Project Details

7 Countries, Cities, Culture

Short Description and Goal

Bellingham Sister Cities Association Board and fellow community members organized Gala and Fundraiser at Bellingham. Revenue from the Auction and tickets provided for multiple projects.

Detailed Description

Bellingham Sister Cities Association (BSCA) Board organized 7 countries, cities, cultures event in 2015 and 2016.

7 cocities in 7 countries are:

  • Tateyama, Japan
  • Punta Arenas, Chile
  • Vaasa, Finland
  • Cheongju, South Korea
  • Port Stephens, Australia
  • Tsetserleg, Mongolia
  • Nakhodka, Russia

In 2015 fundraiser included appetizers from each of country, prepared by Bellingham Technical College as well as a silent auction, and live video feeds from sister cities. Unlike most auctions, there was no auctioneer present, and participants could place their bids silently and anonymously on a bid sheet using a bidding number—hence the name silent auction.

BSCA organised the event under a theme of “The world peace” in the vision of President Eisenhower who saw Sister Cities as a way to lessen the chance of future conflicts. Association invited both members and non-members to contribute to it by sponsoring BSCA projects, likeInternational BSCA Ski-to-Sea scholarships, the annual Peace Grant, PacRim 2016, Japanese New Year, Mongolian New Year, etc.

BSCA distributed the tickets via the Eventbrite platform. In 2015 single tickets cost 65$, table reservation for a group of up to 10 people – 500$. In 2016 the prices rose to  75$ and 600$ accordingly.

A 4-hour long event schedule:

  1. Registration & Socializing
  2. Welcome & Introductions
  3. Hearty Appetizers, Auction
  4. Video feeds and Live Broadcasts from Sister Cities
  5. Auction Closes
  6. Dance project presentation
  7. End of Evening

In 2016 it was enriched with the gallery of art produced by Artists with Disabilites from seven sister cities and a chamber music concert.

Resources This Project Needed

Teams from 6 sister cities to record a video presentation.

Team to gather auction items, bring them to the hammer, and ensure every winning bidder gets what he paid for.

2016 auction items included:

  • Handwoven Table Runner
  • Gary’s Gift Certificate
  • Anders Yellow Vase
  • Glass Blowing Classes
  • Anders Glass Bowl
  • Case of 1999 Ravenswood Sonoma Blend
  • Private Violin Lessons
  • Hampton Inn Stay
  • Coffee with Mayor Kelli
  • Sunset Cruise with Wine
  • Family Portrait Session
  • Styles Salon Facial
  • Komyo Reiki Classes
  • Normandy Clarinet
  • City Gym Gift Card
  • Annie Stafford Mini Portrait Session
  • Smokin’ Joe’s BBQ Dinner for 8
  • French Horn
  • Dive Service for Boat
  • Four, Half-hour Guitar Lessons
  • Upper Box Tickets to Everett AquaSox
  • Hand Knitted Baby Sweater and Hat
  • Turning Point Power Yacht Sunset Cruise
  • Davis Marine Mark Sextant
  • Mayan Table Covering
  • Korean Silk Neck Tie
  • Boundary Bay Gift Certificate
  • Ray Ban Sunglasses – Clearview Eyecare
  • 3 Hrs House Cleaning – Maid for You
  • 2-month Novice Fencing Class
  • Jody Bergsma Illustrations
  • Bird Chair
  • Nerium Skin Care Products
  • Mid-Century Jewelry
  • Antonius StaOivarius Copy

 

Learnings

The event proved to be not so successful, because in 2017 BSCA turned the 777 fundraiser into a picnic. That helped to reduce the costs to 25$ for non-members and make it free for members. However, during registration, every participant was highly encouraged to donate.

Event pages:
https://bsca.org/you-are-cordially-invited-to-the-2017-annual-bellingham-sister-cites-association-dinner/
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bellingham-sister-cities-association-annual-dinner-tickets-35700791027?aff=ebdsoporgprofile#

Initiated by

  • Bellingham Sister Cities Association

Initiators are

• Private individual(s) / Civil society

Funded by

• Crowd
• Private Individuals
• Foundations

Project Website(s)

Project Topics

Arts & Culture, Civil Society, Fundraising

Level / Project Complexity /

Medium

Participating Cities

  • Bellingham

Sizes of Participating Cities

• 20.000 - 100.000

Participating Countries

  • The United States of America

Project Region(s)

• North America

Media Credits

Cover picture: Photo by Kaung Myat Min on Unsplash