Meet With Committee Members Regularly To Prepare Them for Success
After you recruit your committee members, meet with them to explain their duties. You will also need to
meet with them regularly to:
• Answer any questions they have about their duties
• Brainstorm ideas for soliciting donations and to provide any additional information they
need.
• Divide the committee into teams to contact prospective donors.
• Set goals for donations and report on progress.
• Review updated database of past donors and donated items
• Revise or create the donor request letter and donation receipts and distribute to all
committee members and prospective donors.
• Find out if any committee members have relationships with retailers, business owners or
individuals that could be possible donors.
• Set and review the time limits to receive donations.
• Cheer the success of your members, address issues or roadblocks and offer solutions.
Explain How Donating Auction Items Benefits the Business Owners
Many people don’t know how to solicit donations for auctions. They don’t want to bother the business
owner, but the success of this process is all about how YOU think about it. In actuality, you are offering
the business owners a great opportunity to gain exposure for their companies and the possibility of
gaining new customers. If your solicitations team understands that you are really presenting a great
opportunity to your local businesses, the team members will be more excited to approach them.
Have Fun and Be Creative with Your Solicitations Committee
Be creative with you committee. This is important because if you make the solicitation process fun, your
committee will be more motivated and successful. For example, one school we worked with had a safari
theme. To be consistent with the theme, the chairperson gave each person on the team a green folder
titled On the Hunt for Great Auction Items which included solicitation information, a small pair of toy
binoculars, and a safari hat. It was a huge hit! Here’s another idea for a safari theme: Give each team
member a water bottle, a flashlight, a folder decorated with animal print and instructions on hunting down
great items.
Show Your Auction Solicitations Team How Much You Appreciate Each of Them
Let your committee members know that you appreciate all their hard work. Tell them that you will list their
names and the items they solicited along with a special thank you on the bid sheet or display card. For
example, include something like the following on the bid sheet or display card: Thank you, Sharon Smith
for soliciting this auction item.