Our area was trashed by hurricane Charley last year. It messed up our fall fundraiser a little, and we worried about our auction donations for the spring.
We ended up having our most profitable one yet.
(about $5k)
Our Auction people send letters locally only (that might change this year) and call or visit every company on the list.
If you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down. <img src=images/smilies/smile.gif>
<<<< I just don't like the idea of sending 300 letters at the cost of half my postage budget for the year, getting no response, and have some of my members think, "Well, why did you do that anyway?" What do ya'll think>>>>>>
I'd be curious what type of letter you send out? If you send 300 letters and are still thinking because of Hurricane you will have no response, then do you have 300 donations that are less than $20 each? Are any of your donations from "Mom & Pop" type of shops? Do you know your neighbors?
Perhaps you can visit local vendors personally; take a stroll through your neighborhood and then ask for donations in person---no need to waste money on postage and you get to meet a few new neighbors as well.
Save the postage and walk around to meet your neighbors/donators!!!
We have been totally our fundraisers this past week and they seem to have gone down from last year too. I think with parents donating to the hurricane and the high gas prices there just is not much money left over.
But I do totally understand, but it will have an affect on what we do this year for field trips and assemblies.
Cindy
Cindy<br />
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<br>"People have the right to be stupid, but some abuse the privelege."
'No good deed goes unpunished' is an adage well suited to most PTO's. Some members are never happy and would rather point out failure than be part of a solution.
Just send the letters and have your solicitation committee follow them up with phone calls, say 2 weeks later.
Our auction always nets between $18-$24K, all through hard work and perseverance - not by listening to nay-sayers.
I think what I might do is send out letters anyway. I think that, if companies were to donate to disaster relief, they have probably already done so by now. But, just in case, I'll have a back-up fundraiser to replace the auction in case I have a lack of response. I think it may all depend on how I phrase my letter. If by some happenstance, I receive a good response, we'll go with the auction. If I receive a little, may be I'll go with door prizes. I'll be ready to go with my back-up fundraiser regardless. I think I'll be prepared for both. I just don't like the idea of sending 300 letters at the cost of half my postage budget for the year, getting no response, and have some of my members think, "Well, why did you do that anyway?" What do ya'll think?
I live in the NY area and 3 weeks after 9/11, our soliciters sent out their first batch of letters. Many thought that the timing was bad but the solicitations were sent out anyway.
We did not notice any decrease in responses and no one came back and said 'We can't donate to your school because we have already donated to the 9/11 fund'.
