Toastmasters are often asked to act at charity fundraisers – the ‘dinner dance’ ones where everyone’s turned out in their formal finery. 

But what value does the Toastmaster add? To give you an insight, a recent ‘black tie’ fundraiser for a local charity was typical in the range of duties I was asked to perform;

• Checking the venue was set up according to the plan, including making sure the PA system was working;
• Greeting the guests and pointing them to the cloakroom (and the bar. Never forget the bar);
• Calling for silence and announcing the local dance group ‘Bright Sparks’ who gave us a wonderful pre-dinner performance;
• Calling guests to be seated for dinner;
• Announcing the VIP speakers;
• Holding the ‘Heads & Tails’ fundraising game;
• Running the auction.

And just generally floating about, problem solving, keeping things moving, liaising between the organiser and the catering team. The ‘glue’ holding all the pieces together. And, in the words of the organiser “Due to his efforts we raised far more than anticipated in the auction” – making my fee excellent value for money!

So, if you are organising a charity fundraiser, do you want to devote the evening to making it work, or can I take that from your shoulders?

PS: I somehow managed to auction myself to host another function. All in a good cause…!