I finally opened the Jan/Feb issue of PTO Today and was thrilled to find a section on Auctions. Our school holds one every other year and we raise at least $20,000...trying for $30 this year! I had an idea for a good "class" gift that was very inexpensive and brought in $185!!!

I was homeroom mom in Kindergarten and what I did was print out all the letters of the alphabet on the computer in a "block" form. Each Kinder colored in a letter (some did 2 since the class wasn't big enought!!) and drew a picture of something that began with that letter. I did the letters so I could cut them out in about 4" squares. I then mounted all the squares on a posterboard and typed on the computer in a cute print all the kids' names with which letter they did. I then framed it. It didn't need matting since the background was just a navy blue or something like that. The frame was very inexpensive because it ended up being a 24x36 size poster!

It cost all of $20 for the frame and I had parents bidding on it like crazy. Ended up selling for $185! The kids were thrilled and the winning family has it proudly displayed in their family room.

I think this was a great project for littler kids...no one could resist their cute little drawings!!! Hope this helps someone!

how many items did you have in your auction to raise 20,$! how many kids are in your school and what were some of your big ticket items

I was wanting to know some more of the items you had at your auction. This will be my 3rd year to do this and I'm running low on ideas.
We auction of theme basket for each room K-2nd and we have a total of 24 rooms. They range in Garden,Tool Time ,Baby shower,pamper me,easter basket,A day at the beach,play again sports,kitchen helpers,and our favorite....chocolate lovers delight. We also auction off lunch with teachers and pricipal for the day. We also have autographed sports memorbilia.
If anyone out here has any good ideas please,please let me know. I would really appreciate it.

We have raffled prime parking spots at school and an ice cream sundae party for your class in addition to the usual standbys. We have displayed the baskets/prizes in the Media Room during conferences or whatever event may be happening. Signs,newsletters,readboards,e-mails and parents calling other parents about the raffle were important to achieve our fundraising goal.