1. WELCOME
2017 SITE HOSTS & VOLUNTEERS!

2. Introducing ECMC
Paula Craw Director, Outreach & Financial Literacy Virginia Beach, VA DeeDee Gorman Outreach & Financial Literacy Administrator, Minneapolis, MN Miriam Gabriel Outreach & Financial Literacy Coordinator

3. ECMC College Nights
College planning events held on the weekday evening of your choice from:
February 1 to April 30, 2017
Target audience: juniors and their families
ECMC provides all marketing and event materials, reimbursement for pizza and refreshments ($600 maximum), three $500 scholarships for each site, event ppt and trivia ppt  
Ask about other ways in which schools have had success advertising their event

4. College Nights Site Host Guide
Review checklist on page 5
Order supplies:
Posters – write in date/time/location
Entrance Signs, Opportunities books, balloons, pens, t-shirts, evaluation forms and scholarship entry forms

5. Have you ordered your materials?
If you haven’t please do so at

6. Materials Timeline
Posters to post around your school will be sent out as soon as ordered
Entrance Signs, Opportunities books/Fund Your Future (CA), balloons, pens, t-shirts, evaluation forms, scholarship entry forms, and scholarship awards will be shipped approximately 2 weeks prior to your event
Check under the bottom cardboard of your box for your welcome signs!

7. Best practices for success
Promote your event early and often
Robo-calls/ s to parents
Posters, school billboard, PSA, newspaper
Online/social media
On home page
On events calendar
Social media
Desktop screen saver
Other places ?
Ask about other ways in which schools have had success advertising their event

9. Presentation success Choose your presenters wisely Handouts to help:
Making your event interactive
Public speaking tips/techniques
Presentation essentials
Reading your audience
Download from Collegenights.org site

10. Create a schedule for your event
Sample schedule: 5:30—6:00 p.m.: Students and families arrive 6:00—6:30 p.m.: Pizza and refreshments 6:30—7:55 p.m.: College Nights presentation 7:55—8:00 p.m.: Scholarship drawing and photo opportunity for winners
Ask about other ways in which schools have had success advertising their event

11. Evening’s schedule Presenters need to pay close attention to time
Decide on a schedule and stick to it!
Encourage questions, but don’t let questions make you late

12. During pizza time
Pre-game College Nights slides (available for download from our site/state specific)
Other ideas
Admissions information
Financial aid table

13. Scholarship Registration

14. Scholarship drawing Student winners must be present to win
Let’s answer some of the questions we get each year.
1. Does it has to be given to a senior…. No, it can go to Freshman through Seniors.
2. How do the students that won claim their scholarship – There are instructions on the back but also you can direct them to our website collegenights.org for instructions also
3. Can a parent claim the award for their student – No, the student must have attended the presentation, even if they had to leave early
Once the winners have been chosen be sure to write in the information on the award. Their name and the site location of the College Night
Make sure to take a pic of the winners and send in their information… we will cover that a little later

16. Presentation Presentation is divided into four sections
How college can change your life
Choosing the right college
Paying for college
Scholarship searches and scams

17. Presentation Training rule of thumb
One to two minutes per slide
PPT contains about 40 slides including transitional slides
Need to be conscious of pace to keep the event running smoothly
Slides contain speaker notes
Consider the notes to be suggestions

18. Presentation
Site hosts and volunteers go to to download presentations
English version will be posted when available
Spanish version will be posted when available

19. Customizing presentation
You will need to customize:
Slide 1 – School/Host name
Otherwise, we expect that the presentation will not be further modified

20. Spanish Presentation
Two suggestions for holding Spanish presentations:
Conduct a break out session for Spanish speakers and present at the same time the English version is happening
2) Use headsets for your Spanish speakers with a translator providing translation as the English presentation is happening

21. Presentation handouts
Attendees may use Opportunities books for note-taking and as their handout

23. Reimbursements and administrative details
Completed W9 form required
Volunteer expense report – sent with your materials
Pizza, refreshments and marketing expenses reimbursement (not to exceed $600 total)
Receipts required for all purchases
May 15, 2017 deadline for receipt submission
Usually takes about 2 weeks for a check to be mailed
Talk about either paying the school or themselves and we need a W-9 for who ECMC is making the check out to.

24. Items that can and cannot be expensed
Approved Not Approved
Pizza Gift cards/certificates
Soda Food other than pizza
Water Gifts for volunteers
Paper products Prizes for drawings
Postage Customized giveaways
Ads in local newspapers Meals for volunteers/staff other
Balloon helium filling than event pizza
Decorations Printing of other CN materials
Not sure about an item? – call us in advance

25. After the event Items needed after the event:
Photos of the event, and more specifically of the scholarship winners
Names, school names, grade level and information of the three scholarship winners
Attendance estimates (total of students & parents)
Receipts for pizza, refreshments and marketing expenses not to exceed $600
Evaluations (mail or them in)

26. After the event Send all items to:
U.S. Mail: ECMC College Nights
Attn: DeeDee Gorman
111 Washington Ave S, Suite 1400
Minneapolis, MN
Post your event photos and words on
Facebook.com/ecmcfab
Twitter.com/ecmcfab

27. After your event Complete after-event survey
Provide feedback on your event: what worked, what could be improved upon and more