2015 Racketboy Charity Auction Informational Thread and Poll

[mjmjr25]

Greetings,

The following thread is the kick-off to our 2015 Racketboy Charity Auction...

Smaller, localized charities are now up for nomination - please PM or post in the thread. There will be a poll after the nomination period - nominations ARE OPEN.

The Charity Nominations:
Born Just Right: http://www.bornjustright.com/
Third Street Community Center: http://www.thirdstreetcc.org/
The Women's Center: http://thewomenscenterinc.org/
Able Gamers: http://www.ablegamers.com/
Extra Life (part of Childrens' Miracle Network Hospitals): http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?

Items:
-Items need not be gaming related.
-Consider shipping costs vs. value of item. One nice / light item will benefit the charity more than 5 heavy / low value items.
-Pictures are helpful - send them to me when I call for items.
-There is no limit to the number of items you can donate - though if something is very low value / interest it may not be accepted for risk of cluttering the auction.

Timeline:
-Items will be called for in early NOVEMBER with a warning cutoff shortly after Thanksgiving and a HARD cutoff on DECEMBER 1st.
-Auction will begin on DECEMBER 2nd and will run through 11PM EST, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26th.
-Auction will have a grace-period end. If an item has a bid in the last 3 minutes, that item will be extended an additional 3 minutes. EXAMPLE: Item #44 gets a bid at 1059, it is auto extended until 1102, if another bid at 1101, it is extended until 1104. There will be a HARD end at 1130 for any item with ongoing continuations.
-Payment for items will be due by 3 weeks after auction end. All items should be shipped within 5 weeks of auction end. Firmer dates pending.

Make it Unique:
Items that do the best year to year are: one-off, rare, or otherwise not readily available items...or at least not readily available at the current auction price.

Make it Personal, Get Involved, and a Challenge:
-Call on friends to get involved
-Advertise in your signature on different sites
-Start talking about it now
-PM friends to see what they're putting in
-Set aside an item or two now and forget about it - you'll have a cool item when the time comes
-Set aside $50, $60, or $300 now for bidding purposes - planning now will ensure you have the availability to bid when the time comes
-CHALLENGE TO ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS:
Set a goal for yourself about how much you can donate and how much you can spend. Set that goal now and start working toward it. We are a small community, but we are a supporting and close community. We have a core of active members and a larger core of 2-3 times a week members. We also have hundreds of sporadic members. Let's all pull together and reach an impressive number to be donated. I am optimistic that if everyone gets involved and excited early - we can hit $5,000.

[Luke]

Any of the options are fine with me.

May I suggest:

http://www.thirdstreetcc.org/who-we-are.html

Great place, great kids.



If no one is objected to the idea, I'd love if we could remove the word "charity" from the auction.

Instead of:

"Racketboy charity auction for Make a wish foundation"

use

"Racketboy auction to support the Make a wish foundation"

[BigLou]

What a lovely gesture. I went with local/family in need, as I have seen the corruption involving larger 'charities' first hand.

I've got a fair bit of video game, toy, and pop culture stuff, and Ebay is always an option, as well.

Just a side note: You mentioned RB being a "supporting and close community"....this probably explains why I've been showered with greetings and welcomed into the fray so warmly since joining days ago!


All jest aside, I'm down 100%.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Vote cast.

[sevin0seven]

vote cast as well, let's do this!

[8bit]

vote cast. look forward to participating again this year!

[jp1]

Count me in.

[Anapan]

The new guidelines are very well thought out. I'm happy it's continuing this year. Vote cast! Of course I am always happy with the decision the community makes. I have another box of hardware ready and I'm going to ask friends for unloved gaming stuff again. I see some consoles gathering dust in the corners of basements that need new homes.

I urge members to keep in mind the size and weight thing. There were a couple of previous auctions where the shipping was more than the donated items made for the charity (that means I could've sent the shipping cost to the charity and kept the items and more money would've gone to those in need). Derp!

It's all in good fun and I always have a blast - Let's make this one great!

[marurun]

Keep in mind that using tools like Charity Navigator you can review a charity's efficiency and priorities of money spent.

My wife and I both donated older cars to Our Lady of the Wayside (a regional org with homes for adults with MRDD) this year.

[Luke]

Pm'd this, but also wanted to share:

For your consideration as a recipient:

http://www.bornjustright.com/

Love this foundation. I've spoken with "Miss Iowa 2013" and we could auction autographed pictures of her that would certainly bring in some dough.



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This is a foundation that knows where both it's brain and heart are.

This is a foundation that doesn't children who are different, but celebrates them.

This is a foundation that is more about "happy" than "help".

Please consider Born Just Right as a recipient of our fundraising auction. The money goes directly where it is needed, and I also have some "nub buds" who can make the auction our highest donation to date.