# Donations to charities?



## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

Usually after a rocking chair has sat in the gallery for a year I like to rotate it out and put a new one in there. I decided this year to try and donate the chair. I have attempted to contact a few places, like Ronald McDonald house in Rochester, etc. I have received no reply, not even a letter stating "we cannot accept furniture donations, but if you want to send money…"

I would like the chair to go to a charity here in WNY, since I don't want to have to drive it far.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this or any thoughts?

Thanks.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

SPCA


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## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

The dogs and cats need chairs? They did a stellar job of helping to pick up the chickens last week. Did you hear about Buffalo's chicken disaster?

I tried to get a link to the story, but it seems broken. Short version:
A tractor trailer rolled over on the highway, spilling 9700 live chickens. Traffic is deadlocked and people are running all over trying to catch the chickens. The SPCA shows up and insists on taking all recovered live chickens back to their place for their vet to check out, just to hand the chickens back over to the owners, who then proceeds to drop them off at the slaughter house…SPCA donations at work.

Here is the link, not much of a story:
http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=59908&provider=top


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

sounds like a good addition to a support centre for new mothers.

that's strange that you didn't get a response back. Keep trying.. you'll find that "right place" for the chair and they'll greatly appreciate it.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Thinking more about the larger shelters. Many have nice waiting rooms, administrators offices, etc.

Maybe one of these would be better http://allwny.com/charity.html


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## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

I did talk to Lollipop Farms and they have a charity auction, so they are very interested.

Good idea Debbie, I tried the local hospitals and their maternity wards, but they didn't seem that interested. Maybe their chairs have to be AMA and OSHA approved for insurance reasons.


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## darryl (Jul 22, 2006)

it seems funny to me that it would be so difficult to give away what I'm sure is a beautiful chair!
I've been thinking for a while now about donating some furniture… I just haven't come up with a solid game plan yet.


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## trifern (Feb 1, 2008)

You may want to contact your local United Way and/or Rotary Club. I have donated pieces to both organizations. Both instances the pieces were part of fund raising auctions. This type of donation helps the organization raise cash, puts your work in front of a lot of civic leaders, and provides a tax write off. Both instances also provided admittance into the event and provided networking opportunities.


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## Bob42 (Jan 9, 2008)

I just finished working on a Habitat house that has a porch. Maybe something like that in your area?


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

we have "Early Learning Centres" here.. they'd appreciate them
or the Children's Aid Society 
Library maybe.. limited space, though
group homes

It is interesting how many organizations cannot take donations.. sad, really-liability issues really put up road blocks. We've made it that they have to spend millions when they could get the same stuff donated.


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## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

We have worked out a deal with Lollipop Farms, which I think is associated with the SPCA. Anyway, they handle all animals from the normal dogs and cats up to farm animals like horses and cows. Members of the extended family have adopted from there and they have a charity auction event in November so the timing works out well.

Always open to next year's suggestion, think this will be an annual thing if I can fit it in the schedule.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

that's wonderful!! 
"Hats off" to Lollipop Farms who opened their doors to donations! (and of course to all the work they do)


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

oh and to you for the donation!!


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## robinlynn (May 1, 2008)

Not sure if you're affliated with any church. But my church does an auction once a year and loves getting donations. Just a thought.


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## jcash3 (Dec 15, 2007)

nursing homes or senior citizen centers


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## John1 (Aug 3, 2008)

A few years back I participated in a charity bike ride for the NY Special Olympics in the Central NY region. The local Elks clubs in the towns where the ride ended each night was very supportive. I don't know if they have an auction scheduled in their fundraising program but it is a very worthwhile organization. You might try doing a search of Pedal For Medals if you would like more information or contacting the local Elks club in your area. They donate more to charity than Uncle Sam does the less fortunate.


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## Taigert (Nov 20, 2007)

My favorite charity is the Shriners Hospitals.
They provide FREE care to kids with Orthopedic problems, and kids that have been burned.
If you imagine what these kids go through having all the reconstruction surgeries. When we tried soothing our kids for just the normal run of the mill upsets, our rocker was priceless.
I'm not sure what part of NY your in, But the Shriers are all over the place. Our you could contact any Masonic Lodge. Any Mason in your area can put you in touch with a Shriner.

Another Charity I give a lot of time, effort and money is Little League Baseball.
I cant think of any League that doesn't use Silent Auctions as a Major fundraiser.
The great thing about supporting Little League is that it stays in your community!
The funds that could be raised on a Rocker could easily mean the difference of a dozen kids playing ball, for a season. By giving these kids something constructive to do keeps them from a lot of the problems they can find themselves in.
With the amount of single parents we have now adays, alot of them just need help with covering the cost of registration. For our 14 year old we paid out $300.00 thats a lot of money if you dont have it.
The second part of supoerting the local Little League is that it also gets your name in front of the people in your local area. When they are in the market looking for a product they remember the names of the Artists and companies who donated items.
So it is a Win Win situation for al involved.

