Last year at the elementary school they had vendors in the halls, so you passed by them on the way between the lobby(where you enter), cafeteria(where there was food) and gym(where the games were). Good thing, you have to pass by them to get to the other things. Bad thing, the hallways were a little narrow and this somewhat discouraged stopping and browsing.
Here's my post from a little bit back regarding the Vendor Night we ran last year:
We did this last year as a fundraiser for a team of 3rd graders to attend the technical educational conference down in Georgia.
We invited all vendors of that nature to the school and the deal was 10% of all sales from the night, or $25, whichever was greater - plus 10% of all sales from any booked parties. We gave each vendor a table within the auditorium.
This way we knew that we were going to make at least $375.
We held the event on a week night, which I would not recommend. This year we will be trying to hold it on a weekend in the afternoon. Promotion is key as well. We were supposed to get into two papers, but somehow they did not put the article in and we went with only the fliers that were sent home.
We had vendors from the following companies:
Luxe jewels
Undercover Wear - we discussed what was appropriate before hand
creative Memories
PartyLite
Tupperware
The traveling Vineyard (no samples allowed)
Silpada Designs
Angela Moore
Stampin Up
Avon
Tastefully Simple
The Pampered Chef
Longaberger
Mary Kay
Tomboy Tools
Dream Dinners
Arbonne International
Usborne Books
And a few others I can't remember.
We gave priority to PTO members, or members of the school. We tried our best not to duplicate products, or at least explained to them who else would be represented.
We had a gift wrapping table manned by PTOers as well as we did this before the holidays.
We had elementary age childcare as well.
We had gift donations from most of the vendors. You could always give location priority to those that donate something, or an extra table, whatever. These donations can be promoted and done throughout the event, or at the end.
Here's the summary from our event chair:
Supplied: Announcements sent home with kids
Article in local newspaper
Local TV Channel coverage (cable access channel - for school - through town)
Typical turn out rate- over 250 people
Raffles throughout the night
1- 4' Round Table
Bake Sale
Free Child Care
Blue Table Cloth
Clear frame for raffle sign
PTO Benefits: Table Fee $25.00 or 10% of sales which ever is greater
10% of sales from parties booked at event up until June 13th
1 Raffle Item
Vendor Details: 1.Pay & Take, Orders
2. Ability to accept cash, check & credit card - Have a sign clearly stating payment options
3. Orders shipped to vendor separated by consultant and clearly marked can be dropped off at school for gift wrap and distribution
4. Mark on sales receipt child or family name affiliated with the school when possible and if gift wrapping is required
5. Book Parties
6. Accept donations for wrapping for orders placed – CASH ONLY
7. Special requests need to be submitted upon receipt of this email
8. 81/2 x 11 vertical raffle sign to go with item stating a brief description and retail value
9. Allow for additional shopping time for volunteers and vendors up to 1 hour after the event closes
10. Review summary sheet and get copy from PTO Rep before leaving
11. Contact event chair when orders are received and will be brought to the school
I have chaired one for two years at our elementary school. The first year my tables were too cheap. Last year we had more vendors as well as charged more per space and we didn't provide the tables (less cleanup). In our school district, we have to pay for a janitor to work if we hold it on a Saturday so we did Thursday nights. I found local crafters by going to a few craft fairs and word of mouth as well as local Moms who are direct sellers (At Home America, Pampered Chef, etc.) We could of rented more spots if we had the room. I advertised for free through the paper, local cable channela nd back pack letters. If you have any more questions, e-mail me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
