It's key to have one central person keeping track of the items. Although we haven't used one yet, I also think it would be good to have a standard form for each person collecting to fill out. (Volunteer name, Item name, description, value, donor contact, donor address, donor phone.) I know when we do it, the information arrives in piecemeal fashion. Sometimes it says "McDonalds", but not WHICH McDonalds, or it doesn't have a retail value, or doesn't include contact info. Last time I looked up addresses for almost every item (for the thank you cards later) and values for a good portion. It would be much better if all that were turned in by the volunteer collecting the item.
We put all this information in a master Excel spreadsheet, add in the class baskets, and then view it all to decide what to use as bingo prizes or raffles, and what to leave as silent auction. (You can keep a handwritten log, but doing it on the computer makes it nice to edit, sort, print, etc.)
As for physically keeping the items...
Most of what we get tends to be certificates. The best way I've found is to set up a notebook with those clear plastic sheet protectors. (They fit a three ring binder, are made of clear plastic, and are open at the top.)
I put the certificate, business cards, letter, etc for that item all in one sheet protector. Then on the outside in the bottom right-hand corner, afix a label and write the name of the donor. Order the pages alphabetically by donor.
(Note, I put one or two paper clips on the top to make sure nothing slides out). This is MUCH easier than an assortment of envelopes, folded letters, and loose certficates - which is what you usually end up with.
Items other than paper are kept together, with a couple of boxes to hold the smaller items.
At the auction, we only put copies of the certifites or flyers out on the tables with the bid sheets. All items in the auction have a sticker with a number on it that matches the number on the bid sheet.
[ 04-25-2004, 12:04 AM: Message edited by: JHB ]