Taking Action
Host an event: Step by Step Guides
In this section of the Community Action Center, we’ll be offering detailed descriptions of events we’ve hosted to facilitate connections between local Idealists. Our hope is that they’ll inspire you to host similar events in your area or come up with ideas of your own to bring people together.
We'll be adding more event descriptions from around the Idealist network. Please let us know if you have an event to share.
Step by Step Guide: Nonprofit Trivia Night!
Description:
Idealist Staffers busily scoring answers at the NYC Trivia Night
We wanted to hold an event that would facilitate connections between NYC Idealists, promote the site to New Yorkers, and serve as a replicable example for Affinity Groups in other cities. Our goal, as always, was to create a casual environment where people would feel encouraged to chat and discover hidden connections or ways that they might want to collaborate with others in their community. So we hosted a Nonprofit Trivia Night as a fun way for people to mingle in a structured environment. (Note: Following the success of our NYC Trivia Night we hosted a similar event in Washington, DC which also had a great response!)
Profile:
- Event Timing: Fall, Thursday Night, 6-8p
- Location: Local bar, Manhattan, NYC
- Event size: 54 attendees + 6 Idealist staff
- Audience/Demographics of Attendees: Mostly young nonprofit professionals
Steps:
Before
- We asked friends and posted a couple of requests on local listservs to find a local bar that was willing to donate space for our group
- Then we created an event announcement that gave brief a description of the event and detailed the logistics (i.e. time, location, directions, who the event is geared towards, etc.)
- Next we spread the word about the event using the following methods:
- Next, we set to work compiling trivia questions in several categories related to the nonprofit sector, the city of New York, and random other fun topics. To gather the questions, we just asked coworkers and friends to submit a few questions each.
- Finally, we purchased a few prizes to give away to the top teams
During
- The bar donated 1 hour of free drinks, so we allowed the attendees to mingle informally for about 45 minutes then asked them to form teams with people they didn't already know.
- We read 10 trivia questions aloud and asked each team to write their answers on pieces of paper, then took a 10-minute break to score the points from the first round.
- We read the answers aloud and announced the totals, then began a second round of 10 more questions.
- When we reached a 3-way tie, we improvised a "sudden death" round between representatives from those three teams.
- The winning team's members received a themed prize (Not For Tourists guidebooks to NYC).
- We ended the event with some time for more mingling, eating and drinking after the trivia game ended.
After
- We sent an email to all attendees to remind them that they could stay connected with other Idealists in New York by joining the New York Idealists Network
Tips:
- Prizes can be symbolic and not too flashy. We bought themed ones -- “Not For Tourists Guides to NYC” – but we could have spent even less.
- Visit the space beforehand to think through the room setup and logistics.
- Get a microphone if you can. Reading questions over a big crowd can be difficult.
- Think through your scoring system and keep it simple. Create an answer key ahead of time to speed up the scoring process. Organize the questions in the order in which you will ask them.
- Make a contingency plan for ties (or in case participants contest an answer).
- Start with easy questions and increase in difficulty.
- Stay away from questions with numbers and stats (we found that most people were just guessing).
- If your prizes were donated, take pictures of the winning team holding their bounty and send them as a thank you to the donors.
Sample Documents:
Additional Information (links to other Idealist resources and outside links):
