http://www.weddingpartyhelp.com/Articles en-us http://www.weddingpartyhelp.com/Articles N/A dan@weddingpartyhelp.com Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:31:32 -0600 20 http://www.weddingpartyhelp.com/Articles/articles/42/1/Hosting-Successful-Charity-Events--Auctions.html Organizing charity events and auctions can be a very time consuming project.  Once you have the approval of the organization that your charity events & auctions will benefit, begin promoting your event.  Be sure to let the public know which cause the proceeds will benefit, along with a time, date and place of your charity events & auctions.    It can be daunting to come up with products and services used in charity events & auctions, but it can be done.  The first step is to ask local businesses for donations of time, money and/or merchandise.  Potential donors can be found on the internet or may very well be in your own hometown.  Florists, gasoline stations, retail stores, furniture outlets and others may be great sources to begin your hunt for donations.  If you are hosting a charity auction, for instance, many local businesses may be willing to donate a product from their inventory.  Other businesses may be willing to contribute refreshments, snacks or other items to help with the catering.    Some auctioneer businesses will agree to help with your charity events & auctions by auctioning off their own products and sharing the proceeds with your organization.  By contributing to your cause, the auctioneer gains free publicity for their business and they are likely to draw a nice crowd for two reasons.  First, it's a good cause and a lot of people will want to help.  Secondly, everyone loves an auction.  So, free publicity for the auctioneer translates into more business for them with no promotional efforts involved.  Your organization, however, is responsible for all of the publicity but will not have to worry about obtaining the items to auction.  At the end of the event, the auctioneer will calculate the proceeds and provide you with the predetermined percentage.  This approach is generally a good deal for everyone involved.   There are plenty of ideas for charity events & auctions, including raffles, bake sales, dinners, etc.  Publicity is key with all charity events & auctions, so make sure that you send press releases to local newspapers, post them online and your website.  In addition, post flyers around the neighborhood and tell as many people as you can to help spread the word.   If you are organizing charity events & auctions, you will need to let anyone who provides donations know that you will give them credit for their generosity.  Include their names, or that of their business, on any flyers, in press releases and at the charity events & auctions.  dan@weddingpartyhelp.com (Cynthia M.) Wed, 08 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0600