1.  Assemble a Team

Planning a carnival is not a one-person operation. You need to have a team that can work together to set and accomplish goals. A possible division of responsibilities might look like the list below. While you may choose to work with a larger or smaller team than this list, don't let one or two individuals take on too much. That's a sure way to have tasks fall though the cracks or burn out valuable volunteers.

Chairperson:  Works with all team members to set goals, monitors progress of tasks, communicates with your organization's administrators, assembles final follow-up report for use by the next carnival team.

Treasurer:  Helps determine overall budget, keeps close watch on all expenses, counts receipts from pre-sales and carnival-day sales, prepares follow-up report on expenses and profits.

Game Coordinator: Determines which games will be available, coordinates rental or construction of games, determines where games will be located, writes instructions for game operators, troubleshoots game operation during the carnival, prepares follow-up report on what games worked well and where the problem spots were.

Prize Coordinator: Determines what and how many prizes to order, places order for prizes, prepares prizes for distribution at carnival, coordinates prize room (if used), troubleshoots prize distribution during the carnival, prepares follow-up report on how many prizes were used and what the popular/unpopular prizes were.

Food Coordinator: Determines what types of food will be offered, coordinates food vendors, troubleshoots food operations during the carnival, arranges for donation of unused food, prepares follow-up report on what worked and didn't work in the food operations.

Ticket Sales Coordinator: Arranges printing or purchase of tickets, publicity for pre-sales of tickets, and ticket sales during the carnival.

Volunteer Coordinator: Determines how many volunteers will be needed, recruits volunteers, checks in volunteers during the carnival.

Donation Coordinator: Determines where donations will be needed (raffles, prizes, etc.), contacts potential donors, coordinates acquisition of donations, arranges for acknowledgement of donors during the carnival, sends "Thank You's" to donors following carnival.

Decoration Coordinator: Determines what decorations will be needed, coordinates purchase, construction, set-up, and removal of decorations.