Project Description:

For our project, we held a tabling/donation event on Thursday, May 21st 2026 in front of the St. Vincent’s Circle in the quad on the Lincoln Park campus where we sold snacks and drinks for the American Cancer Society. During the event itself, we set up a table with a tablecloth to properly display all of the snacks and drinks for sale, in addition to printing out large QR codes to make the donation link accessible and donating itself easy. The snacks were sold for $1.50 each, the medium drinks for $2, and the large ones for $3.

To attract attention from passerbys, we played music and partnered with a local sorority to create a crowd around the table. In addition, we encouraged these passerbys to donate by purchasing a snack or a drink, including any friends of ours who happened to be coming by. We also set up flyers around the table and elsewhere on the quad to catch the attention of anyone else walking through. Not only did we focus on raising money, but also educating the people we talked to of the ACS and its cause, and encouraged them to learn more about it even if they didn’t make a purchase or donation.

To promote the event, we created flyers and distributed them around the Lincoln Park and loop campuses, as well as creating an Instagram page specific to the event.

 

Chosen Charity:

The charity we chose to work with was the American Cancer Society. The ACS is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to the mission of eliminating cancer; they were founded in 1913, by ten physicians and five businessmen in New York City. Their organization focuses on providing treatment and recovery services to patients and survivors, funding cancer treatment research, and on educating people about the risks for cancer and the importance of getting screened early for it. We chose them because we were already in the realm of healthcare-related charities, and the ACS is a very reputable and trusted organization that has a very broad purpose.

 

Analysis of project success:

Our project had two main goals: to raise money, and to raise awareness about the ACS and it’s mission. Our initial goal was $200; we soon amended that as the money raised on the day of the event itself was more than we had anticipated. Our adjusted goal was $500, and we ended up raising $582 through a combination of in-person sales and distributing the QR code to our personal networks (i.e. friends and family). Additionally, through placing flyers that promoted the ACS and by informing those who stopped by our table during the event (even if they didn’t make a purchase) we advocated for the ACS and educated those we spoke to about the organization and its mission to help those tragically afflicted with cancer. 

As it relates to finances, we stayed exactly within the allotted funding provided by our professor, and had everything we needed to be successful on the day of the event. With these metrics in mind, we believe that our project was successful and achieved its stated goals.

 

Lessons learned:

Through organizing and executing our in-person event, our team learned a lot about project management. These include, but are not limited to:

One: Communication is key

During the early stages of our project, our team struggled a bit to make meaningful progress since we were all very busy and had schedules that conflicted massively. We quickly decided that our current model wasn’t working; we switched gears by dedicating more time to the project and identified pockets of time during the week where we could meet and touch base, as well as ending those meetings with dedicated tasks for everyone so that every member knew what was expected of them personally to move the project forward. Essentially, we learned that clear communication and task delegation are vital to making real progress.

Two: Less is more

In part because of the conflict problem, we decided to narrow the scope of our project early on. Initially, we were going to host a rave, then a dance party, then an outdoor dance party to raise money for the ACS; we soon learned that each of these options was unfeasible, and we didn’t want to fall victim to scope creep. So, we decided on a trimmed combination of our initial ideas so that we could still raise money and contribute meaningfully to our chosen charity without going overboard. Some projects can certainly benefit from a large vision; this is not universally true, however. It depends on what goals are present, as well as what constraints. 

Three: Time is of the essence

One final lesson we learned was to not drag our feet on important decisions. We made sure to decide upon our theme and chosen charity within the first two meetings, since much of what comes after hinges on those choices. Next came the challenge of securing a venue; at first, we were looking to partner with the chicago park district to have our event on the beach. Using an external location/venue seemed logical, as many previous groups had done it before. That eventually proved unworkable since the CPD required an exorbitant fee that we simply could not accommodate. Acting quickly, we switched gears and secured an on-campus venue instead, carefully heeding the advice of past teams and making sure to move with haste. If we hadn’t, more unnecessary work would have had to be done, individual activities would have been unclear, and at worst the project itself could have been delayed. Not every event is as straightforward as ours was, and some simply require more planning that is more complicated. That being said, it is crucial to make important, foundational decisions early on and not waste any time. Doing so will ensure the project stays on schedule and doesn’t become a headache for everyone involved.

 

Advice to future teams:

The number one piece of advice we can give to future teams is to consider on-campus venues. We were in a bind after the beach rental fell through, and two groupmate’s connections to people who organized and oversaw campus room rentals allowed us to secure a venue in a timely fashion and without having to navigate too much bureaucracy. Having the event on campus also ensured we’d have a consistent crowd for it.

Another piece of advice is to have clear task delegation. At any stage of the project, the actual work that needs to be done can feel nebulous and unspecific; there isn’t a clear list of instructions to follow unless you make one. Deciding on specific tasks and delegating them to specific members ensures that everyone is responsible for something and that the project moves forward. Without this, certain activities can be forgotten and delays can happen.

We’d also recommend that future teams remember that time is of the essence when making choices. Don’t spend three meetings deciding the theme of the event or who to invite; getting sidetracked can lead to work piling up. Additionally, lack of communication can make it easy to forget about the project and the tasks/assignments associated with it. Checking in frequently via text or DM keeps the project and what needs to be done at the forefront of every member’s mind.

One final thing: proper event marketing needs to be spread out over several weeks. Starting your marketing plan two days before the event is not a good strategy.

 

 

 

The flyer we used to promote the event