MOST OUTSTANDING PHILANTHROPIC EVENT NOMINEE
university of southern mississippi vietnamese student association
eggroll fest
Provide a detailed description of the event and the population it served. Details MUST include: date of event, number of participants, program purpose (goals, objectives, etc.), use of resources (finances, community support, etc.), marketing techniques, and amount fundraised.
Our twice-yearly Eggroll Festival is an opportunity for us to interact with the Southern Miss Community and promote our organization. The major objectives are to involve the university community, promote VSA, and raise money for our organization and philanthropy. Our festival takes place once in the fall and once in the spring. Our day of sale for the fall took place on October 12, 2022. Our goal was to sell roughly 1.1k eggrolls and we ended up selling 2.3k eggrolls. For our spring event, we hosted Eggroll Fest on March 8th, 2022. We set a goal of selling 1.2k eggrolls and sold a total of 1.3k eggrolls. The accumulated profits of birth festivals came out to be approximately $3000.
We marketed our event by emailing the entire faculty and staff directory about our organization and the purpose of the organization to spread awareness about our CPP. Additionally, we actively advertise our event on social media and throughout the Hattiesburg Community. To make sure instructors are thoroughly informed about our event, members will also individually contact professors. As soon as the word has gotten around campus, we start taking orders for our eggrolls. For simpler access, we included a QR code. To make it simpler when items are picked up or purchased on-site, our treasurer verifies that payments have been received using our online payment alternatives. Additionally, throughout the event, our members and posters outside will actively attract visitors from all across campus.
The process of making eggrolls takes about three days to make. Each of the prep days starts at 10 AM to as late as 8 PM, and we have roughly a total of 30 people through these days that volunteer to help. We purchase supplies within our budget and start prep work on Day 1. For Day 1, we shred, chop, and squeeze water out of vegetables by hand. After Day 1, Days 2 and 3 are constant rolling of homemade eggrolls. Once eggrolls have been made, bulk orders are prepared for delivery and pickup. During our Day Of Sales, the board reached out to the local Baptist Student Union, a campus facility, to sell and advertise the Eggroll Festival. Sale Day starts from 7 AM to 6 PM. About 26 people throughout the day come to help the board sell. Our members help with advertising, delivering, and frying the eggrolls to ensure the eggrolls sold are hot and fresh!
What efforts were used to motivate and involve the organization's members?
A members points system was implemented by USMVSA, wherein points are awarded to members depending on their activity, participation, GC engagement, etc. We advertise to the participants on whoever sold the most eggrolls would get a big prize as recognition for their dedication. Additionally, we offer and categorize their participation as volunteer hours that are kept on record for our members. We heavily advertise the prep day and day of sale as a way members can form friendships and connections with each other. We involve our members by distributing an excel spreadsheet with the shifts available for members who were interested in helping out at our event. Members also posted about the occasion on social media. Members who contributed their time and effort were given complimentary meals (including test eggrolls) for the cooking procedure. Members would assist with running products from the kitchen to the front booth, holding posters outdoors, and frying the eggrolls throughout the event.
How did the organization overcome any challenges that arose while planning and implementing the event?
One of the difficulties we faced while organizing the event was the inconsistency in our eggroll recipe. We encountered challenges in determining the right quantities of vegetables, meat, and seasoning to purchase. This inconsistency led to problems such as overspending the budget allocated for the event.
To address this issue, we decided to take a proactive approach this year. We recorded the recipe for making a single batch of eggrolls. By doing so, we established a standardized reference point that could be replicated for future events. This method allowed us to have a clear and consistent guideline for calculating the required amounts of ingredients based on the number of batches we wanted to make.
By having a standardized recipe, we could accurately estimate the quantities of veggies, meat, and seasoning needed, helping us avoid overspending. This not only helped us stay within the set budget but also ensured that we maintained a consistent quality and taste throughout the event.
