Friends of Fusion Gala Dinner 2021

Fusion Mornington Peninsula hold an annual dinner to raise funds and awareness of the services they provide. In 2021 they engaged Functioning Together to manage the event, as it is such a huge imposition on their staff when managing it internally.

Event Type

Not for profit fundraising event

Location

Peninsula Community Theatre, Mornington

Goals

  • Raise $20,000
  • Raise awareness of the support provided by Fusion Mornington Peninsula
  • Involve Fusion’s young people
  • Source sufficient sponsorship to cover costs

The Friends of Fusion Gala Dinner was held at Peninsula Community Theatre and tickets sold out weeks before the event (this was unheard of previously)!

A key element of the event was to involve Fusion’s young people, providing them with an opportunity to develop their employability skills. This was achieved through arranging for the young helpers to serve food to the guests, being guided by the catering staff. An idea suggested by Functioning Together to introduce acknowledgment awards of the young people during the Dinner was also implemented and was received very well.

Functioning Together worked together with Fusion to make all the arrangements for the Dinner, including booking the venue, creation of sponsorship package, sourcing sponsorship, budget management, sourcing donations for silent and live auctions, setting up the ticketing, coordinating volunteers, preparing the marketing material, organising entertainment, setting up the room, and arranging collection of donations.

Through very careful and meticulous planning, Functioning Together delivered extremely good results, achieving all the goals, and is continuing to plan these events in to the future for Fusion.

Photos courtesy of Really Good Weddings

‘It wasn’t until Paula came onboard at the beginning of 2021 to support our ‘Friends of Fusion’ Gala Dinner that we realised just how hard it had been! We were so impressed we invited her back to work with us on our ‘Sleep in your Car’ awareness and fundraising event in August.’
Caitlin Swanton, Fusion Mornington Peninsula