Fundraiser Movie Events
Fundraisers are a great way to raise money for churches, schools, workplaces, and organizations. But finding a fundraiser that not only encourages people to raise money but is also fun and rewarding can sometimes feel challenging.
When researching the type of fundraiser that your organization should take part in, one major area to consider is what most people enjoy. And what is more universally enjoyed than a good, old-fashioned outdoor movie?
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the basics of hosting an outdoor movie fundraiser. From the logistics of ordering supplies and concessions to the marketing behind the scenes, we’ll help you to feel prepared and excited about your next outdoor movie fundraiser event!
How to Host an Outdoor Movie Fundraiser Event
While hosting an outdoor movie fundraiser event may feel like an overwhelming process, it doesn’t have to be! Check out these tips on how to properly prepare to show a movie for your community fundraiser!
1. Start a Fundraiser Committee
Coming up with fundraiser event ideas, executing them, and overseeing the whole process is not something you can do on your own. Without a dedicated group of individuals, a fundraiser event is destined to fail from the very beginning. If you want to ensure the success of your movie event, create a fundraiser committee to help plan your event. A fundraising committee can help generate fundraiser ideas for your movie event to make it more enticing.
Elect a committee leader to ensure that everything goes smoothly and that you have someone to oversee the event. Dividing up tasks amongst the committee will ensure that every last detail is complete, from the popcorn choice to the movie night location.
2. Create a Budget and Find Community Sponsors
One essential part of creating a successful fundraiser is ensuring that you don’t spend more money than you plan on making from the event. Nothing is worse than losing money on an event where you planned to raise funds. The best way to ensure that your event doesn’t leave you in the red is to create a realistic budget and stick to it.
Additionally, reaching out to local businesses about sponsorship opportunities may help relieve some of the upfront costs associated with your event. This step is especially critical for nonprofit fundraisers, as you may have a very limited budget available to host your movie night. You can also ask companies to donate something other than money to help with your movie night. For example, a local candy shop may donate some concessions, like candy or soda, to help out with your event.
3. Pick the Right Movie and Purchase Licensing
The easiest and most exciting step of the movie event fundraiser process is choosing the right movie for the event. Consider who will be attending the event and the purpose of your fundraiser. If your fundraiser is school-based or will have a large number of children attending, ensure that your film is family-friendly.
Once you’ve settled on the perfect movie for your event, you must purchase the film legally and obtain the rights for your showing. Luckily, the process for getting rights to a movie showing is relatively simple. Once you purchase the licensing for your movie, you can move on to choosing the right screen to show your film.
4. Pick the Right Movie Screen
When you decide on a movie as your fundraiser idea, you must ensure you get the right movie screen. Having the wrong size or type of movie screen can make or break your event. If the screen is too small or the picture doesn’t fill the screen, attendees may not have the best time at your drive-in movie fundraiser.
Before you start to panic, consider your movie screen options and where they work best:
- Inflatable movie screens: Inflatable movie screens are an excellent option for nearly any fundraiser location, from parking lots to golf courses. This option is great if you’re looking to host a nighttime movie event and want something simple.
- Mobile LED screens: If you’re looking for a screen that’s easy to move around, mobile LED screens are the way to go. These screens are easy to set up and deliver a high-quality picture experience for movie watchers.
- Wall LED screens: Want to “wow” your attendees with a big movie screen? Choosing a wall LED screen is best because it offers a high-quality picture on one giant seamless screen.
Despite any other fundraising movie ideas you come up with, the core part of your fundraiser is showing the movie. To deliver the best movie experience, make sure you get a screen that works for your event and budget.
5. Plan Your Concessions
One simple way to ensure that your fundraiser is successful is to have multiple ways for people to spend money. At an outdoor movie event, for example, you can have patrons purchase tickets to enter and encourage the purchase of concessions for an additional fee.
Concession services such as popcorn, hotdogs and soft drinks are a surefire way to make extra money. After all, who watches a movie without popcorn?
Coordinate getting all the supplies needed to make the food and the personnel to work a concession stand. Ensure that you have enough concessions available for everybody that has purchased a ticket. Again, community sponsorship and donations can be a huge help here.
