Donating Points to Silent Auction

[momsully]

We are thinking of donating a Sun - Thursday stay in a studio to a silent auction at my son's school. For those of you that have done this how do you word the auction listing? Do you restrict when the points can be used? How do you handle the reservation for the winner? Any feedback or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[spiceycat]

make a reservation - either in the summer, spring break for your school or thanksgiving break (if your school gets off the entire week - holiday + teacher days). I won't do Easter or Christmas break - far too many points!!!

I would ask the school for their suggestions,too.

then just make the reservations in your name.

Once you have a winner change the reservation to their name and make their magic express (if they are flying) then too, if possible. Lots of time it is much later before they get airline reservations.

if for some reason they need to change the reservation I will work with them.

Oh I am cheap I always make the reservation for a studio - some people do 2-bedrooms - this choice is yours.

this is not a tax deductible item. It is a donation but not deductible.

 

[momsully]

So you recommend auctioning a specific week?

We have year round school here so depending on the track you are on you have a different vacation. Has anyone ever just auctioned the points without a specific reservation?

 

[kathleena]

I was going to do this once and was going to donate a set number of points. I was going to include a point chart and brief explanation of the limitations and some examples of how they could be used. And also include some info on how to add more points (thru a rental). I had talked with people and they thought this was better than a set # days, room size and time frame for attracting a larger volume of bidders.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Best wishes, I think that's very nice of you!

Bobbi

PS. As a bidder, I would be more likely to bid on a 5-7 day get-away (depending on points) than on a specific time frame.

 

[CharlesTD]

I would make a specific reservation even if it is for a week while school is in session I am sure people will be high on getting that holiday to WDW and the auction would be very successful.

 

[TW1]

I have run a number of silent auctions and I have asked donors to NOT make open ended arrangements. They are fraught with difficulties. You promise one thing and it gets interpretted as another.

I agree with Spiceycat, make the specific arrangement, i.e. a studio in BWV checking in on X and out on X with one T&T on (Day).

Be sure the let them know the rack-rate value, not the value in terms of points, thus they can start the bidding higher and expect more. If you want, you can offer the chance to make minimal changes and specify a cut-off date that gives you the time to cancel and save your points without loseing them.

I instruct all my donors to think it through and remember it is a gift from you to them, thus you do not need to be TOO generous.

If it sells, transfer it. If it doesn't, and there is that chance, cancel it and save your points.

Been there, done that.

 

[spiceycat]

maybe your people are smarter than the ones down here.

the representatives of the donations got so mixed up when I tried to explain the point system - that they just decided to take a reservation for June.

I know I think it is very easy to understand - but lots of folks don't understand charts.

It was surpose to be easier to get a good auction if the people knew what they were bidding for - the resort, location, etc.

you need a reservation for that to work.

you certainly don't want to put BCV in your ad and then when you go to make the reservations you can't because it is booked up - someone would be disappointed. Never a good situation in an auction.

 

[RobDoc]

I have done this on a couple of occasions. I offer it as a Sunday - Thursday stay at a specific resort (in this case it was OKW) for a specific range of dates. Thus I have a good idea how many points I have committed. As suggested, you can then mention the rack rate for a similar timeframe to assist with the auction itself. I placed a time restriction on making the reservation (7+ months ahead) and thus had plenty of opportunity to get the room for the dates they wanted.

On the first one I offered, the winning bidder ending up joining DVC as a result. On the second one, the bid was too low, IMO, and I ended up "buying" the offer by making the highest bid myself. No reserve was placed on the bidding and the bidding was at $200 - I just doubled the bid, donated $400 to the auction and used the points myself.

