How can I get good items for charity auction pls?

dizzydispenser

Hi, Can anybody help me ?
I'm organising a fundraising ball in the Wirral for a Domestic Abuse Charity in the Wirral, the event isn't until next year, but I'm looking for items that we can Auction.
As the credit crunch has crunched we are facing momentous problems!!
Can anybody help, or have any good ideas??

foxxymynx

Write letters to various local companies.

Often chain stores will throw something in too.

spixplay

Contact local attractions, zoo's theme parks, cinema's, resturants, even your local mp. Good luck

brians_daughter

urm... local football teams? signed shirts/balls etc? our local (prem league) club has been very good with us when we were fundraising, They provided a ball signed, a shirt also signed, 2 tickets to a specific game etc. We also contacte dthe local papers and invited them down then when we approached companies for support we could say local press ahd been invited... so free advertising as we would ask local rags to mention that prizes came from them

Local butcher, small meat pack?
Local beauty salons for say £10 voucher - the person who wins will almost always spend more than that.
Local restauraunt for free meal for 2 up to certian value?

vickywoo

Hi dizzydispenser

The other posters are on to something. I work closely with several charities and local businesses are a great hit to raise goods for auctions.

There are several good ways to do this, however it is often a good idea to send a letter out to people you may be contacting firstly introducing yourself and the charity so helping drop people's original suspicions when they get a call out of the blue. I used yell.com to gather the local business details, plus asked around and listened to local radio adverts. This may incur a small cost but it is worth it as people are far more likely to speak to you if they know a bit about you to start with. Plus for larger businesses there is very often a process you have to follow, for example through the letter we ended up with a very nice but unexpected £1000 donation plus a local zoo gave us a years free membership to auction off which couldn't have happened without the original letter.

It's also a good idea to get local press involved, maybe contact your local newspaper and say about what the event is for and get a press release done. Many businesses read this and it is another good way to 1) let people know who you are; and 2) makes you more credible. I found our local bbc radio very helpful indeed in helping us.

After the letter the hard work starts - I rang each business ensuring I explained the charity and what the money being raised would do. Be prepared to be knocked back, ignored or rudely hung up on. I think it was my 10th phone call before someone said they would love to be involved and we were given a bike to raffle.

Remember, ask for anything and everything they would be prepared to give - even if it is just showing a poster or leaflet about the charitable event this can mean you make more money in the long run. Emphasise that you will be letting people know who has provided the goods so they will get publicity from their donation (this worked particularly well with hairdressers, beauty salons etc...)

Hope this helps, if I knew where you were based I may be able to help more.