6. Choose the Right Time
A key area to consider when organizing an outdoor movie fundraiser is when to show the movie. Because the fundraiser will take place outdoors, you’ll want to ensure that it will be occurring when the weather is still comfortable to be out in for long periods of time.
Additionally, you’ll want to think about the best time of day to have your fundraiser.
Fundraiser Movie Nights
Most outdoor movies take place after the sun goes down. Night movies are popular for several reasons. They occur after work and school, meaning that more people are available to attend. Additionally, traditional outdoor movie screens display their picture better in the dark than in the sun.
Night movies are especially prevalent in the summertime. It’s often more comfortable to be outside in the evening than in the heat of the day, so showing a movie at night is a great option. If you’re hosting a fundraiser in the fall, depending upon your location, you need to consider the weather and how it impacts your event. A movie night in November in Pennsylvania is much different than in Florida, so make sure you’re considering the time of year.
Daytime Movie Events
While nighttime movies may be the most popular choice, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a special place for daytime premiers as well! If your business, school, church, or organization meets during the day, it may be the perfect time to gather and watch a film together. Additionally, daytime movies may be the best option for events catered to young children who may not stay up late into the evening. Daytime movie events are great for weekends, too.
Worried about not being able to see the screen during a daytime movie? Don’t be! With new, state-of-the-art technology, LED screens, you can see movies in crystal clarity during the day without having to worry about sunlight making the screen unviewable.
FunFlicks Makes Outdoor Movie Fundraisers Easy
If an outdoor movie event tops your list of nonprofit event ideas, our team at FunFlicks can help.
At FunFlicks Outdoor Movies, we bring the fun of the drive-in movie theater to your event. Our team of dedicated professionals focuses on bringing your community together to create an unforgettable experience. Interested in finding an outdoor movie projector and screen rental company near you? For more information on FunFlicks and to learn more about our affordable projector and screen services, request a quote today!
Audiovisual Rentals for Your Fundraiser Event
FunFlicks® Inflatable Movie Screen Rentals
FunFlicks® inflatable movie screens are professional quality at an affordable price. There's a size for everyone, whether you're throwing a massive film festival with thousands in attendance or a small birthday with family at your house. To make sure everything runs smoothly, a local FunFlicks® event technician will arrive at your location on time, set up the screen, oversee the technology, and pack it all away at the end of the screening. Booming high-definition sound, crystal-clear laser projection, and a larger-than-life display are all included when you book an event with us.
Backyard 16'
12'x7' Display
100 Guests
20 Cars
Premiere 21'
16'x9' Display
250 Guests
50 Cars
Blockbuster 26'
20'x12' Display
500 Guests
75 Cars
Elite 32'
26'x15' Display
750 Guests
100 Cars
Epic 40'
30'x17' Display
1500 Guests
150 Cars
Xtreme 50'
40'x22' Display
3000 Guests
250 Cars
FunFlicks® LED Screen Rentals
FunFlicks LED screens are perfect for day or night display in almost any environment. Utilizing electroluminescent technology, our LED screens generate light effectively at any time of day. Each panel is rated IP65, meaning they are both rain and dustproof. Day or night, rain or shine, you get to decide when the magic happens. All of our mobile LED trailers have onboard generators for portable power. Therefore, no power supply is needed. Similar to our inflatable screens, our fleet of LED screens comes in a variety of dimensions for a variety of crowd sizes. Local event technicians across the country are available to bring our LED trailers anywhere for you to enjoy video games, live sports, movies, advertisements, or almost everything else!
8'x5' LED Trailer
75 Guests
15 Cars
12'x7' LED Trailer
100 Guests
20 Cars
15'x8' LED Trailer
250 Guests
50 Cars
17'x10' LED Trailer
500 Guests
75 Cars
23'x13' LED Trailer
750 Guests
100 Cars
FunFlicks customers get 10% Off Movie Licensing through Movie Night Ministries!
Movie Night Ministries is a family-oriented organization whose ultimate goal is to provide excellent, newly released movies directly to communities throughout the United States.
