Have you tried Asda Direct? They have some around £200!

Hi Graham, i've been involved with fundraising auctions for number of years for a couple of charities that I support and the problem is that unless you have either a very monied audience with people that were going to donate 3 figure sums anyway or else the lots being auctioned are unique in some way then you don't make much extra over and above what the object cost in the first place. The problem with consumer goods is that most people will have a fair idea of how much it would cost them to buy in a shop and so they are less likely to pay any more just because it is for charity. Now if you could wangle him a round of golf at the old Course with Tiger Woods that would be a different matter.

I would hate you to find that you might as well just have donated him the £200 in the first place, much less discover that it is doesn't even raise what you paid for it. It is only worth going down the road of consumer goods if you can get them donated by the businesses concerned or at least buy them at a very hefty discount. We have had better success with getting smaller local suppliers to do this for us for us in return for the good publicity and a write-up in the local paper than with the big retailers. The big boys have never been particularly interested - the most they would usually do is donate vouchers which we could either use asa raffle prize or to subsidise the purchase of something for an auction.

Now if it was being raffled that would be a different matter and an audience of 200 might not contain anybody who is prepared to pay £200 for a TV but I bet each and everyone of them would buy £5 worth of raffle tickets for the possibility of winning a £200 TV. Make up the rest of the raffle prizes with donated goods or smaller ones (including those vouchers donated by Argos or Curries) and he is probably going to at least treble your £200 donation or more.

Which brings me to the unique and how things that will have cost you very little can raise amazing amounts. One of the best examples of this was an event I attended - I had been asked to go along by a colleague to give a basic salsa class - and hence found myself at the post-christening evening do for the baby of a pilot at RAF Leuchars who had been born with a rare congenital disease and as part of the festivities they were holding an auction for the charity that was the main funder of research into his condition. Most of the lots were RAF related and held little interest for me but the last one was a flying suit in their trademark red donated by the retiring leader of the Red Arrows. How much could a used flying suit be worth I thought? It had occurred to me that this could be a quirky birthday present for my brother who is a plane nerd - still making Airfix models of military planes at nearly 60 years of age! So when the bidding opened at £25 I stuck my hand up - and it was my one and only bid because it rapidly went up in £25 increments to £650! People were taking phone bids on their mbls from pals still on duty at the base and one bidder was on the line from Lossiemouth! Of course, I should have realised that this was something that had been worn by a prince amongst men as far as this audience was concerned. In less than 10mins they had raised £650 from something that probably cost the taxpayer a fraction of that. It made me realise that the best auction lots for a charity fundraiser are the things that might have little intrinsic value in their own right but are priceless in the eye of the potential bidders.

So ever since, I have always asked myself what would be the equivalent of the Red Arrow flying suit for our potential audience? On one occasion it was getting the local football club to donate lunch and 2 seats in the Directors' box at a Scottish Premier League game. Worthless to me personally but a bargain for the fan who willingly paid £150 for it. Another time it was a day with a well known local entrepreneur and business man to get his advice and guidance on setting up in business yourself. Again an absolute bargain for the start-up sole trader who would never have got that calibre of business consultancy advice for the £100 it cost them much less the photo in the local paper with said entrepreneur. We've never hit the heady heights of £650 for a worn boiler suit but it was all pure profit for us. So I would suggest you ask your son and yourself, knowing the probably attenders at this event, what would be the equivalent of the Red Arrow flying suit for them? And are there local contacts already interested in the charities that you can tap for help in obtaining it?

SM

Thanks prawn, I have been taking a look at ASDA, Tesco etc, I am hoping somewhere there is that bargain TV just waiting for me

SMa thanks for that very informative reply, sorry I should have made it clear the TV is to be the main prize in a raffle and the plan is to use it to draw in people to buy the tickets, we have already obtained other donated prizes such as meals, rounds of golf etc, hopefully he will sell enough of his tickets at a pound for 5 to make a good profit for the charities.

