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Event Activation Resource Guide for Zumba® Master Class or Zumbathon® Charity Event to support Soaringwords.
Table of Contents:
p. 2-5 General information about Soaringwords and how to have a successful event
p. 6-12 Step-by-step guide to plan a successful event
p. 13-18 Appendix
p. 13 Soaringwords + Zumba sign to print
p. 14 Sample waiver
p. 15 Sample venue donation letter
p. 16-17 Sample raffle prize donation letter
p. 18 IRS proof of non-profit status (to be shown to any company making a donation)
We are delighted that you have chosen to host a Zumba® Master Class or Zumbathon® Charity event to support Soaringwords. This Guide was created to help you have a successful event.
Soaringwords’ mission is to lessen the negative impact of serious illness by embracing hospitalized children, families and staff, encouraging positive health and healing. Soaringwords provides fun, creative and educational activities both in person and online based on positive psychology concepts that enhance well-being in the midst of illness. Soaringwords is unique because it is the only organization that motivates ill children and their families to “pay it forward” which fosters altruism, reciprocity, empathy, well-being and resilience.
Photos above: Soaringwords + Zumba® classes at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, FL led by ZES Richard Gormley and Miami Children’s Hospital with ZIN Julissa Roman leading.
Soaringwords + Zumba® collaboration:
Thanks to the support of Alberto Perlman and David Topel, over the past two years, over 2,200 ZINs have signed up to volunteer to lead free monthly Soaringwords + Zumba® classes for hospitalized children, their parents and healthcare professionals in hospitals, Ronald McDonald Houses, clinics, bereavement centers and camps in 62 countries.
Our goal is to have 100 charity events before Valentine’s Day, 2015. We will be awarding one team of ZINs who lead a successful charity event, a week stay at an exclusive villa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to say “thank you.” So start forming your team, pick a date, and win your dream vacation.
Sharing the love of Zumba and the power to heal of Soaringwords with patients
We know that when patients see the smiling faces of wonderful, caring ZINs and hear the music, start to dance and feel the outpouring of love, it will brighten their days and enhance their well-being. In fact, Soaringwords is conducting research to show the impact of these positive interventions and caring visits on improving the emotional and physical well-being of hospitalized children. Visit Scholarly Commons to view the empirical findings of a study we did in 2013: http://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone/40/
What your financial support means to Soaringwords and why we need your help:
We need your help to embrace more hospitalized children today. 100% of the funds raised from your Soaringwords’ charity events will enable Soaringwords to secure more hospitals to allow us to share the healing power of Soaringwords and the tremendous joy of Zumba, music, laughter and love with patients and families.
Photos above: Claudia Santana & Chris Decker share the love with patients at Chris Evert Children’s Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Brazil team at Hospital Miguel Couto, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil team led by Carly Conti Kalavritinos and Beatriz Santiago.
Take the time to make your event a big success
As you know, in your market each month there are so many Zumba® events competing for people’s time and participation. When everyone works on their own putting together individual charity events, it lessens the impact of each event. That’s why we want you to join together with the ZES’s and ZJ’s in your community and get a couple (or several) powerful headliners to make your event a stand-out success. When you have the best talent headlining at your event, it is easier to sell lots of tickets and motivate hundreds of people to come.
The best way to ensure that you put together a well-attended event is to join forces with other ZINs. Together a strong team can all get the word out, everyone can recruit their own students and fans to attend one unified, really successful Soaringwords’ event.
Photos above: Zumba® Master Classes to benefit Soaringwords: Kass Martin headlines in NYC at Alvin Ailey Dance Studios, April 2013. Josephine Gonzalez’s Hospital Team with ZES Coco Xie, ZJ Diego Armando Chauca and ZIN Marcos Polonia in NYC; ZJ’s Holly Rose & Lynn Blakely and their dream team had an amazing event in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Simple Steps for a Successful Event
We've prepared this comprehensive, easy to use Soaringwords Event Activation Resource Guide to help you create an action plan and then accomplish each one of the steps in order to have a successful, well-attended event. In this way, you'll be a part of the Soaringwords + Zumba® success to help more hospitalized children to “Never give up!”
Many thanks and much love,
, and
Lisa Buksbaum, CEO & Founder, Soaringwords and ZIN
Melissa Mace, Soaringwords + Zumba Relationship Manager, ZIN
Rachel Gorman, Soaringwords Director Hospital Outreach and Wellness Education
The Soaringwords Team (left to right): Melissa Mace, Greta Rozensweig, Lisa Buksbaum, Rachel Gorman
Resource Guide for Zumba® Master Class or Zumbathon® Charity Event to support Soaringwords.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead
4-6 months out:
Putting together your dream team:
Pick a Date: Reach out to local ZJ/ ZES talent and local ZIN members who will be hands-on helpers and pick a date that works for everyone.
Having amazing talent will ensure that more people will want to come to your event. Invite the ZES and ZJs and be sure to have this talent invite their fans/followers to SAVE THE DATE, as soon as you confirm the date and venue.
If you are planning to host a Zumbathon® Charity Event, please take note:
As soon as the date is confirmed and you secure a venue, you will need to apply to host a Zumbathon® event at zumbathon.zumba.com/application/request. You must be approved by the Zumba Home Office in order to use the Zumbathon® trademark and logo (see section 4.10 of the ZIN™ License Agreement). You will receive a response within three business days.
Get other ZINs on board to co-chair your event. Pull together a strong working committee.
