I would add real estate agencies and insurance agencies. We have had both buy something to put in our silent auction and they usually want the advertising.

We started something new a couple of years ago that is very popular. It is Wine and Dine. We collect restaurant gift certificates and donations of bottles of wine. The $ amount for the gift certificate is $25 or more. Then we attach the certificate to a bottle of wine, but we don't know which certificate is with what bottle of wine. We sell them for $50 a piece. Its a chance, those who get the higher amounts of gift certificates will often buy more than one. Those that get lower might buy another one just to try again. They always feel like they are getting something even if it is $25 gift cert and a bottle of wine.

Local restaurants are usually great contributors to auctions. Since most people eat out a lot, you can count on people buying the gift certificates and cards. An orthodontist gave us a free full set of braces, which included all services from beginning to end (a value of $4,000).

We made sure that we advertised our "big" items to families months in advance of the auction so that they would be prepared to bid on them. A dentist donated a teeth whitening, which went for a couple of hundred, too. Remember to check with local sports teams, include colleges and universities. We got a lot from them, too. Signed football from coach, basketball from coach, etc of big university in town. Went for lots of bucks!

Our big winners were the simplest: we auctioned off certificates to "Be Principal for a Half Day," "Lunch with the Secretaries"(every student loved the secretaries!), and "Be a Librarian for a Half Day." We had bidding wars over these items! Of course, your principal, secretaries and librarian have to be willing to do this. The little boy that won the principal for a half day even got to go to a school board meeting the evening that he had been principal and was introduced. Everyone applauded his enthusiasm to be a principal!

Their website is the best idea. After some searching, you can usually find a fan mail address. Although most major celebrities don't personally read them, their appointed person usually passes on extra special letters. Usually, that person also knows what is available and will most happily pass on an autographed photo or something. Good luck and keep us posted.

We will send out about 300 letters last year it was half that. We did things differently this year though our chairperson ran everything and this year we split it between our 4 PTO groups is a district Chinese auction with 4 schools.
I just went through the phone book under each area and sent letters to the ones in our school area. I did send to some large companies but wasnt sure what companies to send to.
I do send the same letter to all I just dont have the time to change it for every comapany.
We havent done celebrities before and I think a lot of the parents want product. But it might be a good idea for the kids. How do I go about getting addresses for them though.

Cindy

I think you have some excellent ideas! I have done the same and am waiting for responses. I only totaled about 80 letters. I must be missing a group since I've seen posts where people have sent 300 or more letters. Just curious, do you send the same letter and just change the address or do you try to curtail the letter to the business? Also, I see you didn't include any celebrities on your list. What are your thoughts about them as a possibility?