Charity auction donations.

stoveman

Hi folks,
been on a fair bit but haven't posted as much as would like due to getting in late at night and getting into deep posts!
Have to thank the guys who gave me advice on getting some bike wear,great advice and had some good results.

I now have a problem some of you guys may be able to help with.
I am a founder member of a chefs club in Cornwall and we are having a charity dinner in September with a charity auction,we are planning 8 courses by 8 of Cornwalls best chefs for 120 people.
We aim to raise well over 10K for local charities.My question is do any of you guys have contacts that I could approach for some outstanding auction items,the items/company etc will have internet and radio promotion along with possible local tv coverage too.
We are also going to sort phone bidding too.
Quite a large cycling community in cornwall so hoping we could do well.
For more info we currently have a twitter feed @CCCepicevent and a website is in the final stages of development.

Many thanks for your help in advance,and promise to post a bit more when I am working less than 18 hours a day !

Phil.

Monkeypump

Sorry, no contacts but a bif of advice - be shameless. I do quite a bit of fundraising in the rugby community, and (as the old adage goes) if you don't ask you don't get. It helps that the causes we work for are pretty well known, but don't be afraid to approach LOTS of companies/people and ask for whatever support they can give. You will get a lot of knock-backs, but I'm always surprised how generous a lot of poeple are.

I would add that 4-5 months isn't a huge amount of time if you're starting from scratch, so you'll need to dedicate a lot of time (which it sounds like you don't have) for simply chasing up potential sponsors/benefactors.

Also get celeb endorsement. If they're top chefs, get them to publicise it.

Finally, how many charities are you supporting? From experience, it might be better to only have a couple per event and do more events in the future.

Good luck!

the playing mantis

when i was at school, for a charity event for the young enterprise company we were in, we wrote to all premier division clubs and a few local championship ones, for signed stuff, shirts/balls and hospitaility packages, as well as the local county cricket clubs. obviously these organisations are swamped with such requests, but some do respond, even though many have a n official policy not to support such things. i guess if the charity connects and you get the right person opening your letter when in a generous mood they help out even if its against policy. i think we managed to get stuff off chelsea, arsenal and spurs (although that wouldnt have raised much unless it was to be burnt) at least, as well as some sort of hospitality, from the cricket and championship clubs.

stoveman

Thanks for the replies,very helpful.We have contacted a lot of premier cubs both football and rugby,and are awaiting to hear.I ahve also spoken to Land rover UK and am hoping to do something with them.
Appreciate the time factor,but we in 5 days we have managed to co ordinate 8 chefs,come up with an 8 course menu for 150 people and get 100% of the food donated free,now working on the alcohol side.A full website is also nearing completion again for free.
The event is to be held in a maquee at my restaurant and have just had a marquee company confirm they will supply this with all required furniture and crockery for the event,this amounts to an £8K donation!
Tickets will be £100 per head,and are set to sell very fast so minimum we raise will be £15K.

First time myself or my chefs club has done anything for charity and really proud of what we are hoping to acheive.Will post links to our website (if allowed)when good to go,not for any gain,but just really proud of what we are doing and would like to share.

Phil.

stoveman

Thanks again for the help,had the launch of the website tonight,here is a link if anyone is interested,really proud of what we are trying to acheive, http://t.co/da8JrzDS8J

Any thoughts,ideas,suggestions most welcome.

Phil.

Monkeypump

Looks good - can we see what's on the menu?

Only negative for me is that it's on a Sunday night. Had a quick scan through the chef's websites and there seems to be some quality there.