Do you think it makes a difference if it is a big brand such as Samsung, Toshiba etc or do you think a less well know brand but with better spec would still have appeal and make people buy tickets?

The thinking is that I have found a TV however it is not one of the main players.

It is a Digihome make, they are sold in retailers such as Currys however I can get a 32'' LED with built in Freeview and SMART WiFi features such as internet, YouTube, BBCi Player, Facebook etc and they will give me a genuine 20% discount so this makes it £128.

Or would I be better spending the extra on a 'branded' make with less features?

Tesco have a Samsung 32" smartTV at £199 - in store not Tesco direct, but having an unbranded TV for a raffle prize wouldn't bother me at all.

Have to say that I think most would want a good brand name. I would go with Denny`s suggestion. Does it have to be a tv?

Hi Graham, to be honest I don't think that it really makes that much difference what the prizes are in a raffle because in my experience people tend to regard buying raffle tickets as the same as making a donation and they will buy tickets on the basis of how much they want to donate rather than thinking 'I won't buy any tickets because it's not a Samsung only a Digihome'.

If this is a one off or first time event it can be hard to predict what people will give but in a way you do need to be a bit hard nosed about this. At one of the regular events I help with, most people will spend £5 a head on raffle tickets regardless of what a single ticket costs, and whether that will buy them 5 or 25. Most of these events will attract 200 people so the raffle tickets usually raise around £700 because some couples will only buy £5 worth between them. If you think that the numbers will stack up in a similar way for you then the investment of £128 will be worth it.

But I think that depending on how many people you expect to be able to sell tickets to then if the main prize is to be a TV (and one which has a decent spec from the sound of it) then I would consider pricing the tickets at £1 each, £4 for a strip. It probably won't increase the total take very much because as I said most people will have a pre-set limit in their mind that they apply whenever asked to buy raffle tickets but it will reinforce that this is a decent raffle with the opportunity to win a high value prizes that is worth a great deal more than what you are asking people to stake. Enabling the people who will be selling them the opportunity to emphasise that surely the main prizes is worth a punt of £1 is a good tactic.

And a final tip, if the raffle will be taking place at some sort of event then a good selling point for the raffle is always to have a well laden table with the prizes displayed somewhere prominent as people enter eg by the desk table where any tickets will be collected. A well laden table, even if only of relatively small value prizes, will tempt people to buy tickets. After all even a £5 bottle of wine is a good prize if the ticket only cost £1! But having say a bottle of a decent malt, a bottle of cava or prosecco and a couple of bottles of table wine doesn't actually cost much but looks good. And after all, if he has managed to tap you for a TV then he must be able to charm other friends into donating a bottle from their own wine rack? It's amazing what does get donated when you ask. Most of us have been the recipients of an unwanted gift that is destined to find its way to a charity shop sometime soon but could be a welcome prize for the raffle instead. At one raffle we were given a boxed pair of Edinburgh crystal whisky tumblers that the donor was more than happy to get rid of because they couldn't stand ornate crystal! But the winner was absolutely delighted with them because they matched glasses she already had. Two very happy people and money raised for a good cause!

Different strategies work best for different raffle settings so I might be able to pass on few more tips if you can let me know whether this is eg a raffle at an event and hence there's only the opportunity to buy and sell at that event or whether it is one where tickets will be sold over a longer period before the draw takes place.

SM

Thanks again folks

He works for Sky in a call centre and what started of as a joke about him getting his hair cut has now developed in to a fund raising event for 2 charities, Breast Cancer Care and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

Initially it was just a couple of colleagues who were going to give some money to a charity of his choice if he cut his hair (it needs a good trim IMHO) however it has developed in to all the floors in the call centre with a senior manager going to shave his hair off.

Sky have been very good and donated some items and let him print begging letters and he has also set up a just giving http://www.justgiving.com/teams/shaveaginger guess what colour of hair he has
On the actual day there will be a stall set up in the centre and as it located within the centre of Glasgow I think they hope to have a stall just outside the building too. The Charities have supplied thing like pin badges etc to help promote the stands.

