I say share the wealth. I wouldn't care a bit to share my lists. As a matter of fact anyone could do a search on these boards and find the same places I did. But, we also did ALOT of work figuring out more local places. The lists I found on here are a great starting point that you can add to or take away from depending on your location.
Yes, sharing ideas and info is what these message boards are for; however, I'm talking in general i.e. restaurants, museums, theaters, etc. Some people want you to tell them the exact name of the companies, addresses, contact names, e-mails . . . they want your Excel spreadsheet that you worked so hard on and just want you to e-mail it to them so they can compile a mass mailing. Hey, I got my start by reading the boards and figuring out who received a positive donation request but I got on the Internet and researched the community giving guidelines myself. So, I'll help but I'm certainly not giving anyone the names and addresses of all 266 people/places I wrote.
P.S. Our local Meijer's donates a boy's and girl's bike every year to our school. For whatever use we choose to use it for. You might want to see if this is a national thing for Meijer's!?! I hope it is!!!!
I, personsally, have found that when I am in need of donations for our Pto, the best bet is to do it in person. That is, if it close enough to you. And I always make sure to let them know about the budget cuts from the state affecting our children. (tug at the heart strings) Honestly, I must say we have gotten great responses from professional sports teams donating tickets, local bed and breakfast, all sorts of things! I,generally, just pick up my yellow pages and just start going through them!
A little talk about how the children are benefiting from their donations generally works for me. Best of luck!
GAPTADAD,
Thanks for responding to my post. We are still having a few responses (positive and negative) trickle in. Our event is the end of this month.
