Make sure your event does not clash with a big sporting event, a holiday weekend or other local event. Try not to stage it too close to money hungry times of year like Christmas, the start of the school year or tax time.Don’t start too early or too late. For a family event 6pm on a Saturday is probably best and for an adults only night 7:30pm works better. Avoid weeknights, other than Friday… while great for a local pub quiz night they are rarely successful for fundraisers.

There are two schools of thought on this one. Do you have a family friendly event so that everyone can join in or do you plan an adult’s only night where people can let their hair down and have a few drinks? Personally I prefer the later… people tend to spend more at these nights too.Don’t worry too much about attracting a large crowd, you really only need 10- 20 families in your group to get involved and bring along a team of friends to have a very successful event.