When people in your community have busy work schedules and families to take care of, it can hardly feel like there is any room for quality time. If your community center lacks the funding to provide fun events, community members will spend their days wondering how they can enjoy themselves on their off time.
You take matters into your own hands by hosting a movie night at your community center. All it takes is learning the right materials to use, the type of movies to show, and how to secure public performance rights.
Set the date and time for your film screening
The first thing you must do is set a good day and time to host the event. Plan this about two months in advance as a fundraising event takes time and careful planning. Check your community’s schedule to see if there are other events around the time you’re planning yours to avoid scheduling conflicts.
Choose a fun theme
See if your movie night should have a theme. If this community event is around November or December, you can do a holiday theme where you play a classic Christmas movie like It’s a Wonderful Life or The Polar Express with hot chocolate being served. A classic movie party can also be a lot of fun as more millennials need exposure to the classics. You can even encourage moviegoers to wear costumes that go with the movie. Even a sports-themed movie night can be effective if you’re raising money for a sports team or athletic association.
Purchase everything you need to screen a film in public
Next, you need to find the right materials. Whether you’re hosting an outdoor screening or it’ll be inside the community center, find a large screen and quality projector so everyone can see the movie. See if the screen you’re using has built-in speakers or a Bluetooth setup. Some community centers hire an equipment crew to set up the equipment for you, so that everything will work out once the movie plays. If you plan on holding regular movie nights, invest in your own equipment to set up. Arrange a number of chairs if the movie night is indoors or ask guests to bring their own blankets and chairs if the event is outdoors.
Before you think about what movie to show, you need to get a license to show movies in public. According to Insane Impact, anytime you are playing a movie in a public setting, you need a public viewing license. Movie licensing pricing can range from $300-$2,000 depending on the number of people attending, location, revenue from ticket costs, and the film you’re showing. All the more reason you should get that box office up and running. You can purchase a public performance movie license from Swank Motion Pictures Inc. or Criterion. Just let them know the movie you are looking to purchase a license for and they will facilitate your needs. The same rules apply even if this is a movie you’re taking from a streaming service.
Advertise your movie night event
You won’t be able to bring a lot of guests in if they don’t know about your event. You can put an ad in the local newspaper about what movie to show, pricing, date, time, and where the proceeds will go. Come up with a catchy copy that will make your community want to run to the box office to get tickets. There are also social media advertisements and setting up posters all around the area. NextDoor is another app where you can make an ad to reach out to your neighbors about a community event. Create a big sign outside of the community center to let people driving by know there’s a fun event happening not too far away from them.
Before the event begins, give a short speech about the cause you’re raising money for and how dire it is to get donations. Create a program for the event to hand out to guests that have information about the fundraiser. Lead them towards the refreshments you have set out as the proceeds go towards the cause. If you follow these steps, people will flock to your movie night event at your community center.