Do you like fundraising auctions?

[disykat]

Do you like fundraising auctions?

I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with auction items for several upcoming auctions that are mandatory for my kid's activities. Maybe if someone can tell me some positive things about these events I can get over my extreme hatred of them?

 

[NHdisneylover]

I love them--but I have never HAD to doante.

It is probably too late for this year and may not work for the activites your kids are in, but we especially love the Service Auctions that we have been to. The idea of these was taht you donate more of a service than an item. So some things that were doanted included:

6 spots (peice keeps going up until only six peopel are left--or whatever the number needs to be) at a mystery dinner party hosted in someone's home

10 spots at a lobster boil at someone's beach house

1 homemade chocolate themed dessert delivered to you every month for a year

The prime parking space right in front of the church

Parents night out: 6 hours of babysitting and a restrurant gift card

knitter will knit a scarf from your choice of several patterns with yarn of your choice


etc. etc. very creative--not as costly for the donors and made tons of money. After a few years certain parties became a tradition and sold for huge amounts

for a normal auction you could still get creative:

Do you scrapbook? Can you make a small book, ready for pictures to go in, that goes with the activity (so if this is for the dance studio have it danced themed and a less creative parent could buy it to put this year's dance photos in).

Make a day at the beach tote with a tote, beach towel, sunscreen, water bottle and a beach read kind of book (or any other themed basket)

 

[RUDisney]

Do you like fundraising auctions?

I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with auction items for several upcoming auctions that are mandatory for my kid's activities. Maybe if someone can tell me some positive things about these events I can get over my extreme hatred of them?

I love them.

We go to two faithfully each year. One is for my old HS and one is for MDA.

My HS has a wine and cigar section that I particularly like. I've gotten some great deals on wine both for consumption and investment.

Last year, I donated an estate wine opener to my HS and a Steinbach nutcracker to my church. I bought the nutcracker new on ebay for a fraction of it's retail value. We donate whiskey to the MDA auction because my DH is on that committee and the committee members put together a wheelbarrow of cheer for which tickets are sold.

If your stumped about what to buy, a simple thing is to go to the grocery store and buy a gift card for a restaurant. You're in the grocery store anyway, so it's easier than going to a restaurant to purchase one.

I go to the auctions with no preconceived notion about what I might buy. I like the hunt. One year, I almost bought a teak table and chair set for my deck but the auction got too rich for my blood so I stopped bidding.

What don't you like about these auctions?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Do you like fundraising auctions?

I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with auction items for several upcoming auctions that are mandatory for my kid's activities. Maybe if someone can tell me some positive things about these events I can get over my extreme hatred of them?

I doubt it.

If you have to do it, then make it simple like the gift card thing.

 

[emma'smom]

I like them as long as some the bidding items are reasonable value. I've been to them where folks bid 200.00 for a plate of cookies. They are just there to outbid each other and show off while make donations they would make anyway.

My favorites are box auctions because my kids can put all of their tickets in the boxes for the things they really want. We still may not win, but at least they have fun trying.

Donations: I chaired our school's auction last year. Things that went well were student-made items (like a quilt with everyone's hand-print on it) and themed baskets. However, the food donations go really well since they don't clutter up the house (so a wine/cheese basket). Group dinners didn't go over too well either--- I think you have to have people who know each other well to have fun bidding on the one.

We also went to a church auction where the youth auctioned themselves off as party assistants (planning themed games for birthday parties), babysitting, yardwork, etc. These are good as they cost the youth time, but not money and they are things I might have hired someone to do anyway.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I like them as long as some the bidding items are reasonable value. I've been to them where folks bid 200.00 for a plate of cookies. They are just there to outbid each other and show off while make donations they would make anyway.

At my dd's elementary school in TX, which had a high number of affluence, the kids would make stuff per grade and they held an auction at the "Grand Gold Gala Ball" at some expensive hotel, with fancy food and dancing.

