How to Host a Successful HUDDLE

Tips to Help Make Your Party More Successful

A "Football Squares" board from a past Home Team Huddle!

You’re hosting a party for the big game and have registered your party as a Home Team Huddle for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis. But, how do you go about turning your game day party into a fundraiser? Here are some tips and helpful ideas to make your party a success!

• Entry Fee – Ask for a “door fee” to get into your party. It doesn’t have to be much. $5 is similar to what many venues charge, except your venue is cozier; the company is friendlier; and it’s for a GREAT cause - Memphis Habitat!
• Tailgating Cook-Off – Host a chili, hot wing or other tailgating fare cook-off and have an entry fee for each dish entered into the competition. Likewise, you can have people vote by making a donation in a jar for their favorite dish, with the top fund raiser winning the competition!
• Musical Performance – If you have a musically inclined friend, you can have people make donations to have that person perform the National Anthem or another song. Set a goal, and if enough funds are raised, everyone gets a live performance – a win-win! Or, if you have a friend that lacks musical talent but doesn’t mind being a good sport for a great cause, you could have folks donate to keep your musically lacking friend from performing for the group.
• Football Squares – There’s always the age-old fundraiser of football squares. Not sure how to go about arranging the numbers on a poster board? No worries, use this Number Generator to make the task even easier.
• Play Bingo! – There’s no shortage of downloadable bingo cards out there, but here’s a set we found on BuzzFeed.
• Photo Booth – Set up a fun photo booth area stocked with helmets, footballs, jerseys, referee shirts and any other football- and game day-themed props you can find. Charge friends a fee for each image they take to share on their various social media outlets.
• Pinterest - Pinterest is a great place to look for party ideas. Check out this pinboard with some ideas for our Home Team Huddle hosts.
  

These are just a few ideas that we came up with from current HUDDLE hosts and from internet searches, but there are many, many others out there – like pin the ball on the quarterback, guess the number of beer caps in the jar, donation jars and numerous other ideas. Just set a fundraising goal and go for it! All the funds you raise at your HUDDLE help Memphis Habitat continue to eliminate substandard housing and help make our community a better place. 

Don’t forget to register your HUDDLE by Friday, Jan. 30 to get your HOME TEAM HUDDLE party pack featuring the 2015 HTH T-shirt and other promotional items to help make your HUDDLE a success! Also, make sure all your attendees register for a chance to win an NFL getaway next season!