sccdc...
Basically what you are seeking are called 'in-kind donations'.
There are many non-profit and charitable organizations which
rely heavily on these for a major part of their sustenance.
What you need is to create a campaign for soliciting in-kind
donations from your local community and/or large national
corporations. For the donors, the donations are usually
tax-deductible to some degree, and provide a needed tax break.
A good example of a web page where an organization is doing
this is the Trickle Up Organization, on this page:
"As a nonprofit organization, we are always looking for
in-kind donations to keep our administrative costs low,
thereby allowing maximum resources to be passed on to
those in need. Our Wish List is below, but feel free to
contact us if you have other materials that you would
like to donate. For more information about tax-deductible
in-kind contributions, please contact...", etc.
http://www.trickleup.org/getinvolved_mikd.asp
In addition to a web page which solicits these donations,
several non-profit organizations have useful suggestions
for doing this in other ways.
The Medical Reserve Corps notes the following:
"Let your partners and community champions know what you
are having trouble acquiring because they may know how
to help you get it. Also keep records of in-kind donations
as you would all other transactions. Individuals and
organizations may be more willing to support your MRC
if they can see that it has effectively leveraged
resources from a variety of sources."
"Action Steps
- Identify resources that might be attained through a direct
gift rather than by paying for it with funds.
Your list might include office space, office equipment,
a computer, software, programming and other support
services, media placement, communications materials, etc.
- Let your response partners and community champions know
what you need so they can direct you to possible donors."
The Community Toolbox site offers a more extensive list of
suggestions, as well as forms for keeping track of in-kind
donations, on this page:
http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/sub_section_tools_1340.htm
This page from the Community Toolbox offers the following
suggestions, among the detailed information on the topic:
"Plan how you will approach various members of your community
and ask for non-cash resources. Do your members have good
contacts with particular businesses, companies, institutions,
or individuals? Balance the costs to your organization (how
much time and money you will spend) with risks and benefits
of the search (potential loss or gain of resources or good
will). If your risks are too great, revise your plan to
solicit less. Think positively and creatively! The worst
someone can tell you is "No!" Although you might feel scared
at first about asking corporations for donations, in some
ways, seeking in-kind support is less intimidating than
asking for cash. At least some businesses, corporations,
or larger organizations are looking for smaller groups to
donate to. Why? Often it's a tax write-off, and it shows
their involvement and generosity to their host community.
And after all, if they are going to be making donations
anyway, why not have them be to you?"
http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/sub_section_main_1340.htm
An outline for the entire topic of in-kind donations,
with links to the various sections, is here:
http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/section_1340.htm
That section is actually Section 11 of Chapter 46
of the Community Building Tools. All 46 Chapters are
outlined on this page:
http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/tools_toc.htm
On the FUNDSVCS board, there is a useful post about
the language used in soliciting donations:
"When soliciting donors for in-kind gifts for silent auctions,
live auctions etc., we always include the following language
on the response piece:"
"I understand that this value will be used for describing this
item at the silent auction and may or may not be the value
for income tax purposes. I understand that establishing the
value for income tax purposes of any gift like this auction
item is my responsibility. Establishing this value is the
responsibility of the donor."
"You may be able to take a charitable contribution for income
tax purposes for the value of in-kind contribution to the
ASU Foundation. However, special IRS regulations govern the
valuation of items which will be resold and not directly
used by the Foundation for any educational or related purpose.
We suggest that you discuss any potential tax impact for this
contribution with your financial advisor."
http://hermes.case.org/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0308&L=fundsvcs&F=&S=&P=22813
Having worked with a non-profit organization for 6 years, I
watched as the Executive Director moved from a passive stance
with regards to in-kind donations, to an active stance, which
included hiring a Public Relations Specialist, whose expert
focus was acting as a Professional Fundraiser, on a contractual
basis, which provided them a base salary plus a percentage of
the donations for the year. This served to motivate the PR
person to acquire what was needed. If you're very clever, you
may be able to locate such a specialist who will agree to
provide you with their base salary as an in-kind donation.
This would allow you to pay them only a percentage of what
they pull in.
The Public Relations Society of America website might be
useful in locating such a person:
http://www.prsa.org/
If I understand your situation, you are going to want to
approach manufacturers and wholesalers for products which
can be sold in your retail outlet.
You first need to decide what sort of merchandise you are
willing and able to stock in your outlet. Then a list of
Manufacturers and Wholesalers in your immediate area can
be considered, as well as a list of potential national
donors. If you opt to use a PR Specialist, they will
likely have their own contacts and networks set up to
an extent that will give them an advantage.
A good beginning are the search results from this Google
search:
manufacturer OR wholesaler "located in Whittier, CA
://www.google.com/search?q=manufacturer+OR+wholesaler+%22located+in+Whittier%2C+CA
39 results
...as well as this one:
manufacturer OR wholesaler "located in California
://www.google.com/search?q=manufacturer+OR+wholesaler+%22located+in+California
9080 results
If you do not choose to use the services of a PR specialist,
you may find that this can be challenging work, which feels
a bit like door-to-door sales. Just remember that your
product - taxable deductions, and the chance to give back to
the community through providing resources for the less
priveleged - is valuable in more than monetary terms. Keep
in mind that the companies you approach will be grateful to
hear how their name will achieve a greater recognition, in
the local and/or national community, based on the assistance
they render in your behalf.
You can certainly employ a postal campaign, targeting
donors you have identified as having the sort of products
you want to stock, and soliciting factory seconds or
overmanufactured stock which exceeds current demand.
As a non-profit agency the postage should be inexpensive
compared to the potential return. You can set up
appointments based on the responses, and send well-spoken
staff to represent your interests.
If you can arrange for pickup and transport of the stock,
all the better, given current gas prices.
I believe the above should provide you a reasonable amount
of ideas and resources with which your team can begin to
formulate a plan more specific to the unique needs which
are best known and addressed by the staff in your own
organization. It might be helpful to familiarize your
key staff with the concepts and resources discussed above,
in preparation for a brainstorming session which can
result in both clarity of direction and the concrete steps
to take next.
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
A user's guide on this topic is on skermit-ga's site, here:
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/answer_guide.html#how_clarify
sublime1-ga
Additional information may be found from further exploration
of the links provided above, as well as those resulting from
the Google searches outlined below.
Searches done, via Google:
"soliciting in-kind donations
://www.google.com/search?q=%22soliciting+in-kind+donations
"public relations"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22public+relations%22
manufacturer OR wholesaler "located in Whittier, CA
://www.google.com/search?q=manufacturer+OR+wholesaler+%22located+in+Whittier%2C+CA
39 results
manufacturer OR wholesaler "located in California
://www.google.com/search?q=manufacturer+OR+wholesaler+%22located+in+California |
