To wonder where my donated item went?

[LemonTreeSkies]

There is a local charity that does great work. They had a fundraiser planned for today and we’re asking for raffle items. I sent the organiser a photo of a brand new items that was appropriate to their audience that I was willing to donate if they wanted it. It was worth about £200. He said yes, great, they’d appreciate it.
fundraiser event was today. Someone posted a video of a walk through of the raffle items and I didn’t see my item there.
I’ve just watched a replay of the live video of all the tickets being drawn and my donation wasn’t there. I’m not sure if IBU to be a bit peeved.
Im not sure if I should message asking what happened to the item I donated or just take the attitude I was willing to donate it so it shouldn’t matter what happened to it.

I would definitely want to know what’s happened with the item that you donated. Asking publicly will make it harder for them to ignore but if you don’t feel you can do that then a private email should still get a response.

I’m also very intrigued to know what it was. I’m thinking more along the lines of a sculpture or piece of art but that’s no where near as exciting as some of the other ideas!

please do keep us updated!

It could be that they are saving it for their next event. Especially if they had to many for this event.

Could you ask who won it, as you've found a (small) accessory that goes with it that you forgot to include, so you want to pass it on to the lucky winner for them to use with their new prize?

No in her team they all seem in on it sorry to say. I only know as she's a close relative it's not something they make too obvious or tell everyone. As I said before they may give a donation for what they take but they could make more by selling it.

I would definitely be peeved. I'd ask on fb publicly

I couldn’t let this go either.

I was under the impression that charities had to follow certain rules and any donations had to be used for the purpose it was given (and permission sought if they wanted to do otherwise). I would definitely ask what has happened.

Although I'm sure the vast majority don't do this, it strikes me that, when a valuable donated item is put on eBay - to maximise the amount it fetches for the charity/cause - there's no guarantee as to who will buy it. If it's a Buy It Now, somebody who works for the charity (or a relative) could 'find' it immediately it goes online and buy it; even if it's auctioned, it would be very possible to describe it in an obscure way (maybe with 'accidental' spelling errors), that most people wouldn't think of to search for it under - or even using blurry photos or deliberately off-putting descriptions.

I'm so curious now why you kept it hidden for 3 years!

So would I.

Thats a very frustrating state of affairs. I dont understand how some people justify things at times

Just as some paedophiles will deliberately get themselves into jobs/positions where they know they will have access to children, I have no doubt that SOME people will insert themselves into roles where they know they can divert valuable charitable donations to themselves.

I'm not saying that most people do it, but it's got to be a temptation for thoroughly dishonest people - just as the majority of the police are decent, upright citizens, but it still proves an attractive proposition to those who want to abuse the power, in order to get away with despicable things.

Definitely ask OP, and it's good you have written proof.
I bet someone's stolen it for themselves. Having been involved in many raffles etc over the years there's always one...

This

It's shitty behaviour to take something expensive and not be part of the raffle.

My bets someone took a fancy and chucked in a tenner as good will!

my guess it was ebayed
you can set a minimum price (that's the point after all) so if charity staff want to buy it fair enough
but yes, I'd ask and ask for an update when it is sold/used
offer to gift aid it- all the more reason if they expect to make a good amount

Thats a very frustrating state of affairs. I dont understand how some people justify things at times

Obviously, they are very wrong to do so; but I can see how people who volunteer their time might see it that they deserve a little 'thank you' for all their trouble.

It might start with some leftover unsold slices of cake or biscuits from an opened pack from a fundraising sale - that are sent home with the organisers rather than just thrown away - which no reasonable person would object to; but for a few, the seed grows in their mind that 'leftover' or 'unwanted' things can be appropriated by them - without taking the trouble to even display/offer them for sale or as prizes in the first place.

They may also unilaterally declare something 'unsuitable' for the event on the most spurious of grounds (e.g. it's a kids' group event, so they obviously can't use donated alcohol, even though there will clearly be a lot of parents there; a luxury cake has nuts in it, so they can't risk an allergy-sufferer seeing it, and so will have to 'get rid of it' into the boot of their car).

If we knew what it was we could check eBay listings, and previously sold items, out!

Maybe they sold it to raise money? Hope so or something else that isn't dodgy?

Years ago, as in nearly 20 years ago, I was pregnant and a couple of weeks off giving birth and got a huge fit of nesting, AKA throwing stuff out.

We had boxes of boxed wedding gifts, china, cut glass, a couple of expensive rugs, a tea set, dinner service, 2 cutlery sets etc.
I packed up the car and send husband off to deliver it to a local Fundraiser that was raising money for a local scout troupe.

Husband returned and told me that he had delivered the boxes and watched as the stuff was descended upon by a group of late middle aged women who divied up the spoils between them and never put a single thing out.

He was too intimidated by them to dare to query it.😁

On a side note, can you gift aid an item that is raffled, rather than outright sold?

Although an item worth £200 might only end up being effectively 'bought' for £5 by the one winning ticket-holder, there's no way of knowing how many people bought £5 tickets specifically because they wanted that one item. There may be a lot of cheap prizes that were won by people who are glad to have them, but who nevertheless wouldn't have participated in the first place if they hadn't had the chance of the big prize.

On a similar note, I've heard of tombolas before where there is one big stand-out prize that everybody will see and want throughout the duration of the fete, so the organisers don't put the winning ticket in until near the end (if at all) - for fear of the first person winning it and then nobody else bothering to participate after that. You can see the reasoning, but it's thoroughly illegal and dishonest.

There could be a reasonable explanation, like an eBay sale, but I would want to know.

I would want to know why it wasn't in the raffle.

In fact I do want to know, so I'm blatantly posting for the update.

This reminds me of the intriguing thread some while back about a laptop that was won in a raffle, by OP who wasn't present on the day, and then it was seemingly nicked by one of the organisers - or (I forget) maybe a 'friend' took it to pass on to her and then just kept it for their own kids. A friend who was at the event later congratulated OP on winning such a great prize and then it became apparent that OP had no knowledge of it - and despite a lot of persistence, OP kept getting fobbed off and never got her laptop.

I think the thread was later deleted; so disappointing!

There might be a reasonable explanation. I would ask in public too…

You can't claim gift aid on income from raffle ticket sales.