Buffalo Chicken Dip? Yum. Cupcakes? Double yum. Mud? Triple yum. These are some fantastic fundraisers to earn money for your chapter’s philanthropy. But have you ever considered doing something bigger? Because you can.

Little events raise money, there is no doubting that. But big events can raise so much more, bring your sisterhood together, and make your chapter better known on campus.

Nine years ago, the sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau, Beta Delta Chapter at Duquesne University, began Miss Duquesne. Today it is their biggest philanthropy event, not to mention an incredibly successful one. This year, the sisters of Beta Delta raised $9,000.

So, how can you start an event like Miss Duquesne?

President Emalea Helisek and a Make-A-Wish rep kick off Miss Duquesne 2012/Photo Credit Debra Schreiber

First, think about the values of your chapter and the philanthropies it supports. Then, think about the values of your university. Then, think – how can you tie these into an event that is simple, elegant, fun, and will get everyone on campus involved?

Miss Duquesne was the perfect choice for Beta Delta. The event highlights the activeness of the sisters in supporting their philanthropy; the money supports their philanthropy; the theme of Miss Duquesne ties in with Duquesne University’s mission statement; and anyone belonging to a campus organization is welcome to participate – non-Greeks too!

Emalea Helisek, current president and this past year’s Miss Duquesne Chair, said in an email interview, “Miss Duquesne is a pageant for any woman on campus in an organization. She fundraises, performs a talent, and is judged on beauty, talent, and questionnaire… We have five judges from advisors to Fathers as well as a Make-A-Wish representative. These girls represent their organization and the Duquesne mission statement.”

Jenna Giovannagelo and Megan Miske at the 9th Annual Miss Duquesne Pageant/Photo Credit Debra Schreiber

So, how do you get people involved? Look around the room. See those girls? They’re your sisters.

“My sisters were a huge help within their given committee and being able to reach out to the other organizations that they are members of,” Helisek said. “They all helped with decorations and the preparation of the pageant as well as getting the word out about the event. The other organizations were able to help through their donations and fundraising as well as spreading the word to their friends.”

First, you need someone to run the show as chair. Make sure they know that planning an event of this size is a huge responsibility.

Said Helisek about planning Miss Duquesne, “As the Miss Duquesne Chair, a lot more time and planning went into the pageant than I had expected. First, we must contact all campus organizations for contestants, this was the biggest struggle… then the theme and colors and decorations are chosen, then we contact local businesses for donations for our silent auction, we also contact the contestants for pictures, bios, and if their family, friends, or organization wants to buy a ‘Good Luck’ ad for the program. Then we have to order the food or snacks that we want there, buy gifts, prizes, decorations, etc. Sell tickets and have PR around campus to let people know about the event. We teach the girls a short opening dance. We design and order shirts for everyone in the pageant as well as judges and sisters. We have to count money, tally up scores, and make sure the show runs smoothly!”

Sounds like a huge responsibility.  But look again. Those sisters? They’re here to help. Have one person be the head of the committee, and then five or so people to fill out the rest of the committee. That way the chair will only have to contact one person instead of six to learn what has been done and what still needs done.

When asked about how she delegated the work, Helisek replied, “This was my first goal and plan, was to delegate positions and committees to help relieve some of the stress from my shoulders. I chose a team leader for each committee and let the sisters choose what committee they wanted to be in. Then I would talk to each of the team leaders about their deadlines and check up on them to make sure they were doing their job!”

Make committees for PR, ticket sales, programs, HR, food, etc.

The contestants in their opening number/Photo Credit Debra Schreiber

“Each of these had their own committee, the silent auction committee contacts local businesses, split up the donations in to different baskets and people bought

tickets to raffle off the prizes,” she said. “The music committee was in charge of collecting the girls’ music, creating a playlist to play during intermissions, and playing all music during the show. The PR committee was in charge of creating a design for tickets, posters, Facebook, etc. And then all the sisters signed up to work the tables to sell tickets.”

An event as large as Miss Duquesne can be more difficult than a few smaller events. Helisek agreed, “I would say yes, sometimes small ones are just thrown together, but one large one requires a lot of thought and preparation as well as teamwork and dedication for a longer period of time.”

Overall, Helisek enjoyed her time as Miss Duquesne Chair. “Even though it was stressful and hectic at times I loved it and would completely do it again!” she said, adding that her favorite thing about Miss Duquesne was, “seeing everyone try their hardest to fundraise for such meaningful foundations and being able to donate the amount that we were able to!”

Proceeds from Miss Duquesne go to Habitat for Humanity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Duquesne Legacy Fund.

Miss Duquesne has won two awards: Best Philanthropic Event 2012 and Most Collaborative with Delta Zeta last year for helping with their philanthropy event, Big Man On Campus.

Debra Schreiber is a Duquesne University and Alpha Sigma Tau alumnae. She enjoyed being on the programs committee for Miss Duquesne this past semester. She is as Editor/Features Writer for College Lifestyles.