Instructions
Instructions for organizing a Community Vigil
Confirm the Date
The 20th Annual Covenant House Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Youth will be held on November 16, 2010. While we truly hope that your event will coincide with ours, feel free to hold your vigil on any date that is convenient. Just let us know so we can include the date and location on our list of vigils.
Put Together a Team & Divide Tasks
Organizing a successful vigil is easy when you plan. To help you stay organized, bring together a team of five to six people to split the workload. Ideally you should find one person for each of the following tasks. (But we've known people who wear all six hats!)
- The Vigil Chairperson will be in charge of the overall event and all other committee members should report to that person. This will help ensure that all committees are working together.
- The Event Coordinator will be in charge of reserving a location (including filling out necessary paper work for permits), and contacting speakers.
- The Publicity Coordinator will be in charge of advertising the event, including making and hanging posters, placing ads in newspapers and contacting local radio and television stations. All the tools needed to successfully promote your event are in our Community Vigil Kit (.pdf).
- The Logistics Coordinator will be in charge of any supplies, i.e. candles, handouts, sound equipment, any drinks or food.
- The Staff Coordinator will be in charge of recruiting volunteers to help at the event and then determining their jobs, i.e. greeters, candle distributors, manning the information table and food/drink servers.
- The Fundraising Coordinator will be in charge of donations made to Covenant House during the candlelight vigil. This person will work closely with the staff coordinator to best utilize volunteers for the fundraising effort.
Fundraising
You are not required to raise money at your vigil, but it is the perfect opportunity to collect desperately needed funds that help strengthen Covenant House's life-saving programs. Remember your neighbors are already there to share your commitment to homeless kids.
There are several ways to effectively fundraise during your event:
- Use registration tables to give participants their candles. Volunteers can hand out brochures, ask people to make a donation and encourage them to join the Covenant House mailing list.
- During the vigil, take a moment to address the audience. Just before people are ready to light their candles, make an announcement that volunteers will be collecting donations. Remind people that all funds go to rescue kids from the streets.
Once the evening is over, contact us at vigils@covenanthouse.org for instructions for sending your gifts to Covenant House.
Materials
Please note that there may be some expenses involved in holding a Vigil. Ideally, a member of your committee can be in charge of getting donations to help cover some of these costs.
Suggested Materials:
- Plenty of flyers to help promote your event
- PA system rental
- Candles (although people should be encouraged to bring their own)
- Flashlights for volunteers to help guide people
- Permits (yes please check to see if you need one)
- Any food or refreshments
The Night of the Event
The Covenant House Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Youth is more than just candles. Each year, thousands of people come together to pray, sing songs of hope, and read testimonials from young survivors of the street.
We hope you will add these special touches to your event as well. Reach out to your community to find speakers, musicians, church choirs, poets or anyone willing to lend their talent to your event.
We promise it will help create a magical night benefitting homeless kids everywhere. And be sure to invite reporters from your local newspapers, radio and television stations.