I need donators for a raffle-ticket fundraising, I'm hosting!!?

Question

I am going to have raffle tickets sale to raise money at my school. And I have been trying to get corporation and business to donate any of their products to give away as prizes. But I keep getting no's or no response. What do I do to get stores to donate? Do y'all know anyone who willing to donate? The event is soon and I have no prizes! Any ideas???

No, we haven't began selling tickets but we need to start soon. And I'm trying to get prizes. I do have a sponsor but I never thought of asking her for help. But i will do that though. We can't do the 50-50 drawing, since we need the money for our club. To pay for field trips, shirts, and such.
My problem, right now, is getting prizes, getting companies and business to donate their products to use as prizes

what a school letterhead?

Answer 1

1) First of all, almost all requests for donations from a business will require that the requests be submitted in writing at least 30 in advance of when the prize is needed. Most donation decision makers in corporate companies are not on site and the request must be submitted upward through the proper channels. End of year is always difficult because much of the annual budget is spent by then.

2) Be sure to put the request on your school letterhead if possible and include a contact name and phone number if the donor has questions.

3) If there is something specific you have in mind, say what you have in mind. They may think you want a $100 cash donation when all you really want is a free movie pass or something.

4) Follow-up with a phone call to be sure the request has gotten to the right person and isn't sitting under a pile of papers at the front desk with the person you left it with.

5) Most importantly, let the donors know what is in it for them! Is there going to be some kind of recognition of those who donated items. Will they be publicly thanked, listed in some kind of program, recognized in the school newsletter - anything. Businesses want to support their local community and customer base but they are also there to make money. If they support your cause with a donation, how will you let their customers know that they were there for you?

6) Approach the businesses where the students spend their money. Local movie theatres, fast food restaurants, mall stores, video game renters, hair salons, etc. These businesses will be most interested in generating more goodwill with their customer base.

Good Luck with your project!

Answer 2

Hi Rachel. Have you begun selling tickets? If so, what do the tickets offer for prizes? Frankly, I am confused about your situation.

Normally, you would collect the prizes BEFORE offering tickets for sale. It will also help your 'selling' of this idea to potential donors if you are very clear and precise about what the profits will be used for and how many tickets you hope to sell (which determines how much money you hope to earn).

Additionally, since this is a school fundraiser, I would expect you to have an advisor from the school staff assisting you on this project. Do you have an advisor? Is he/she assisting you?

OK, with all of that said, what do you do now? The easist solution is to turn the raffle into a "50-50 drawing". With this type of drawing the winning ticket gets one half of all the sales dollars collected by selling tickets. For example, if you sell $100 in tickets, the winning ticket holder gets $50 and the school gets $50. If you sell $2000 worth of tickets, then each 'party' gets $1000.

It will still be a good idea (it will help make the raffle more exciting because you can give away more prizes) to work on getting donations from local businesses. The key is to present yourself professionally and in an organized manner to the businesses you approach. Be clear about the goals of the raffle: 1) how much money do you hope to raise? 2) what is the price of tickets? 3) how many people will be selling the tickets? 4) how will the profits be spent? specifically on what projects?

Many local businesses are happy to donate to a good cause - especially for schools and education. After you get a couple of donations, you can 'use' the names of those companies/businesses to encourge others to donate ('name-dropping' creates a certain credibility for your raffle). So, if Tony's Italian Diner has donated and Mary's Massage Miracles has donated (see examples below), then mention these contributors to other businesses you approach. Some examples:

- "dinner for two" coupons to local restuarants (these should be 'easy' to get and you can get them from several restuarants)

- coupons for a free Pedicure or Manicure from the local 'nails' business

- coupons for a free massage from a message therapist

- coupons for free dry-cleaning

- coupons for free matinees at the local movie theater

- coupons for free movie rentals

- coupons for a free oil change at a 'quick lube' or auto repair business

- coupons for a free car wash

- Bottles of wine from a local wine seller

- Discount coupons to local clothing stores or other retail stores

- A beautiful gift basket from a local gift basket business

- Candy or pastries from a local candy store and/or bakery

- Discount coupons from a local bookstore

Hope these ideas help you. Best wishes and good luck.

Answer 3

Identify exactly what the mission of your raffle is. This mission statement must have clarity to donars. Only individuals who believe in your cause will donate. You must know your cause before they do. After you identify your cause except about a ten percent response. Even the best ideas are not picked-up right away. Don't feel like a failure if you idea doesn't fly. The experience will do wonders for you. This will help you get it right at your next go at it.

Answer 4

Yes 11 looks exactly the same, how weird is that, but then so does 69, but at least 81 looks like 18......