Let me pick your brain!

[cavemanno1]

Hi guys!

I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on this matter.I'd like to organize a Mopar car charity event for a mentally disabled home.

Since there are only 5-6 B-E body Mopars here in Hungary these cars are rare.So I thought I'd organize an event where we all come together and people can see them.I wrote to the nearby airfield and to my surprise they asked for a personal visit.I thought they would just ignore my letter or decline it right away.
Anyhow, they asked me to go there so we can talk personally and give them my idea.

Since I have never done anything like this I was kinda wondering what should I include in my proposal?

My idea was so far the following.If they let us use a runway we could organize a drag race with obviously other American cars.There are lots of American cars here but not many Mopar as I mentioned earlier.
So for a reasonable entry fee, people could enjoy our cars and other american cars,parked seperatelly.If someone wants to run the 1/4 mile an extra fee would be payable.
Could do some small autocrossing and burnout contents.Was also thinking to include a meal and drink in the price,hot dog ,burger or Goulash one of our traditional meals.
For the kids could get a bouncing castle and some fun activities.If they let us use the place overnight,which I highly doubt,could make a "drive in " theater showing Vanising point,Gran Torino and such. Also, could sell some booze,got license to sell, to accumulate more money.

Also, my idea was to let people ride shotgun in our rides for a small fee or even drive the cars on the airfield.Remember this is for a good cause and not for my benefit!

Obviously, I'll try to find some sponsors and with their help, I could rent a tent where the food would be served and provide some shade.

Need to find volunteers for security, traffic management, registration etc.I don't want to sink a lot of money into it so more could be going to the cause.

You guys have any more ideas that I could draw up on the "meeting" and how should I display it!Hopefully, the airfield won't ask for a huge sum.
The problem is, people here are not too fond on charity.This just isn't in our culture, unfortunately.

Hoping with the cars,music,drag racing and with fun activities for everyone people will come to visit.We have american cars meetings almost every weekend in the summer so with the 1/4 mile run opportunity, this will be a special day.We are about an hour from Austria where they have a lot more mopars and I'm going to invite them to make our car scene more special.

So my question would be these.

Have you got any more ideas and how to display my proposal so they won't think this whole idea is dumb!

I really want to help the institute and even if I could donate a reasonable sum that would be great!

Thank you if you read this long post and if you could share any constructive ideas!

Peter

[BDF]

This sounds like a worthy venture. 
I read through your ideas and the only thing I would NOT do is let someone else drive my car. 
Riding 'shotgun' would be OK, but NO smoking, food, beverages in car. 
Only I drive my car anymore...sorry Dad! 

[Lennard]

Since it's the first time you are organizing such event, I would not have 6 different things going on like movies, autocross,  drag race etc. but keep it simple just in case not many people show up. I would keep it simple for the first time and if it is a success, then I would make the next event bigger.  

[draftingmonkey]

I do not know how injury laws work in Hungary and who pays if somebody is hurt at the event. You may want to look into event insurance, if available, to cover injuries or accidents that could occur during the event to protect yourself, participants and any monies raised.
I think Lennard has a good idea of starting simple and buildup the event if there is enough interest shown. Good luck as this sounds like a worthy cause.

[cavemanno1]

Thanks guys!

The reason I'd like to have more than just one thing is to draw more people!I wanna make the most of it as who knows if this will happen again or not!Not sure if it will happen at all since it depends on the airfield.
I know how you guys feel someone else driving your car but for what I would gain by that is worth it!

Unfortunately, I have a very special someone in that "home" and I was actually thinking of selling my car that I saved up every single penny for 4-5 years for it to help some way or another.Would hate to see my car go but family comes first!!!So the next thing I could do is raise as much money as I can as quickly as I can!
My wife hands down refused to let me sell our car which not even ready yet 

Never thought about the insurance thing and i'm glad you brought it up.Will look into it 

Thanks for the comments guys!

[Troy]

First thing, figure out what the airfield is willing to offer whether it's space, facilities, some management, etc. If you only get a small corner and access to a back taxiway then a lot of your plans aren't feasible. Does the airfield plan on shutting down for this event or will you be constrained by location and time? Make sure your plans don't impact their operations! Best to figure out what they're willing to give up before you start planning activities that take up the entire space.

As mentioned, I don't know about liability laws over there but big red flags are drag racing and autocross. You'll need insurance to cover any damage to the facility, cars, and people. That may end up costing more than you make from the event. It's the reason most events here are "display only". Not to mention, any racing and burnouts will require a lot of safety barriers and equipment (fire trucks, medical personnel, tow trucks, timing gear, and so on). Letting a stranger drive your car is another big risk. Definitely see if your personal insurance would cover it or if you'd need to add that to the event. Even if they are a passenger while you do some "spirited" driving. Are you willing to give up/lose a car you've put so much into?

If they shut down and give you a big runway you could do a top speed type of event. Large runways may be well over 2 miles long so it's easy to do a "flying mile" type of competition. That's rare even here! But they're also expensive because of it. And probably fairly dangerous.

Since there's already a lot of American car meetings you're going to have a hard time competing unless you do something different. The racing could be the key but it's a big gamble. If you do have racing you may want to focus solely on that and allow all makes. The fees for racing will far outweigh the spectator intake (I would think). Being too limiting in a single event will almost surely be a disappointment. Your goal here is to raise money (and awareness). If the American car owners won't show unless it's exclusive then you have another problem.

A cruise around the airfield would be interesting and fun for the owners (particularly if it's not something they'd otherwise be allowed to do). Maybe the spectators too since they get to hear the cars run. Be aware that a lot of classic car owners here have no interest in racing or beating on their cars. Occasional burnouts maybe - but even at big, national shows the number of competitors is a tiny fraction of the overall attendance. Make sure you are offering a balance of options for the car owners. And speaking of them, you need to decide if you're going to charge car owners, spectators, or both. It's a fine line. Spectators won't show up unless there is a good selection of cars and car owners won't show up unless there's something in it for them (see above). If you want to do some sort of "show" you'll need judges and awards.

You might be able to convince local restaurants to cater the event and either donate the profits back or at least give you a percentage. You could work out with them who is responsible for shelter and seating. Some restaurants here already have a mobile setup and could come ready to go without you doing anything. As part of this, you may need to provide electricity. If not a restaurant, a lot of churches are also geared up to host large events and would possibly donate time and people - if not the food as well.

Don't forget toilets! And garbage cans. Garbage cans seem to be forever overflowing...

Kids activities are always important - especially if it's just a static display of cars. They won't be interested for very long. Some games that cost a small amount would certainly help but having a general play area (away from the cars) would be smart.

I donate time and money to several charities. In most cases, the events are narrowly focused and cater to a specific subset of people. Be aware that trying to be everything for everyone might not have enough interest for anyone at all.

Large events can take an incredible amount of time and energy to put together. I'm assuming your timeline is short. It may be advisable to "piggy back" onto another event (if there's a large racing event already) and keep the American cars separate or offer additional choices. That way the management/overhead (facilities, insurance, safety, personnel, etc) is already handled by people with experience.

Troy

[cavemanno1]

Thank Troy.

Got some very good points there.Entertainment for the kids is on the list definitely.
Because of the weekly American car meetings everywhere in the summer I wanted to do the drag racing.Who wouldn't wanna try out their cars?

For insurance purpose, I could get everyone to sign a liability waiver or something.
But first and foremost I do have to see what the airfield could offer.I just want to draw up a display plan to show them I'm serious.

Drag racing would be just for fun and not timed.I like the "flying mile" idea,that's so cool.

Thanks for your input very appreciated!

Peter