Two Ways the Club is Refreshing Fundraising
and Three Reasons Why
- Holiday Auction – Wrapping up the Makers Market and Silent Auction into One Present
Perpetually successful, the Silent Auction fundraiser held during the Festive Dinner has been a highlight of the Club year for over 25 years. It runs like a well-oiled machine and it’s just fun! In my first year of membership, I didn’t quite understand the drill, but the bidding was a riot, and I won that exquisite Nordic sweater donated by a women’s store, and almost all of the baby items lovingly knitted by members.
The Makers Market, our newest money-maker, is as much a fundraiser as a celebration of the many creative abilities of our members. A fresh way for guests to see (part of) what CFUW St. Catharines is all about, last year’s Makers Market was especially fun because of the dulcet tones of the Chix@Six band and the live chocolate making.
Combining the best of both events, the Holiday Auction has some new twists that I know will amuse you! Not only will you and your guests be able to bid on carefully curated “consumables” and hand-crafted items and home-made goodies, but this year you will also have a chance to win “experiences.” What’s that, you say? Members are being canvassed to see what sort of expertise or experience they can offer to one another. Let me tell you that if Susan submits “how to make pie crust” it’s going to be tough to beat my bid. Not for me, actually. My sweetheart wants to learn how to make Lemon Meringue Pie from a pro. An email went out with more information, and others will write more about this in this newsletter. I’ll be calling many more of you soon.
As we did for last spring’s Makers Market, we plan to contribute money raised at the Holiday Auction to the Charitable Fund or we may split between Charitable and the Club depending on need. We will let you know.
- Drawn to Niagara Black Tie Gala
As many of you know, the club’s executive has decided that the House and Garden Tour will be paused for the year so that we can focus our efforts on trialing a new event that aims to leverage funds and effort from outside the club. This elegant evening will be hosted at Coppola’s Restaurant in the spring and features not only an excellent dining experience but also a live art focal point. Leveraging the commitment of influential friends from the food and wine industries, and the deep experience of club members who are experts in their fields, we’re concentrating on producing a memorable evening unlike any other in the Niagara region. News to many, I realize that this appears to be a bold move and hope you will be encouraged to hear that I began collecting the foundational pieces for this vision almost five years ago. As additional details are published throughout the year, my thoughts are that you will be enthused by what you see!
(P.S. There is additional fundraising news to be announced by the Charitable Fund very soon. Stay tuned. This will be such a source of honour for the club.)
Why the Changes?
Very simply, the recent changes to the fundraising line-up respond to the handwritten recommendations of the 63 respondents to the extensive Membership survey (2021) and the discussions with the more than 30 participants of the Focus Group research that followed.
Three of the themes from that body of research that support this direction for fundraising are:
- While nothing matters more to the club than that we continue to raise money for scholarships, the hope is that we can find ways to do so that require less effort for our members.
- Members join the club to meet new people, and they want to know more about each other.
- Building and retaining membership are key to a flourishing club. When members invite a guest to an entertaining or inspiring club event, there is a higher likelihood that they will join.