TBN Jacket to be auctioned off. Advice needed.

[tallyho8]

I was very grateful to be the winner of the TBN jacket for guessing when the 2,000,000 post would be.

I have to do my part to help with the tragic oil spill in the gulf so I am going to auction off the jacket (you choose the size and color) and donate the money to the National Audubon Society to help the animals affected by the spill. It won't be much for me to do but every little bit counts.

I wanted to auction it off on this site and the winner send the money to TBN with their choice of size and color but I was notified there are reasons they can't do it this way so I must do it another way.

I need your help here. Should I list it on Ebay or should I just list it in a thread here and let people bid in that thread and list a specific time that the auction will end? The winner would have to send payment through Paypal or with a check in a certain amount of time or it would go to the next highest bid.

I know that TBNers are very generous and this money would go to a good cause so I would need y'all to help me get the word out about this auction. When it starts please don't do like the people on Ebay and wait for the last second to bid, just start low and raise your bid accordingly to keep it interesting.

1. So, do you want to see the auction here or on Ebay?
2. Can anyone make any other suggestions?

I will listen to your replies a while and figure out what to do.

THANKS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbsup:

 

[RadarTech]

I was very grateful to be the winner of the TBN jacket for guessing when the 2,000,000 post would be.

I have to do my part to help with the tragic oil spill in the gulf so I am going to auction off the jacket (you choose the size and color) and donate the money to the National Audubon Society to help the animals affected by the spill. It won't be much for me to do but every little bit counts.

I wanted to auction it off on this site and the winner send the money to TBN with their choice of size and color but I was notified there are reasons they can't do it this way so I must do it another way.

I need your help here. Should I list it on Ebay or should I just list it in a thread here and let people bid in that thread and list a specific time that the auction will end? The winner would have to send payment through Paypal or with a check in a certain amount of time or it would go to the next highest bid.

I know that TBNers are very generous and this money would go to a good cause so I would need y'all to help me get the word out about this auction. When it starts please don't do like the people on Ebay and wait for the last second to bid, just start low and raise your bid accordingly to keep it interesting.

1. So, do you want to see the auction here or on Ebay?
2. Can anyone make any other suggestions?

I will listen to your replies a while and figure out what to do.

THANKS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbsup:

Tallyho---
I think we should do it here..
It will have more importance to those here...

A couple of thoughts...
We are likely to get more $$ for the auction if we can get some of the sponsors here to chip in matching funds for the auction....
Each would just send a check to the NAS..

So sponsors-- how about a matching statement???

IE-- XYZ will match the jacket auction price up to $100.


I see the goal here is to get as much money as possible for the donation.



Muhammad -- I think if you donate a couple of items for the auction-- IE mug/hat for the second and third place bidders, we could get some more participation...



thought here---

no money goes to the auction or member here AT ALL...

the winner of the jacket just goes to the Audubon website and makes the donation.... and sends a copy of the reciept email to Muhammad...
or the Audubon society emails Muhammad.

I even sent an email to them to ask this question....

they can use a credit card etc....
and then the auction winner can get a donation letter to the non-profit for taxes..


Whatcha think???

J

 

[dcyrilc]

Tallyho---
I think we should do it here..
It will have more importance to those here...

A couple of thoughts...
We are likely to get more $$ for the auction if we can get some of the sponsors here to chip in matching funds for the auction....
Each would just send a check to the NAS..

So sponsors-- how about a matching statement???

IE-- XYZ will match the jacket auction price up to $100.


I see the goal here is to get as much money as possible for the donation.



Muhammad -- I think if you donate a couple of items for the auction-- IE mug/hat for the second and third place bidders, we could get some more participation...



thought here---

no money goes to the auction or member here AT ALL...

the winner of the jacket just goes to the Audubon website and makes the donation.... and sends a copy of the reciept email to Muhammad...
or the Audubon society emails Muhammad.

I even sent an email to them to ask this question....

they can use a credit card etc....
and then the auction winner can get a donation letter to the non-profit for taxes..


Whatcha think???

J

Not a bad idea at all. I'd rather see it here than on Ebay. I also think it would have more significance here than it would on Ebay. I think the question becomes how to appropriately reach the sponsers to see if they would be interested. Another thing which can be done, would be for individuals to offer to match funds up to a specified amount if they are interested and the bidding goes beyound what they feel they can comfortably afford. That way they can still be part of this.

