How campus units get auction items donated

For letter structure, follow-up cadence and tracking, see how to get silent auction donations and the donation request letter template. On a campus, most of the catalogue does not come from a letter at all.

Internal first, because it is where the value is

1. Map the access items to their owners

Before asking anyone, write down which office controls each thing you want: parking, ceremony seating, dining, special collections, facilities, the residence halls, the observatory. One list, one owner per line.

Then ask each owner once, in person or in a short email, for a specific thing with a date. "Would you release one parking space for the autumn term as an auction item?" is answerable. "Could you support our fundraiser?" is not.

2. Faculty and staff, through their chair

A lecture, a consultation, a tour, a class. Route the request through the department chair or dean so nobody is put in the position of declining a colleague directly, and so the workload question is answered by the person who owns it.

3. Advancement, for what they already hold

Advancement frequently has donated items, event inventory, or relationships with businesses that give to the institution routinely. Ask what exists before approaching the same businesses independently and duplicating a solicitation.

Then outside, in the right order

4. Alumni businesses

Graduates who own businesses are the warmest outside ask a campus has, and advancement can often identify them or make the introduction. The item listing reaching an alumni audience is a genuine offer to an alumni-owned business.

5. The town the campus sits in

Restaurants, hotels, bookshops, services. A university is usually a significant part of the local economy and the businesses nearest it know it.

6. Institutional suppliers, carefully

Vendors who sell to the university are a procurement-policy question rather than a fundraising opportunity. Ask your purchasing office before soliciting a supplier — the answer varies by institution and getting it afterwards is worse.

What to offer

The item listing, a mention in whatever channel you are permitted to use, recognition at the event, and a receipt from the correct entity — which on a campus means naming the account or foundation rather than "the university".

Timing

• Twelve weeks — advancement conversation, and the access-item owner map
• Ten weeks — access requests to each owner, in writing
• Eight weeks — faculty and staff, through chairs
• Six weeks — alumni businesses and the town
• Three weeks — catalogue closed; licensing confirmed on anything branded

Committee structure: committee and volunteer roles.