SCHOOL DISCO HOW TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL
BY MANDY WEIDMANN AKA THE FUNDRAISING WHISPERER
INSIDE
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SCHOOL DISCO GUIDE
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Editorial
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A word from our sponsor
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Timing
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Fire Safety
8
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People Safety
9
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Logistics
10
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Themes
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Games
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Add-on Fundraising
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Tickets
Copyright (c) Mandy Weidmann 2016 The author asserts her moral rights in this work throughout the world without waiver. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher. Disclaimer This guide provides ideas only and, while we hope it is helpful, it does not constitute advice, specific or general, for your own event. You will need to undertake your own risk management and mitigation processes.
EDITORIAL | SCHOOL DISCO GUIDE
Don't kids just have the BEST time at a school disco! It can be a little overwhelming - the thought of a lot of overexcited small people in the one place at the one time... Don't panic! We help you break it down in this helpful how-to guide. A school disco is also an important opportunity for parents to connect with each
ABOUT
other - as we wait (hopefully with a coffee in our hands!) for our little darlings to wear themselves out on the dance floor. Thank you to Glow Stuff for providing the funding support to put this resource together. Happy Fundraising! xMandy aka the Fundraising Whisperer
Mandy Weidmann, as the owner and editor of the Fundraising Directory, is Australia’s ‘Fundraising Whisperer’. She has authored ‘The Practical Fundraising Handbook for school and club volunteers’ and is invited to speak regularly at State and National Parent Association Conferences. She is the resident Fundraising Expert for several print and online publications and writes weekly fundraising tips for her audience of 20,000 subscribers and 18,000 Facebook fans.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR
This guide is made possible through the support of the team at Glow Stuff. They provide an all-in-one 'pop-up shop' for your disco and fundraising events.
Break out your dancing shoes, hoist the mirror ball and grab your glow sticks, it’s DISCO time!
Included in your order is some cool point of sale posters to help get sales going, some brightly coloured bunting to decorate the glow stall along with a black tablecloth for your trestle table, everything you need to raise important funds.
If you're not sure which products to choose, Glow Disco’s are relatively simple to Stuff have three great organise and the kids love packages that include all of them. You’ll often find that the their top sellers, just match attendance rate is pretty high the number of kids attending (some schools can get up to a your disco to the relevant 90%), particularly if tickets are pack and you're there, sold in advance. amazing Glow stuff and cool merchandising all on their The team at glow stuff makes way to you. Give the team a fundraising easy. They supply call on 1800 773 893 or visit you not only with high quality them online at and great fun glow items, but a www.glowstuff.com.au full 'pop up shop' experience.
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TIMING IS IMPORTANT !
You generally don’t need a lot of lead time to organise a disco (46 weeks in ahead is plenty) but remember that good DJ’s can be booked out well in advance, especially in the lead up to Christmas and other busy times throughout the year. To make sure you get the greatest attendance, look for dates that don’t clash with other school events – parents don’t want to be spending weekend after weekend at school – and this will also give you the best chance of getting maximum volunteers. Disco’s can offer lots of opportunities to rope in extra fundraising $$$’s and they don’t have to be complicated. Before we get to the fun stuff, we need to talk about the ‘adminy’ stuff which will make sure you and everybody that attends is safe and has a great time.
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FIRE SAFETY It’s not necessarily something that springs to mind to think about when you’re planning your disco, but considering that you will have a large number of screaming crazy children in a confined space, it pays to be across fire safety precautions. If you are holding your disco in your own school hall, check with your school administration what the number limits are for it. Same goes for the use of nonschool venues. It’s also really important to make sure that your school principal or someone with knowledge of your venues fire evacuation procedure is at your event – just in case - as well as any other requirements (such as announcements).
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PEOPLE SAFETY Selling your tickets in advance is a really easy way to allow you to set up a list of students attending your disco. Names can then be checked off at the door to make sure you don’t get any gate crashers. Some schools use a ‘sign in/sign out’ system. Many schools require parents to stay on the premises throughout. It doesn’t hurt to find a couple of parents to keep handy in case you need ‘security’ for the kids (and in some cases the parents!). A roster is a good idea for this - otherwise it is easy to always think that 'somebody else' is taking care of it. I recently read a story about a father who ruined a school dance after rushing onto the dance floor to break up what he assumed to be two kids fighting and then called the police claiming one of the children assaulted him! Crazy …
A school hall is a godsend as you can limit the entry points to one or two places, so you are less likely to get kids 'exploring' and getting into mischief. SCHOOL DISCO GUIDE | 08
LOGISTICS Unless you have a very small school, disco’s are more often than not separated into two time slots – earlier for the little kids (prep – grade 2 or 3) and a bit later and sometimes a bit longer for the bigger kids (grades 3/4-6). Some schools open up the invitation to siblings, particularly for the little kids disco, but in this case, supervision for siblings should be provided by parents. If you have a larger school with a combined campus, you can offer a primary school disco and a separate high school disco. Separation also makes it a bit safer for the little kids so they’re not getting bowled over by the bigger ones.
