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kate_nepveu) wrote2013-02-24 11:15
raffle advice?
So I'm thinking of additional ways to raise money for Con or Bust, because the auction is going well but not smashingly (ends tonight! Check it out!), and one thing that occurred to me was a raffle at WisCon (and maybe Readercon, but first things first). So I've just sent in a request for a dealer's table. We'll see if there's space left and if a raffle is okay. Assuming both are good--
I think I have a decent idea about most of the logistics [*] except kind of the most important one, which is getting stuff to raffle.
Because so many people fly to WisCon, the enormous baskets that Operation Hammond was raffling at Arisia don't seem like a good idea. Ideally we're talking small but shiny. But I don't want to impose on people who've already donated stuff to the auction and I don't know how you approach big companies for stuff. I'm going to see if Tempest can talk, but anyone else have experience?
My wish list, based on thinking over spare moments during the last few days:
- Tablets. iPad, iPad mini, Nexus 10, Nexus 7. This is the most pie-in-the-sky item, because they're expensive and almost certainly would have to come from big companies, but boy would they be a draw.
- eReaders. Nook, Kindle (Sony, Kobo?). Same as above.
- Gift certificates. Books: local bookstore Room of One's Own, Book View Cafe, Amazon, B&N. Food (Omaha Steaks? What other fancy places do mail order?)? Zappo's (shoes)?
- Small packages of quality candy (local?).
- Jewelry? Maybe not, there will be a lot of that already there.
- . . . what else?
Anyway. What am I overlooking, is this a horrible idea, does anyone have suggestions? (Please don't contact anyone yet, because if there's no table space then it's a moot point, but I want to get ready to move in case there is.)
[*] I'll bring the netbook and have a spreadsheet set up ahead of time with ticket numbers, and put people's phone #s on the spreadsheet, so there's no question about handwriting, and also ask them if they'll be around Sunday night for the GoH speeches, which is when I'll do the drawing and hand stuff out after. When I've got programming I'll see if a friend can cover the table; I'll also bring the whole shebang to the Carl Brandon party. I'll also have T-shirts for sale. I don't think I can take credit cards, or that the CBS can, but I can have people open up private browsing tabs for PayPal right there, or ask them to use their own computer, include a note, and then come get their tickets/T-shirts.
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(Square is so cool, though. I love swiping a card right on someone's phone!)
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All the food trucks 'round here use Square, which is really nice because Toby tends to use his card to pay for everything because it makes tracking the budget so much easier than entering in cash we've spent. And as he likes tracking the budget and I don't, I go with his way of doing things.
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The box set from Criterion is always our biggest ticket item, and it came to use in a weird way -- they just SENT it to us the 1st year. As near as we figure, there's someone locally connected with Criterion who's also in-touch enough with our tiny cinema to hear that we had a need and just made it happen. This is where spreading the word thru' the SF community network can pay off in big ways as far as getting items for Con Or Bust raffle items. A lot of our items -- for both the raffle and the silent auction -- came simply from all our volunteers talking to people we know and saying, "Hey, can your organization give us anything?"
We found it was easier than any of us suspected to get donations. Even food donations for the fundraiser evening. Turns out lots of organizations/companies have line items in their budgets for donating to non-profits for fundraisers like this. I did little in the way of pulling in items myself, but i did approach the tiny tiny sushi restaurant in the neighborhood for a gift certificate, and when i broached the question SUPER hesitantly with the sake sommelier with whom we were on good terms, she said breezily as if it were the easiest thing in the world, "Oh, of course! How's $50 sound?", and next thing i knew it was sitting on the table.
(The one problem we ran into, especially with food for the fundraiser evening, was that often these organizations/companies use up their donation monies fairly early in the year, but we didn't get planning that the 1st fundraiser until july/august whereas you're looking at this even before february has ended.)
If it would be helpful, i can mine my email archives for examples of queries sent to local orgs/companies. It seems to me that the most important thing is just finding the right person to contact.
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Local chocolate? Candinas has a shop on the Square and a Best Buy rating from Consumer Reports for the last few years. They'd be the best candidate for a donation in the form of a gift certificate.
There's also Gail Ambrosius, which I personally have more experience with, makes truffles and other things (e.g., chocolate covered nuts, animals in dark chocolate) and sells them in small packages around town.
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