So I'm organizing my chapter's big philanthropy event and it's a live and silent auction
So I need help
What kind of companies can I ask for donations?
OH WHAT UP I organized a silent auction for the Parents Weekend events I planned junior year. I ended up not having to cold call or solicit donations from anyone personally and we still cleared several thousand dollars. It might be a little different for you since this was a fancy cocktail party with parents (and booze) involved, but I'll still let you know what I did.
Do you guys have committees? Every officer had a committee and member of our chapter belonged of one of these committees. I required every committee to make up a basket for the auction, those were big sellers. Officers met with their committees and decided what their basket themes would be based on if anyone had any hook ups/connections/etc. One basket was Gamecock football themed (stadium cups, tailgating supplies, pompoms, game tickets for that weekends game, etc.) another was coffee lovers themed, Gamecock baseball themed, grilling themed (with various grill trinkets and sauces), movie night themed, and so on and so forth. I let the officers organize them within their committees and everyone had to have them in by a due date. It was a great way to get everyone involved. Plus is guaranteed at least 16 items from the 16 different committees.
Other than the baskets, I started asking for random donations anyone could offer. Nothing was too big or too small. BE SURE to involve your alumni as well, they love this stuff. Plus a lot of them have hookups from the companies they own or work for. Another neat idea is to get people's "special skills" involved. We had several super crafty girls so one of them donated painted wineglasses and another bought a cooler and offered to custom paint it for the winning bidder. One sister knew an artist who specialized in drawing of houses and donated a free sketch of the winning bidders home. One alum was married to a dentist and he donated two free whitenings. One sister's dad did these way cool iron animal statues that were perfect garden decorations. Another alum had a pretty Kappa charm bracelet. We had several sisters who were athletic trainers so they got a football signed by coaches and players at practice, and I remember that was a big seller.
I'll post more ideas as I remember them. You know where to find me if you need any help!