Anyhoo, come to find out that most of the bidders were business owners and would just write off the expense.

They would bid thousands for a painted chair and stuff like that.

Basically it was a way for them to influx A LOT of money into the PTA in a "legal way".

BTW, I never went because the tickets were about 100 bucks a person.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I like them when they're associated with open bars.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I like them when they're associated with open bars.

We alwasy had wine and beer at heh church auctions in Michigan and New Hapmshire--you make sooooo much more that way

 

[disykat]

One is a service auction. Each child will donate a service and both my boys will do yardwork just like they did last year. (My son that can drive and included hauling stuff in his Dad's truck was the high bid of that part of the auction.) That part is easy. We also need to come up with one "item" per family for the silent auction. For our other auction, the kids will participate in making a group basket and we're also supposed to come up with one item.

Last year our "items" went for slightly what they cost us. (We did Taco Soup "baskets" with a crock pot, ladle, hotpad, recipe, and most ingredients.) It just didn't seem worth it to me - other than the fact that having lower cost items to look nice on the table supports the big ticket donations. We have to provide an item in addition to soliciting items or services from businesses.

The third auction my kids are no longer a part of, but I feel obligated to buy tickets to attend and support the cause. UGH!

I guess I'm happy to see that some people actually enjoy these events. It makes me feel a little better about it. (I'm also glad I'm not alone in some of my feelings about these events!)

 

[C.Ann]

I much prefer them - as opposed to the severely overpriced catalogs that come home from the schools for fund raising..

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I can take them or leave them, an an attendee. To donate to them? I hate that. To chair the committee that secures donations for them? Again, I can take it or leave it. I have done all of the above.

The private school had kind of a neat thing called the "Chance Room". They took items valued at $50 and less and set them up in an empty classroom. Each item had a ticket basket beside it. Tickets were $1 each, and you bought tickets, signed your name & phone #, then you dropped the tickets in the baskets for the items you wanted to win. So a $20 Starbucks card might get 100 tickets in the basket. No way you could SELL it for $100, so you made more on the items than they were worth. Unfortunately the school was in a church, and the church decided the chance room was gambling, so that was the end of that. It was a HUGE money maker for the school, the kids LOVED it, and it was a way for everyone to participate, NOT just families with a lot of money.

I have also been to a fundraiser where they blew up a bunch of balloons and put slips of paper in the balloons listing a prize valued between $10 and $50 (or something like that). You bought a ticket for $5, popped the balloon, and the prize in the balloon was yours. That's a good way to get rid of the little odds and ends that won't go well in a silent auction.

Themed baskets are always good. Class projects are good (furniture, usually, with handprints or whatever on it from each child). I personally own a giant popcorn bucket painted by the kids in DS's Kindergarten class. We have never used it, but I own it!

I know we have a fundraiser for the high school coming up. The tickets are expensive, they always hold it in some venue I have never heard of, and we don't hang out with the other parents from the high school so we will skip it. I know I have gotten several e-mails and a thing by snail mail asking me to donate some HUGE item, like my DVC points or my airline miles (or better yet, BOTH), but so far I haven't donated anything. Cheaper to just make a donation to the school and skip the party.

 

[disykat]

The private school had kind of a neat thing called the "Chance Room". They took items valued at $50 and less and set them up in an empty classroom. Each item had a ticket basket beside it. Tickets were $1 each, and you bought tickets, signed your name & phone #, then you dropped the tickets in the baskets for the items you wanted to win. So a $20 Starbucks card might get 100 tickets in the basket. No way you could SELL it for $100, so you made more on the items than they were worth. Unfortunately the school was in a church, and the church decided the chance room was gambling, so that was the end of that. It was a HUGE money maker for the school, the kids LOVED it, and it was a way for everyone to participate, NOT just families with a lot of money.

