How hospices get auction items donated

For letter structure and follow-up, see how to get silent auction donations and the donation request letter template.

The order

1. Volunteers

The largest reliably reachable group, and one that already makes things — many hospices have volunteers producing quilts, blankets and memory boxes as part of the service. Ask what they do professionally as well; the volunteer roster is a directory nobody reads as one.

Ask individually and lightly. A substantial share came to the organization because it cared for someone of theirs, and an ask that lands as an obligation is the wrong outcome with this group.

2. Funeral homes and professional partners

Funeral directors, florists, estate attorneys, financial planners, monument makers. They work with the same families, they understand the organization, and almost no hospice approaches them as fundraising partners rather than referral relationships.

A funeral director in particular is the person asking families about "in lieu of flowers" — a relationship worth having for reasons beyond the auction.

3. Health and wellness businesses

Massage therapists, yoga studios, spas, retreats. Strong alignment with the rest category and a high response rate.

4. Service clubs and congregations

Both fund concrete provision with a named cost, which is exactly what a hospice has.

5. Existing donors and the community

Restaurants, retail, experiences. Standard, and last.

When a bereaved family offers something

They will, and it is a genuinely good moment — a family offering their person's work, a piece of furniture, a painting, or something they made in their memory.

• Accept warmly, and take time over it rather than processing it
• Ask what they want said in the listing, and use exactly that
• Confirm whether the person is named, and whether the family is
• Tell them what it raised, personally, by name
• Give them a way to change their mind before it goes live

And never solicit this. A family who volunteers something is doing something they chose; a family asked is a family put in a position they did not choose, by an organization they associate with the worst weeks of their life.

What to offer

The item listing, a mention to the supporter list, recognition at the event, and a receipt. For professional partners, the real offer is the relationship — a hospice that treats a funeral director as a colleague rather than a referral source gets considerably more than an item.

Timing

• Ten weeks — volunteers, and confirm what the making groups can produce
• Eight weeks — funeral homes and professional partners
• Six weeks — health and wellness, service clubs, congregations
• Four weeks — community and gap-filling
• Two weeks — catalogue closed; anything from a family confirmed with them in writing

Avoid the fortnight around your remembrance event, and avoid the days around significant local losses. Whoever runs bereavement will know.

General information, not legal or compliance advice for your organization. Patient privacy obligations continue after death and depend on your own policies and funding conditions — your privacy officer and counsel decide how any of this applies.

Committee structure: committee and volunteer roles.