Are there any companies that donate goods??

jadiep

We have a charity event taking place on 27th June and after spending out on pretty much everything lol, we have limited funds available now!!

Are there any companies that donate items so they can be used in a raffle?

If there is any could anyone point me in the right direction?

Loopgames

Just give them a call - anyone.

Decide what you think would be a good raffle prize and call that company e.g. computer from pc world,
You'll be surprised what they can donate to the third sector.

Haarlem

Loopgames wrote: »

Just give them a call - anyone.

Decide what you think would be a good raffle prize and call that company e.g. computer from pc world,
You'll be surprised what they can donate to the third sector.

Put your request in writing.

A call can be picked up by anyone, but a suitable letter ends up with someone who can make a decision, and it is far more professional. Enclose your last annual report or most recent newsletter.

You have to be one up on all the others who make a request

Gemmy_2

We went town asking various shops and restaurants if they could donate a gift or a voucher for our raffle.

Most shops did we came back with loads of stuff.

We made sure we had headed paper and a letter on it describing what we were doing though which most shops needed to pass onto head office etc.

Most of the 'big' shops - marks and spencers etc said that we needed to contact head office. The only big shop that didn't was house of Fraser which gave us lots.

Loopgames

Haarlem wrote: »

Put your request in writing.

A call can be picked up by anyone, but a suitable letter ends up with someone who can make a decision, and it is far more professional. Enclose your last annual report or most recent newsletter.

You have to be one up on all the others who make a request

But you have to get a named contact first before you can write the letter.

That is why a phone call is first port of call - literally. It works for me. I've raised £14k for the first project we did and another £21k for another from a simlple method:

- Write a proposal
- telephone them ask to speak to a specific department - do your research and get a name as well as an email.
- follow up with an email and attached proposal then follow up in a few days again.

sonicshelly

I don't understand why we have such a hard time ?
When we were raising money to send a little girl to America for potentially life saving treatment, we went to every shop in our town and came home with nothing
I wrote letters to them, nothing ?
Now we are a registered charity, we are still having the same prob, either they support a charity already - exceeded their budget for the year - of just no sorry
Not sure what we are doing wrong

MrsManda

sonicshelly wrote: »

I don't understand why we have such a hard time ?
When we were raising money to send a little girl to America for potentially life saving treatment, we went to every shop in our town and came home with nothing
I wrote letters to them, nothing ?
Now we are a registered charity, we are still having the same prob, either they support a charity already - exceeded their budget for the year - of just no sorry
Not sure what we are doing wrong

Who are you writing to? How are you phrasing your letters?
There are different ways of blagging goods depending on what you want, who you're asking and what your charity is. I've helped blag a few things in the past and have friends who do it on almost a weekly basis for charities and each of us have a different approach depending on the who/what/why.

mulligatawny_2

I'm afraid we're in a selfish society and it's increasingly difficult to get donations of any type. Ideas for fundraising need to really capture the imagination and no end of properly worded letters or telephone calls can do this unless you either drop lucky or find something very close to the letter recipients' or call takers heart. We all tend to lean on those close to us and become interminable pests in these peoples lives!!

I think it also depends on the feel good factor and even whether the sun is out - a ray of sunshine can shed a different operspective on just about everything and this is the time to strike!!

However we need the weather forecasters to be a little more accurate..

Pleading for donations and having success is an art form that takes development and unless you have a great story you need the sun out!

willeynotwiley

I run a youth football team with OH and every year contact companies for donations to help us raise funds. M & S are always good, as are most supermarkets. We also usually get a positive response from the local cinema and bowling alley. Local companies may support too...they are obviously not as generous as national companies but in a raffle they are often the first prizes to go!

i have found writing a letter is always best and tbh I simply address to FAO the Manager of wherever! Works for me...outline what you are fundraising for and when and most companies are USUALLY open to this. I always say there will be a list of donors on display at the event also...this seems to please most.

PasturesNew

One of the problems you'll be up against is "we have a budget for things like this, we've spent/allocated it already this year". Companies get inundated with requests for freebies. Go for it - ask companies in your local area .... but if you really want to do well then you need to also think of next year and write a letter to them requesting something for next year, which will then end up in their pile for consideration next time they have a budget.

I've worked as a fundraiser for a charity event, phoning round local companies and asking them to pay for a ticket for a disabled child, or their carer, to go on a bus and go see a show. Those that couldn't/wouldn't, I then asked for something for the raffle and most will want to help, even if they aren't in a position to.

You'll need to script your calls for best effect. Let them know what you're after and why.

For those that DO offer some goodies, you'll need to collect them soonest. So, also think about how you'll pick up the items. You can't expect to cold call firms, begging, get offered stuff and then also expect them to deliver it to you, to your timescales. Get some volunteer "goods collectors" in the loop.

Strapped

I've found that the easiest things to get are entry tickets to local attractions, as they cost the company concerned next to nothing, the tickets can be posted to you, and of course they hope that people will come again.