The Procurement List

One of the reasons I'm pretty sanguine about my ability to get this auction done without losing my mind is that I already have A List.

That is, a procurement list. A list of local businesses who are pretty good about donating items to fundraising auctions in our city. I have one because I have chaired two auctions here before, and have my database files from those events, plus I am pretty sure I can get the file from the last auction held to benefit this particular school. That happened two years ago, but the list should still be helpful.

I also know what a list should look like. If you don't have a good list, here's a few tips on how I go about building one.

1) To estimate the size of the list, set a goal for the number of items you want in the silent auction. My rule of thumb is a little less than half as many items as guests; so if I think I'm going to have 150 guests (my initial estimate), I'll shoot for 60-70 items in my silent auction. I'm probably going to hear back from 30-40% of the businesses I contact, so I'll need around 200 businesses on the list that I mail.

2) I'm going to look for 15-20% of those 200 (30-40 businesses) to be local restaurants. Restaurant gift certificates are incredibly useful items to procure; they can be packaged with other items easily, or used in a Feeding Frenzy, or on a Quick Picks board.

3) I want 80-90 of the 200 at least to be located within 3-4 miles of the school. Of the rest, I'll look for another 35-50 to be within the city, and the rest can come from around the state or even the region.

4) I want businesses owned or managed by school parents represented in the list, but I know I can't count on that for the bulk. I won't set a goal here, other than to try and to take what comes.

5) What I CAN set a goal for is to have 10-15 school parents host Signup Parties (a.k.a. Easel Parties, Pay-To-Play parties, etc). I love signup parties; they are easy to procure, and provide those all-important "something everyone can afford" items for the event.

6) For a live auction, I'm going to start by trying to find a Community Tradition-type item or two. I'm new to this school, so I'm going to need to poll the PTA board first, but I bet I can put together a Honey-Do Crew at least.

7) I also want to put together a couple of vacation outings for the live auction, so I'm going to ask around to see what families at the school might have vacation homes. If I can get one family to let me auction a stay at their home for a week, and one more to donate a weekend, then I'm feeling pretty good about that.

8) As soon as I get confirmation on the Benefit Auctioneer who is going to work the event, I'm going to set up an appointment with her to come to one of the PTA board meetings, and do a brainstorming session.

9) If I can get it, I am going to look at the data from the last auction, to see who bought what. This always inspires ideas.

10) To stock the Wine Wall, I am going to ask each family in the school to donate one bottle and to bring it to me at the Back-To-School PTA Picnic.

Bonus tip: I know there at least two other people who have chaired school auctions in our PTA. I'm going to ask them for their lists, too.

So. Do these tips pass your sniff test? What additional tips do you have?