So much to do

Here we are- just over a week to our next big, and very important event. How are we doing? Well, we have over 100 fabulous auction items. Seriously, this is the best silent auction I have ever been to. There is something for everyone and the vast majority of our items are very affordable. I was at the hotel finalizing our menu- it is similar to last year with a nice selection of appetizers. I wish we could do more, but I can't afford it. Now, I need people. We are struggling to get a good turnout. I know this happens every time, but it seems to be even harder this year. I know things are difficult with the economy, but our event is only a $10 ticket- people get free food, a free rum cocktail and a calendar- i think that's a really good deal. I've been asking everyone who is coming to spread the word and bring friends. I've been getting the word out to people as much as possible. Tomorrow, I'm back to work on the phone- following up with people. It is so nerve wracking to get people to show up- really, really difficult. I don't know what else to do. Tomorrow, I also need to start doing the bid sheets for the auction and get more info to Natalie for the program. There are a lot of other things that need attention to- our newsletter, grants, police/fire contacts and more. I just need to spend a lot of time on this event, because this is our last big event of the year and the money from this event is extremely important.

There was an encouraging thing today- I was on Constant Contact (our email marketing tool) earlier, sending out our Anniversary event invitation again. I always look at the open rate for our emails and I always thought that they were really low. Then I saw that CC had a tool where you could compare your open rate to other related companies. The open rate for other non profits averaged 12% lower than Project Smile. So we are doing better than average with the success rate of our newsletters. Once this event is over, I want to do some online training that CC offers to help improve the open rate of our newsletters and email marketing even more. Our email database has more than doubled in the last few months, so I really want to work on reaching out to those connections in a successful ongoing way.

So what else is going on? I can't remember. My little brain is fixated on trying to get people to our event next week. I need to relax and just keep working methodically on contacting everyone. If you can help me, please spread the word to get people to come to our Anniversary event- Friday, October 2, 6:30pm, Doubletree Hotel, Milford. See our events page for more info. It is a terrific event, I really do need help in getting people there though.

I'm going to take my worried self and go to bed- actually before that, I'm going to have more non fat Trader Joe's European Style yogurt with oj. I just tried it tonight and it is delicious! Until tomorrow friends..