Q&A

Soliciting cash and prize donations

We have parents that want to help solicit donations for our fun fair. I appreciate this, but Im concerned about protecting us from scams and discouraging possibly great volunteers.How should we handle this?
- Nita B

Hi Nita,
It makes sense to be careful and to have a system in place when it comes to soliciting donations. Often, it's just a matter of volunteers understanding how to do something. Steps you can take: Make sure you have a designated person in charge of soliciting donations so they can coordinate efforts. Create a list of companies to seek donations from. Create a specific script that volunteers can use when reaching out to potential donors, so that interactions are professional.

Some resources:

We have donation letter templates you can download and customize for your own use. You can use these to contact folks by mail, but also as the basis for a script if volunteers are contacting potential donors by phone.

Links:

Donation Request Letter

Donation Request Letter 2

Auction Donor Thank You Letter

Our Ultimate Donation List on the Message Boards has tons of informations and tips from our peers on how to successfully seek donations.

Here's the link.

Good luck!

- Rose H
Links in this post:

Donation Request Letter 2: https:/classic.ptotoday.com//filesharing/document/108-pto-today-auction-donation-request-letter-2

Auction Donor Thank You Letter : https:/classic.ptotoday.com//filesharing/document/106-pto-today-auction-donor-thank-you-letter

link.: https:/classic.ptotoday.com//boards/35-auctions/162275-2013-ultimate-donation-list