Host Guide

The BraveLove Birth Mom dinners are intended to cultivate connection, foster community and, most importantly, honor birth moms. We hope these dinners serve as a safe place for birth moms to feel at home, understood and not alone. We try to keep these dinners pretty simple and casual. Birth moms are welcome to talk about their adoption stories in conversation, but this is not a requirement of the night.

As a birth mom dinner host, you will work together with BraveLove to create a memorable and special evening for birth moms. Technically, no one from BraveLove will be attending your dinner, which is why we need you!

BraveLove will cover the cost (within the specified budget), help promote the dinners, set up online registration, and equip you with a few gifts and collateral to share with your guests. BraveLove will provide a guide for the night – from what to say to decorating ideas and details to make the evening extra special.

As the dinner host, you would be responsible for picking out a venue, selecting a menu, and making sure everything is set up accordingly (tables, chairs, decor, etc.). Prior to the dinner, you will manage the RSVPs and communicate with your guests either by phone, email or text.

For the night of the dinner, you are in charge. You will greet your guests, make sure people are feeling included and that overall things are running smoothly.

We love seeing our hosts involve community partners too. For instance, want lovely flowers? Ask your local florists if they’d make a donation by donating a few arrangements. Struggling to find a location? Ask friends, local churches, co-working spaces if they’d be willing to open their doors. Are catering prices too high? Ask for a discount or consider involving friends who love to cook to cater. These are all great ways to get the word out within your community about BraveLove’s mission.

We want these dinners to feel special, which is why we have thoughtfully detailed what elements of the night are required and what’s optional. Since not everyone can be all together in one location, we’ve intentionally designed these dinners to have a consistent look-and-feel.

If any BraveLove funds and/or materials are leftover, you are responsible for mailing this back to BraveLove in a timely fashion.

In addition to hosting the BraveLove dinner, we ask that our dinner hosts commit to planning one casual meet-up about 2-3 months after the BraveLove dinner. It’s for any birth mom who attended or wasn’t able to attend. Pick a date and then plan something simple and informal like coffee, ice cream or meet at the park. Use social media to get the word out if you feel comfortable. Example: Post something like “Any Austin birth moms want to meet for coffee this Saturday? Message me for details.” BraveLove is happy to help you get the word out too! Just tell us when and where.

Note: This event is *not* underwritten by BraveLove (pay your own way). But again, the point of the dinners is to help cultivate the birth mom community, and we need your help to keep that connection going beyond the dinner table.

This is a physical package that will be mailed to you. Inside are small gifts for each birth mom who attends your dinner and includes some BraveLove swag and collateral for all guests. We will also enclose the check for the hostess plus the guide sheet for the night. (The guide sheet will be emailed in advance, too.)

Ashley will be your point of contact. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email her at ashley@bravelove.org.

These dinners are for birth moms only. No guests allowed – sorry! Perhaps you’ve been to a dinner before where guests were included. We’ve seen that work well. But, we’ve decided to keep it simple and focused on birth moms so that friendships can begin to develop.

We recognize that birth fathers need support too. However, these dinners are reserved for birth moms only. So sorry.

These dinners are held twice a year, typically in the fall and spring. Stay tuned for when our next dinner date will be.

All dinners will be occurring on the same day but in different cities across the country. The cities and date are chosen by BraveLove.

Yes. We’ve decided to put a limit on the number of people. This should make planning and budgeting easier on all of us. There will be a 10-person limit for each dinner. If you want your dinner to be smaller or bigger than the 10, then let’s talk. We’re happy to adjust those limits per location and according to your comfort level. Though if it’s larger than 10, you’re responsible for the additional costs to support the larger group.

We’ll promote this as “Space is limited,” which should help incentivize people to RSVP and save their seat in advance. If we fill up a dinner, we can have a waitlist since people may back out at the last minute.

That’s great and not a problem! Our desire and ultimate goal is to help cultivate community and provide a safe space for birth moms to get together, however large or small the dinner might be.

At this time, our dinner budgets are $40 per RSVP to cover your guests’ dinner and $20 per RSVP for miscellaneous items (i.e. decor, flowers, a small gift). Therefore, a full table of 10 would be allocated $600. If you spend more than what we’ve budgeted, it’s out of your pocket. If you spend less than the budgeted amount, please refund BraveLove. BraveLove will provide gifts and swag for all the guests. Those items will be enclosed with the Dinner Party in a Box package. Hosts are expected to provide receipts for all purchases made.

No, guests are responsible for getting themselves to and from the dinner.

Yes, though BraveLove does not cover the cost of alcohol. If you’re in a restaurant, then let your guests know that dinner is on BraveLove, but that doesn’t include alcohol. We’ve done this in the past, and it works well. Just let your server know in advance that there will be one check for the dinner, but if anyone gets alcohol, they’ll pay for that individually. If you’re hosting in your home or another venue and want to offer alcoholic beverages, that’s completely up to you. But no pressure. Again, we’ll let you cover that cost or find someone to donate.

Ideally a month in advance to your scheduled dinner. We realize it can be tricky to find a space when you don’t know exact numbers. We will close online registration on the Monday of your dinner so that you have time to confirm your final numbers.

We’ve learned over the years that when hosting in a restaurant, having a private room is ideal. Or at least request in advance a secluded part of the restaurant. This allows more privacy and the chance for the host to speak to the group as a whole without disrupting other patrons in the restaurant.

About three weeks before the dinners. We will announce each city on a separate day of that week and simultaneously open up registration for the respective city so people can begin to RSVP. You (the host) will know in advance the date that BraveLove will announce your city’s dinner on social media.

We will provide you with a digital invitation and encourage you to post the invite on Facebook and/or Instagram — or wherever you’re social. Make sure to include the link to where people can RSVP. Spread the word to your local agencies, churches, friends, and family. You never know who might know someone.

BraveLove will also be promoting the dinner on its social media platforms (which includes a lot of birth mom followers). We’ll also be telling our partner adoption agencies so they can get the word out too. We will spread the word as much as possible, but rely on our hosts to promote within their area.

Once we have confirmed you as a host and given you the date, you can begin spreading the word! Remember to refrain from posting anything publicly on social media until BraveLove has made an official announcement. You can expect to receive the invitation graphic in advance. Again, each city will be announced on a different day that week. Once you receive the official BraveLove graphic, we can make the announcement public the same day on social media.

All online at BraveLove.org/dinner. We’ll set up a shared Google doc spreadsheet for hosts to check regularly. This way you can stay on track of your headcount.

The dinners are underwritten by BraveLove and its generous donors. There is a $10 reservation fee for the guests. However, this fee is refundable to those who attend or give at least 24-hour cancellation notice. If a guest needs financial assistance, simply contact events@bravelove.org. We don’t want the cost to get in the way of a birth mom being able to attend.

The date
– Hosts welcome and introduce BraveLove at the beginning of the dinner (We’ll give you something to say)
– Everybody enjoys a meal together
– Each birth mom walks away with the same gift, and all guests take home some BraveLove swag
– Similar look-and-feel and decor