In March I ran a quiz night for S.A.L.V.E. International, not because I have recently joined the S.A.L.V.E. team, but because the work the organisation does every day makes a profound difference to the lives of street connected children in Jinja, Uganda and I wanted to do a little more to help.
I have participated in and supported the running of a quiz night in the past, but it was the first time I took sole responsibility for one. I have to say I did feel the pressure of having to sell tables, find raffle prizes and make sure I got the pitch of the questions just right, but the night was a resounding success. There were 12 teams, 5 raffle prizes, a bar, lots of laughter and £600 raised – enough to fund three children in education for a whole year!
There are 5 top tips I can give you if you want to run your own quiz night for S.A.L.V.E.
- Start by finding a good venue.
A bar is essential to creating a relaxed atmosphere for the event. Remember for the teams it is primarily about a social event and supporting you - their friend, colleague etc. Often a venue will provide the space free of charge if you can guarantee a minimum number of tables in return for bar takings. It is worth considering car parking, accessibility and whether they have a microphone. It’s amazing how quickly the voice starts to run out grabbing the attention of 70+ people.
- Sell tables not individual places
Reduce the admin by selling tables of up to 6 people. As it was my first event, I kept the table donation to £30 (£5 a head) but it would not be unreasonable to go up to £45 per table. People can then decide how many they have in their team. I mainly used my friends’ network to sell tables but I also created a poster and shared the event on local Facebook noticeboards and my own social media.
- Raffle
Organising a raffle is a great way to increase how much you can raise through the event. Try and have one headline prize and a few smaller ones. Our top prize was a donated bottle of Moët & Chandon and box of chocolates. Other prizes included a £25 voucher for a local gallery café, a free 45-minute sports massage, a free taster yoga class and a £10 voucher for a local theatre.
- Helpers
I enlisted the help of two friends who helped me sell tables as well as providing some (wo)man power on the night. One person took responsibility for selling raffle tickets to people on arrival and during the break. The other person shared reading out the questions and answers. This saved our voices and gave the quizzers a bit of vocal variety!
- On the night
If your event is mid-week people will not want a long, drawn-out night with work the next day. We opened the bar at 6.30pm, started at 7pm and were finished by a little after 9pm. The biggest challenge is pacing the evening, particularly how long to leave between questions. You need to give teams enough time to discuss and allow for the social element too. To address the latter, we included a ‘table top’ round called ‘Cryptic Films’ during the 20 min break and a picture round during the main quiz – helping to break up the format and also maintain interest levels.
The important thing to remember is that people are most likely coming to support you. It’s a great way to get your friends together, test a few brain cells and enjoy each other’s company. The evening doesn’t have to run perfectly it is enough that you are prepared to organise the night and make an immediate difference to children in Uganda.
I have put together a quiz pack based on my event in March, including the questions (and answers!) and all the resources you need. If you would like to run a quiz night for S.A.L.V.E. International, please get in touch so we can support you to make the night a success.
Charlotte Brennan