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Casino-themed benefit rakes in $13,000 for national organization
By Leah Templeton
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| Leah Templeton | |  During a recent appearance on the HomeVestors radio program, Tim Herriage of Jennifer Raney Investments in Garland, TX, had an idea.
"(HomeVestors President and CEO) John Hayes and I were talking about NARHRI on the radio show and I realized a lot of independent investors don't know anything about the organization," said Herriage. "I decided to get some people together and put on an event to educate and raise awareness of the group."
Herriage immediately put the plan in motion. He decided to pattern it after a successful casino-themed gala hosted by the Ken D'Angelo Foundation in 2005.
"I'd been to the Ken D'Angelo Foundation gala and had a great time. I thought that theme would make for a fun and lively event," said Herriage.
As president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Ad Council, Herriage had a lot of contacts and organizations he could call on for support.
"We began planning the event in early August," said Herriage. "We started inviting investors through the local club and I spoke at several different REIA meetings. We also did a lot of e-mail blasts."
Herriage recruited more than 15 sponsors, including several HomeVestors franchisees and the HomeVestors corporate office.
"It's all about the power of networking," explained Herriage.
More than 200 people attended the gala, held Oct. 20 at the Omni at Park West hotel in North Dallas, and raised more than $13,000.
"It was very rewarding," said Herriage. "A lot of people said it couldn't be done and it was really satisfying that we (exceeded) our goal. We set out to raise ten thousand dollars and hoped that at least one hundred and fifty people would attend. We far surpassed that."
Prizes given away during the evening included a lake house weekend getaway, plasma TVs, a lifetime membership to REIA, Dallas Mavericks tickets and free admission to real estate training courses.
"Everything was donated," said Herriage. "Everyone came through in a huge way. It helped us to cut costs because we didn't have to spend our budget on banners or advertising. Everyone came together to support a great organization."
Herriage hopes to make the fundraiser an annual event.
"We had such a huge amount of support and already people are telling me how happy they were with the results," he said.
. . . Leah Templeton is an account executive with HomeVestors' PR agency, BizCom Associates.
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