Fundraising Galas

The nonprofit's birthday initiative invited people to ask for donations rather than gifts. The producers printed the amounts raised by different individuals and attached the pieces to a frame, forming a chandelier-like canopy.

At the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's "World of Chocolate" event at the Hilton Chicago on November 29, a silent auction let guests bid at different levels starting at $50. Once a bid level was selected, guests would choose a number on a punchboard that corresponded to that bidding level. Event staffers dressed as professional boxers would then punch a hole through that number and reveal a corresponding prize. Lots included a gift certificate for a wine tasting, UGG Australia velvet men's slippers, and an overnight stay at Park Hyatt Chicago. The punchboard raised more than $14,000.

The Toronto event, produced by Kim Graham & Associates, put a fresh spin on a flower-design competition. Held just before Valentine's Day at a swanky gallery, the event was billed as an "evening of romance and philanthropy" and was hosted by sisters Maryam and Nargues Mansouri (of Mansouri Living) and Toronto socialite Ainsley Kerr. The intimate evening pitted bachelors against married men in a bouquet-design competition, and guests could bid on their favorite arrangements. The $4,000 of proceeds went toward Rethink Breast Cancer.

The December 6 event at the Beverly Hills Hotel honored five Los Angeles high school students who overcame personal obstacles and achieved academic excellence. To incorporate the teenagers into the night's visuals, the organizers used a gallery of black-and-white portraits as the backdrop for the stage. Art Arellanes produced the event, Revelry handled the scenic production, and Richard Taylor provided the lighting design.

Looking to boost event-day proceeds, the foundation went beyond the basic silent auction by enlisting a group of hunky male volunteers to showcase auction items at its Wine, Women & Shoes benefit February 7. The event, which drew 450 women to the Coral Gables Country Club in Miami, ended up selling $50,000 in goods that day from the auction and a fashion marketplace, resulting in a fund-raising total of $450,000.

The Jordan Farmar Foundation raises money to send children in need to summer camp, so a recent fund-raiser for the charity took on a campgrounds vibe. Nathaniel Neubauer of Contemporary Catering designed a seven-course tasting menu of foods that put sophisticated twists on childhood classics. The sashimi course, for example, was inspired by fish sticks. Neubauer represented pizza with Manchego-and-chorizo flatbread. Because the foods didn't require much silverware to eat, guests only had forks; other cutlery was playfully suggested with colorful blue drawings on the place mats. Sterling Engagements produced the event, which took place February 7 at Gindling Hilltop Camp in Malibu.

The Museum of Contemporary Art's ArtEdge gala, held February 2 for the first time in the institution's warehouse, was indeed a little edgy, and it had an all-pervasive factory vibe. At a panini station, attendants used irons and an ironing board to toast ham-and-cheese and tomato-and-cheese sandwiches.

At the Museum of Science & Industry's Black Creativity gala January 27, no guest left hungry. The event's bevvy of buffet stations, provided by Sodexo, held Brazilian meats, spicy Moroccan foods, cotton candy, and more—but the salt-and-pepper station turned into a main attraction. Stationed near the salad buffet, the table held hanging terrariums filled with colored salts such as red chili, pink Hawaiian, smoke, rosemary, and wild garlic. The flavors were spelled out on smooth river rocks placed in front of each hanging vessel. On the other side of table, a row of grinders held pink, green, white, and black pepper.