Grassroots Organization: Act Locally



July 17, 2020

Even huge events focusing on large issue such as hunger relief or cancer research can benefit from an active grassroots movement to aid a larger, national cause. It’s time to gather your local grassroots community! If you are starting such a community from scratch, call a town meeting that will give you an opportunity to gauge the importance of your movement within your community, as well as find volunteers who can help you get the ball rolling.

* You Got Your Goodwill Army, So Now What? Now that you have the support and muscle of people in your community, your grassroots effort may begin. With these people, begin to plan and create a fundraising event. Let them tell you what the community wants. Sell event tickets on and offline to the event to raise money. Sell raffle tickets to generate even more money for your cause.

* Get Local Exposure: Utilize local media such as newspapers and radio stations to raise awareness of your cause and your event. Be sure to tell people in the community how they can attain a ticket to your fundraising event by promoting and making ticket purchase available on and offline. Take notes to ensure that you say all that needs to be said via the media to get the word out about your cause and your fundraiser. Use statistics, even local statistics if you can get them, to further the cause. For example, if you are raising awareness about Diabetes and aim to have a fundraiser about it, be sure to cite stats such as how many people in the country have the disease, as well as a stat of how many people in your community are afflicted. The reality of statistics will give your grassroots movement a solid foundation and awake the cause within your community.

* You Got the Exposure, Begin Planning the Event: Much of the preliminary details such as where and when must be decided before you speak to the media. But there’s more to planning and implementing the details: food, entertainment, or speakers. Continuing to use the example of a grassroots movement for Diabetes, an appropriate speaker could be a local doctor or an artist or musician in the community. Often local authorities and celebrities will donate their time for a fundraiser. Put out calls in the community for appropriate speakers to perform or speak at your event.

* Event Tickets for Your Fundraiser: To enable easy purchasing for attendees, sell tickets online. If you have local ticketing locations, print tickets as well. Research event ticket designs: choose the perfect ticket template and create your own tickets online for speed and convenience.

After your tickets have been designed and printed, begin selling within your community. In addition to selling tickets to your friends, neighbors, and coworkers, pound the pavement and do some selling door to door. Continue to promote the event, reminding potential guests about to get tickets. Use printed flyers, online forums, micro-blogging, social networks, and your website.

It is easy to create a simple event website that can be exclusive to your cause with news and a schedule of events at this fundraiser and others to come. The website can also function as a way to educate the community about your cause as well as keep a running tally on the money that has been raised.

* Don’t Stop When the Party’s Over: Your successful grassroots campaign has created a mobile army for your cause. Keep them mobilized. Encourage them to bring new and creative ideas to the table and run with them.

Want to learn more?

Our team is standing by, excited to learn about your organization and ready to discuss how we can help you reach your goals.

Speak with one of our knowledgeable Solutions Specialist about a 30 minute demo today.

Request a Demo

How Selling Prom Tickets Online Works

Creating a ticket sales page takes no time, and you can customize it so it matches your prom theme and school branding. Here’s the shape of it:

Create the event. Name (Enchanted Forest Prom, 2026), date, venue, capacity, dress code, anything else students should know.
Set ticket types and prices. Most committees do one student ticket plus one guest or date. Some add an early bird ticket tier at a $10 discount for the first two weeks.
Grab a shareable link. Drop it in the school newsletter, add it to a QR code on your prom posters, then drop it into the school’s socials and the committee group chat so everyone can share within their networks, and the principal’s morning announcements.
Collect the money. Card and digital wallet payments flow straight into your account, whether someone pays in person at school or at the door on prom night.
Scan tickets at the door. Each student arrives with their printed prom tickets or a digital version. A volunteer scams them using their phone.

6 Things to Look For in a Prom Ticketing Service

Not every ticketing platform is set up for school events. Three things that matter:

Real-Time Data: Student planners and faculty advisors need to monitor sales and revenue, and access updated attendee reports.
Clear Fees: Every platform makes its money through fees. These fees can be passed on to buyers or absorbed by the school. In addition, when credit cards are involved, processing fees always apply but may not be included in your free ticketing platform’s service. When these are not included in the platform price, you’ll need to organize online payments separately, which can result in a much higher per-ticket cost on your end.
Online and physical tickets: Printing prom tickets is something many schools do – they’re a great memento of the night, and make the experience more special. Make sure your platform’s capabilities include tracking and scanning both printed and digital tickets.
Easy attendee check-in: Look for a platform that lets you scan without an app or special equipment. When faculty can scan tickets using their mobile phone‘s browser, getting up to speed takes less time.
Attendee management: You’ll want to track students as they enter, leave, and return. Ensure your service can support this.
Ticketing adaptability: Creating ticket bundles, reserved seating, and comp codes for VIPS means your chosen platform needs to be flexible.

What to Charge For Tickets To Prom and When to Sell

On average, a prom ticket costs between $55–$125. The exact number depends on the venue, what the night includes (DJ, photos, dinner, flowers, and the like).

Pre-prom ticket sales strategies

Early Bird discount. Knock $10–$15 off the standard price for the first 2–3 weeks of sales. An early bird ticket strategy rewards students who buy first, builds momentum, and gives your committee how the night is tracking weeks before prom.
Group bundles. Offer a small discount for friend groups buying 4 or 6 tickets together. Ticket bundling speeds up sales and they nudge friend groups to commit early.
Reserved tables. If you want groups to sit together, set up your ticketing with reserved seating and sell whole tables as a single package.
Day-of door pricing. Charge $10–$15 more at the door than online to encourages families to pre-buy.

When to sell tickets

Open sales 6–8 weeks before prom, switch from early bird to standard pricing 2–3 weeks in, and close online sales 24–48 hours before the dance so you can finalize the catering count.

A note on the platform side: Eventgroove’s setup is free, and the service fee on paid tickets is small (2% + $0.75 per ticket). You can pass that fee on to ticket buyers, and for free events, there are no fees at all.

If you’re looking for an efficent and easy way to sell school dance tickets and manage your attendees, we’d love it if you gave Eventgroove a try. Our ticketing platform is free for organizers, with low ticket-buyer fees, no hidden charges, and no contracts. Plus, we’re also online printers, so you order custom prom tickets, VIP badges, and flyers all in one place.