How to Run a Trivia Night Fundraiser at Your Venue

A trivia night fundraiser is a ticketed quiz where teams pay to play and the money goes to a school, club or charity. The organiser brings the crowd. Your venue brings the room, the bar and the kitchen. Everyone plays a normal trivia night, with a few extra ways to give along the way.

For a venue, it is one of the easiest nights to fill. The organiser sells the tickets to people who already want to support the cause, and they arrive in teams. This guide covers how to set one up so it raises money and works for your business too.

Why Fundraisers Work for Venues

A fundraiser puts a full room in your venue on a night you pick. Most of those guests are people who would not have come in otherwise, and many have never been to your place.

A trivia night keeps people in their seats for about 2 hours, and the average guest orders 3.5 drinks across the night. On a fundraiser night the room is full of teams who came to stay. Pick your quietest night and the gain is easy to see.

There is a longer payoff as well. A good fundraiser is an advert for your regular trivia night. Some of those teams will want a rematch next week.

Agree the Deal Before Anything Else

Sit down with the organiser early and put the answers in writing. Most problems on the night come from questions nobody asked.

• Who sells tickets, and who keeps the money? A common setup is that the cause keeps all ticket and side-game money and the venue keeps bar and food sales. Some venues also donate a share of the night's sales. Agree whatever suits you both.
• Is there a minimum spend or a room fee? If you usually charge for a private room, say so up front.
• Food: platters per table, a set menu, or order from the normal menu?
• Prizes: who sources them? Local businesses often donate, and a venue voucher makes a good prize that brings the winners back.
• Raffles and 50/50 draws: rules for these vary by state and city, and charities often need a permit. The organiser should check before they sell a single ticket.

The Format That Works

Keep the quiz itself simple. Fundraiser crowds are mixed: parents, teachers, grandparents, coaches. Some have never played bar trivia.

• Five rounds of ten questions is a good length. It fills the night without dragging.
• General knowledge first, harder rounds in the middle, a fun round to finish. Everyone should score on round one. See our trivia categories and round ideas for line-ups that suit a mixed room.
• Teams of four to eight. Larger tables are more social and easier to seat.
• A break after round three for the raffle draw, a speech from the cause, and a bar run.
• Mark between rounds and read the scores out. A live leaderboard keeps every table invested.

You can write the questions yourself, or use a ready-made pack. Our free bar trivia questions are a good place to start. For a complete night with slides, a Host Q & A Sheet and printable Answer Booklets, a single On-Tap Trivia pack is US$69 for a one-off event. You can download two trivia nights free first and see if the format suits your crowd.

Ticketing and Pricing Teams

Most fundraisers sell tickets by the team, by the person, or both. Team pricing is simpler for the organiser and fills tables faster. Per-person pricing suits people who come alone or as a couple and join a table on the night.

Some practical points:

• Sell in advance. Advance sales tell you how many tables to set and how much to prep in the kitchen.
• Set a team size limit and price to it. For example, at $20 a person, a full team of six pays $120. That is an illustration, not a recommendation. The organiser knows what their community will pay.
• Hold a few seats for the door, and have a plan for singles to join a short team.
• Ask for team names when people book. It saves time on the night, and it is more fun. Need ideas? Here are 100+ trivia team names.

Mulligans and Side Games

Side games are where a trivia fundraiser raises real money on top of tickets. Keep each one quick, and price them so people buy without thinking.

• Mulligans: a team buys a pass to drop its worst round or claim a point on one question. Cap how many each team can buy so the richest table cannot buy the win.
• Buy a hint: the host gives a team a clue on one tough question for a set donation.
• Double points: teams pay to play one round of their choice for double points.
• Heads or tails: everyone stands, guesses heads or tails, and sits down when they are wrong. A small entry fee and a prize for the last one standing. It takes two minutes and gets the room laughing.
• Raffle or 50/50 draw: check your state rules first, as above.
• Silent auction: a table of donated items, closing at the final round.

Run of Show on the Night

• Set the room, test the TV, laptop, sound and microphone before doors open.
• Print the Answer Booklets, one per team, and put pens on every table.
• Welcome from the host, then a short word from the cause.
• Rounds one to three, marking and scores between each.
• Break: raffle draw, side games, bar and kitchen orders.
• Rounds four and five, then a final game or tiebreaker.
• Announce the winners, thank the sponsors and announce the total raised.

Turn Fundraiser Guests Into Regulars

Before people leave, tell them about your weekly trivia night. Put the date on the screen during the break and hand the host a line to read out. A poster by the door with your trivia night and start time helps too.

If you do not run a weekly trivia night yet, a fundraiser is a good test. See how trivia works for bars, or compare our weekly trivia packs: a new night every week for US$49, run by your own team, with no host fee.