The only person who does not enter the drawing would, of course, be the person who got the donation. That, no matter how you explain it, looks fixed. It looks bad to the membership, but worse, it looks bad at the business when the same person who called, asked for, picked up and then wins the prize.

As for the 50/50 drawing: Our school district considers that gambling. The IRS would probably consider it the same. Is it worth losing, or possibly losing, your 501(c)3 status?

Special Note To Momof7: You can always save a couple door prizes for next month. If you have enough for everyone at the meeting to win one, do it. Then advertise the hell out of it. In a note home, include the fact that everyone who attended the whatever-month-it-was meeting won a door prize. List the prize and the name of the winner as well. That might just be enough incentive to get a couple more people there next month.

[ 07-11-2002: Message edited by: TheMetzyMom ]</p>

We hold a drawing for a $50 savings bond.

Traditonally, we exclude the PTA board members from the door prize drawing. Instead at the end of the year, the entire board goes out to eat and celebrate the closure of the year and the begining of a new one.

The PTA pays $5.00 towards the dinner/lunch, and the rest of the cost of picked up by the board member.

We encourage all to attend the celebration since we do not pay them the $5.00 indiviidually, only pay it towards their portion of the meal (thus no door prized for them throughout the year at the general meetings).

Some do not like it this way, but the way I see it, you can never please them all. - OH, yes, we also invite all the board members to a December holiday Coffee/Brunch that is paid for with membership funds, or out of pocket from the officers own money.

Keep sending the board members little things throughout the year also, like a mint inside a thank you note, a carnation at a board meeting, or such.

Question! We have 4 officers and maybe 2-3 teachers and 1-2 members at a meeting. Who of these would you put into a drawing for a door prize. Do officers win? I think it would look fixed if the pres. won. Do any one hold 50-50 drawing at pto meetings? I am for anything that gets more parents involved.

For IMovePeople:

I have done the door prizes and donations for the last 3 years for our group. I begin with a phone call:

"Hi Mr(s).__(manager/owner)___, My name is Elizabeth Metz, and I am calling on behalf of __(school/organization)__. I am calling local businesses in our area to ask if they might be willing to donate a door prize once or twice a year. We use the door prizes to encourage membership in our organization, to try and get parents, teachers and volunteers interested in the education of our local school children. What we are looking for are door prizes with a worth no more than say, $25. Our average prize runs about $10. If you could see your way clear to provide a door prize, we would certainly appreciate it. We thank all our donaters by thanking them in our newsletters home, as well as on other notices going home, at least twice a month. So for giving us a door prize, you get to write it off as an advertising expense and your name and business gets it's name into about 700 homes, twice a month each time you give. What kind of a door prize do you think you can see your way clear to give?"

I never give them a chance to say "no". All questions I ask require a positive response. I write them all down in a notebook, and then put them on 3X5 cards by the month for easy-to-see-at-a-glance organization. I did the 3X5's for the whole school year, because I could put all the quarterly and monthly donaters down. I just filled in where necessary.

When I picked up the prize, I gave them their receipt/Thank You letter at the same time. It read something to the effect of:

Dear_________,
Thank You for your recent donation of a door prize to our school. We use these door prizes to encourage membership in our organization.
Without the support of businesses like yours, we would not be able to fulfill many of our goals. One of the things we have done in the past was to pay for our school's computer lab, which every child in our school uses every week of the school year. This year, we are purchasing new books for our school library.
Thank You again for your generous donation. Your support does not go unnoticed!
Respectfully,
Elizabeth Metz
Manzanita Elem. PTVO

I always follow through on my promise of advertising. It is very easy when you send home PTO meeting reminders to include what that evenings door prizes will be. I also see that it is included in the Meeting Minutes (along with the name of the winner), which also go home. That fulfills the 2 times I promise them.

It is also nice, if funds allow, to put all the sponsors names in the newspaper at the end of the year, or to have a dinner on their behalf.

Hope this helps!

Door prizes are great. I use door prizes to assure that the meeting starts on time. I also give door prizes to everyone that brings a friend. A also do other drawings around the holidays.