Virtual Trivia Fundraiser with Sister District Coastal Los Angeles

Raising for: Doug Ervin, Judy Schweibert
Date: Saturday, May 16, 2020
Time: 5:30-6:30pm
Attendees: 28
Total raised: $2,800

What were your steps to put the party together?

Followed your amazing Virtual Trivia Kit step by step… it was incredibly helpful and detailed. I definitely would not have been able to figure out how to configure Zoom without it.

How did you recruit for the party?

Sent out over our Mailchimp list + social channels. Encouraged people to send to friends not in the group to try and build their own team.

How did you confirm/remind RSVPs?

We sent out the RSVP only about 8 days ahead. (I couldn’t figure out Zoom at first!)
We sent out a reminder to RSVP on the Wednesday before the fundraiser.
I believe we sent one more reminder before the action meeting the next day (Sunday) with Doug Ervin speaking, but included the RSVP for the fundraiser as well.

How did you prepare for the party?

I had to chase down some people who donated and emailed me but didn’t register, and had to double check to make sure everyone was on the right team.

How did the party flow? What happened?

It was great… people started logging in around 15 minutes before start time. I hadn’t done break out rooms before so it was a bit stressful trying to get everyone into the right room as half were not assigned even though I had uploaded the list. But once everyone was in their breakout rooms, it went fairly smoothly after that. We only did three rounds, and the total runtime was about 1 hour for the game, which seemed just about right. Might do four rounds next time because part of the runtime was sorting out a few technical difficulties.

What worked?

The actual trivia was so fun! People had their own groups/families either at home or as virtual teams. Seemed like a lot of good wine was drank as well! The rounds were clever themes. I also have to give major props to whoever wrote the guide. [Editorial note: It was Lyzz!] It was extremely detailed and I would not have been able to figure it out if it wasn’t explicit with images.

What challenges did you encounter and how did you navigate?

The technical hump was hard to get over, but once that was sorted, it was very low key and easy!!! I would recheck permissions on every Google Sheet so people are allowed to use them (Co-Hosts and participants included); I did some but not all.

If you do this again, what would you do differently?

I forgot about adding the points for the best hat/background… which I feel bad about since it wasn’t added into the total score. Maybe think of new bonus points — crazy hair? Best impersonator of a 2020 Dem presidential candidate?
Maybe 4 rounds instead of 3.

What suggestions do you have for teams planning and executing similar parties?

Even though registration technically closes 5 hours ahead, we were adding last minute people and chasing other participants down to make sure we had the team correct. Keep the few hours before open, and make sure to check everything at least 2 days before. I did it the night before and it was a squeeze.

Invitation and reminder communications:

Mailchimp email invite
Tweet with registration link
Tweet with animated GIF