The Procurement Solution
For the Procurement Solution, Silent Partners will:
- Consult and assist with the development of an effective solicitation letter that will appeal to big ticket donors.
- Mail solicitation letter to our domestic and international donor databases. This database is a product of years of research and is continually updated to meet the special needs of each client. We do everything to ensure that our clients receive valuable items for their live and silent auctions — everything from exotic international hotels and airlines to local restaurants and spas, autographed sports and entertainment memorabilia, show tickets and more. Need a trip to Hawaii, Europe, Asia or a cruise for your live auction? We can secure them for you!
- Create an attractive auction donation form that will include your organization’s logo, as well as requests for information from donor such as company name, donation description, special instructions, estimated value, etc.
Our databases consist of the following:
- Great hotels throughout the world as well as domestic hotels as well as airlines and cruises. Quite often we will secure hotel stays in the Caribbean, Italy, France, Greece, Switzerland, the Orient, Mexico and these hotels are the highest-rated hotels in the world. Some hotels will donate stays valued at over $4,000 that will sell well – even without airfare. Attendees will simply use the mileage they have earned and make great vacation getaways with these stays. Since we staff and automate our auctions, we thoroughly analyze the results. We have found that travel-related items represent anywhere from 50-60% of the proceeds at our auctions.
- Outstanding local community database consisting of the top restaurants, health spas, golf clubs, sports teams, entertainment venues. The restaurants we write to are only ones rated by Zagat at 20 and above. In addition, we only write to the specific owner/General Manager of the restaurant which gives our clients a better chance of getting the donation.
- Wine Database that includes wineries in the Sonoma, Calistoga, Napa Valley areas who donate tour and tasting certificates and bottles of wine. Quite often we can secure a San Francisco or Napa hotel to package with.
- Entertainment database including tickets to local entertainment venues and throughout the country as well as Disneyland in L.A., Disneyworld along with celebrity scripts, photos and tapings of shows
- Golf database consisting of local country clubs, throughout the country and all over Florida that donate foursomes of golf. Donations also include golf club manufacturers and clothing manufacturers.
- Cosmetic database that includes frequent donors such as MAC Cosmetics, Stila, Smashbox, La Prairie, OPI, Borghese, Philosophy, L’Occitane and more.
- Handbag/Jewelry companies such as Prada, Dooney & Bourke, Michael Kors, Coach, Kate Spade, Fendi, Hermes, Jimmy Choo, Cartier, Bulgari, Rolex and more.
- Handle all the online submittals for companies who no longer accept letters in the mail. This is a growing segment and there’s over 200 companies that we will submit on your behalf. These submittals are on top of the letters we sent out. They are very time-consuming but well worth the time. Companies such as Southwest, Disney, Hilton and many more have switched to this method.
We never write to “Dear Sir or Madam.” We have over 35,000 contacts in our database and every letter we send out is sent to a real person with a real title. The envelopes are not labeled – they are lasered and go out on your letterhead and donors are donating to your cause. The bottom line is that the letters are professionally written and processed so they do not look like a mass-mailing. We are truly your Silent Partner and you are utilizing our databases to enhance your auction. We really add spice to our client’s events and all items are 100% donated – not on consignment.