Hi,
THERE IS NO LIST. I wish I could bold that and underline it. No one has a magic list of addresses that they can send you that will get you a lot of donations.

This is because sometimes companies donate and sometimes they don't. I have had companies tell me no that I see on the boards that others have received donations from. Or vice versa. Maybe it has to do with how the letter is written, or what time of year they receive it, who knows.

I really enjoy reading these boards, except for the frustration of reading "please send me the list" emails. I wish we could delete them all!

It isn't hard to find addresses of companies. It just takes a lot of time. Think of a company, say Home Depot. If you can't find their website address, just google it. Go to their website, and look around. Try "Contact Us" or "About Us". You can generally find their address fairly quickly. Quite a lot have their donation policies posted, so you might not even have to waste your time writing to them.

On another thread, this was posted, which is also very helpful:
ademom74
Should be on Payroll
Member # 8881
Author Profile

posted February 21, 2006 01:01 PM

Ok, guys, now hear this... There is no list.

I just read this thread which is entirely 'me too' posts. Oh my mistake, I think one person posted a donation list but the other 4 pages are all me-toos.

All of you who are looking for businesses that donate-> go to the search bar on this website and search for 'Dottie'. She put together an amazing list of names and addresses that you can easily cut and paste to your own computers. The list is old (2001) but still is a great resource, especially if you are just starting out.


From what I have seen, after sending out a few hundred letters, most national corporations are NOT donating. There are a few, but we have found that we are having better luck approaching the branches of those companies that are in our area.

If you don't have volunteers to do this, and if you yourself are not willing to put the manual labor hours into soliciting the donations, then maybe you should think of a different fundraiser. Because it takes a long time and sometimes the results aren't as fruitful as one might hope. That's probably why universities and non-profit organizations pay generous salaries to those who are in charge of Development...the work is tough!! (and I apologize for assuming that those jobs pay a lot, maybe they don't, but they certainly would have to for me to do this sort of job for a living!)

Anyway, good luck to everyone. I'll get off my soapbox now.
Chris

Oh, and one more thing that I forgot to mention in my original post...No one is going to be e-mailing the non-existant list to you either.

As Moomduck has stated, generating a list of valid information is an arduous process. Dotties list is an excellent place to start. But again, no one is going to e-mail it to you. You have to find it for yourself.

Our basket auction gathers about $30,000 worth of donations each year and 2/3's of it comes from local mom and pop businesses. Corporate donations are nice but not the be-all-end-all.

No soapbox necessary, just my 2 cents.

All I can say is AMEN to all that because I agree exactly and I'm glad that others feel the same way I do! I started from scratch through research, written letters, and e-mails and I'll be damned if I'm going to do 10 - 12 hours worth of work for someone to say "me too" and they just copy all my work and they're done in, like 10 minutes. THANK YOU moomduck and ademom!!!

Me, too I agree Me, too

So sorry for the baaad pun,

I'm really not trying to make fun of anyone, but then maybe I am.. IS there a list, what's the definistion of "IS" or "IS" there no list (Shawn pulls of his Bill Clinton mask)

Its hard work, thanks to all that have been able to share info. I always check the "No" topic to see whom has said "No"

Seriously, I agree and no harm meant towards any posters on this thread. Enough fun from me, gotta catch a nap (kids are sleeping yea!!)

[ 02-23-2006, 05:22 PM: Message edited by: Shawn ]

Chiming in. I've been doing this for awhile. There is no magic list nor magic letter.

Finding great donations is tough. Start small and work up. Tap into your parents - find out where they work and if their companies would donate corporate items or possibly, cash.

You have to PAY ATTENTION and keep your "antennas" up always. Turn on the "schmooze" and introduce yourself, your school, your group's focus, and if they would ever consider a donation. If not, then no worries.

Don't ask for a donation from the #1 water park in your state - start with #5, or the big Hotel at your closest airport that has a pool.

If they decline, politely thank them for their time and move on.

###

Look in your local phone book for businesses. If I did auctions, that's where I'd start.