I have also been to a fundraiser where they blew up a bunch of balloons and put slips of paper in the balloons listing a prize valued between $10 and $50 (or something like that). You bought a ticket for $5, popped the balloon, and the prize in the balloon was yours. That's a good way to get rid of the little odds and ends that won't go well in a silent auction.

I actually do enjoy the chance room thing (basket raffle is what I've seen it called) more than the others because I don't really want to win anything! I can spend whatever amount I want to donate and I might win, but probably not.

I love the balloon idea. Maybe I can do something like that for my contribution! If I could find a business to donate a $50 gift card, I could get a dozen ballons and make an easy $60. My cost would be the balloons and some little prizes for the non-winners. Hmm... something to think about.

 

[descovy]

Done this preschool silent auction/live auction stuff for years.

The most profitable way to do those baskets is to raffle them off. Why? most people won't bid more than $100 for a theme basket that's only worth $100. But you might convince 100 people to put in a $2 raffle ticket, thus earning $200! For $2 I'll gamble the shot to win the $100 gift card to a restaurant for example. These kind of baskets a class or team can pick a theme (BBQ for example) everyone can bring BBQ items, gift cards for steaks and so forth, whatever they can get/choose to spend.

Having some small raffle baskets for kids to turn in raffle tickets are a money maker too. Shoot, some art supplies, a watergun, or even an MP3 player will make a ton of money... Have a variety, charge 25 cents a ticket, and parents will go nuts letting their kids bet on that stuff too.

Also works really well in a church or preschool, where the baskets can be prepared and displayed for a week or so, prior to the event. People can toss in raffle tickets all week long, need not be present to win.

In a live auction, you are at the mercy of who shows up. For example, the infant room makes a handprint plate. Only 2 infant room parents are at the live auction, doesn't go for as much money as it would if everyone in the class had the opportunity to chip in $2 raffle tickets... people put those in 10 at a time for something they love.

 

[mjkacmom]

IThe private school had kind of a neat thing called the "Chance Room". They took items valued at $50 and less and set them up in an empty classroom. Each item had a ticket basket beside it. Tickets were $1 each, and you bought tickets, signed your name & phone #, then you dropped the tickets in the baskets for the items you wanted to win. So a $20 Starbucks card might get 100 tickets in the basket. No way you could SELL it for $100, so you made more on the items than they were worth. Unfortunately the school was in a church, and the church decided the chance room was gambling, so that was the end of that. It was a HUGE money maker for the school, the kids LOVED it, and it was a way for everyone to participate, NOT just families with a lot of money.
.

This is our annual tricky tray. It's held in a formal banquet hall, and they usually have over 300 baskets, in different categories, from $35 - $1000. This year I donated a DSi when it was on sale at Dell.com. It costs about $35 for the ticket, cash bar, typical sit-down dinner (salad, pasta, entre, dessert). Plus a 50/50. I think we made $40,000 last year - it's our only fundraiser!

 

[cheermom1]

I don't think they should be made mandatory but that's just me...here if you want to you you do if you don't then don't..say if you child is in a sport and don't want to do the fundraisers than you can just give a check for what your child will need for fees and other things...

I haven't had to do one myself but good luck op...

 

[BelleWDW]

the favorite Auction item at my kid's High School is a prime "reserved" parking spot!

 

[clh2]

Does your family get the $$ benefit of the items you donate to the raffle? I.e. does the money YOUR family raise go into YOUR account? I'm just curious...because that could influence my answer. The other thing I'm curious on is how soon do you need this?

My DD and I put together about 20 different baskets/auction items for a church youth group/silent auction last year. I had a ball doing this...and we made about $450 on our items - ranging from about $5 to about $45/basket.

Some of the things DD and I put together:

Bath and Body Works: We picked up little sample size items - and made matched sets of conditioner/shampoo/body wash and lotion. We spent less than $2 per set, and they raffled off for ~8/set. Plus - BBW has really nice clear bags, and they put a little stuffing in the bags, and tied it with a nice ribbon. SO - really cheap...and really pretty!

