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Be responsible for setting up a community yard sale. Request that each participant donate either 25% or $25 to your organization.
In preparation:
1) Find a good location within your community (housing development) & obtain permission (in writing) to use the property (yard, field, driveway, etc.). Determine how many 6' tables will fit on the site, remembering to allow room between tables and aisles. Make sure you thank the person for donating the site on your flyer, but do not name them unless they say it is ok. Otherwise everyone will be wanting to use the land.
2) Make & distribute flyers about the yardsale to the community. Design 4 per page & see if you can have them printed for free by a local business (depending on your organization, they may be a tax-deductible donation by the printer). On the flyer remind everyone:
a) to bring a chair for each participant;
b) munchies;
c) an umbrella if it looks like rain;
d) bug spray;
e) everyone is responsible for cleaning up any trash in their area
f) smoking is not allowed within the yardsale site itself (thereby reducing the chance of fire, necessity of cleaning up nasty cigarette butts & irritating people who cannot be around cigarette smoke).
g) to move their vehicles away from directly at the yard sale to allow room for buyers.
3) Ask some local kids to help distribute the flyers, maybe for the cost of a pizza party afterwards. Do this about 3-4 months in advance to allow people time to dig through their stuff.
4) As people call to request a site, see how many tables 6' sites they will need. Ask if they will need tables. Try to get a church or school to donate the use of tables. Otherwise, set it up through a rental place to give a good price to get the tables from them, including delivery & pick up. Let anyone who needs tables know that they are available for lease, but you'll need the money for them up front (usually around $8-10 each). If you are able to get the tables for free, ask a nominal fee of around $2 per table to increase your profit.
6) Prepare cans (vegetable cans, etc.) to be placed on each table with info about your project. That way people can make a small donation even if they don't buy anything from that particular table.
7) Prepare signs stating COMMUNITY YARD SALE (which will bring more traffic than just saying "big yard sale"). Also indicate that it is for charity. Put them everywhere. Again, see if local business will donate the materials for them, & even if some will let you put the finished signs in their establishments.
8) Place an ad in the local newspaper, giving a rain date. Again state that it is a COMMUNITY YARD SALE for CHARITY.
9) Sell drinks (Coca-Cola and Pepsi often donate them for non-profit organization functions).
10) Provide a trash bag to each seller. Ask them to put it somewhere on their site so people can dump their soda cans, etc.
11) Don't forget to put up a table that tells about your organization. Have a raffle, if possible. Ask a local jeweler or other store donate an item & sell chances on winning it. Make or purchase the tickets for it.
12) Remember you are responsible for cleaning up the entire site once your sale ends. Do a good job, because you may want to use this site again, and after all, the owner didn't have to donate it to you in the first place!!!
Before you jump for joy over the incredible amount of money you made, don't forget to deduct all of your expenses: the newspaper ad, signs, notices, trash bags, etc. NOW jump for joy, because you did a great job!!! |
