OBOS House Party Checklist

1. Why have house party?

OBOS is a nonprofit organization that depends heavily on donations to support our work. Royalties from our books account for just 10% of our budget. Because we accept no pharmaceutical industry funding and have no advertisements in any of our products, the remainder of our budget must come from foundation grants, speaking honoraria, and individual contributions.

2. What happens at the house party?

House parties usually last about two hours, and often follow these general guidelines: 50 minutes for mingling, 30 minutes for talks, 20 minutes for Q & A, and 20 minutes for final mingling.

3. Who will be invited?

This is up to you as at host. You may want to invite friends, neighbors, and/or colleagues.  We also can sometimes provide names of people from our mailing list. In general, we aim to have 20-30 attendees per party.

4. Who will speak on behalf of OBOS?

Judy Norsigian, our Executive Director, is often available to attend. Other times one or more OBOS board members or staff will attend. If you want, you can choose a particular focus for the evening, such as a particular women's health topic or one of our program areas. 

5. Design and preparation of invitations:

Invitations should be sent out four weeks prior to the house party.  OBOS can supply a template for invitations, along with suggested content, but you are also welcome to design your own.  A suggested donation can be indicated, if this is acceptable to you.

6. Mailing of invitations:

Ideally, invitations should be hand addressed.  If you prefer, OBOS can take responsibility for addressing and mailing the invitations. Adding a brief, personal note on the invitations is often quite helpful.

7. Plans for food and drink:

Typically, the host arranges for appropriate food and drink (this depends upon the time of day). Light hors d'oeuvres (cheese, fruit), and wine and a non-alcoholic beverage, for example, would be very suitable.  In some cases, the host has arranged for a donation from a local store such as Fresh Fields or Whole Foods.  Amounts are adjusted as RSVPs come in. Please feel free to discuss this with us.

8. RSVPs and follow-up calls (or emails) to those who have not RSVP'd:

You may ask people to RSVP to you or to a particular person at OBOS. Typically, the host follows up on friends she's invited who have not RSVP'd, but the OBOS office may be able to help with this.

9. Designation of host or other person to invite donations after formal remarks by OBOS persons:

If you would like another person to take on this role, OBOS can invite a woman familiar with the organization to do this.

10. Additional issues, questions:

On the party day, OBOS will bring sign-up sheets, receipts, name badges, a basket for checks (unless the host can offer one to use for the evening), and selected informational handouts.  Please let us know of any other considerations you might have related to the event.  If, for example, you will need additional folding chairs to accommodate guests, please let us know.  We will discuss clean-up and other arrangements with you as well.

OBOS will send out thank-you notes afterwards, acknowledging donations for IRS purposes.

11. If I'm still interested in having a house party, what should I do next?

If you are interested in having a house party, please contact Anne Sweeney at anne@bwhbc.org or call 617-451-3666 ext. 10.