable and can start off as low as £40, with deluxe packs costing around £100.

Hiring the Race Night Venue

Hiring a venue to stage a race will not usually be a problem and venues can often be found free of charge. Many pubs hold race nights and will supply the venue without a fee as they will make money from the sale of drinks to customers. In some cases the fundraisers may be able to work out a percentage of the sale of drink and food being donated to the charity. This will usually make sense as race nights can bring in large amounts of customers to a venue. Local community pubs are the best bet for a free venue especially if the fundraising is for a local cause.

Selling Tickets for the Race Night

Selling tickets to the race night is sure way to increase funds for a good cause. Fundraisers should make sure to advertise the event well ahead of time and use different advertising methods. Local radio, newspapers and fundraising websites can all be used to publicise the event. Tickets to the race night can include the price of a dinner during the evening and one free race or drink. People do tend to be more generous with their money if they have a few drinks before the races begin.

Find Sponsors for the Race Night

Sponsorship for the race night event is another good way to bring in extra funds. Sponsorship can be achieved in two ways; sponsors of the individual races and sponsors of the entire event. Sponsoring an individual race will mean that each race is titled with the sponsor name and introduced as such. This is a good way of bringing local businesses into the event, and the more races the more sponsors. Sponsoring the entire event may mean that one sponsor will pay all of the costs of the event such as hiring the venue and the race night equipment.

Additional Ways to Raise Funds during a Race Night

Creative fundraisers should be able to think up many different ways to collect extra donations during the event. These can include:

• Raffles, competitions and bingo events
• Collections at frequent intervals during the night
• Attendees could pay extra to have dinner during the event
• Selling race related food such as strawberries, cream and champagne during the event
• One special race where all proceeds are donated to the good cause
• Sale of goods from sponsors during the evening
• Sponsors can also donate goods that are then raffled off to attendees
• Sale of race night programmes

Race nights are a lot of fun for participants and are usually guaranteed to bring in extra money to a fundraising campaign. Race nights can be stand alone events or used during a fundraising event campaign. The financial outlay is very minimal compared to the funds that can be raised throughout the evening. Race nights are a great way to get an entire community involved in the fundraising campaign and have some fun while doing so.