These garage doors are impressive. Someone sent the link to me a couple of weeks ago. I'd recommend putting something like this into an online auction or use it as a silent auction item. Honestly, I'm not sure how likely you are to get a donation -- it's a German-based company. If you're a German international school or have a fluent German speaker amidst your ranks, you might have better luck! The garage photo covers are less than $300 and they have many styles. (Check out their website. ... Read On >
Procurement
Charity auction idea: LAST Day to get Saturday Night Live tickets
If you are looking for a good charity auction idea, here's one that helps with procurement. Each year during the month of August, Saturday Night Live allows people to enter into a drawing for free tickets for the upcoming season. Here's text from the site (which still states 2007-2008 season): To enter the Saturday Night Live ticket lottery for the upcoming 2007-2008 season, send an email in the month of August only to snltickets@nbcuni.com. Please include all contact information and do not ... Read On >
Two lesser-known labs of the Smithsonian can be great benefit auction items
Although securing a private behind-the-scenes tour of any of the Smithsonian Museums is a fascinating donation, the Smithsonian Institution has two lesser-known research facilities that make for unusual benefit auction items. These work great in the silent auction or possibly the live. (I've written before about the popularity of research-related benefit auction items.) The Feather Identification Lab (jokingly called "CSI for Birds") of The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is one ... Read On >
Buying a prize for a raffle? Consider Woot!
When your conducting a raffle, the best prize is often one which is donated. But if no appropriate donations are forthcoming, another option is to buy an inexpensive prize with the understanding that your modest investment will be handsomely rewarded in ticket sales. Consider shopping (or at least monitoring) the Website Woot for an appropriate prize for a raffle. Woot sells one product per day, and prices are worth watching. Here's how Woot works. Woot sells one product per day until it's ... Read On >
Auction Item Idea: Heavy Equipment Training School
I love to learn. I believe that any subject can be interesting -- an adventure, really -- if you simply have the right teacher. I've undertaken dozens of classes over the years just for the pleasure of learning. (Auctioneering school was one of those classes.) Tonight while driving back from a client meeting, I passed a training academy which was so unusual it made me whip my neck around to read the sign again. Call me crazy, but this could be a unique auction item idea for the live or silent ... Read On >