Race Nights are a great way to raise money for your charity or organisation. Over the years I have hosted hundreds of Race Nights at venues throughout the North of England. Race Nights do work. Of course some are more successful than others. A Race Night can produce profits from a few hundred pounds to substantially more than a thousand pounds. Here are some tips to help you ensure your Race Night is a racing certainty!

• Allow as much time as possible for planning.
• Don’t try and do everything yourself, get a good team around you.
• List all the ways you are going to make money ie sale of horses, sponsorship, raffle, admission, tote etc
• Set targets for each income source in your list and be realistic
• Discuss the event with the person you have booked to run the Race Night and agree a programme with them
• Have a planning meeting with your team and set out you fund raising objectives
• Delegate responsibility, give each member of your team a specific task
• Set deadlines for completion of tasks at least a week before the event takes place. You will then be able to take action if the task is not completed
• Keep in touch with people to see how they are getting on, don’t ask someone to do something and then forget all about it until the deadline. A friendly call to say ” just wondered if you’ve sold the horses yet ” will give you an idea of how things are going and who is making progress and who is not.
• Plan to have covered your costs and be in profit before the Race Night takes place. With sponsorship money, sale of horses, sale of jockeys, sale of side bets like the Tri Cast this should easily be possible
• Think of ways to advertise the Race Night. Have some eye catching posters made up and displayed in the area
• Inform the local press before  the event. Let them know why you are fund raising, give them a story to tell. State clearly where and when the Race Night takes place and if its open to the public, cost of admission, pay on door or ticket only etc.  Include your contact details
• Inform the press after the event too. Let them know how much you raised and how people can make donations if they would like to
• Pick a date which does not coincide with any major events taking place locally or on TV
• Choose a good venue, preferably somewhere which is easy to find, has good parking, is comfortable and has a licenced bar
• Think of incentives to encourage people to attend. Free glass of wine, Free buffet, Free Prize Draw at the end of the evening. The better the incentive the more likely people are to be attracted. Don’t spend money on this however. Always try and have prizes donated by willing sponsors.

The more people who come to the event, the more money you will make.

In summary, to make lots of money you need to

1. Plan carefully
2. Be in profit before the event
3. Get as many people as possible to turn up on the night

I hope you find this advice useful.

To book a Race Night go to our Race Night page.

If you have run a Race Night in the past and have any ideas which could help other people, please include them in the comments section below.

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