Dear Families:
As you know, we will be having our annual Fundraising Gala and Silent Auction on Saturday, April 2, at the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School Firehouse Theater! We want to make sure you know that the Gala and Silent Auction are the primary source of fundraising for PSCCC annually. Furthermore, the proceeds are used to directly support our Tuition Assistance program for the following school year. The Tuition Assistance program is so critical in supporting diversity within our community. We cannot overstate the importance of a successful fundraising drive.
The success of the fundraiser depends heavily upon the success of our Silent Auction. To that point, we are writing to ask you to donate or solicit a donation for inclusion in this year’s auction. We expect every family to try its best to contribute items to the Auction. If you don’t think you have anything people would bid for, consider asking a friend or family member who might. Also, if your children take classes regularly anywhere, consider asking that organization to donate classes. Many will. We’re a creative community, so let’s be creative with our donations!
Some ideas for potential auction items:
Weekends at upstate vacation homes (yours or someone else’s!)
Dinner for two at local restaurants
VIP race days at Belmont Park
Passes to classes/lessons that you or your children regularly attend (yoga, cooking, chess?)
A discount on your own professional services (e.g. $100 off tax preparation for 2015)
Fancy bottles of liquor
Please note we are once again using Bidding Owl, an online tool for managing auction submissions. Instructions for using the website are attached. We also have prepared a letter for prospective business owners for you to use as needed, as well as instructions for the online donation form that you will need to fill out for each item donated. ALL ONLINE DONATION FORMS MUST BE COMPLETELY FILLED OUT BY MARCH 18, 2016 (note the extension from March 11) for your item to be included – if you have questions please contact your classroom representative(s) as provided in the attached information. Also we ask that all donations have a monetary value of at least $50.
We are looking forward to making the Gala and Silent Auction our best fundraising event ever, but we need your help to make that happen. Please start soliciting your donations as soon as possible. If you need help thinking about who you could ask for a donation, just reach out. We have created a Google Sheet with suggestions for local businesses that might be great places to start that we can share with you. A copy will be taped to the inside door of the Collective. We also plan to organize a “phone bank” where you can earn Collective Credits by calling local businesses and asking them to contribute. Let us know if you’d like to participate in that effort.
We will be in touch again with ticket and event information for the Gala so that we can plan an amazing evening for all of us to celebrate our school, our children and our friendships.
Thank you,
Martha and the Auction and Gala Committees
PS If you can’t download the forms from this email, please click the link to the website (at the top of this email). The forms should be there. If that doesn’t work, just email Martha.
PPS If you are a current family, please contact your classroom’s auction rep if you need help: Liz McDermon (Jacqs – Little Stars), Alex Freidus (Ari – Bears), and Keri Fisher (Beckett – Rainbows).