Spring Into Auction!
CPNS Online & Silent Auction, Mar 14-21, 2011
Wondering how to go about soliciting for donations? Need help with your Item Description Form? How to turn in your donated items? Read below for help! If you don't find the answer you are looking for, just send us an email!
Soliciting A Business For Donation:
Finding a business. You may already have an idea of which businesses you want to solicit (friend or familiy’s work, local favorites, etc.), but make sure you check out our CPNS Donor List which has over 300 local businesses that have in the past donated to our school. This list includes contact names, mailing addresses, and phone numbers so you can easily get in touch. Our CPNS Donor List can be found online by using the link provided each week in our Monday letters (to help keep our list private and secure, we won’t post the link directly on our website). Also, you can browse through a paper copy of the list located in the Auction corner of the Parent Break Room.
Signing up for solicitation. Once you have identified which business(es) you would like to solicit, you will need to sign up on the CPNS Donor List that is online (again, just click the link from our Monday letters). This will ensure that we do not ‘double solicit’ any of our business list. Sign ups are first come first serve, so the earlier you start your soliciting the more selection you’ll have! DO NOT SIGN UP ON THE PAPER COPY IN THE PARENT BREAK ROOM, THAT COPY IS ONLY FOR BROWSING. Keeping the sign-up list online will allow us to easily track information and let you know when we’ve received a donation in the mail from a business you solicited.
Contacting a business. Over the summer, the Auction Team sent a solicitation letter to every business on the CPNS Donor List. Sometimes (but not usually), a letter to a business is all that is needed to receive a donation. If you are soliciting from our CPNS Donor List, we recommend you either start with a phone call to the contact person for the business, or you drop by the business in person and ask to speak with the owner/manager (bring along a Donation Receipt so you can complete the transaction on that day). See our sample Script below for some ideas of what you can say about our school to encourage a donation. If you are soliciting a business that is not on our CPNS Donor List, you may want to start with a letter. You can use our Sample Solicitation Letter (see below), or you can come up with your own. Please be sure to ask that all donations to be mailed directly to the school, but also offer to go pick it up yourself, particularly if it is not something small like a gift certificate.
What To Say & Write.
Here is a sample script to help you with your solicitation over the phone or in person:
Introduce yourself:
“Hi, I’m XXX, I’m a parent at
Information about the school:
“Our school is a non-profit, co-operative nursery school that has been in operation in
You can also view a Sample Solicitation Letter to send to businesses not on our CPNS Donor List. To download, once you have opened the document, select File, then Download file as...Word. Edit as necessary!
Don't forget to send a Donation Receipt to the business so they have proof of their donation and our Tax-ID number!
Donating Items
If you have a donation to bring in to the school, please make sure you complete the Item Description Form BEFORE bringing in your item. If you drop off your item without completing the form, the Auction Team will email you asking you to complete the form. The Auction Team has a tremendous amount of work to do already without having to write up descriptions for your donations!! Below you will find some information to help you complete the Item Description Form and submit your donation to the school:
Completing the Item Description Form.
Completing the Item Description Form should only take you about 5 minutes or less per item. Other than your last name, class, and business that donated the item (if applicable), you will simply need to describe your item.
Item Title. What is your item? Be very brief but descriptive (include manufacturer name, model number, size, etc.). Below are some item titles for various types of donations:
Baby Clothes/Gear: “Gymboree 12-18 long sleeve dress”
“Fisher-Price Rainforest Bouncer”
Kids Toys: “Melissa & Doug 100 Wooden Building Block Set”
“Disney Store Sleeping Beauty Costume 3T-4T”
Electronics: “Toshiba SD-4200 Progressive Scan DVD/CD Player SD4200”
Software: “Disney Toy Story 10th Anniversary Edition 2 Disc DVD”
“Adobe CS4 Design Premium Professional”
Item Description. Be very thorough in your description! The people bidding on your item only have your description and a small picture of the item to determine if it’s worth buying. You can try looking up and copy the manufacturer’s description by searching for your item on www.google.com or www.amazon.com, or even try going to www.ebay.com to see if there is a similar item currently listed that has a good description. It is very important if you are donating an electronic item that you include ALL of the specifications, that way the buyer can be sure that it will be compatible for his needs.
Item Value. If you are donating a new item, try to find the retail value of the item by searching for your item on Google and Amazon. If your item is used, then try to find the retail value of the item and then reduce from there based on wear & tear. Please do not donate items that are not in Excellent or Very Good Used Condition! Our Auction is not similar to a garage or rummage sale, we are only interested in selling items that will bring in significant value!
Bringing in and Tagging Your Donation.
Once you have completed the Item Description Form, you can bring your item to school and place in the bin located at the Auction ‘corner’ of the Parent Break Room. Please use either the tie-tags or sticky labels (located on the Auction bulletin board) to write your name and class and attach to your item. Our Team will be picking up items several times a week and verifying that you have completed the Item Description Form. We will not send you a confirmation that we have received your donation, however if you are concerned about whether we picked it up please just send us an email and we will let you know!
QUESTIONS? Please send us an email!