Safari supper fundraiser
A safari supper is one of the best community fundraisers there is: next to no overheads, tickets sold per household, and a genuinely lovely evening that people want to repeat. Perfect for schools, churches, village halls and clubs.
Why it works so well
There's no hall to hire and no caterer to pay — hosts cook one course in their own home — so your costs are close to zero and most of the ticket money goes straight to the cause. And because it's such a sociable, memorable night, it sells itself and becomes a fixture in the calendar.
How to run one
- Step 1Set your cause and a ticket priceDecide what you're raising for and a modest price per household. Because hosts provide the food, overheads are tiny — so almost everything you take is profit for the cause.
- Step 2Recruit your hostsYou need a household to host each course. Hosts cover their own course (some groups reimburse ingredients from the takings — your call), which is what keeps a safari supper so cost-effective as a fundraiser.
- Step 3Sell tickets and gather repliesInvite the community, take payment per household, and collect who can host which course and any dietary needs.
- Step 4Plan who goes whereArrange the rotation so everyone's seated, one host per course, and no two households are paired twice — the more people mix, the better the night. A planner does this instantly.
- Step 5Run the night and count upShare each household's itinerary, enjoy the evening, and tally the takings. Add a raffle or a 'guess the...' jar at the final stop to top up the total.
Common questions
- Why is a safari supper a good fundraiser?
- Overheads are almost nothing — there's no venue to hire and hosts provide the food — so nearly all the ticket money goes to your cause. It's also genuinely fun and social, which sells tickets and brings people back year after year.
- How much can a safari supper raise?
- It depends on numbers and ticket price, but the maths is kind: with hosts covering the food, costs are close to zero, so a modest price across, say, twenty households adds up to a healthy sum — almost all of it profit. Add a raffle or a donations jar at the final gathering and it climbs further. The real win is a packed, happy event people want to repeat.
- Who is it good for?
- Schools and PTAs, churches, village halls, sports clubs and residents' associations — any group with a community and a cause. Anywhere with people who'd enjoy an evening together is a fit.
- Do we need a licence or insurance?
- As dinners in private homes it's usually straightforward, but if you're selling alcohol, running a raffle, or fundraising as a registered charity, check your local rules — a quick word with your parish, PTA or club committee covers most cases.
Plan your fundraiser
Set it up, invite everyone, and let Safari Supper sort who visits whom. The app is free to use — so more of what you raise goes to the cause.
Plan your safari supper — free