Recruit ZIN members to be on your team. We recommend a minimum of 4-6 instructors so you can delegate tasks and nobody gets overloaded doing all the work. Make sure your dream team includes people who will actually “do” the work, not just those want to dance onstage. Note to Divas, please pick another cause to support, Soaringwords is a non-Diva community. The more ZINs who make a commitment to make the event a success, the better it will be. Review expectations and “divide and conquer” the to-do list based on who is the best person to get each job done.
Review the calendar postings in your community
Check for any events already scheduled or planned for your area. Reach out to local media (newspapers, blogs, and radio stations to see what other events are planned and try to pick a day and time that is wide open).
(Consider the month: e.g. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and typically has lots of related events). Reach out to City Hall and community groups and invite them to post your event on calendar listings.
Research Venues
Always strive to secure donated space for your event. Utilize any contacts you have who work at a venue or Google an organization to see ho is on the board of the organization to help with secure the venue. School gyms often have stages and are a good option. YMCA, JCC, Recreation Centers, local schools, church halls are also good options. See sample venue donation letter in appendix. To edit and print this document go to the Soaringwords + Zumba Event Planning Guide Companion Document www.soaringwords.org/zumba to download an editable version.
Consider venue location, size, flooring (no carpet) and accessibility. Discuss the charitable cause of the event and ask if the facility will help promote the event to their members and supporters. Often times they will promote your event to their membership, display large signs in their lobby and on bulletin boards and their website events calendar. All of these things help sell more tickets and fill the space.
Make a site visit before making the venue commitment.
Must Haves for the Venue:
Large and open space, good ventilation and lighting
Bathroom
Sign-up table
AV/Sound system with docs so that ipads can plug in
Staging area/changing area/place for talent to store valuables.
Optional Items Venue Will Provide:
Elevated platform or stage
Ask for a screen and projector (or have someone on the committee bring a projector/laptop to show the Soaringwords photos/powerpoint during the dancing so people can see photos of the children dancing and enjoying the Soaringwords activities)
Confirm venue.
Always best to have confirmation in email or in writing from the venue and from you confirming it.
Provide any requested insurance certificate.
Note: Many times if ZINs work at the venue or are members of the community group that is donating the space, they do not need to provide an insurance certificate. If you need one, you can contact Soaringwords and we will send you our copy.
Ticket Sales:
Individuals on the committee should discuss who they can reach out to in order to sell tickets. This should be a conversation/strategic discussion as ideas of who people are reaching out to can spark great ideas from other committee members.
Ideas include:
· Ask the gyms and studios where ZINs teach classes to post the fliers.
· This charity event is a perfect opportunity to grow your class sizes by inviting all of your students to promote the event to 3-5 of their friends. Have a contest -- the student (from each one of your classes) who sells the most tickets/brings the most friends gets to pick their favorite song in a future Zumba class.
· Ask your students to promote the event if they work at a big company. Give them fliers to post at their jobs. Send them email fliers and ask them to email all their friends and post on social media.
· Invite ZINs in neighboring towns or states to come in to experience the ZES/ZJ talent in action. Invite them to bring friends and make it a Zumba road-trip or mini-vacation.
· Invite everyone on the dream team committee to hand out fliers in all of their classes for several weeks before the event. Photocopies of the invitation go a long way to “remind people” to save the date and sign up on line to attend. Encourage everyone to sign up in advance. You’ll sleep better at night and if participants already paid they are more likely to attend!
2-3 months out
Create Facebook Event (Done by Soaringwords). We make it really easy to support Soaringwords!
Create Soaringwords event flyer (Done by Soaringwords)
Post "save the date" with event highlights in event itself and also in any Zumba related FB groups.
Discuss raffles with ZIN team.
Come up with a strategy for securing prizes, especially some big-ticket items such as hotel packages, spa packages, vacation packages (does anyone have a time-share or vacation home they can donate a weekend or week-long get-away), gift certificates at local restaurants and stores.Customize donation letter to each person/company you are requesting a donation from instead of sending out a mass request. Raffle Donation Letter sample is in the appendix.
Here are some popular items that you can get donated:
· Bottled water
· Ask a couple of local grocery stores for gift certificate of $100 and get apples, waters, and healthy snacks to have at the event or at least to offer to the talent.
· Gift certificates or discount offers to popular restaurants, spas, or salons. Photography studios to donate family portraits. Any retailers to donate gift certificates.
· Lunch or dinner with a local celebrity in your town. People will pay a lot of money to do this.
Media coverage- Tell the world about your event!
· Customize the Press release template www.soaringwords.org/zumba
· Call the local radio and TV stations and newspapers and pitch the event to the assignments desk manager. Tell them the compelling story about Zumba® instructors in the local community doing something kind and healing to transform the lives of hospitalized children in their community.
· Invite the press to attend the event, tell them it a great live-action visual. Invite them to complete the story of the Soaringwords + Zumba collaboration in your community with a follow up visit to film your ZIN dream team leading the free monthly Soaringwords + Zumba® class in the local hospital. Naturally, check with your local hospital to get permission for the media to come and film or take photos at the class. Most hospitals will be delighted to get positive press coverage, as long as they get permission from the families of children to be featured in the video or photos.
· Calendar listings require 6 to 8 weeks lead-time. Send in the press release as soon as you finalize the dates and venue. Call the assignments desk and features editor to discuss the event and invite them to come.