items for a good cause

**rebel** · 08-28-2008, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by canid

i think a wider scope of auction venue would be in order, personally.

ebay could be great for that. the rest would be a matter of drumming up outside interest. everybody here will know of it, however it is to be arranged, but the more people know of the event, and the more they know about it, the better the turnout and interest. lets see what graywolf and everybody else has in mind.

This approach would aleviate some of the problems too.

**canid** · 08-28-2008, 11:39 AM

yeah, an establised auction broker such as i mentioned can potentially offer various levels of insurance, protection against non-paying bidders, etc

in the event of an all out loss due to the unforseen, the liability of loss could fall to the fund or be elected by the r providing the item, as is appropriate of the situation and agreeable to the vollunteer [eg. replacement of a damaged item, or refund of payment by the fund].

common terms would not be too hard to write up in any event, and i think a general donate at our own risk attitude would be helpfull. in any event, liability should be clearly disclaimed and preclude for the party making donations.

items should probably be auctioned 'as is', and it made clear to the buyer that they are donations made in good faith.

how does that saying go? cover your hind-parts...

**Rick** · 08-28-2008, 12:00 PM

The down side to an online broker is the fee charged. The up side is protection from fraud and a larger audience. Just my view. I do like the Donorchoose program. I had never seen that and I'm sure some worthy group(s) could be identified.

The other option is also just a simple donation without the auction. The forum has 1900+ members. If only 100 members donated $10 each that would be $1000 and would help three of the organizations like Chris picked out on Donorchoose if they average about $300 each.

Still another thought. The pass around knife could be expanded to pass around products and each one signing up could donate $5 or $10 to the pot to review and test the product.

Or....some combination of all of the above.

**rebel** · 08-28-2008, 12:06 PM

A minimum could also be added to cover costs such as fees and materials. Just an idea.

**pgvoutdoors** · 08-28-2008, 12:11 PM

I like the idea of providing equipment or handmade items for auction. I'm sorry, but I haven't any experience in managing this type of thing, but I'm all for donating some items to it. I'll keep an eye out for developments and as soon as your ready I'll provide what I can.

**Chris** · 08-28-2008, 12:11 PM

Ebay doesn't allow auctions that profess to donate to charity unless they're like officially registered charities with ebay ie... you gotta do some behind the work PR work with ebay to get them to allow such things.

And yes, the fees can be quite high.

**Gray Wolf** · 08-28-2008, 12:13 PM

A lot of concerns (that have and have not been mentioned) can be covered, as not to pose a problem. I will write up a proposed idea, then take feedback from everyone. I will write and post it here next week.

**FVR** · 08-28-2008, 10:24 PM

Not to be a downer, but I see problems. The site that I donated the bow to a few years back, you log on with your handle, but to register you have to use your real name. Now, you go putting your real name and then you have to be accountable.

There are many here that are accountable, many that are honest upstanding types that I would invite to share a fire and a few mugs of applepie with any day. Then there are those not so honorable fly by night visitors, those that will steal and not pay. It has already happened once here on the first pass around knife.

There is just no accountability.

On the other site, they just raised over 55 gran for Saint Judes Hospital. Make a bad deal there, you will have people knocking on your door and in your face. The participants don't mess around, they take things seriously, and they are all over the world. He ll, the guy who started the site lives right up the road, a few members live right down the road and we hunt the same woods, that's just the members from Georgia, I know most of them.

You pull some bs like that little bastard did with the knife, your gonna get your arse kicked, or, the police members will just pay you a little visit.

As soon as you get accountablity, I will donate a rainbow obsidian antler knife that I just finished. May have more as I'm getting the knapping bug and just switched from stone points to steel.

**Gray Wolf** · 08-28-2008, 11:16 PM

FVR, I will address those concerns and more. I remember you donated a amazing hand made axe.

**Chris** · 09-01-2008, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by FVR

Not to be a downer, but I see problems. The site that I donated the bow to a few years back, you log on with your handle, but to register you have to use your real name. Now, you go putting your real name and then you have to be accountable.

