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.
Eggroll Festival is our biannual event where we have a chance to engage with our Southern Miss Community and showcase our organization! The main goal is to raise funds for our our organization and our philanthropy, engage within the community on campus, and spread the name of VSA.
Our festivals take place once in the fall and the other in the spring. Our fall event took place on November 15th, 2021. There were approximately 1500 presale orders and we ended up selling a total of 2000 eggrolls. As for our event in the spring, which took place April 11th, 2022, we made a little under 2000 eggrolls and completely sold out. The accumulative amount from both festivals came out to be approximately $3000.
Our methodology for the festival starts with advertising our event. For more than two weeks leading up to the event, we sent out emails to faculty, staff, and students on campus. We also put out flyers on cars and in dormitories, as well as advertisements on social media. Members will also personally contact professors to ensure they are well aware of our festival. Once word has spread throughout campus, we start collecting orders for our eggrolls. We had a QR code posted for easier access. Our treasurer checks our online payment options to make sure payments have been processed, making it easier when orders are picked up or bought on site. We also have posters and our members outside during the festival vocally drawing in people around campus.
The making of the eggrolls is a 3 day process, we purchase ingredients from the Biloxi, MS (1 hour 30 minute commute) as supplies reach within our budget. Day 1 is mostly prep work for the ingredients: chopping, shredding, and squeezing the vegetables by hand. Day 2 and 3 consist of constantly rolling eggrolls. Once eggrolls have been made, bulk orders are prepared for pickup. Members have to be on site from 7AM to 6PM on the day of the festival. Members are continuously frying eggrolls throughout the day as we sell them to ensure fresh and hot eggrolls! USMVSATT
What efforts were used to motivate and involve the organization's members?
USMVSA has implemented a members points system, where points are given to members based on activeness, participation, GC involvement, etc. Each member of the semester is awarded a personal gift basket.
We offered a prize for the member who sold the most eggrolls. We also sent out an excel sheet that included shifts for members who were interested in volunteering during our event. Members also shared the event on various social media platforms (Snapchat, Instagram, etc.) For the preparation process, members were offered free meals (including test eggrolls) for those who offered their time and effort. During the event, members would help fry the eggrolls, hold posters outside, and help run items from the kitchen to the front booth.
How did the organization overcome any challenges that arose while planning and implementing the event?
Most of our members are freshmen who have never experienced Eggroll Festival. Additionally, out of 6 members on the executive board, none have fully experienced Eggroll Festival. We personally reached out to alumni to help guide us along this process.
Our freshmen members were a very crucial part in making our festival a success. Their motivation was inspirational to other members, which tremendously helped our efforts. Their passion and love for VSA sparked and was evident.
Eggroll Festival never fails to be a hectic and big project; however, it gives an opportunity for our members to interact and truly experience VSA. We bonded outside of our general meetings and it becomes a core memory for everyone there.