If you are trying to solicit donations from a national chain, have you had better luck going through their national corporate office or through your local location? I am thinking of places like Culver's, Pizza Hut, Subway, etc. Just curious what others' experiences have been?

mcj39;142509 wrote: we also received a large donation from Stampin up! , I seperated the items into 3 $100 baskets.

Great idea! Thanks so much.

we also received a large donation from Stampin up! , I seperated the items into 3 $100 baskets.

Also Out of the box , is a company that makes games like Apples to Apples.

raptordad;142325 wrote: We have to get these posts in a permanent record or something. There are some great ideas! I just got the box from Out of the Box and Stampin Up! It's been a hard year this year - but these were some nice finds.

If you have sport teams in your area - don't forget to go on their website and check out the "Community" or "Donor" section. Usually there are ticket vouchers or something like that that you receive. The Green Bay Packers each year create a donor ball that has all of the team signatures on it (including the final one from #4.) I saw that same ball go for over $800 at a different auction last week.

After 7 years of doing this I am happy to pass it on to another parent - good luck with all your efforts and thanks for the great information!

What Is Out of the Box?

We received a donation from Stampin' Up too - for those of you who received this for your auction, did you just count it as 1 item or did you break it up into smaller lots to be auctioned off? It's a lot of stuff and I'm not so sure the parents in my school will be willing to pony up $300 for scrapbooking supplies!

We have to get these posts in a permanent record or something. There are some great ideas! I just got the box from Out of the Box and Stampin Up! It's been a hard year this year - but these were some nice finds.

If you have sport teams in your area - don't forget to go on their website and check out the "Community" or "Donor" section. Usually there are ticket vouchers or something like that that you receive. The Green Bay Packers each year create a donor ball that has all of the team signatures on it (including the final one from #4.) I saw that same ball go for over $800 at a different auction last week.

After 7 years of doing this I am happy to pass it on to another parent - good luck with all your efforts and thanks for the great information!