How Laser Tag Can Help Raise Money At Your School Fete

#5 Tips for Running Laser Tag Events At School Fetes

INTRODUCTION

Parents need to do their homework to get a passing mark on school fundraising projects.

The School Fete season is just about here.

And it is one of the best times of year for outdoor laser tag.

The weather is mild and people are optimistic.

Here is how to run Laser Tag games at your School Fete or Village Fair and put the fun into fundraising.

"Event organisers can no longer expect the community to support unimaginative events," says Nicole Lander, who runs Laser Tag in a Box. Her company has helped jumpstart thousands of fundraising days across Australia.

“Schools are becoming more professional because they need the money and because more companies are providing services to them,” she said.

“And parents just don’t have the time to sit on committees, bake cakes and do crafts like they used to.”

Tip #1: Determine How Big You Can Go

When renting a set of laser tag guns consider how many people you want to play with at once. A set of 10 laser tag guns means you’ll get 5 on the red team and 5 on the blue team.

But you might consider renting a set of 20 laser taggers that way you can create double the capacity.

Being part of a big laser tag battle is thrilling. There is a buzz and you can feel the energy of the gamers.

Tip #2: Consider How Much Space To Allocate to the Laser Tag Games

Surprisingly a laser tag attraction doesn’t need that much space. If you have 10 games playing at once then you’ll need 10 things to hide behind. It is recommended to allocate at least 10 metres by 15 meters. (A rectangular space is more playable than a square.)

The key to reducing the footprint is to have more things to hide behind, and more items to play around with.

You can rent inflatables or you can create a fun maze with painted cardboard boxes. Some fetes have even used hay bales.

Laser Tag can squeeze into an unusual-sized space. 

If you have an awkward area that cannot be used for a traditional school fete attraction, then consider adding in Laser Tag to add some spark to your school fete.

Tip #3: Select A Laser Tag Game That Works Well At A School Fete

As a school fete attraction or festival activity, people are paying a certain ticket price.

For example, your laser tag tickets might be $5 for a 5-minute game. A good choice of game is called “Bullseye!”.

Place a Game Box (aka your objective) in the centre of your pop-up laser tag maze. Set the game duration to 5 minutes. (Or even easier, ask us to pre-set the game time for you when you order.)

When the red team tags the box it flashes red and when the blue team tags the box it flashes blue.

So the kids need to tag each and the Game Box.

When a red team player tags the box it counts as one tag for red. When the blue team player shoots the game box the lights change colour and count this as one point for the blue team.

At the end of the time the box will flash the winning team’s colour, so everybody knows that blue won!

The Laser Tag rental package is pre-configured and the software is pre-set so all your volunteers need to do is turn the laser tag guns on with a key and you can start blasting!

Tip #4: Make Your Ticket Price Strategy Work

Consider if you will be selling tickets for individual games or if you plan to include the laser tag attraction as the pay of a package deal. Many schools offer a wristband for unlimited access to rides.

This ticket can be $35 or even $40.

If, however, the laser tag games are excluded from the wristbands and the students get all the other rides and attractions included, but not the laser tag games then this will mean it will be more challenging to sell laser tag tickets.

Tip #5: Location Location Location

Planning the position of your laser tag attraction within your site map might just be the difference in generating a big profit for your school.

The laser tag attraction needs to be set up in a location where the kids, and adults, will see it.

Make sure you put in within or very near the rest of the Side Show Alley.

SCHOOL FETE CASE STUDY      

The biggest primary school in the State, Macgregor State School in Brisbane, has an annual fund-raiser called Mayfest which provides about $50,000+ to the school’s coffers. 

They were one of the very first innovative schools to book a new style of outdoor games called Laser Tag.

“It is getting harder to raise money so we need to think outside of the box and do things differently,” Ms Lander said.

Just in the next suburb, another large state school that runs an annual school fete is Warrigal Road State School.

Pictured right, is their laser tag set up which placed inflatable shapes around the playground so the students could play 'high-tech hide and seek' with the laser tag rental set.

Fast & Fun Laser Tag Games

Play lots of fast and fun laser tag games.  Set the game time to 5 minutes.

So everyone gets a go.

After the players enjoy a thrilling laser tag game, the players run back to the end of the queue. And line up again to have another go!

Putting the Fun into Fundraising: Summing Up

Summing up, running Laser Tag Events for your School Fete or festival is a great addition to your event’s sideshow alley. It is a lot of fun and easy to operate. And it can add more dollars to your school’s fundraising.

“The key to a village fair is getting the children there, but if you just hire a jumping castle (bounce house) and a slide you are not going to attract as many kids as it once did,” Nicole Lander said.

“Kids nowadays are used to Xbox and Playstation. Laser Tag is the solution. It's great for modern kids because it brings the fun of computer games into the real world.”

“It is getting harder to raise money so we need to think outside of the box and do things differently," Nicole said.