donations to a preschool silent auction???

[cchavez]

What type of items are generally donated? The donation is for my son's preschool. I have not participated in the past but would like to do so this year....any ideas?

[janeybwild]

Apart from buying something and donating it (like a case of wine or camera etc.), how about dinner made by you delivered to their door, 3 hours of house cleaning by you, muffins or cake delivered etc....you could try to think of what you are good at/like to do and offer that. For example, perhaps you are a scrapbooker and could offer a mini album scrapped for them etc. I'd be interested to know what you decide on and what creative ideas others come up with :) Good luck

[jadamom]

Our kids' school auctioned off lunch or dinner with a teacher, a trip to the zoo with a teacher, tickets to a sports event, a picnic basket with a blanket decorated with the kids' handprints, designer kids' clothes, a gift card for a mani/pedi, Magnatiles, kids' table and chairs, a basket full of art supplies, and jewelry.

[bonbon98]

Is this a donation that is in addition to donations that are solicited from the fundraising committee? Or, are all the auction items donated by the preschool families?

Here are some "personal" family donations that we received this year at our silent auction:

Basket of Books (these have traditionally done well at our auction)
Games Basket (a selection of preschool/family board games)
Handmade Jewelry
Basket of baking mixes
Rainy/Snowy day basket (an assortment of arts & crafts supplies)
A Longaberger basket
Southern Living at Home items
Crayola Outdoor Canvas and Outdoor Color Supplies
Popcorn Popper with Blockbuster gift card

HTH!

Bonny
Mom to E&E 5/7/02

[cchavez]

The donations are donated by the preschool families......

Thanks for all of the great ideas....keep em coming......

[spanannie]

We are actually having our annual auction tomorrow. For silent, artwork (not by children), belts (with gemstones, popular here in TX), jewelry, watches, photography packages, restaurant gift card, camcorder, game boy, designer handbags, etc. We solicit donations from local businesses , families donate, and each class collects $100 and buys an item with that $. For the live auction, each class has a project, there are vacation homes for a week, this year a GMC vehicle, a front row parking space at the school. The list goes on and on. I am always in awe of what the school is able to fundraise. Each parent has to buy their ticket to the actual dinner, so that is how the event is underwritten, so all of the proceeds go to the school, since everything other than the actual event is donated.

[lizajane]

i donate a gift certificate to my business. i went to one that have gift certificates for babysitting services, lawn care services, etc. by local teens. the babysitting one was huge!

[C99]

They do this as part of DS' MDO co-op. Last year, I donated 2 lawn tix to an outdoor concert venue and packaged it w/ a picnic dinner for 2 (which I made) and babysitting (by me/DH). Other donations were sports tix, theatre tix or backstage passes, a day at the pool at someone's country club, jewelry, music lessons, a family fun pack (board games and snacks), and a gift certificate to a florist.

[jd11365]

Several of us had local businesses donate.

I got a video store to donate gift certificates for 4 free rentals, and Pizza Hut to donate a gift certificate for dinner for 4. I put them in a big movie microwaveable popcorn bucket, added some movie-type candy and called it "A Night Home At The Movies!" :)

[kransden]

Sometimes our Disney store has stuffed animals really cheap. So I stock up on deals. I got the unicorn and lion from the Narnia movie. I put them in a basket with the book. (Most kids already have the video.)

A girly basket with hair bows, press on earrings, beads etc.

Costume or theme baskets i.e. little cowboy, dr, firefighter, Bob the Builder.

Basically what would you buy at this type of auction? That's what I like to bring.


Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[masha12]

The biggest money maker on a basket I have ever seen was a "risk basket" that contained a few items you could see (I believe playing cards and games of chance, a few wrapped presents, an envelope containing an undisclosed amount of cash (guaranteed to be at least $50), a few scratch of lottery tickets and a few Powerball tickets for the next drawing.

The basket went for something like $300 at an employee charity fundraiser where I use to work. The cost of the items could not have been more than $100 total. Talk about a profit margin.

As an aside, I should note that the Powerball jackpot for the next drawing was unusually high, something like $200 million, so that might have fed the frenzy.

You could something similar on a smaller scale (it was a whole department that contributed to the risk basket).

[kijip]

We have donated theatre and opera tickets that we decided not to use. Now that we don't subcribe, I have no idea what I am going to donate. Probably, I will just volunteer to shake down local businesses for donations.

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Automoblox!
Susan

#1 Nick 11-18-04
#2 Kate 04-26-06