How to Throw a Charity Birthday Party

A charity birthday party can be a great way to introduce friends and family to a favorite cause or non-profit organization and encourage their support.

Birthday parties are opportunities to celebrate your life and for others to show their love and appreciation of you through gift-giving. Sometimes, though, you may feel that you have enough things and would prefer to focus the generosity of your guests on a favorite cause. By hosting a charity-themed birthday party, you can introduce your family and friends to a favorite non-profit organization, educate them on its work and encourage their support of it.

Things You'll Need

• Invitations
• Promotional materials from preferred charity or non-profit organization

Instructions

1. Research an issue and choose a related charity to be the focus of the birthday party. Be able to explain clearly why you believe this issue is important, the work the non-profit organization does and how your guests can best contribute. It is important to select a single representative charity that your guests can donate to or volunteer with so they do not have to search for one on their own. Don't be afraid to search for both local and international charities for your guests to support.

   You can find new local and international non-profit organizations and volunteering opportunities through Idealist (http://www.idealist.org/) and VolunteerMatch (http://www.volunteermatch.org/). If you have any questions about an organization's legitimacy, GuideStar (http://www2.guidestar.org/) can help you.

2. Invite your family and friends to the party. Send out physical invitations at least two weeks in advance of and e-mail invitations a week before the party to give your guests plenty of time to plan accordingly. Be clear in the invitation that you would prefer donations to the selected charity or non-profit organization in lieu of personal gifts, and give explicit instructions on how this can best be done. If you have any special activities planned for the party, let your guests know so they can be prepared.

3. Integrate the issue or non-profit organization into the party itself. Give a short presentation on the issue and charity. If it is a local organization, you can make volunteering with it for an hour or two part of the festivities. If it is an international organization, theme a meal around the organization's local cuisine. You can include additional fundraising opportunities into the party itself by offering a special silent auction.

4. Share promotional material for the non-profit organization that your guests can keep and take home with them. This will encourage donations and support well into the future. If you contact the charity, they will often eagerly send you brochures and flyers that you can distribute to your friends and family at the party. A local charity also might be able to send a representative to the event to inform and educate your guests.

Tips & Warnings

• Be gracious to any guests who still decide to give you a personal gift. It means that they care about you and should not be a cause for objection. Do not, however, make a production out of it that could embarrass those guests who did not get you a gift.

References

• Celebrations.com: How to Host a Charity Dinner Party