Need freebies for Charity

mirakl

I'm doing a fair bit of work for Charity and I'm organising a Christmas Lunch and entertainment for a bunch of older people who don't have very much money and have a hard time taking care of dependants.

I want to make it as much fun as possible for them and give them anything I can. I've decided to email companies and ask if they would like to donate little gifts for them as many of them don't have any real family and don't get Christmas presents.

Can anyone advise on great companies they've dealt with in this way who are generous with charities? I've already emailed a couple but it's just occurred to me that if I keep randomly emailing places my reward to work ratio is not going to eb great without some advice.

Many thanks.

vianna

At my office we do this every year for children in need, we've found smaller buisnesses are more inclined to help. Saying that Morrison's has always donated, this year we get to choose anything in store.

jo_b_2

mirakl wrote:

Can anyone advise on great companies they've dealt with in this way who are generous with charities? I've already emailed a couple but it's just occurred to me that if I keep randomly emailing places my reward to work ratio is not going to eb great without some advice.

Many thanks.

You might find some better advice over on the Charity Fundraising/Small business board HERE

Good luck! Personally - I'd target the two extremes ie: local branches of major companies such as Tesco and local independent stores. I think you will be more successful approaching local branches (assuming the charity is area-based).

heatherw_01

I will move this over to the charity board as you might get a better response there


Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

GiveItBack

I don't think your 'reward to work' ratio can be improved greatly, sorry. I think it's a bit of a numbers game. if you get 1 positive from ten asks, then ask 100.

IMHO.

tee_pee_2

hiya

Long shot but maybe join freecycle- check if there is one in your area and just check the post daily to see what is being offered.

HTH
Tee
x

tintoys

At this late stage, you will be relying on goodwill, but can I make a suggestion for next year. We look out for all the competitions with lots of runners up prizes (say 5000) which often happens. We have a list of potential recipients to hand (name address e-mail etc) and get as many entries in as we can. Before you know it you'll have a pile of items that you can either use or sell on at the car boot to buy things that they wiould like.

You'd be surprised what can mount up over the year

tintoys

Here's one I found

https://www.fairy-dish.com/

We've got 50,000 manicure kits to be won!

For your chance to win, answer a simple question when you register with Fairy today

Savvy_Sue

It might be worth the charity you're doing this for joining InKind Direct. They issue a monthly catalogue from which you can choose a range of goodies, usually at excellent prices (but watch out, they're not all bargains!)

We've had lots of lovely little cosmetic sets for our women for example, and last year we ordered tissue / mobile phone cases (can't really remember what they were supposed to be for!) and we packed them with makeup, choccies, and new knickers!

GiveItBack

But isn't one of the rules of InKind Direct that you have to actually use the products for the purpose they were designed, and not give them away as prizes/sell them on?

Savvy_Sue

GiveItBack wrote:

But isn't one of the rules of InKind Direct that you have to actually use the products for the purpose they were designed, and not give them away as prizes/sell them on?

True enough, you can't sell or trade what you get from InKind, so only suitable if you are giving the items to your client group, which is what the OP seemed to be suggesting. Or, of course, making use of the items directly within the charity. I don't think they mind if you use things for a different purpose, however.

Here's what they say in their FAQ:

Q3.
Why aren't we allowed to sell the goods to raise funds for our charity?



A3.
The companies which donate goods generally do not allow it. One of the things they most fear is that products they give to charity, intending them to be put to good use, will end up being sold to anyone at car boot sales and on market stalls. While there is nothing wrong with selling items in a charity shop or raffling them to raise funds, these 'good' forms of selling cannot be effectively separated from 'bad' forms of selling. We are therefore obliged to put a blanket ban on all selling of goods received through In Kind Direct. Everything must be used by the charities themselves to run their operations or given free of charge to the people they serve. Otherwise we risk companies refusing to donate.