My thought was that if possible he should set the stall up in the foyer in advance as people arrive for work and sell tickets if possible and he is already trying to sell them in advance.

Hi Graham, just catching up on your latest post about this really admirable effort on your son's part.

Setting up a stall just inside the foyer for as staff arrive for work is a great idea - it takes a hard heart to walk past colleagues and not buy a £1 worth of tickets. Also seeing a laden table suggests to people that they have a good chance of winning something even if not one of the big prizes. However, he needs to be cautious about setting something up outside - depending on local bye laws it might count as a charity collection and you usually need a licence for that. However, if the immediate outside area is private property rather than the public highway, and the developer still often retains ownership of the seemingly public space outside of big office complexes - especially if pedestrianised - then strictly speaking he needs the permission of whoever owns the land but personally I would probably just chance it. The important thing is that if it is private land then the police aren't going to turn up asking to see the licence from the council.

I don't know if he has already approached them but we have found that the big cinema chains will usually donate vouchers for a couple of seats - the local manager can do this at their discretion. Some of the big restaurant chains will do this to - we have found for some reason that the pizza chains are usually very ready to do this! Sometimes it is a 'buy one get one free' voucher or free pizza but you pay for drinks etc so not a totally altruistic gift but others have been more generous. And either way it is an extra prize. If there are local businesses that Sky staff frequently use - eg buying stuff at lunch time etc - then it is worth approaching them for some sort of donated prize too.

In return, don't just put the vouchers in a plain nondescript envelope but in a large one with a bold statement on the outside of the prize inside etc. We usually also have a big poster listing and thanking all the businesses that have donated prizes prominently displayed as well and letting potential donors know this means that they know that they will get some publicity in return and that can tip the balance towards them donating a prize in the first place.

SM

Well just an update on my sons charity fundraising.

He set out to raise £900 for 2 charities, he is getting his hair shaved off tomorrow which is the main day that it is happening at his work so there will be more raffle tickets bought and general donations, currently he has raised in the region of £950 and the SKY call centre where he works has also decided that there will be a dress down day and all the staff will pay £1 so this should raise even more for the charities.

The tax relief that is given on donations is a whopping 25% so if anybody ever donates to any charities do please try and make sure you give your details for the tax relief.

Ed Sheeran as some people call my GINGER son will be a BALDY tomorrow as tax relief is given we are going to give the money raised via the JustGiving donation link, if you have never used it this is a great way to raise and donate money for any chosen charity http://www.justgiving.com/teams/shaveaginger

So far the raffle has raised around £500 so lets see what tomorrow brings, he has some fantastic prizes so once they are on display hopefully it will attract more to buy tickets, I used the idea of writing on large envelopes so people can see what vouchers are in them

I now have a VERY bald son

A quick update, strangely as SM predicted the raffle did indeed raise around £700, slightly over I think. His charity target was to raise £450 for each charity so making a total of £900, he is currently sitting around the £1200 mark with some donations still to come in and a dress down day in work on Thursday so I should be able to give you a proper figure then.

As I mentioned some people had been donating via the JustGiving link http://www.justgiving.com/teams/shaveaginger which he is also going to use to pay the rest of the money raised to the charities so that gives a further tax relief of around £240, so something around £1450 will be the actual sum.

That's fantastic! Well done to Kiltman Jnr and yourself for supporting him in this sterling effort. It is interesting that his raffle raised around the same amount that we usually raise with one. Perhaps it's one of those laws of the universe 'Verily, every raffle should raise approximately £700 regardless of which charity it is for, what the prizes are or the price of the tickets'.

SM

The dress down day at Ed Sheeran sorry I mean Graham Jnr's work went very well and as his charity efforts start to come to an end his total is now just over £1400, so well done to him and it is good to say that his old dad has more hair than him now

children are very problematic i think ...