There are many here that are accountable, many that are honest upstanding types that I would invite to share a fire and a few mugs of applepie with any day. Then there are those not so honorable fly by night visitors, those that will steal and not pay. It has already happened once here on the first pass around knife.

There is just no accountability.

On the other site, they just raised over 55 gran for Saint Judes Hospital. Make a bad deal there, you will have people knocking on your door and in your face. The participants don't mess around, they take things seriously, and they are all over the world. He ll, the guy who started the site lives right up the road, a few members live right down the road and we hunt the same woods, that's just the members from Georgia, I know most of them.

You pull some bs like that little bastard did with the knife, your gonna get your arse kicked, or, the police members will just pay you a little visit.

As soon as you get accountablity, I will donate a rainbow obsidian antler knife that I just finished. May have more as I'm getting the knapping bug and just switched from stone points to steel.

We could always have pay first rules, which means only the people donating the items would then be able to rip off.

Or, we could take it a step further, and have pay first and send first... ie everyone sends their stuff to me, I take payments, then ship the goods on. But... then that'd be double shipping for everything and more work for me.

**FVR** · 09-01-2008, 03:05 PM

To cut down the shipping, the winner of the auction sends payment to Chris as he would be collecting it then sending it to the organization.

When Chris rec's payment, he then emails us who put the goods that it's good to ship.

When the winner wins, he will need to send payment to Chris and the shipping address to the donator.

Most times, the shipping cost is the actual shipping cost and can be posted. Of course there will have to be consideration for non US shipments and those out there to Calif., non US shipments.LOL.

**crashdive123** · 09-01-2008, 03:26 PM

If we're serious about this, let's wait to hear what Gray Wolf has to say since he has done this before. I defer to the experts whenever I can.

**Gray Wolf** · 09-03-2008, 02:07 AM

I understand ALL the concerns, as I've stated, I have more than a decade putting together many types of fundraisers, 9 years with the Boys and Girls Clubs, which is part of the United Way. We always have had to follow their rules and regulations (which work).
I just got back tonight, took my wife away for our Anniversary, and will try to have a proposal put together by this weekend. We never have gotten burned doing these type of Fundraisers. I have used the same model for other non-profit orgs that I was the Director of Fundraising, and again, we never have gotten burned. These events take time, planning and commitment. But it's worth it!

**Proud American** · 09-05-2008, 09:04 PM

I would go with the ship to Chris and the ship out to the winners. Then to cut dow on the cost just like the kife you pay one way. So the donor of say a throwing ax would pay for the shipment to Chris while the person buying would pay for the shipment to him from Chris. I don't know to me that seems like a good idea as its all for a good cause.I to am worried about the stealing part. I would hate to limit this to say members who are regular and people trust as this will drop our profits. More people will donate and buy if this has extra security. I also like the Boy Scout membership fee idea. Sadly I don't think I will be able to donate anything, but if this thing happens ill try.

Just my 2 cents

**Gray Wolf** · 09-11-2008, 12:36 PM

Just to keep everyone up do date, I'm still waiting to hear back from the BSA, to see if we can work with them as far as setting up a Scholarship type of program, for those parents that can't afford the costs to let one or more of their children to join. I will keep everyone updated.

**crashdive123** · 09-11-2008, 02:44 PM

Thanks for doing the leg-work on this Gray Wolf.

**chiye tanka** · 09-25-2008, 11:36 PM

I'd love to help. I make traditional Native American items, like chokers and leather bags. If I can help, please let me know.

**bulrush** · 10-10-2008, 11:37 AM

No one mentioned using Paypal. I've had an an account for years. The thing is, the buyer pays first, THEN the item is shipped to them. That's the accepted online way of doing business. However I don't know how many people here have a Paypal account. It is free to sign up, and when someone (a central person) receives funds from another person, the receiver is charged about 1.5%.