Oh I also wanted to add that I agree holding a drawing can be problematic. Especially if certain people get selected and then do not want to attend if those they are closest to do not get selected. Also you run the risk of those who do not get selected in the drawing having ill will towards you or questioning the legitimacy of the drawing.

However...if you decide to go this route. I would note that you can only accomodate 200 people and it will be first come first serve. If more then 200 responses are received on the first day then the principal will oversee a drawing of those responses to randomly draw the 200 people.

Yes, when something is free your numbers will always go up. Plus you are bound to get some that will sign up because it is free and then not care whether or not they show up since they lose no money.

Now in your original post you mentioned...if your fundraising goes well... Just a suggestion, but maybe offer it for free to those who sell a certain amount?

Obviously you have a big school so with that amount of people if you have a 200 capacity limit you are bound to have to turn some folks away. You may then want to consider not holding a free event that cannot accomodate a larger # of people.

Hi capedad! All of our events are free to our families but you seem to be in a situation where your space is limited. I would set a rsvp deadline and date them as they come in, if you reach your venue limit do a drawing. Since you have so many students the other thing you could do is host different times or dates for say k-3 and 4-6, alot of schools do that.

Thanks.

The drawing thing is what I am looking to avoid.

We do a skate for a few dollars a person. We get around 200 people as it is on a good one. I don't know what the capacity is, but I am pretty sure the % participation would go up if it was free.

It's a population of 1000 students, 400-some families, so 20% participation is a lot of people.

Now for Donuts with Dads, etc, we can handle as many as we need to, so free is an option, with rsvp, and we can build in a % crashers, but if we have limits, like a venue, I am stuck.

It's one of those things where I am a little afraid that doing something extra-good could make us look bad.

Hi! When we hold anything (free or not) that we can only accept so many people we note on the flyer that we can only accomodate X amount of people and that it will be first come first serve.
I doubt you will get 300 responses on the first day, but for arguments sake if you do and you can only hold 200 then you can hold a drawing to see which people get to go.

Even though you hold a free event it does not mean everyone will attend. Let's just say you do a skating event...not everyone skates or wants to skate so you will get a % of people not interested in it. Also whatever date you choose will also be no good for a certain % of people.
We just held a free lunch for our kids with their parents and only about 50% participated.

OK, how do you host a free event?

Seems like a silly question, but I was thinking about offering free events to members if certain fund raising goals are met nexy year.

For example, if our 'Skate Night' venue can only hold 200 people, what happens if I get 300 RSVPs on the first day?

Free sounds great, and I'd really like to be able to do free stuff, but it seems there are logistical issues.

Help appreciated.