Page 10 - The Decorative Painter Spring 2018

Stencils with a Difference
Chapter Happenings
Your source for all your stenciling needs
BUNCO SAVED OUR CHAPTER!
By Julie Veronneau – Siskiyou Decorative Artists
The Best Prize I Ever Won at Bunco Was My SDP Chapter Friends!
Tulip with Bow
A silly, simple game saved our chapter. Let me explain...
As with every chapter, fundraising has historically been a real challenge.
About 11 years ago, one of our members heard about a novel approach from a
chapter in northern California. They were hosting a Bunco party and she suggested that we try the same thing.
Prior to this, any fundraiser we had done meant painting on various items (notebook covers, photo albums, quilt squares which a member would sew into a quilt to raffle, etc.) We would then sell these items to friends, family members and each other. This didn’t generate much income and we were just circulating our own money back and forth. Nothing new was coming in.
The concept of a Bunco party fundraiser piqued the interest of the Board, but we had to make it special to compete with the fundraising efforts of other charitable clubs in southern Oregon. What could we do to set us apart? Paint, of course. So that is what we did.
The first year we started out with only 12 tables and a total of 48 guests. We sold tickets for $25 each. Each ticket entitled the guest to a free raffle ticket and an automatic entry into the door prize drawing. We served breakfast goodies made by chapter members. We painted small party favors and gave homemade truffles to each guest. Our members created gift baskets and painted artwork which was raffled off during the catered luncheon, and there were cash prizes for the Bunco game winners. The ticket sales paid for all the supplies and catering, and that first year we were able to come within $50 of our projected profit.
Since that first small effort, we have grown to a limit of 100 tickets each year, all of which are spoken for before the end of the current year’s party! We maintain a list of any guests who wish to attend next year’s party and it usually grows to a wait list of more than 100 names. When the next year’s tickets are printed, the ticket chair uses the list to start making calls and selling tickets.
Available in
5 x 7, 8 x 10 11 x 17, 18 x 24
Jean Hansen Publications
www.jeanhansen.com (603)986-6646
OKC Painting Palooza
Craft fairs are big in southern Oregon and we wanted to take advantage of this potential profit niche, as well. The date for our fundraiser is the first Saturday in November, so we help start off the craft fair season. Members bring in the items for sale and we have members who volunteer to work the sales tables. At the end of the day, the treasurer balances the cash box and the chapter takes a 10% cut of the sales. Members who have items for sale must be present the date of the party to answer any questions about their work. This also encourages full participation by the membership.
2018 Class Catalog
Coming February 2018
Admittedly, we work hard for this event. It is a commitment that most chapters may not wish to undertake. But this one-day event not only put our treasury permanently and safely in the black, it also helped bond all of us into a wonderful group of friends. By working together for a common goal, we have grown to love and support each other in a way that money just can’t buy.
Coming into any large group can be hard for new members. This is especially difficult if the group only meets once a month. The Bunco party requires almost 100% participation, thereby forcing an otherwise insular group to welcome new members to help with the workload. We have spent so much time working together that people who might otherwise never get to know each other have become fast friends. From a disparate group of semi- strangers whose numbers were declining, we are now slowly but surely adding new members and have become a group of sisters who share our love of art with each other and all the guests who enter our doors.
We have been able to purchase a Ladybug video set for the use of our chapter teachers and seminars as well as a microphone system. Each year we bring in two “Big Brushes” for seminars, one of which is a member appreciation seminar where the chapter pays most, if not all, of the cost for the members. We have earned enough to donate to National and the Decorative Arts Museum as well as to local charities. We are also able to support our Treasure Box program for Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland, Oregon, and I’m proud to say we donated 66 painted and decorated boxes this past year!
With all the painting we are doing to support our various efforts, I have seen an overall increase in the quality of artwork donated. Yes, we are painting a lot, but isn’t that what we joined a painting chapter to do? We are improving our skills and increasing our enjoyment of our art. Most importantly, our chapter has grown into a family, which is priceless. So, yes...a silly, simple game called Bunco saved our chapter.
OKC
PAINTING PALOOZA
OCTOBER 22 - OCTOBER 27
2018
CONTACTS: DARLA - 405.203.0991 JANETTE - 405.642.0603 OKCPAINTINGPALOOZA.COM
8 The Decorative Painter
• SPRING 2018 DECORATIVEPAINTERS.ORG