Booking and Planning an Event
To book an event, please contact the Contemporary
Issues Agency at Info@CIAspeakers.com
or 800.843.2179. Please specify which event you
are interested in, and potential dates for hosting
the event. When planning an event, use the following
guidelines to raise funds and ensure a great audience
turnout.
Fundraising at a University
Some students and faculty interested in booking an EFJ Traveling Classroom event write to us asking, “Where can I find the funding on my campus for an event like this?” Finding funding can be easy if you think “outside the box” of your traditional allies and look to build a coalition of groups that will have a stake in making the event a success at your school. If you go looking, you will find that there are a myriad of potential sources that can offer money and support on your campus. Below is
a list of offices, departments and groups you should approach to co-sponsor the event. Each of these listed has been involved in co-sponsoring an EFJ event in the past.
- The Offices of the President, Vice-President, Provost and Deans
- The Office of Student Life
- Business, Theology, Sociology, Philosophy, Economics, and Athletic Departments
- Campus Ministry
- Student Government Association
- Fraternities, Sororities and the Greek Council
- Progressive Student Alliance
- Student groups concerned with social issues (examples: Amnesty Int’l, Oxfam, etc.)
Fundraising at a High School
Oftentimes, high schools have funding set aside for outside presentations such as an EFJ Traveling Classroom event. To find out if your school has funding, ask your principal or dean of students. If you find out that there isn’t funding available from these sources, you can then try the following. Each of these suggestions has been used successfully at other high schools in the past to fund an event.
- If you go to a parochial high school, approach your principal or dean of students, and ask to have a dress-down day where each student pays $3 to wear everyday clothes instead of the school uniform.
- You can hold a dance or concert and put the proceeds towards funding the event.
- You can reach out to students at other schools in your area that may have funding and see if they would co-sponsor the event.
Getting People to the University Event
Once you have booked an EFJ Traveling Classroom event, you want it to be successful, which includes having a large and diverse crowd attend the presentation. Here are some suggestions that have worked very well on other campuses and have brought in audiences of over 500 people.
- Approach individual teachers, tell them about the event and ask that they make the event extra credit for students. This is by far the most effective means of attracting a large and diverse crowd.
- Approach the student senate and ask that the event be available as one of the mandatory lectures students must attend for the semester – if there is a policy such as this at your school.
- Approach the heads of fraternities and sororities at your college and ask that they make the event mandatory for members.
- Approach each of the campus department heads and ask them to advertise the event to their staff and students. (examples include: Campus Ministry, Athletics, Academic Departments, etc.)
- Advertise the event in the school newspaper up to three weeks in advance of the event.
- Submit EFJ’s already-prepared press release to your school newspaper and local newspapers.
- Invite members of local churches. When contacting individual churches, ask for their social justice coordinator. You may also wish to contact the diocese office, and ask to speak with their Office of Social Concerns.
- Invite members of local unions to come to the event. Look in the phone book under “labor organizations” or “unions”. When contacting local unions, ask for their outreach or education coordinator. Ask that they pass along the word to other unions as well. Be sure to invite union workers like janitorial and cafeteria staff from your college or high school to the event.
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