Planning an Event for the YES Fund 

1. Name the (co)chairs and establish a committee
    

2. Determine the type of event you would like to have

• Brunch

• Lunch

• Tea

• Dinner

• Dessert

• Hors d' oeuvres

3. Decide on the types of programs you would like to include

• YES Fund Presentation

• a speaker

• honoring someone in your sisterhood, synagogue, or community (consider your first Lifeline members or the oldest living past sisterhood president)

• story teller

• book review

• musical program 

4. Contact WRJ for assistance
   
   Request YES Fund items and resources to give away, sell, or to use for decoration. Contact the WRJ office form more information.

5. Form sub-committees

• Pick a date, time and place At the synagogue, in someone's home, in a private room of a restaurant, outdoors

• Prepare a budget for the event

• Plan the food, cook or cater? If you can have the event underwritten (perhaps by your Lifeline donors), then you might choose not to charge for the food portion.

• Design, print and mail invitations Consider using Uniongrams or something comparable that indicates clearly that this is a sisterhood/WRJ event that will benefit Circle of Service and Lifeline.

• Plan and execute table decorations and gifts Magnets, stickers, YES Fund items or donated items for door prizes and gifts

• Take reservations and make follow-up calls to non-responders

• Set up the room Place a table for filling out Circle of Service and Lifeline pledge cards if this is a "stand-up" affair. Assign a current Circle of Service or Lifeline donor to a prospect for some personal interatction. If this is a sit-down meal, consider pre-assigning tables, making sure that there is a current Circle of Service or Lifeline donor at each table to interact with new members and facilitate collecting pledge cards and checks.

Congratulations, your sisterhood and congregation members have just raised money for WRJ’s YES Fund!

All checks must be made out to Women of Reform Judaism and marked for Circle of Service or Lifeline. When forwarding checks to WRJ for multiple contributions, send along a list of all individual contributors and the amount of each contribution; please specify if the gift is for Circle of Service or the inception of a Lifeline donation.