Fund raiser ideas

Murder mystery games are a great fund raiser idea - whether it's for the church roof, a textbooks for the school or just for your favourite charity.

Here I've included some tips for using murder mystery games as fund raisers, along with a selection murder mystery games that you might want to consider for a fund raiser idea. I've selected games that are for more than 30 people (because you want to raise lots of funds!).

Some of the companies have conditions over using their games for fund raising - I've included those where appropriate.

If you like the sound of running a murder mystery game as a fund raiser idea, your next step should be to read more about the game and download the introductory pdf file (if that game has one) to check if that game is suitable for your guests.

You will find that running a murder mystery party for a large number of people at your fund raiser is very different from one for a dozen or so. If nothing else, there's a bigger chance of Murphy's Rule ("If something can go wrong, it will.") striking. So in order to minimise trouble and maximise enjoyment, here are my tips for running a large murder mystery fund raiser:

Prepare in advance: Everything is going to take longer, so make sure you start well in advance. Don't wait until the last minute before choosing your game - give yourself at least a month. Ideally, give yourself even longer.
Buffet Meal: The larger murder mystery games are all "interactive" in style, rather than the dinner-party games. So that means a buffet meal, or finger food so that your guests can wander around the room with a drink and a plate in their hand. Make sure you have lots of places for people to leave their plates and glasses as they play.
Plenty of Help: Don't try to do everything yourself. If possible, recruit some help. You might want someone to help with running the murder mystery, but you might also want someone else in charge of food or drinks. Don't try to do it all yourself.
Drinks: Make sure you have a good supply of soft drinks. Your guests will be talking throughout the game, and are bound to become very thirsty.
Don't worry about the murder yourself: Some of the games allow you to play in the game - but if you're organising the fund raiser event, you're likely to be too busy to spend much time trying to solve the mystery.
Play safe: Don't forget to play safe! Props are great - but don't ever use props for weapons.
You can't please all of the people all of the time: Which is to say that you should expect one or two problems and maybe even a complaint. There's not that much you can do about this - it doesn't seem to matter how well organised an event is, someone finds something to complain about. So be prepared to handle problems.

Prizes

Something else to consider for your fund raiser is the matter of prizes. Some of the games have suggestions for prizes, but you can always include your own prizes - for example:

Best Costume
Most Valuable Player
Best Roleplayer
Most Outrageous Accent

The best way I have found when allocating prizes is to let everyone vote for them (although this might be impractical at a really large event). I usually include a voting form in each character envelope, and at the end of the game the guests hand them in for counting.

The prizes themselves might be a simple certificate (you can get these from office suppliers), a box of chocolates, bottle of wine - or something more suited to the game itself.

Some of the games have specific prizes. For example, in The Last Gasp the player who has the most money at the end of the game wins a prize. However, those who start out with money aren't eligible for the prize. If you want everyone to be eligible, you could calculate how much everyone has increased their wealth by. So if you end the game with £200 but started with nothing, you've done better than someone who ends the game with £300 but starts with £400. (This does require a small amount of maths - but not much.)

Of course, even if you follow these points I can't guarantee that your charity party will be a hit, but you have a better chance of success if you do.

Fund Raiser Idea #1: Murder Mystery Games Ltd

Murder Mystery Games Ltd publish St. Cakes, a murder mystery game for 40 to 200 players that is perhaps the most suitable fund raising game (as it is huge). As well as solving the murder there are other challenges to do to keep all 200 guests entertained.

Their other games include:

The Auction - a modern day game for up to 40 players.
The Last Gasp - a Victorian game for up to 40 players.

Murder Mystery Games Ltd are happy for their games to be used for fund raising, but they require that you state that the game belongs to them and list their website in your promotional materials.

Fund Raiser Idea #2: Freeform Games

Freeform Games require that you list their website and state that the game belongs to them in your promotional materials when using the games as a fund raiser idea. The only large game they have is All at Sea, which is for up to 33 people. Click here to read more about All at Sea.

Fund Raiser Idea #3: Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games

Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games have no specific requirements for using their games for fund raising. Their games include:

Murder at the Four Deuces is for up to 20 people, but Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games also produce two packets of ten extra characters that can be added to their games so you can run Murder at the Four Deuces for up to 40.

Click here to learn more about Murder at the Four Deuces.

Fundraiser Links

SmartRaise - a free website that connects charitable causes, community organizations and school groups with fundraising tools and advice.

This article may be re-published as long as the following paragraph is included at the end of article and as long as you link to the URL:

Article by Steve Hatherley. Find out more about hosting interactive murder mystery games for your friends and family at http://www.great-murder-mystery-games.com.