Planning a carnival fund raiser: 7 common mistakes that ruin the event

The Mind Winder is a top money maker for fund-raising events. We recommend charging $2-$3 per ride / 2.5 minutes per ride.

A carnival fund raiser is an excellent way to raise large amounts of revenue for your school, chamber or charity event, but if not done properly your event can turn into a nightmare for all involved. The following is a list of 7 common mistakes event organizers make that cost them money and frustrate everyone involved.

1)      No real person in charge. When organizing an event there has to be one person in charge with a plan and delegation authority. Event rental companies despise pulling up to a carnival site where nobody really knows what’s going on. This slows down set-up time and jeopardizes the event starting on time and flowing smoothly.

2)      No layout of the carnival items. This is another thing that slows down the carnival set-up process, and drives the rental company crazy. Most rental companies are on a time schedule, and the truck has additional deliveries. When there is no layout or map drawn up in advance showing where items go, it causes confusion and debate about the best place to situate your carnival items.

3)      Don’t ignore the event planning professional. FunSource recently met with a city official who was planning a city wide event. The party rental event planner suggested a small change in the date of their event to ensure large crowds and a profitable city event. Suggestions were made about how to attract people, a hook or draw that would keep the people engaged, again this was ignored. The outcome? The city’s carnival was a complete failure. The city ignored the event planners suggestion of a hook and as soon as the running race was over within 20 minutes every person that was attending was gone leaving their carnival items standing there with no revenue. DO NOT IGNORE THE PARTY RENTAL EVENT PLANNER! In most cases the party rental event planner has years of experience and has seen every type of event.

4)      Make sure you have power. It must number in the 500’s the time FunSource has shown up at a park to set-up a carnival, birthday party, church event etc.. and there has been no power . Make sure your event venue has power available or rent generators.

5)      Make sure you have volunteers to work your event. All event rides must have supervision to make sure the kids do not go crazy. In 100% of cases the renter of the equipment will have to sign a contract stating that there will be supervision. When you have no volunteers and an injury occurs because the children are not controlled, be sure your ready to pay your attorney to defend yourselves.

6)      Your rental company has no insurance. In today’s economy everyone is looking to save a dollar, but when you do so with a company that has no insurance, you’re playing with fire. Recently, FunSource showed up at an event and there was a moonwalk there from another company that we knew had no insurance. The bounce house had no anchoring or stakes to secure the item in place which increased the chance for injury. When the youth pastor was asked about insurance or proper securing of the unit he just wanted to save $15. When you are throwing a carnival/ fundraiser, it is irresponsible if your rental company has no insurance.

7)      Ask for referrals. Don’t just assume the company you are contracting to make your event a success is reputable. There are many companies that promise you the moon, but if you can’t get in touch with them when your event has an issue this could be disastrous. If the company shows up and there equipment looks as if it has been in a sandstorm without cleaning or the equipment doesn’t work properly this will leave you, the coordinator, with egg on your face and people talking behind your back. Ask for referrals from like sized events.

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