You all have helped me out so much! I work at childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh and am helping my department raise money for the free care fund. My bosses were amazed at how many donations I got!

Hey Everyone, I'm in my 4th year running our school's tricky tray. I'm so excited that I have been able to continue doing this every year. However at the moment I want to cry. My computer crashed and I lost all my templates. If any one can email me a few templates for flyers that they would send home to parents I would greatlt appreciate it. My email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thank you so much!!

I am not extremely active in the PTO, it is our first year At the school and this is the first event I have helped with, so I am not sure if the PTO has their own letterhead. I was givenThe 501c3, I believe it belongs to the PTO, but I really don't know. I know that when the call for volunteers came out I offered to solicit auction items because I can do it at home and on my own time and the PTO president gave me all other information when I asked for it. I figured the letter would be the best way to go, I had planned on using it, but I didn't realize we had such a small amount of time. I will hope to get the letter Monday and I will volunteer to be in charge of auction donations from here on out. I will likely have a child In this school for 11 more years, I think they will appreciate it:)

MOPTO -- Yes, I always attach our PTA letter to any emails I send out as well as to any on-line donation requests that provide an opportunity to attach documents. Our letter is PTA letterhead and not school letterhead. In prior years we've also had the school principal approve the letter as well, though not every year. If I send the letter and personalize it a bit for someone I feel the principal should be aware of (elected official, a person the principal has school connection to, then I think it's prudent to run that version of the letter by the principal. It also takes a lot of time to assemble the baskets, especially when you need to decide what to combine. And you can also ask your principal about offering prizes such as "Principal for a day" (or lunch with the principal), "art-teacher for a day," etc. No cost to obtain and those prizes tend to be popular. FInd out if you can send an email blast to your school PTA members to see if any families have prizes they can donate. GOOD LUCK

TANGO -- It's better to personally go into local businesses. Sometimes I've left our letter their mailbox and then telephoned later that day - that's typically b/c the business was closed when I went there. It's ALOT of work and often you need to follow-up to pick -up the donation. You might have a local dentist who will donate a free exam/cleaning, a free teeth whitening, etc. I have never gotten a donation from a lawyer but would LOVE to have a prize like a 2-hour consultation for drawing up a will, a trust, etc. GOOD LUCK to you too.

Fundraiser Mom, thanks for giving me the heads up on that. I will find out if its okay to ask for monetary gifts. I've read some posts reporting that they have received $1000s of dollars in donations. I'm only getting gift certificates and trial memberships.

Sunny, I'm hoping that is how it turns out for us too! I will try the wording if allowed. I want to send out requests to the local doctors and lawyers in hopes for cash

I'm in Diamond Bar and I have tried all those places you've mentioned Fundraiser Mom. It's taking some time because I find I have better luck with the local businesses when I walk in. As far as the independent consultants I've only gotten a yes from Thirty-One and Scentsy but still hunting! I couldn't believe I got turned down by some museums. Bgeek suggested The Grammy Museum. I've also been emailing upcoming festivals. I'll give you all an update!

MOPTO - as I am in a PTA, we are our own 501c3 organization seperate from the school, so we have our own letterhead. I scan our donation request letter into the computer and attach it to the emails I send out. As a PTO, do you not have your own IRS designation and have to use the schools information/letterhead?

Tango - glad the home "brand search" worked! As far as wording for monetary donations, I just change the wording on my donation request letter from asking for an "in-kind donation" (which means product) to asking for a "sponsorship" (which means cash). otherwise, most of the request letter is the same. Some places we request in-kind from just end up sending cash in anyway. Yay!