“Table 5, you collectively bid $4,500…go dash for your dessert!” shouts the Auctioneer.
At table 5, a woman dressed to the nines jumps from her seat and runs as fast as she can in her heels to the dessert tables. There are so many exquisite sweets to choose from but her eyes are focused on one particular dessert.
She carries with caution a decadent chocolate torte back to her chair while other tables around her wait to see what their dessert dasher will bring back. A unified cheer comes from the guests at table 5, dessert forks and plates in place, waiting to satisfy their sweet tooths.
We miss the excitement of the Dessert Dash, don’t you?
Not only do dessert dashes raise money for an organization, but this activity also engages the crowd during the program and allows for guests to get up and move around the room. It also provides the opportunity for some healthy competition among guests.
Crowded ballrooms and guests mingling around tables have come to a complete halt in 2020. You can forget about sharing one dessert with eight to ten other people!
Still, the dessert dash is a vital part of the fundraising revenue for nonprofits. We have found creative ways to keep some of the excitement of a dessert dash in a virtual world and continue to raise money for our nonprofit clients.
How can you conduct a dessert dash in the virtual world? Here are some simple steps to follow:
1. Procure desserts from various bakeries, confectionary shops, restaurants, and grocery stores. Make sure to enforce COVID-19 safety measures. A few of the scrumptious desserts we have received from local spots include: Triple Coconut Cream Pie from Tom Douglas, Mocha Almond Torte from Macrina Bakery and seasonal cheesecake from Bakery Nouveau.
2. When registration opens for your Live Streamed Virtual Event, give people the option of bidding on a dessert that they can enjoy during your Virtual program.
3. On the day of your Virtual Event, have your volunteers deliver (contactless delivery, of course!) the desserts to the winners several hours before your Virtual event is Live Streamed.
4. Your guests enjoy their delicious dessert while watching your Live Stream event!
We look forward to the thrill of an actual dessert dash once we can have in-person events again! For now, we are grateful that local businesses and donors are able to support nonprofits during this uncertain time by donating desserts towards their virtual fundraisers. It is also a joy to deliver desserts to supporters even with masks on and staying six + feet apart!
Who doesn’t want a delicious dessert delivered to their front door?!
Pre-Pandemic…
