We had the Sunset donation and several others that "sounded really great" last year. After reading the fine print and realizing how many costs and restrictions were involved, we decided not to use them in our "silent auction". WE are a church and have some of the same people bidding in our "silent auction" year after year. We feel that a bad experience can turn those folks off to our auction. We want to feel good about what we offer.
I also run my church's silent auction in November. Though I am in NJ. The small businesses in my area usually carry us with donations, and they are the most desired anyway. Our letter also lists those who we help. I am wondering if you are interested in trading donation letters? If so, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I work each year soliciting donations for the silent auction at our church. I have run into lots of places who do not donate to religious organizations period. Often times I find that companies do not donate to religious organizations who use the profits for religious purposes. Our profits have been used for various causes over the past 27 years, but not specifically religious causes. We make donations to members of the church/community who are have medical emergencies such as cancer patients who are going thru chemo treatments-to help for items not covered by health insurance, and we have paid for children's vaccines at local health centers. We also helped pay funeral expenses for two young children. Last year we made a donation to a young family who lost everything in a house fire, paid to have a handicap ramp installed at our church, installed covers to two entrances at our family life center, made donations to a member who had a stem cell transplant, and made a donation to a family whose head of the family died suddenly.
Each year when we re-work on our "donation letter' we make sure to mention some of the causes we have made donations to during the past year or so. Sometimes it's still, "NO", but often times we do get the donation we hope to get.
We will soon begin working on our silent auction which will be a part of our annual bazaar in November. We are located in Huntersville, NC, which is outside Charlotte NC. I would be willing to "share" general information with others who are working on silent auctions at churches in the NC area.
cleveland cavaliers ----memorbilia basket
UDF
gift cards
kings islan
cincinnati reds
coney island waterpark
atlantis casino and resort
really hit the restaurants hard do lots of research and google cleland ohio donation requests and many many things will pop up i went as far as yoga studios gyms dance classes lots of small businesses have been very giving
home depot comes and brings an activity for the students to do at our event
kohlscaresforkids.com
they will send 5 volunteers to the event and give you $500 for the event
really loook at small businessess and outside of the area we also recieved disney tickets
there are lots of companies like toy companies online that have sent us things
stick and stones sent 4 $50.00 gift cards to use online there are so many online stores that give as well and many people do lots of shopping online now a days
One of the auctions I do is for my church. I have also gotten a lot of no's for that reason. 95% of the donations I have received the last few years are from local businesses or church members. The few that aren't town businesses are a few area museums and sports teams. But honestly, it is the gift cards from local restaurants and businesses that go for the highest bids in our silent auction. Hope this helps.
