Living in the Washington, D.C. area, I become accustomed to seeing certain auction items at many of my events. For instance, flags flown over the Capitol and tours of the House or Senate buildings are easy donations from your congressman.
But I forget that if you live outside the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia metro area), some auction items and ideas are not necessarily as well-known.
One such item I saw recently at a school auction was the White House Christmas ornament.
- The ornaments were sold as one of many items in the Gala Merchandise section.
- Other groups sell these as a standalone fundraiser: They buy the ornaments in bulk and sell them for $25 each, collecting the difference.
- Another idea would be to buy one ornament and sell it in your silent auction.
If your community isn’t even aware that the White House Historical Association even produces these ornaments, guests tend to be overly impressed.
I show some ornaments and talk about concepts in today’s video.
Toni Martin says
Does the historical society donate the ornaments?
Sherry Truhlar says
The historical society sells them as a fundraiser for themselves, so my assumption would be that they do not. You’ll have to research it.