planning congregational celebrations

[cellio]

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.

Comments

[dsrtao]

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.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

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.