Our Class of '66 reunion committee is considering setting up an "Angel Fund" for the purpose of funding reunion enrollment for classmates on fixed incomes. Our 50th reunion will be at the end of July next year.

Does anyone have any marketing ideas on how to get such a fund started?
Any special considerations that were used to distribute funds? Were donations anonymous?

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Paul Angelino, Co-Chair, Niles West '66 Reunion

We asked for donations - no specific reason given. Those who needed assistance pretty much contacted our committee chair and she took care of it with the donated funds. So we never specifically pointed out that we had some members in need.

We're going to have our 55 year reunion in 2018 in NYC. Our 50th worked this way. For about a good 2 years, I asked for donations -- 1st to keep the website going, 2nd to pay or partially pay for table give aways, etc., 3rd to subsidize anyone who needed help with lodging or planefare.
At first it was very slow, but those who did donate, donated quite nicely. Yes, we kept the funds annonymous both 'from' & 'to'.But we did post how many we helped and in what general situation. We also paid our fund back by holding a 50/50 raffle ($1 per ticket or 6 for $5. one half of the pot went to the winner and one half went to pay the kitty back for funds spent. We also had a silent auction and asked everyone to bring something native to where they were living now. Lastly, we charged $45 per head for the event, not including hotel or dinner one night (3 days, 2 nites) We held it on a Mon. Tues. Wed. (so the rooms would be cheaper) in Myrtle Beach, SC. Also, with the block of rooms price, another administrator and I share a 2 bedroom suite (with living area, balcony, and breakfast bar). This allowed us to have a continuous hospitality room at no extra cost.
For 2 years I kept e-mails, surveys, questions going every week to keep interest. When we have ours in NYC it will be one day longer. Hoping to do at least one excursion(difficult to find when you're in your native city) extra and registration will be quite a bit more.
Hope this helped.
Barbara

For our 45th reunion, we have a line at the bottom of the invitation that reads, "If you are not planning on attending, please support your class and send in a donation." We've gotten a few checks, including one for $100 from someone who is attending.

Stephanie - we did something very similar. We did not make an announcement. Reunion Committee identified classmates in need & we contacted a prospective Sponsor. If Sponsor agreed, Reunion Chair contacted the classmate in need that we were offering a Scholarship. Every prospective Sponsor contacted agreed to Sponsor a classmate anonymously.

Hi Barbara:

How do you keep the donations anonymous? Cant seem to find that feature
Thanks
Pete