I've been a fundraiser for 4 years so I appreciate all I learn here so I wanted to share what I've learned.

First off, besides a school letterhead, you'll probably need a tax id number. The two schools PTO's I work with do not have their own so I got permission from the county to use theirs. You can do this by contacting the city/county your school is in and letting them know who you are and why you need it. I was able to get a copy of the letter from the IRS to the county and a letter from the county stating the tax status of the school. I make copies as needed and submit these with my request.

This year instead of googling "donation request", I started searching by a specific business name, company name, etc followed by donation request. I had SEVERAL pop up which took me directly to the info I needed. Before this, I would go to FAQ and community sections of pages. I'm waiting to hear back from at least 30 places that accepted donation requests and have already heard from a few. For example, I googled "Marshalls donation request" and got a link to go right to the page. Same with TJ Maxx. (I havent heard from them yet.) Some have forms you print and take to the store: Whole Foods, Best Buy. Some have forms you fill out and email: Books a Million, Subway.

DENIALS:
Crutchfield electronics (disappointing since they're located in our hometown)
Zappos shoes
Dicks (only because they need 60 days turnaround)
Penske Racing
Nintendo

Donations RECEIVED:
Ben & Jerrys (locally, 2 x small ice cream cake certificates)
Cheeseburger in Paradise (locally, 2 x $25)
Your True Nature (notice of package to be shipped in Feb)
Stampin' Up (HUGE box of scrap booking materials)
Keurig
Disney World
Smarties Candy
Monster Energy Drinks
Giant grocery store

Smarties, Giant Foods and Monster are from random googling as mentioned above and new to me.
From Monster, I received one large t-shirt with logo, 2 sticker sheets and a couple hundred logo tattoos.
Monster Beverage Co
550 Monica Circle, ste 201
Corona Ca 92880

Smarties candy sent 2 baseball caps, 2 mouse pads, 2 bags of rolled candy and 2 boxes of 24 each mega rolls...really FAST turnaround, less than one week!!
Smarties Candy Co
ATTN: Eric Ostrow
1091 Lousons Rd
Union, NJ 07083

From Giant, I had been in the local store last year and got a gift card. I saved time this year and mailed a letter to this address and received 2 x $10 cards.
Giant Food LLc
ATTN: Jamie Miller
8301 Professional Place, Ste 115
Landover, MD 20785

I will be posting as I hear back so check back frequently. Its been 3-4 weeks since I started so I expect to start getting items or rejections since yesterday I received these three!

I have some more companies that I have sent to and still waiting to hear a reply from:

1)Donation Committee
NECCO
135 American Legion Highway
Revere, MA 02151-2405

Letter should include:
Date of Event
Amount of people attending
Tax Exempt ID#
Contact Name and Phone Number
Shipping Address (NO PO Boxes)

2)Hornblower Cruises and Events
San Francisco
Pier3 on The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 438-8300
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

3)MLB;Giants
To:
Community Relations Department
AT&T Park
24 Willie Mays Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94107

Letter should include (on letterhead):
History, Mission & Purpose
Date of Event
Mailing Address and Contact Name
Federal Tax ID#
Send 1 Month prior to event

4)Kohl's Department Stores
Attn: Community Relations Department
N56 W17000 Ridgewood Drive
Menomonee Falls, WI 50351
Fax: (262) 703-7115

5)San Diego Chargers
Community Relations Donation Request
4020 Murphy Canyon Road
San Diego, CA 92123

Letter should include:
Date of event (needs to be sent 4-6 weeks prior to event)
contact name, phone & address
type of fundraiser
who proceeds will benefit

*San Diego Chargers only donate to CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ONLY.

Your True Nature
Website to request donation(www.yourtruenature.com)
Response: 1 week
Received $50 worth of product

Stampin'Up!
Website to request donation (www.stampinup.com)
Response: 2 Weeks
Received: $300 worth of product

Bed Bath & Beyond
Took letter (on letterhead) to local store
Response: 1 week
Received: $25 gift card

Here are some of the other places that I have submitted to and have yet to hear from:

Subway (www.subway.com)
Elephant Bar (www.elephantbar.com)
AirTran Airways (www.airtan.com)
Great America (www.cagreatamerica.com)

I sent letter to WOF like 3 weeks ago and got it a few days ago in the mail. No notice. It just came in the mail

Today I also got in the mail one singed photo of Robin Williams and 2 from Kat Von D

Just received confirmation from Green Mountain coffe for coffe pot and k-cups valued at 157.47 - just filled out the form on the websitr

We just got a rejection from Great Wolf Lodge- they said they don't donate to everyone but if we bought 1 night through a special program with them, they will donate a second night. The 1st night wsa $380. Just an FYI