 

[new_yawka]

We have donated points to charity auction twice. In each case we have used wording like the following for the brochure:

Walt Disney World Vacation for 4

Experience Walt Disney World the affordable way! Enjoy 6 days and 5 nights in a studio room at Disney’s Old Key West Resort, right in Disney World. Your room will have a microwave oven and mini refrigerator, which can save money on food costs. The studio can sleep up to four people. This great vacation includes convenient Walt Disney World transport to all Disney attractions, 4 pools with whirlpools, lighted tennis courts, health club, volleyball, playgrounds, and other recreational activities too numerous to mention. The Lake Buena Vista Golf course is adjacent to the resort. This item only includes accommodations.

This vacation has a retail value of $1200 if booked through Disney. Subject to availability, this trip can begin any Sunday from September 4, 2005 through January 29, 2006, excluding the weeks of November 19 and December 24.

Minimum bid: $400

The item was auctioned for $750 each time. Since this is for my church, I always also offer a one night planning session, in which I help lay out the winning bidder's vacation for them. Although I know it is for a good cause (and it is), I also LOVE doing it!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We DID do this once for our son's private high school. We offered a Five night stay starting on a Sunday for any January, September, October, November or December excluding Thanksgiving week and Christmas week. The school paired it with some frequent flyer miles donated by another person, and when the winning bidder called, I was able to book their trip the very next day. I believe they went mid October during Minnesota Teachers Union break.

 

[Mary Anne]

Thank you all for this thread. I've copied New Yawka's response and I'm going to save it. We are thinking of making this same kind of dontation to my son's school.

 

[new_yawka]

Thank you all for this thread. I've copied New Yawka's response and I'm going to save it. We are thinking of making this same kind of dontation to my son's school.

Glad to help

BTW - I will endorse this for anyone thinking of it. For two families I know, our offering this at the auction was the kick in the pants they needed to get down to WDW. Now they are each WDW lovers! The looks on the kids faces as they told us about their trip was worth it and then some.

Have 40 points you can spare (or at least part with without otherwise ruining your own vacations), this is a great way to go!

 

[HookdonWDW]

bumping...

getting ready to do this for ds' school, and wondering if anyone has anything to add to this thread.

Thanks!

 

[katallo]

This is so nice. I volunteer for a charity for critically ill children and can't say enough about how much non-profits appreciate things like this.

 

[isyt]

I have recently done this for our school and offered a Sunday-Friday stay in a studio but no specific dates. I specify it was based on availibility. Who knows what will happen because I approched the man who won to introduce mysely and he asked me if he could trade it for Vegas!!!! I was mortified that I was trying to share the magic and he wanted to go to sin city!! Anyway, he hasn't called me to book so we shall see, maybe I can keep the points!!!

 

[LoveToDisney]

Please keep in mind this gift in NOT tax deductible. The only way it is tax deductible is if you actually donated your OWNERship of the points, not just the USE of the points. It's still fun to donate points anyway and see the excitement of the family who gets to enjoy them.

 

[iankh]

We are thinking of donating a Sun - Thursday stay in a studio to a silent auction at my son's school. For those of you that have done this how do you word the auction listing? Do you restrict when the points can be used? How do you handle the reservation for the winner? Any feedback or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I just did this for a fund raising auction at my synagogue that's coming up at the end of the month. Let me start with the words of wisdom a DISer gave me when I was trying to figure out how to do it, "They're your points, you can do whatever you want."

I donated 3 nights in a studio at OKW. When I made the donation I drew up a list of restrictions and conditions. Among them were:

• Valid only for stays of Sunday night through Thursday not. Not valid for Friday or Saturday night
• I limited it to specific weeks during the year, basically to keep the booking in a low season
• I stipulated that the winner was responsible for any and all room charges incurred
• I also remember that I specified that should the winner need to cancel, they must do so 45 days before arrival, and that cancellation after 45 days prior to arrival would result in forfeiting the booking (I did this to pad extra time on to the DVC 31 day limit)

I can't remember everything else off hand but those are a few of the restrictions. I hope this helps.

 

[BCVOwner2002]

We are considering making a donation to our son's college hockey team. We thought this would be a good prize to auction off. Glad to know others have done this and didn't have a lot of problems. Annmarie