I have noticed that most companies reserve their donations for that particular state. For ex. The Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens give something to the VA/MD/DC area. The Carolina Panthers only give to SC/NC/VA.. Same goes with Amusement Parks(Busch Gardens,Sesame Place, etc). I have gone to ever area of the state and emailed every resturant, tourist attraction, campground, winery, bed and breakfast, etc.. I am amazed that I have received more donations doing this then going after all the major companies. Why? Yes..a campground might donate a weekend stay but you will be bringing revenue into their town. I received a 4 day midweek pass to a ski resort Sun-Thurs. One of the parents owns a timeshare there. They are going to donate their timeshare and the 4 day passes are valued at $360.00.
I don't know how big your school we have 100 parents and total of 144 students. We raised $21k last year. Some of the donation we have received are tickets to a pro football/basketball/baseball games, a week at a cottage at the beach, a week in Vegas through a timeshare. a tour of a TV studio for 50 people.
We live in the Norfolk VA area and we contacted the ODU mens and women's basketball team. The men's team donated an autograph ball and dinner with the team and the women's team donated an autograph ball, dinner with the team and tickets to a game sitting right behind the bench., green fees donated by local golf courses, free portraits from professional photographers, Gift certificates from local dentist for teeth whitening, massages from local massage school, manicures and pedicures from local salon schools, bake goods from local bakeries. We received apparel from VA Tech's athletic department. We also tell them that if they donate $100 worth of items we will place an ad in all of our programs for a year. I hope this gives you some more ideas.
I'm sorry that you are not having any luck getting donations. I am surprised that you are having such a hard time.
You didn't say if you had contacted parents who own businesses or work in companies that might help.
Do you have a local college? Maybe a college baseball player who can give batting lessons. I like the cheerleading camp idea. Maybe a soroity can throw a tea party.
I just don't think celebrity autographs will bring much money.
Thanks for the reply. I have arrived at the conclusion that 97% of the companies in the city aren't worth a hill of beans (and that's putting it G-rated) as far as community support. Now, I give due credit to the big companies but they are stretched as it is. I have had nothing from radio stations, nothing from any store in the mall, nothing from any fast food restaurants, save three who allowed me to use it for door prizes. As far as auction items that can bring in $100 or more, I'm striking out. I think I'm going to turn to celebrities for autographs and stuff like that next.
GAPTADAD, where do your parents work ? That's where we start. We get donations from Tyson (a MAJOR employer), a couple of manufacturer's, cold storages. We get a lot of beauty supplies from different salons where moms work.
We go through the phone book and target certain business. We have six or seven insurance agents as parents. They donate from their companies. Sporting goods stores, hardware stores, car dealerships. We are still waiting for a new car donation, but they do give us gift certificates for service, baseball caps, t-shirts. Radio stations have given us CD's.
We get things from landscaping businesses and even a donation from an ornamental concrete business.
Another source of revenue. If you have some large corportations that match employee donations, publicize that. You must be a 501(c)3. When someone donates to your PTO, they will give you a form to fill out and the employer matches the donation. I know that Microsoft does it. There are lots of others.
OK, believe me, I'm not one of those who is going to jump on the "me too" bandwagon for lists of companies. I believe you should do your own legwork and compile your own letter. So, I have my letter but I'm fairly stuck at about 80 letters I've sent. I haven't sent any to celebrities yet. I've sent half a dozen to presidential libraries, Six Flags, Disney, Best Buy, theaters, restaurants, etc. Am I missing any big obvious groups?
Mary Ann 5-
Thanks for the info. I don't have these companies on my list so I have forwarded them to our solicitors.
All of you that posted and are new to auctions. There are literally hundreds of posts on this website where people have shared lists and letters. Truthfully, all the 'me too' e-mail posted are not likely to be answered. You are much better off to do a search yourself.