Having anywhere from a 5 - 30 minute break in between gives an opportunity to clean up before the next lot come in and to cut down on traffic congestion around the venue. Of course, you can throw everybody in together, but be mindful of maximum numbers for your venue being exceeded. One last thing. Check with your local P&C/P&F authority or Education Department to see if a blue card is required by your DJ (they almost certainly will) if you are hiring one for your event and make sure that they have their own public liability. Anyway, that’s the boring but important stuff over and done with.
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THEMES
Kids (and some adults too!) love any excuse to fancy dress. Choosing a theme can create even more atmosphere for your event and allows you to go as big or small with decorations as your budget allows. If your disco falls near a special day, for example, Valentines Day, St Patricks Day, Black Friday (Friday 13th), Easter, Halloween or Christmas, there’s your theme sorted. You can choose a theme based on the seasons (Winter Wonderland, Spring is in the air, Colours of Autumn) or even step back in time for a 70’s or 80’s or even a movie theme. Themes are fun and limited only by your imagination but are certainly not essential for your disco being a success. If you are going with a theme, speak to your DJ about including some music that is in line with that. You’ll find most DJ’s are quite open to discussion about the kind of music that they will play – above all making sure it’s ‘kid friendly’ and age appropriate.
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GAMES Games are a definite winner and will keep the kids entertained, especially if you have prizes! Having said that though, don’t try to include too many games as the kids will want to do their own thing most of the time. Depending on the length of your disco and the age of the kids attending, three or four would be more than adequate and don’t forget to encourage parents to join in the fun too.
Talk to your DJ to see if they are happy to run the games or whether the principal, a teacher or P&C rep will do the honours. See the next page for some great game ideas including: Statues Corners Limbo Dance-off
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STATUES
LIMBO
CORNERS
DANCE OFF
Statues consists of everybody dancing until the music stops. They then freeze like a statue and if they move they’re out. The DJ chooses how long the music stops for each time – the longer the stop, the trickier it becomes to hold your pose. Keep going until you find your final statue. Label each of the four corners of your room. The most common way to do this is using the four suits of a pack of cards (hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs). Everybody hits the dance floor and when the music stops they choose a corner. The DJ will then randomly draw from a pack of cards and whichever suit he chooses is out, or if you want to keep the game short, the chosen corner stays in. Those not in the right corner leave the game and the music starts again and the process repeats until you have your winner.
Find two volunteers to hold the stick. Have the kids line up and try to stay calm ;) Everybody goes under the stick one at a time and if they fall or bump the stick, they’re out. When the line is through, the stick is lowered and line goes through again, until you’re left with one person who can get under the stick. Dance off – girls vs boys – parents vs kids – whatever works for you. Have several rounds and winners are chosen by loudest audience reaction – you might want to bring some ear plugs for that one! You could also consider karaoke depending on your audience and if time allows. You never know whether you might have the next Australian Idol or Australia’s Got Talent winner in your midst!
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ADD - ON FUNDRAISING
Disco’s offer lots of fundraising scope aside from ticket sales and some of these can be really easy to put together. Ideas include:
Temporary Tattoos These are quick and easy to apply and come in all sorts or shapes, sizes and colours. There’s something for everyone. Face painting Artistic volunteers from your school community, some face paints and brushes from Spotlight can keep costs down for this, or if you hire someone, collect a gold coin donation for each face painted to help cover costs. Glow Products Your disco is not complete unless you have glow products! The range these days is nothing short of amazing. They are great fundraisers, extremely popular and can return really good profits. Check out glowstuff.com.au. Crazy hair spray Another cheap option that the kids will love – the parents probably not so much ;) Photo Booth/ Photo board This doesn’t have to be an expensive outlay and is probably going to be more popular with the older kids. If you find someone to take the photos, you can buy some props and DIY, or if your budget allows you can hire one for a couple of hours. SCHOOL DISCO GUIDE | 13
TICKETS What price can you charge for tickets? This depends on what’s included. If we’re talking just a straight entry fee, the most common price point is around $5.00, although some schools have no entry fee. You can then sell food items on sale separately - perhaps sausage sizzle, pizza, hot dogs, popcorn, bags of lollies and soft drinks. However, to save yourself time and money, think about including a ‘meal deal’ with your ticket price entry fee, a sausage on bread/hot dog/pizza slice and a drink for $10.
Having numbers ahead of time also makes it much easier for catering and presents another way to connect with local business to ask for donations and reduce your expenses. You can still also offer extras like pop corn, bags of lollies or chips. Keep your food options easy and quick to prepare and don’t forget the parents might be wanting a feed too. A coffee van can be a good idea, but sales can vary depending on the time of day. Disco’s are a school staple but as with all successful fundraisers, one of the most important things to remember is to keep it simple. You’ll get more bang for your buck and you might even enjoy yourself (just a little).
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