We are using google docs this year too. It is similar to Excel which we used before.

We use casino/resorts and wine donations. Not alcohol -

WesternMAss -

We are a Catholic PS - 8. Our event is a formal dinner off-site of school, adult only attendance so we do include alcohol, casino donations.

I keep track of all of our solicitations activity in Excel spreadsheets on Google Docs. I have one team who works on local requests and another on national type companies, people sign up to contact/work with companies, record date of contact, outcome, etc. We include previous year info with the donor so whoever is solicitating this year can reference if they are a repeat donor, new to our event, etc.

It has been great. My teams LOVE Google Docs and without that real-time collaboration tool, we would be bumping into each other with approaching the same businesses. Easy to use and so efficient!

CDC - usually after the event. Then you can let them know how well the event went (knock on wood), how much was raised and maybe include a photo or two.

Westernmass - we are a private Christian PS - 8th grade school in Missouri. I designed a simple spreadsheet for use in tracking (prior to my first auction, we kept notes in a file folder). Spreadsheet has these columns: Contacted Y/N, Donor, Contact Name (have very few), how contacted, date, whether they responded, whether they donated, when the donation was received, and notes. The final column is whether to contact them again next year. Each year, I filter by the "contact again next year" column and that becomes the basis of the next round of requests. In the notes column on this tab, I put deadlines for the business if known.

On another tab, we list donation, donor, value, received Y/N, thank you note Y/N, and notes.

We've used spreadsheet applications in the cloud, but most people send me the businesses they contact and the results and I update and send out our master spreadsheet periodically. We only have 3 people who do most of the work on this, though, or we'd probably move everything to the cloud.

We can't request donations from breweries, wineries, or casinos - we have lots of them in this area.

Good luck on your event next week!

Laura

We're a 501 (c) (3) PTO for a public elementary school in Western Massachusetts. Our Dinner & Raffle (tricky tray) is next week.

Love all the smart ideas on this board and the old one. I was especially excited by the idea one of you had about using FaceBook to solicit businesses for donations. I had some luck with local donations this way.

Ultimately, I found very few national donors whose donation criteria we met. Many companies will only donate for auctions or limit their donations to their home region. There was one very promising arena for Massachusetts non-profits that our school District would not let us pursue: Breweries. There are a wealth of these throughout New England, many willing to donate. Some stipulate the need for extra insurance coverage in order to qualify for their donations. I was disappointed that we could not accept this prize, but I understand the ethical implications from School Administration. Any body else get a "no" from school for alcohol prizes?

Question to all you auction & raffle pros:
Share with us your organizational secrets for tracking past and potential donors. Did you design a spreadsheet, or use someone's existing template? Do you use PTO Today+ software? Do you simply hire a consultant or third party to take care of this part of the fundraiser? With multiple application deadlines, how do you track and share this with others in your organization? Do you keep hard copies, digital copies, collaborate in The Cloud?

I'm very interested to hear your responses.

- westernmass

McKenna,

When you call a radio station, how do you ask for a donation of extra tickets?? (how do you word it?)

Also,

How does everyone on here advertise for their event? I'm seeing that we have the same crowd year after year. Im trying to expand our base here

Thanks,

Kristin