Kohl's has the $5 children's books at their stores. A set of books (online, they have Dr. Suess books.) All you would need to do is tie them together with a pretty ribbon.

I made several baskets of greeting cards. (I was surprised how much these went for).

I did a basket of plain old ordinary office supplies. (Paper, pencils, pens, etc.) Over the course of a couple of months, I picked up stuff that was on sale for the sole purpose of putting in a basket. Sharpie markers, erasers, generic post-it notes etc.

One thing that did really well - I bought about 6 or 8 compact flourescent light bulbs, and put them in a reusable shopping bag. I just found some on a nice sale, and this went for about double what I paid for it.

I bought DD a Vera Bradley Pink Elephant hipster for the previous Christmas (on a super clearance) and she HATED it...it went for more than I paid for the bag, including the shipping.

Anything I could get for free...our local gas stations have "loyalty programs" and I picked up a $15 itunes, and a $15 Barnes and Noble card...YEP both went to the silent auction.

Are there any sports teams in your area? Some of them will donate some tickets to not-for profits for fundraising.

Some of the other things that were part of the silent auction that were very popular: any thing Harley Davidson, a Kuerig coffee maker, someone made a bunch of quilted table runners, someone donated their time to make a t-shirt quilt, someone made a bunch of earrings. Someone made a "baby boy" gift basket, and they also did a "baby girl" basket. These were really cute, and did very well.

That is all I can think of right now...

 

[disykat]

Thanks for all the ideas! No, we don't get any kind of "credit" for what we donate. The idea really is to raise funds to help the whole group and, more specifically, the kids who aren't in a financial situation or have the support to either donate or pay their own way.

I understand these things make a lot of money, but I stil would rather do just about anything else.

 

[barkley]

not to be a wet-blanket on fundraising, but since i notice we're in the same state, and i'm assuming your kid's school must be private (since a public school could'nt require you to make these donations)-be very careful on the whole issue of your kids donating their 'services' in any kind of auction where money is exchanged for that service.

the reason i mention this is b/c most private schools that do this operate as non profit entities which means they likely have similar insurance to the kind the non profit i'm involved with does. this kind of insurance can get very hinky with people who do anything on behalf of or for the benefit of the organization-and especialy when the organization receives money for it (becomes like an employer/employee kind of thing which with minors in washington opens up a whole nasty can of worms b/c of the rigid child labor laws).

it might not seem like an important issue for you as a parent to consider, but here's where it might come in-if your child is injured in the course of doing the 'service' or causes an injury or property damage to another, your OWN insurance (homeowners, auto, health) may deny coverage b/c of the activity the child was involved in. then if you have to go to the npo's insurance they may find that b/c it's a minor they have no coverage which means you can get left holding the financial fallout.


i know, it seems like one of those 'it's likely it will never happen' scenarios, but if it does it can be a major issue-i personaly know of someone who is involved in a situation where service donors from a local non profit did some chores on their property (money went to fund raising for the group) and the volunteers (inadvertantly i'm sure) violated same local codes. the property owner has been cited and now in addition to the penalties has to do very expensive work to correct the violations. according to their insurance carrier the npo is legaly responsible for the cost, but the npo insurance policies talk to how they don't cover this kind of thing (ignorance or non awareness of the law). it's looking like the volunteers may get the hit for tens of thousands in repairs and legal fees. the insurance our npo has specificaly precludes coverage for minors doing work for us or on our behalf.


btw-i hate fundraisers, i've always felt if my kid's private school was underfunded such that money was desparatly needed then they needed to review their tuition schedual and determine if it needed to be raised. thankfully that's what ds's current school does (no fundraising at all).

 

[disykat]

Perhaps I should not have used the word "mandatory." No one is holding a gun to my head, but the pressure is extreme. (IMO)

I am generally a highly involved "money where your mouth is" kind of parent and I've tried to fight the auction fundraiser to no avail.