Begging letters for PTA...

miss_spooky

Hi all,

I am trying to put together a letter to send out to local business asking if they would "donate" anything towards our school for the PTA to use. i.e raffle, gifts etc.

Does anyone have a template or know how to word such letter?

Everytime I put some words together it really doesn't sound right...

Any info would be great.

paulwf

Visiting in person is probably a good idea, we got endless begging letters but if someone comes in you know they are a bit more serious and it's also harder to say no in person.

miss_spooky

Hi Paul,

We were debating whether to send to local branches or head offices - like Boots for instance. Would you say it's better to speak to Branch Manager in person?

jexygirl

head offices arent local, dont know the school or area and have no personal ties. Go local every time imho.
Good luck!
Jex

Savvy_Sue

Look at the free software from FunderFinder, you may think it's a bit OTT, but their 'Apply Yourselves' template is great because it forces you to say what you want, who you want it for, why you want it etc.

Definitely local, btw.

greyteam1959

Take the trouble to find out the names of the people that you are mailing to.
Any letters like this that I receive addressed to 'The Manager' or 'The Owner' go straight thro the shredder....ones that are personally addressed to me by name are opened & read.
Then they go thro the shredder.

paulwf

When I worked at M&S they had a charities coordinator in the branch...it's just an extra role that anyone could take on, usually a supervisor. Therefore for larger companies apply in store but ask for the charities person not the manager. Make sure you include a letter personalised for that store and it should contain your charity number if applicable and contact details.

If you ask for something small like a bottle of wine or box of chocolates I'd imagine most large stores will sort something out as long as you can prove what charity you are from.

Elsewhere

I recently had to write such letters to gather prizes for our village fete, the proceeds of which help support our village hall (which is a charity). I second what everyone has said about applying locally - however it's not always practical to make a personal visit.

I think using official headed notepaper helps, including school logo, names of head teacher, chairman of PTA... If the school has a website, mention the URL - especially if there are pictures of some project that the PTA has funded. Where last year's organiser had a personal name to apply to, I addressed the letter to them, and if the name had changed, made sure my thank you was addressed to the new person. I sent out thank you letters as promptly as possible.

A few people who replied requested that I send an SAE if I applied to them again.

This is the letter I used - I am sure it's not perfect, but about two-thirds of those I sent it to replied with a prize of some sort (mostly money-off vouchers or family tickets to local attractions)

Dear Sir,

I have recently taken over the responsibility for our annual Grand Raffle and I am writing to you on behalf of the Village Hall Management Committee to ask if you would kindly consider donating a prize for our fete.

Any donation, however small, would be much appreciated; the donors name and prize will, as usual, be displayed on our raffle board at the fete.

A percentage from this raffle is always donated to a local charity, and this year we have chosen Pramacare, based in Bournemouth, as the beneficiary. They provide subsidised domestic care for elderly and disabled on low incomes in the East Dorset area. The remainder will be put towards fitting out and furnishing our New Village Hall, which is finally approaching completion.

The occasion is always well attended and has been running for decades now, and I do hope that you will feel able to support this worthwhile event. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future, and thank you in advance for your support.

Yours Faithfully

patman99

A visit in person works really well. If you have a local supermarket, why not ask if they support local charities?. My local Sainsburys supports one main charity each year plus it has an in-store board where it advertises other charities for free. They are also very good when approached by local groups wishing to fund-raise through bag packing.

A few years ago I was involved with my son's PTA and another member was shopping in the Halstead branch of Woolworths (our school was located 12 miles away), the parent asked if they would do a discount on all the stuff she had bought as it was for use by the PTA. Their response was that they wouldn't do a discount, but they would esignate the school as their chosen charity for the next year, and the PTA would get the contents of their 'dropped change pot'. The PTA got £359.

parapusher

Have you tried writing to local tourist attractions? They often donate complimentary tickets. Do any large companies have their head office in your area? e.g. Boots told me they only support charities in Nottingham.

I agree about writing to local companies, however they are all feeling the recession at the moment. I like to try local companies that are not so well known. E.g. for a fete we needed balloons, so I wrote to all the companies selling balloon gas and/or balloons (in the yellow pages!) and was offered a gas canister from one, and the balloons from another - a florist wholesaler. I wrote to local companies manufacturing food and drink one year, and recieved most of the food and drink for the christmas parties including about 4 dozen mince pies from a local baker!.

miss_spooky

HI,

There are some great ideas here, so I'm going to put pen to paper & see what I come up with.
Savvy_Sue - I have had a look at the link you gave. I have bashed something together, just got to look over it. It's a really helpful tool.
Elsewhere - That's a good letter, may nick some phrases from you.

Our AGM isn't until Oct and I'm going to stand as Chair - ours Stepped doen a few months ago so we've been freewheeling since - not that the chair did much anyway.
Would it be wrong to say that I am chair even that we've not had AGM yet - it's almost a given, but you never know what can happen on the day...

I want to get letter out asap, will definately ring up some companies & ask for names, I think the personal touch is quite professional. Looks like you've made an effot.

I'll let you know how we get on.

Many thanks everyone.