To help with fundraising, the band will be hosting a silent auction during the band craft fair coming up on December 4^th and 5^th.   We rely on all of the band parents to request donations from companies in our community for this silent auction.   The auction will run the entire weekend and will close at 3:00 pm on Sunday, December 5^th.   If you would like to help collect donations, I have attached a donation letter to this email that you can print out and offer to companies when you are making your request.  If you print out this letter, please include your contact information where it says "Questions?" at the bottom of the letter.   If you do not want to use your name, feel free to use mine (Theresa Eversole (719) 238-9975 ) as the contact.

When you use this letter, you can point out to the company that this letter should be all that is needed for tax purposes since the company can write down their donation, its value and the date of donation at the bottom of the letter.

Please, when you get donations, also get a business card or two from the company and attach those to the donated item.

Here's a quick list of hints / things to remember that can help silent auction item collection go more smoothly and be more successful:

Ø       Keep a few letters in your car.   Then, they'll be available if you visit a company (restaurant, store) that you can request a donation from.

Ø       Ask to talk with a manager - usually they are the ones who can make the decision on the spot.

Ø       Get 1-2 business cards from the donator so a thank you can be mailed later.

Ø       Include a contact name and number on the bottom of the donation letter for the company to use if needed.

Ø       Some businesses need 4-6 weeks to process a donation - talk with them early to give them the time they need.

Ø       When you get a donation, go to the www.prideofdoherty.com website and update the silent auction items spreadsheet.   Please include the donating company, their address and the item donated.   This way, we can try to avoid companies getting multiple requests from different Doherty parents and also have an updated list of our current set of auction items.

I hope this will help you in making donation requests.   If I've forgotten anything or you have questions, please email me!

Theresa Eversole

719-238-9975

 donations@prideofdoherty.com