I don't have any advice. I'm sorry you have to deal with that. I hate to say it but it sounds like she may be trying to pull something fishy? I don't know. It's odd unless she is really disorganized.

Red Dragon, thank you for responding. Your last lines are extremely helpful. The fact my name is on the request letters did cross my mind and is really bothering me. I need to write everything down in a letter to her and the rest of the board. Thank you again for all your good points.

Tango, If your name was on the request letters & you did the ask, I think you and others who have asked have a personal responsibility to the businesses and individuals who donated to ensure the gift goes to the cause, it was requested for. At this date you have little alternative than to have you and your organization, meet with her in September and schedule an event the gifts can be used at. Plan something simple, Like selling raffle tickets for people to put into fish bowls in front of each item, then one winning ticket for each can be pulled. You should subtly remind her that she can not use the gifts for herself, or as reward items for employees, or loose them. If she has lost them, she needs to replace them. She would be enriching herself and others and the IRS would audit her for not reporting unearned income. (That would be a hint, that you would report her.) After that I would ensure that for any future fundraising, she would simply work with your committee and not be the one in charge. Remember you do not work for her, you are in independent philanthropic manager, donating your time and energy to a particular cause and you need to ensure all of the applicable laws are followed.

Hello everyone, I need some suggestions on this matter. Please help. I gathered donations for our fundraising banquet. We have this banquet every year and is usually our only. The last two weeks were very hectic and the president wanted to collect all the certificate donations from me but she didn't give much notice. Then she wanted all the gift basket donations but again short notice and all this while my 8th grader was getting ready to be promoted to high school. We agreed anything else I got in I could just bring it to the event. Half way through the party she suggests we finish the raffle for another party which we never spoke about at our board meetings. The main prizes she hid from the raffle and didn't put up for auction were the big ticket items. She said since were trying to raise money she wants to do the rest at another party in the future, again without our kids. This means we all have to find babysitters again. If she wanted to raise money I feel she should have continued. She said she was tired but didn't let anyone else take over when help was offered. She said she would save our unused tickets but now we have to wait till she gets back from vacation in September. She voiced how much work she put into getting it ready and thats when I said if I had known this I wouldn't have worked so hard to get all the donations in by this date for people to enjoy prizes today. Although she asked if we would like to continue on with the prizes or save for another party, she did what she wanted and packed up the rest and took it home "to save for a future date". Many of us were upset but what can we do?

KarenVan we do use the Square to take credit card payment at the auction and we do tell families up front that there will be a fee, but when we get a big rush of parents to check out at the same time we usually forget to charge the fee and we end up eating it. BUT if people are willing to bid and pay more because they can use their credit card, I figure it offsets the fee we're paying

Does any one take credit/debit cards at their auction? If you do, do you pass the fee along to the winner? And if you do, do you charge a flat fee (how much) or a percentage (how much)? Thank you for your help.

Karen