Best donations for a fundraiser?

[happyscooter]

Can you get businesses to donate gift cards?  Restaurants will donate a $20 card that someone can buy for $10.  They know people will spend more than $20 when they go out to eat.

Gift baskets with games or baby items, etc...

[Deleted]

Will people be bidding on the item outright? Or is it like a Chinese Basket Auction? 

[constanz22]

Is it a basket raffle?  Or an actual auction?  I've seen some really great baskets and they seem to generate a lot of interest.  Pick a theme and go with it.  Dunkin Donuts baskets are always pretty popular, a couple bags of coffee, a couple mugs and maybe a DD gift card.  Anything that is "popular" and has a following...Vera Bradley, Scentsy, Pampered Chef, etc.  Usually businesses will donate a small gift card and sometimes items from their store.  I've seen some really creative baskets, spa, jewelry, kids themed, man theme (car detailing items), baking, gardening, etc.

[constanz22]

I was typing the same time of your response.  Gift cards do well, or tickets to local events, sports (if you have a local or semi local MLB, NHL, NFL etc team), spa, restaurants, etc.

[Deleted]

Then either experiences, spa day, theater tickets, etc.  or I have watched art work and jewelry do well...

[constanz22]

Aug 24, 2013 7:55:52 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

What about for the bake sale? Do the chocolate chip cookies usually go first?

That's what I usually buy   Whole pies seem to do well, fancy breads too.

[Sharon]

Homemade pies go really well, especially berry or apple pies.  Homemade cinnamon rolls also do well.

[Nazgul Girl]

    I remember the somewhat infamous third prize for a fundraiser was a " Basket of Liquor."   The lady raising funds for her kid's team of whatever sport sold a lot of tickets around our office.

[busymom]

Not to rain on your parade, but in our community home-baked goods are no longer allowed.  Something to do with the state health dept. 


Gift cards & tickets to sporting events are popular here.  Or, a gift basket full of DVD's & microwave popcorn. 

[swamp]

Coach purses. 

One of my friends regular donates Coach purses to fundraising auctions. She buys them at the outlet store on sale with a coupon, so she often gets a $300 retail purse for $30. 

[Nazgul Girl]

   That's a good idea, Swamp.   I've donated jewelry that I didn't want to a fundraiser for Katrina in the past, and it did allright.

[milee]

I'm sure it varies by area, but around here, most of the fundraising auction items end up going for less than their retail price, so it wouldn't make sense to buy something at retail and then auction it.  (The exception is if you're at one of the big, high dollar items and a few of the wealthy people decide to show off and get in a bidding war for something interesting.)  Swamp's friend buying a $300 Coach purse for $30 would be a good example.  Something like that would end up auctioning for $100 - $250, so at $30 cost makes sense but you wouldn't have wanted to buy it full price and donate it; you'd be better off just writing the charity a check for the amount you spent on the purse.

For the baked goods, homemade stuff tends to sell best as do things that are a little unique but not too adventurous.  If you buy bakery chocolate chip cookies and package them, they'll sell some, but not for much $$$.  Big, homemade chocolate chip cookies with M&Ms baked in would sell for more.  No idea on the zucchini bread, would depend on what it looks like and whether people around there eat it.  Macarons sell for a good amount but are tricky to make.  Store bought brownies are mediocre sellers, but big, homemade bar cookies do well if they look attractive.  If you can make them cute, cupcakes can do really well.

[saveinla]

homemade - cupcakes, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cake balls etc sell well for us. People usually do not buy carrot or zucchini bread in our fundraisers - sorry.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

When I see bake sales, the items that I usually see go first are rice crispy treats.  They are the items that I usually snag when I see a bake sale too.

[raeoflyte]

Homemade dog treats seem to do well at bake sales. People can still buy and support the cause without jeopardizing their diet.

[zibazinski]

Just don't buy junk to donate. Honestly we went to a Greek fest last night and the junk they had a silent auction for what just awful. Tacky and cheap crap. I'd hit garage sales and look for Christmas dishes or Christmassy items. I got some nice stuff to put holiday decorations in for 3-4 bucks apiece. I'm in charge of our groups holiday luncheon and I'm buying dollar red candles and cinnamon pine cones and voila, centerpiece for 5 bucks that someone can take home.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Our bake sale stuff is almost always done as silent auctions. 

For the large items/live bbidding, we donate something we would be willing to buy. 
This year, we got a Keruig single cup maker. It's currently still in the living room in the box as the auction is in October. DH wants to bid on it for his office. 

[Deleted]

Aug 24, 2013 8:25:49 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

I make really good zucchini bread. Do you think people would buy it, or do not many like that?

Nope, it is not a popular item at all.

Brownies & Rice Krispy treats sell best at the ones I've been to in the past.

[Deleted]

Wrongside, is this for your friend? How is she doing? 

Here, another thing that works well besides bake sales and expensive items is a "service". IE win 1h (or 2h or 3h) with a graphic designer who will create your new website / or a personal trainer / or a language trainer / or a personal organizer / or computer geek / or a professional photographer. That sort of thing. So in each case, somebody skilled is donating 1 or 2 or 3h of their time. 

The other thing I've seen is at my DS1's / DS3's school. At their annual fundraiser, they auction off "themed baskets". The school baskets are VERY pricey, because they generally start off with a very expensive "freebie", and then the majority of the class contributes to each basket. Last year my DS3's class did a "coffee basket". They started out with a free Nespresso coffeemaker (I'm guessing a parent works for Nespresso), then parents added flavored coffee, flavored milk. I bought 10e worth of chocolate-covered coffee beans for that basket ... you get the idea.

BUT, although the school baskets are very pricey, I love the idea of a nicely-wrapped gift basket. They don't NEED to be pricey. I've seen them mentioned both here and on WIR. You could do a "breakfast basket" with coffee, tea, cookies, pancake mix. Another one with 3 sorts of jam and a jar of honey. Or a "movie basket" with a DVD, microwave popcorn, and a couple of candy bars. Or a "romantic basket" with a bottle of wine and a couple of candles. Or an "emergency basket" with a flashlight, batteries and some chocolate. Etc, etc, etc. 

Kudos to you Wrongside, I am guessing that your friend was very happy to hear from you! 

[Deleted]

OMG Wrong, I knew she had a beyond horrific experience but nonetheless never imagined that she'd need to learn to walk again. My thoughts are with her and you. I'm so glad you and others are there for her.

Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of DH's accident. We went away for the weekend to celebrate the fact that DH is still here, albeit disabled, and that I am not a widow.  

DH just went to bed and I have been listening nonstop to KD Lang's Hallelujah, really loud, with headphones on LOL. 

If there is anything I can do please feel free to PM me.

That may be another thing you could do for her, maybe set up some sort of account for her medical expenses. It's tricky, I know. If her friends and family are local, it's probably not a great idea. But if she has friends and family far and wide, it might be worth doing.