Exotic auction items pull in less for charity

By Charlie Boss
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



The silent auction for Dublin's Grizzell Middle School is a month away and already the donations are pouring in.

Botox. Laser hair removal. A weeklong stay at a condo on Sanibel Island in Florida. Rounds of golf with Blue Jackets player Fredrik Modin and former Jacket Andrew Cassels. Tickets to a behind-the-scenes tour at the Today show in New York.

Auction organizer Cyndi Lima has been stunned by parents' response. But in an ailing economy, she said it would presumptuous to assume the donations will raise enough money for interactive whiteboards for the school's sixth and seventh grades. (All eighth-grade classrooms already are stocked with SMART Board technology.)

"We'll be happy with whatever we raise," she said.

Experts say extravagant items such as vacation homes, sports tickets and entertainment packages are fairly commonplace in school-related auctions in wealthier communities.

Tonight, parents of Bexley High School's vocal ensemble are hosting a concert and silent auction to help pay for the group's trip to Europe this summer. The big draw: two pairs of tickets to the Sept. 26 Ohio State-Illinois football game.

Such top-dollar items might not generate as much money as they have in the past, said Tim Sullivan, president of PTO Today, a national publication for parent-teacher groups.

Lucy Ackley, who helped organize the Columbus School for Girls Alumni Association, discovered that in an online auction last month. The group raised $18,000, about $9,000 less than in a similar fundraiser last year.

Ackley said there were fewer donations as well as lower bids on vacation homes and trips this year. Proceeds support the school.

"I wasn't surprised by the total, given the economy, but I was still pleased with the results," said Ackley, the school's assistant director of development.

The Bexley Education Foundation took in $14,000 last month in an auction that included trips to Costa Rica, Anna Maria Island, Fla., and Gatlinburg, Tenn.

A more typical total is $20,000, said Suzanne Goldsmith-Hirsch, who coordinates programs and communications for the foundation.

"We're happy that people came out and show their support and buy stuff to support the foundation," she said. "Everybody is more conservative in their spending."

Sullivan of PTO Today said the most profitable and exciting items in an auction might be the "stuff you can't buy at Target."

Nonluxury items -- such as a dinner with the principal, a ride-along with the police chief or a parade ride in the fire truck -- offer memories that mean more to parents than a gift card, he said.

Bidders at Bishop Hartley High School's annual dinner auction last year competed over a sweat shirt designed by the wife of a veteran coach and teacher, VIP student parking spaces for a year and a dinner for eight prepared by a local priest.

The sweat shirt went for $200, the four parking spots for $5,000 each and the dinner for $7,000.

The event raises more than $100,000 for the school's tuition assistance program. It will be March 28 this year.

Along with the auction at Grizzell, students will have a bidding war of their own. Teachers have put up a dodgeball game against 10 students. Kids also can bid on a round of golf, horseback riding or a trip to the bookstore --- all with a teacher.

"It's a lot of experiences that we're putting together," Lima said. "We have things that will go for as little as $5 to $1,200. There are all sorts of different tangible items and unique experiences."



Source

Auction can help people. People helping people its good to hear about it.