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katrina help, AAW auction suggestion

Jeff Jilg

Jeff Jilg

Joined
Apr 9, 2004
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Location
Austin, TX
Website
www.woodturner.org
The AAW Board of Directors is considering sponsoring an ongoing auction to provide katrina relief. Yes, they know that WoodCentral has a similar auction.

  • Pieces would be accepted from any donors.
  • The auctions would be held on Ebay.
  • The pieces would be posted on the homepage, with links to the Ebay auctions.
  • The proceeds would be directed towards AAW members or clubs focused on "woodturning stuff".
The "woodturning stuff" idea is a rough idea. The intent would be to avoid replicating existing relief efforts.

Thoughts, feedback, other ideas????

If you don't like the auction idea, how do you think the AAW could help instead of the auction? How would you like to see the collected funds to be spent?
 
Jeff, your post is confusing.

"The proceeds would be directed towards AAW members or clubs focused on "woodturning stuff"."

Or did you mean to say,

"The proceeds go to members or clubs affected by Katrina."

Or something else?
 
I think you have clarified my wording fairly well - The proceeds go to members or clubs affected by Katrina.

What would the funds actually be spent on? That may be the more difficult decision.

Maybe we could add a rule to the current forum contest that all the pieces would be donated. Creative ideas are welcome.
 
In my opinion an auction would be a great thing. I would donate a piece or two (probably wouldn't bring much money). However I think any money raised should not go to affected clubs. There are more pressing needs that a club needing a new lathe or something. I wouldn't object to money going to affected members for necessities, although I don't know how you could verify how/where the money is going. Perhaps the best thing would be for the money to go to the Red Cross.
 
I agree. The money gathered should go to basic needs of affected members. Also, do the same Ebay fees apply to non-profit or charity auctions? If they do, isn't there a better way. That would be an awful lot of money going to Ebay and PayPal instead of people in need.
 
Hi Jeff. I would have gladly contributed to the AAW auction, but have already donated two pieces to the Katrina benefit auction on woodcentral. They have a big head start on AAW in this issue, I'm afraid that the donations for a new turning benefit auction site might be sparse due to that. Personally, I don't mind donating more, but I just don't have an inventory from which to choose.
 
Wild idea and not totally thought all the way through, but here goes:

Since the auctions are all about raising cash on the short term and any new program the AAW launches now may well diffuse the existing effort; perhaps the AAW could focus on the long term.

There will be many worthy charitable or service organizations that will have lost their buildings and infrastructure. Perhaps the AAW could engage in an effort during the reconstruction phase wherein clubs and members could donate goods and services directly to those organizations.

New buildings will need balusters, new soup kitchens will need bowls, etc etc.

Might be tough to administer, but it would be nice to see your donation go directly to an identifiable recipient instead of just lumped into the coffers with everything else.
 
Good input on this suggestion so far. This effort would possibly be a long-term effort extended over 6-12 months.

If folks feel uncomfortable posting their opinions publicly on this, please feel free to email me at jjilg@sbcglobal.net. I will remove your name and contact info from the note, and I will then just post the text here.

In 2 or 3 days maybe I'll post a poll with different options. The poll would allow everyone to submit opinions on different options while remaining anonymous.

If the AAW decides to move forward with this, I have promised to maintain the website portion of the project. In addition I will donate 2 or 3 pieces.

Tangboy5000 - good point on Ebay. We'll check to see if there is a discount for charity auctions. I believe the total overhead is ~5% for Ebay+Paypal, which seems pretty inexpensive.
 
I believe that ebay only gives the discount to registered charitable organizations. They do not give the discount to social nonprofits.
If the auction was set up in connection with say the Red Cross or the Salvation Army, then the proceeds would go directly to them and the discount would apply. I believe that is what is happening with the signature HD cycle on the Jay Leno show, and ebay is donating their service. Then the bidder and the person donating the piece can take tax deductions.

JimQ
 
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