PTA raffle donation struggle

[Julietta05]

Hello,

With Christmas approaching, it is time to start thinking about Christmas raffle, tombola etc. I wanted to ask fellow PTA members how do you obtain raffle prizes? We are not registered charity for various reasons but mainly we struggle with volunteers amd a lot of businesses donate prizes only to registered charities. I would like to approach businesses but locally it does not look great (voucher to a Kebab takeaway or Indian takeaway do not look tempting).
Do you have any ideas what businesses in particular I could approach? Or any other ideas?

Many thanks

We do a hamper raffle too! Each year group decorates a big cardboard box to look beautiful and Christmassy, and in late November we have a non-uniform day in exchange for 'luxury items'. Most kids get it and bring in chocolates, bottles, bubble bath, biscuits etc.

Then we have a group of volunteers go in to compile the hampers and wrap them with cellophane and ribbons. We send home tickets with each child and also have a stall at our local Christmas fair where we sell tickets.

Ours is quite a big school though, two form entry, so even if some kids don't donate we still have more than enough items to make up the hampers.

I'd be happy to win a voucher for an Indian restaurant or a hairdresser. What do you think is a better donation from a small business?

More and more parents are realising PTA events are an utter waste of time. They spend £5 on a crappy present for the Secret Present Room and another parent gives their child £3 to buy it. £8 wasted, loads of time wasted, and the PTA only recieves £3.

It is true, very true and this tread made me realise another thing. We are pushed by the school to raise money and we do struggle as we have very limited number of volunteers and places where we can source the prizes from. We do have hamper baskets, few prizes but that plus Christmas fair is the biggest contribution to PTA funding. I personally think that amount of time and effort it takes to organise the Christmas Fair does not translate to the benefits. But school only sees money and pushes for those things to be done. But that is completely different matter.

We haven't done a Christmas fayre for a few years as the effort put in didn't translate to extra funds. We're a secondary school and it's really hard to get parents to engage.

www.communitie.co.uk

They are just starting out. But might solve this problem?

Ask the school if the children can write letters to the businesses as part of their community based activities.