Rising Stars: Meet Cause For A Party of Ann Arbor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cause For A Party

Hi Cause for, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We are a group of local Ann Arbor, Michigan women that started as friends. We all enjoyed hosting events and supporting local nonprofits in various capacities.

In 2018, we began discussing the challenges of hosting fundraisers – both as hosts and attendees and casually joked that it would be fun to throw a party purely with fun in mind – while still knowing the event proceeds would go to a local nonprofit.

As a sort of experiment, we hosted our first party, “80’s Prom.” It sold out immediately and we were able to give a sizable check to a local food bank.

“Cause for a Party” was born.That gave us the confidence that this idea would work. We have fun planning over the top fun gatherings and everyone feels good that a hyper-local nonprofit was aided in the process.

The original members of our group (some have moved or had less time, but we all try to connect for events, if possible):
Kendra Dodds
Kristin Finn
Tonja Fox
Alison Herrick
Kim LaMarca
Lynly Williams

So, we proceeded with additional themed parties, which supported additional local nonprofits.

Our goals are always the same – we pick a theme and a local nonprofit that could truly benefit from our donation. The nonprofit is not directly involved (except to receive a check) and our guests know that we will never have asks/presentations on-site. Our guests buy their ticket, show up for a great time dancing and enjoying company in a fun atmosphere we design. They leave knowing that the proceeds are sent to the designated charity for that event.

It’s “fun you can feel good about.”

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s actually has been a very smooth road. We are completely run and organized by volunteers – our overhead is almost nothing. We found a great attorney to help us pro-bono with the filing of paperwork and have connected with some amazing local businesses to support us with this mission.

The best part, we have learned, is the brainstorming, design and crafting time we have together. We have learned which members are best at which tasks and we work extremely well together to pull off these fundraisers. We know our individual strengths and weaknesses and use that to work together.

We have written checks totaling $60,286 to local Washtenaw County nonprofits.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
All of our members are mothers. We have a wide range of backgrounds that include accounting, engineering, hospitality, fundraising and sales. What helps us stand out is that we all have strengths and weaknesses but we compliment each other well – so we know who can take on which pieces and we respect each member’s time. We are able to accomplish a lot of work in a short period of time with our combined knowledge, ability to work together and the fact that we enjoy each other’s company.

We have helped to host the following themed events:
80’s Prom
Rose The Day Away
Family Mardi Gras takeout boxes (during Covid)
Bourbon & Bubbles
Studio 54
Literacy themed event
90’s Icons
Sin City
Party Gras

We believe in living decor at the events – the guests are just as much a part of the event as the design we create. So, costumes and the theme are of utmost importance. We try to have live entertainment and always amazing music as part of the event.

***We have tons of decor pictures if you need more***

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
This doesn’t apply to our group.

Pricing:

• Each party is different – this doesn’t apply

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/causeforaparty/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CauseForAParty/