cellio | planning congregational celebrations

Friday night after services I found myself in a conversation with two people who are involved in the planning of some upcoming special events (for the congregation's 60th birthday). They were talking about a recent meeting where people were advocating hiring expensive bands, expensive caterers, etc -- you know, to make it a nice party that people would pay a lot to come to. I said this is why I never go to those sorts of fancy-schmacy events; if I'm being asked to pony up $75 or $100 for dinner, well first, that's a lot of money, and second, if it's a fundraiser I want the vast majority of that money to go to the cause in question, not to the providers of expensive services. (I also grant that I may be in a minority here.)

One of the people said that well, we'll solicit donations to cover some of those costs, and I pointed out that they could be looking for non-monetary donations that would produce a lot of bang for the (proverbial) buck. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Look, we've got over 1500 people in this congregation; I can't be the only one who knows how to cook large dinners.

Him: You've cooked large dinners?

Me: Well, the largest was for 100 people.

Him: You can cook for 100 people? What, in your kitchen?

Me: No, in a commercial kitchen and with helpers, thankyouverymuch. But it's not hard, and there may be people who've done a lot more of this sort of thing. You should try to find out.

Him: You can cook for 100 people?

Me: I have a feeling I know where this is going.

So ok, I would be willing to be head cook for a congregational dinner, if they can meet some not-unreasonable expectations. I seem to have suprised a lot of people by cooking the entree (only one dish! easy!) for a 60-person Shabbat dinner a year ago when other plans fell through. But really, the meme I want to plant is that you don't have to run everything through the bank account first; even if you spend a lot and then hit up benefactors to pay that expense, you aren't that far ahead (compared to just soliciting a donation) and you've burned some of that donor goodwill while ignoring people who would have given you donations of labor. I wonder if it will take.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Assumptions: your synagogue has a large kitchen and plates/silverware that meets the general level of kashruth observance of the congregation. (I may be biased in assuming this; my experience with suburban Reform and Conservative places suggests that this is normal, which it may not be.)

Not that I would suggest this for a fancy anniversary dinner, but for more limited fundraising, swipe an idea from other churches: have an informal dinner every 4-6 months. Salad, veggie lasagna, garlic bread, soda and seltzers, BYOB, and a pareve/dairy dessert can have very low costs, especially with donated labor, yet make a $10/head donation very profitable.

Assumptions: your synagogue has a large kitchen and plates/silverware that meets the general level of kashruth observance of the congregation.

Correct. And enough oven, burner, and counter space to be able to cook a large meal.

We do hold informal dinners from time to time -- not as often as I'd like, but there does appear to be sentiment for changing that. They bring in a few bucks per person, which is appropriate, but they don't tend to attract large numbers of people (50 is considered big). So they're a source of spare change, not significant influxes. (To put this in perspective, the annual operating budget is slightly into seven figures.)

I don't know that I'd agree that having a fancy dinner burns goodwill of the donors. Our shul has a fundraising banquet every year. The banquet tickets themselves don't make the shul a lot of money; it's the journal ads that do. Still, when we tried this year to move it to a less fancy brunch instead of an evening banquet, the drama that ensued was almost unforgiveable. (I'm the banquet chair, so I was the one getting the brunt of the abuse)

I think a lot of people DO want to have a fancy meal with the congregation. I think it can go a long way toward creating a sense of comraderie in the congregation. I'm not sure how this would play out in a congregation of 1500. Our congregation is about 100-150 famiiles, so the banquet gives us a real sense of being a family. Complete with infighting.

I do agree, however, that one needn't spend zillions of dollars on anything. The vast majority of our cost goes into food because we must have kosher caterers. If this isn't a priority for your community and a fish meal would accomodate most people's needs, your food cost goes down dramatically. And entertainment options are plentiful, without needing to spend $$$$ on a 7 piece band.

I don't know that I'd agree that having a fancy dinner burns goodwill of the donors.

I may have been unclear. If your goal is fundraising, and those donations are just covering costs, then the donors haven't donated money to the congregation; they've donated a party. Which might be fine with them, but if that's not what they thought they were doing, they might be grumpy. They might also decline to give money when a genuine fundraiser comes along (plea for the endowment fund or whatnot), because they already gave.

Now the journal ads your congregation uses make a big difference. In that case, yes, the tickets can be a wash because they're opening up another stream of income that required the dinner. I haven't heard anyone here talking about that sort of thing. If I can figure out how to feed the suggestion in anonymously -- because I am not willing to implement it personally -- I'll do so.

I guess part of my problem comes down to what the dinner is for. If it's to foster community and/or just have a party, pull out whatever stops you like and go wild so long as you break even, and make it clear that that's what you're doing. If you're billing it as a fundraising event, though, you should think about the best ways to maximize that fundraising, which might include using volunteers for stuff you would otherwise pay for. The folks I was talking to Friday night seemed to be aiming for a fund-raising event built on the excuse of a 60th birthday party.

If this isn't a priority for your community and a fish meal would accomodate most people's needs, your food cost goes down dramatically.

I haven't been to any of the past fancy parties, but at the (regular) congregational dinners I've been to, the main course has usually been fish or vegetarian -- because it accommodates vegetarians (well, the latter does), because it's less expensive, because pot-luck contributions are more likely to be dairy than meat, and because some of us have personal kashrut standards higher than those of the congregation and lobby for it.

The actual food cost isn't the biggest expense of hiring a caterer; that's labor. Volunteers can cook a pretty nice meal for under $10/person in food costs. I learned how to do that in the SCA.

I think the S.O.P. for fund-raising dinners is that the ticket price just covers the cost of the dinner, and all the profit comes from the ad book.

That would make sense. I've never heard anyone at my congregation talk about an ad book. Hmm.

Of course, if you can use volunteer-cooked meals to turn a profit on the tickets and get money through an ad book, why not?

(A poor teacher once told his wife: "If I were as rich as Rothschild, I would be richer than Rothschild." His wife asked: "How so?" He answered: "I would do a little teaching on the side.")

If I can figure out how to feed the suggestion in anonymously -- because I am not willing to implement it personally -- I'll do so

Suggest it subtly to someone who doesn't mind taking credit for ideas that aren't theirs. The trick is to not commit yourself.

planning congregational celebrations

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