A thought I just had, would be to run the auction so that each person donates their highest bid. There are several possabilities like something in between where it lies at the persons descretion, etc.

I'm not normally one to donate to charities, but in this case...I'm on board.:thumbsup:

 

[tallyho8]

Thanks for suggestions so far.

I would prefer to auction it off here on TBN. And in the RURAL LIVING section as that is one of the most widely read sections. Very few people read the FEEDBACK section.

RadarTech, I sent a small donation to NAS to see what reply I got and their email reply was satisfactory so we could use your suggestion and the winner could pay NAS directly online and forward their return email from NAS with their name and address and $ amount to Muhammad along with their size and color choice and he could send them the jacket directly.

As far as contacting sponsors to see if they would match the winning amount with a donation, this is fine if someone wants to contact the sponsors and ask them if they want to participate. But I ran my horse club for 20 years and requested donations so many times that people would run and hide when they saw me coming so I am not willing to ask anyone for money.

I am going to Hawaii next week and will not be on a computer for 2 weeks after that so I would like to get the auction started before I leave and have it end after I get back.

Please keep your suggestions coming.

 

[rekees4300]

tallyho8 congrats on your victory and thoughtful auction! :thumbsup:

"1. So, do you want to see the auction here or on Ebay?"
Here
"2. Can anyone make any other suggestions?"
Keep it simple

 

[RadarTech]

Thanks for suggestions so far.

I would prefer to auction it off here on TBN. And in the RURAL LIVING section as that is one of the most widely read sections. Very few people read the FEEDBACK section.

RadarTech, I sent a small donation to NAS to see what reply I got and their email reply was satisfactory so we could use your suggestion and the winner could pay NAS directly online and forward their return email from NAS with their name and address and $ amount to Muhammad along with their size and color choice and he could send them the jacket directly.

As far as contacting sponsors to see if they would match the winning amount with a donation, this is fine if someone wants to contact the sponsors and ask them if they want to participate. But I ran my horse club for 20 years and requested donations so many times that people would run and hide when they saw me coming so I am not willing to ask anyone for money.

I am going to Hawaii next week and will not be on a computer for 2 weeks after that so I would like to get the auction started before I leave and have it end after I get back.

Please keep your suggestions coming.

Tell you what--- I'll PM Muhammad and see about the sponsors...

J

 

[Johndeere3720]

What would you start the bid at? I could see that being a very expensive jacket. Also, what would be the minimum $ increment for bidding?

 

[Big Bri]

tallyho8, good for you. I think that is an awesome idea. Make Louisiana proud.

 

[tallyho8]

Keep it simple

I think this is the best suggestion so far.

We will be having the auction in the RURAL LIVING section as it is the most highly used section.

Please do not beg, threaten or intimidate any sponsor or member into participating. It must be strictly voluntary. You may contact a sponsor or member to tell them about it if they wish to contribute. If you frequent another section such as PROJECTS or KUBOTA OWNING/OPERATING you may mention the auction in those threads to inform others about it.

I would like to start it off at $1 and ask people to bid in increments of only $1 each because people bidding $1 more several times a day will keep the thread at the top of the column but if one person starts the bid off with $100 then there will be very few, if any, bids and the thread will sink to the bottom of the page into obscurity.

People may voluntarily donate money to the National Audubon Society and write "I made a donation to the NAS" or "I made a $10 donation to the NAS".
Or sponsors or members can pledge to make a donation matching the winning bid up to a certain amount or matching a percentage of the winning bid up to a certain amount. This is strictly voluntary, on your honor, and all money must be sent directly to the NAS and not to TBN or any TBN member.

The winning bidder will have to forward his NAS receipt email to prove he paid along with the size and color jacket he wants.

I think the auction should go for one month to make sure all TBN members know about it and the highest bid at the cut-off time wins.

I will ask everyone to keep the spam and unnecessary comments down on the auction thread so that it will be easy for people to read and to keep in order.

If anyone has any other suggestions please respond soon as I wish to start the auction very soon.

 

[RadarTech]

Let's make it a sticky post...

and get a sticky post in all forums put up so that everyone will see it

J