I'm sorry about getting long winded. This topic is very close to my heart.

We arrived at our Little League facility to have practice today and one of the other Coaches found that we had been broken into. So we most likely lost a couple of Grand in $1000 to $2000 equipment plus another $2000 to fix all the damage of being broke into such as kicked in doors and so on.
You have to wonder about our society these days???


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## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

All great ideas, thanks. I didn't even know the Masons were behind the Shriners, so I learned something everyday.

I could support little league, unless I lived in Connecticut. I don't think we have an organized little league though, not enough kids in the area. On weekends the town hosts pick-up games so everyone who wants to play shows up and they get sorted by age and then teams are randomly choosen. They do this for baseball, soccer and flag football. It is actually pretty cool and a lot of fun for the kids and parents. Plus since you don't have selected teams no one gets left out and you don't have to worry about the over-competitive parent.


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## gusthehonky (Feb 26, 2008)

Hospice?


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## BriMtl (Mar 28, 2008)

I've been considering donating one of my rockers to charity also. 
To be honest there's more to the idea than simply being generous. I've been told that it's a good idea from a business promotional point of view.
Has anyone ever actually received orders after making a donation?


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## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

This is my first donation but the charity is featuring me on their main web site (since they consider it a "high-end" item and I get 2 free tickets ($100 a person tickets) to the event where I will have brochures and business cards, will let you know how it turns out.


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## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

So this past Saturday was the event. There were about a dozen corporate sponsors present and about 50 ticket-buying general public, if people who live in $600k houses driving Mercedes and Lexus can be considered general public.

It was a good time, free wine, beer and good food. The rocking chair was featured up on a platform and the MC did all of her announcement while sitting and rocking in it. We invited anybody to come up and sit in it during the event.

The auction was a huge success.

As far as my tangible results, I walked out with orders for 3 new rocking chairs. The couple who purchased the rocking chair is very interested in solid wood furniture in general and we are working out the new commissions for the rest of the house. They live in a neighborhood of 4000-10,000 sq ft homes averaging $600k. So I delivered the chair and they took a stack of my cards to pass out in the neighborhood to their friends and neighbors. About 40 of my cards dissappeared to the people attending the event.

So, in short, a donation of a $3500 chair brought in $12,000 instant sales and about another $20,000 to $30,000 to be designed and worked out, with the potential for a lot more. It was well worth the investment of the material and time. Plus we helped the animals.

-Rich


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## oldskoolmodder (Apr 28, 2008)

Who says that giving to charity doesn't bring back good rewards? (Kharma?)

Congrats. In this economy, that's a big score.


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## woodyoda (Dec 7, 2008)

Maybe next year , you might think about the veterans…...some of the veterans have been in the hospital since viet nam in the sixties. Having anyone think of them, uplifts their soul.


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

*A fine ending to a great thread.*


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## Al_Killian (Feb 15, 2008)

Childrens Hospital is a good place for donating. Last year I donated a few childrens chairs. Contact their human resource department.


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## gusthehonky (Feb 26, 2008)

Two thumbs up! Glad to hear such a terrific outcome came from your generous and noble gift.


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## jcsterling (Aug 1, 2008)

Just to put an appeal in: my wife and I founded a non profit that provides financial assistance to families who have a child with cancer. We are a 501© (3) all volunteer non profit. We would be more than happy to accept any donation for our fund raiser traditionally held the Sat before thanksgiving. You can find out more about our organization at www.bluebutterflyfund.org . Not too ashamed to beg for donations
John


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## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

I think that you may have just talked to the wrong person.

I notice that most other artists at the auctions get paid either 1/2 of the auction price or they get enough money to pay for the materials.

If you want to donate the whole thing, which I did earlier this year, see if you can get a couple of plates at the dinner for it. It is a reasonable trade for them.

The real point here is that you have to attend the auction. They need to allow you to place a page with pictures telling the story of how you believe in the program and built this project to support it through the sale of this item at the auction.

If you can get up in front of the crowd to introduce yourself and the item it helps the public connect your face to the project. Just personally say the same basic thing that you printed. This is very common for individuals and businesses to do when their donated items are next on the auction block.

This bench auctioned for $1550.00 and here I am talking to the individual that got the winning bid, on the bench you can see my marketing page that tells my story.



This individual bought a dining bench shortly after the auction.



I think that donations are an important part of an overall marketing plan. It is important to keep your face out there but you have to moderate how much you give away. If you are not structured as a corporation you can only deduct the materials - not the time.

The cool thing about this auction is this; my wife is an absolute artist with food and does personal cheffing and catering. She donated a tapas dinner and brought in $2500. Combined, we brought in $4050.00 for one of our favorite charities.

There is no way that we could have written that as a check!


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## ERICSFISHIN (Dec 11, 2008)

I have donated many items I made to non charitable organizations. I also have donated to Fire departments for silent raffles ect…


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