Looking to add a feel-good factor to an event without incorporating a full-blown fund-raising component? Here are three vendors that support charities while serving an event's purpose.
1. TeamWorx offers a new teambuilding event with a charitable bent. Teams of 15 to 20 people compete against each other to earn stuff for "Smile Sacks," bags filled with gifts like books and school supplies for children at local charity of the group's choice. Activities are designed to work on problem-solving and leadership, and to appeal to an array of personality types. Each team has a kit filled with 16 activities divided into three categories from easy to difficult. When a team completes one of the challenges successfully, participants earn the chance to fill their bags with more items. The activity takes from one to three hours and costs $99 per person, plus the cost of charity items, or add $49 per person for custom-prepared sacks.
2. Las Vegas-based nonprofit Opportunity Village offers various solutions for event prep and follow-up, employing people with disabilities. Planners can contract with the full-service mail department at Opportunity Village for services like creating address lists, folding, tabbing, stamping, and delivering mailings to the post office. The staff can also remove duplicate addresses from lists and sort ZIP codes, often resulting in reduced mailing costs. Opportunity Village’s mailing department is capable of processing up to 100,000 pieces daily with all assembly and packaging handled by staffers living with severe disabilities.
3. American Outback Adventures and Events has a program in which participants build, customize, and create an ad campaign for a line of children’s bikes. Each team begins by building and customizing a bike for either a boy or a girl, to be later donated to children's charities. Next, teams create faux advertising campaigns to sell their custom bikes and do live presentations to promote them to the group. Alternative tasks include assembling fishing gear for a kids' summer camp or reading stations for a youth literacy program. American Outback's typical teambuilding activities range between $75 and $200 per person. Groups larger than 100 participants may be eligible for discounts.
