When we have fun fairs at our school we also hold a raffle. To solicit for donations we send a letter and in it we tell them we will be calling with in the next 2 weeks (or whatever time frame you decide on) and this has worked really well for us. It gives them a heads up so they can decide want to donate and if so, what to donate, with out putting them on the spot. It also takes the responsibility off of them for remembering. We also set up a time, convenient for them, that we can pick it up. By doing it this way we aren't sitting around waiting to see if any donations come in. It might not be too late for you to make follow up calls to those you solicited. Food for thought on WendyR's response about thanking them in an ad in the paper- we have run into some businesses who prefer we don't do that because they say they then get dumped on big time with requests from other organizations for donations because they saw our thank you in the paper. An alternative is to post a big sign at your event that says something like "prizes donated by the following businesses" and list them. We also thank them in our school/PTA newsletter. Hope I've helped. Good luck!

I think the American Girl Doll store gives a doll to non for profit organizations. They only do this once though.

In my experience you're going to get most of the best stuff from your local people. In our case, even our biggest prize (round trip tickets to anywhere in the US on American) came from the local travel agent. Definitely go with a letter followed by a phone call or a walk in to the owners of your local businesses. Be sure you also make a point to make sure they get recognition for their donations. Maybe take an ad in the local paper when your auction is done (even if you have to use some of your proceeds) to thank them publicly. That kind of thing will really help you the 2nd year.

We are planning our first ever auction in conjuntion with our spring carnival. I have sent out over 400 letter's to Celebrity/VIPs/corporations. The local ones I had thought would be better to contact them personally. Now what? I am at total lost what the next step to do is. I don't like the waiting to see if things come in. I feel like we need to get out there and start knocking on doors. Where do you get the address for the big companies like asking for airline tickets, hotel rooms etc. That is the next big thing that I would like to go after but just don't know how. Thanks for all your help.