We are a non profit but not tax exempt and have a 501c4. Does anyone know what companies might donate to us. This is for are annual swim team tricky tray. Which is are main fundraiser.
I saw one of the messages about Direct Sales companies. I am actually also with a Direct Sales company and I donate to our functions as well as any that our local to our area or areas that I go. For anyone looking to get Direct Sales donations I would say your best bet is to find a local consultant. You are more likely to get a faster response then if you contact the actual company and more likely to actually get something.
I just wanted to post my suggestions - I have "graduated" from elementary school into the high school Band Boosters.
We started having a "Breakfast with Santa" along with our Silent Auction. That got the kids in, we have high school age, plus parent, so a wide variety shopping.
One thing I did this year, was I had a whole section for Chicago donations - chocolate tour, baseball tickets, museum passes, etc. I think next year, I will do one for other large cities within a few hours drive (Chicago, Detroit, Indy, Cleveland, Cinci/Dayton, Columbs, and/or Pittsburgh). We are located just outside Toledo, and it's nice to have things that are within a few hours drive.
If you are in the Toledo area, some suggestions are:
Toledo Zoo, Mud Hens/Walleye, Museum (usually a deck of cards), COSI
Our event is May 1st, and we're finalizing our list based on the yeses we've gotten so far. This list, and the support that it fosters were a lifesaver. So here's my totals:
We're a non-profit in NYC
Yes:
Disney (4 park-hopper 1/day passes)
Chelsea Piers (4 Gold Passports)
Metropolitan Opera (2 tickets to final performance of rave show)
NY Rangers (autographed puck)
Personalized, autographed George R.R. Martin hardcover book
gift certificate for local gym (found by doing the "city" "item" donation request format search)
Six Flags (2 passes with safari)
Stampin' Up! ($300 in scrapbooking supplies)
Gotham Dream Cars Luxury Car Driving Experience (this one was a groupon search. they didn't donate the item, they gave it to us for even less than the groupon and we decided to lay out the cost in an effort to recoup something near its' actual value)
Fresh Direct ($50 e-gift card)
No:
Brooks Brothers
Panera Bread
Atlantic Yachting (another "city" "item" donation find, but they've changed their format they say)
Borgata
Carnegie Hall
J. Crew
Nike
Best Buy
Honor's Haven
No reply (often with follow-up efforts on my end):
Men's Wearhouse
Caesar's
Crystal Springs Golf Course
Ashling Cottage
P.F. Chang's
Wine World Spirits
Stomp
Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Amsterdam Billards
Lucky Strike Lanes
1742 Wine Bar
Baggallini Bags
Bobby Van's Steakhouse
Cousins Paintball
Fresh Direct
Great New York Tours
Helicopter Flight Services
myPublisher
Nordstrom's
Holiday Inn Lake George
Panasonic
Tiffany & Co.
Benchmade Knife Co.
Benihana, Inc.
KitchenAid
Sak's 5th Avenue
Penny House Inn and Day Spa
My org. is very impressed with these efforts that I made basically as a one-woman show, but based on the success rates others on here are reporting, I feel like I could have done better. For a first-timer, I'm relatively happy with my list and can't wait until my event gets here.
I'm in Los Angeles our silent auction is May 1st I'm done soliciting. I've received every theme park so try all of them. Still waiting and hoping I get some of the sports teams in the area. I've only received Chivas but I've solicited all of them. I've would go through this board type in the search Los Angeles, Orange County, California and see what people received. I've gone through group on, yelp and solicited the companies on there and have received donations that way. Only a few but I wouldn't have got them if I hadn't tried. It's a lot of work but worth the extra one or two or three things you might get. For example I got a piliates G.C. locally that was on group on, totally worth the extra effort. Good Luck!
Our fundraiser is in Irvine in June as well. We started collecting 3 months ago and the biggest ticket items we have received so far are 4 packs of tickets to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, and trips/places to San Diego.
