Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

It seems these days that everyone is trying to help the planet and benefits are being planned all over to help the victims in Haiti, to help save the planet from the BP oil spill in the gulf. Last night was no different as I spent the evening at the Fox Theater in Boulder, Colorado, listening to music at a planned benefit to help the people in the Gulf area at an event called The Gulf Coast Benefit.  The event is to help the those hurt by the oil spill in the gulf.  The organizers tell us their goal:

The organizers have created an ambitious goal: Gather music venues around the country to donate ticket sales on July 1st and create an online giving platform that encourages donations to the relief efforts. The fundraising goal is set to $100,000, which will be directed to our nonprofit partner the Gulf Restoration Network, (http://www.healthygulf.org), which provides assistance to the people, wildlife and wetlands affected as well as advocacy work throughout the Gulf Coast.

This is a drop in the bucket for the amounts needed to help that we will hear about for the area.  Many people are traveling to the gulf coast now to see the problems there and to see how they can help.  I suggest you give to the people at the Gulf Coast Benefit to help those victims of the terrible accident.

If you are planning on your own benefit, here are some quick tips to help your event be a success.

1. Community: Get your community of friends involved.  We all, have a larger community these days with our friends on Facebook and our followers on Twitter.  Get them to help you with your event.
2. Businesses: Many businesses are themselves seeking some help in this economy but they do have ways of helping you with services or products they sale and they can provide you with what they can.  Look to local businesses that might want to ass some “cause marketing” to their efforts.
3. Venues: Many venues are looking for ways to get their message out and to get people to notice them.  Many of them will donate their facility to get the exposure and to make a difference.  Find a facility that might want to partner with your benefit.
4. Advertise: If nobody knows of your event you need to get the word out.  Many businesses will help you with this and in addition leverage your community as I mentioned above.  Get the word out and your event will raise money and be a success.
5. Fun: This is an opportunity for you to have some fun doing what you do well, planning events.  Take this opportunity to have some fun and to show everyone how well you can plan.  This might be out of your normal planning process so try some things you wouldn’t normally try on your own or for a client.

There is a non-profit organization out there that wants and needs help.  Many of them have no way that they can plan events on their own and need the help of meeting planners and event planners.  Help an organization today!