Eleanora Eden on fri 1 jun 07
My personal rules for donations:
1) I only donate locally. Period. When I get solicitations for donations from
hither and yon I can tell them I have a policy of only donating to local organizations.
2) I require a minimum bid of 50% of retail price. I make sure that is understood
or there is no donation. They have learned to honor this and see the wisdom in
it.
If all artists who make donations would require this 50% policy, the organizations
would make a reasonable amount of $$ and the artists wouldn't go away feeling
devalued. A win-win solution.
Eleanora
>General questions for all of you that donate your work to various
>benefits/fundraisers:
>
>Question 1: I posted an earlier question about our Empty Bowl fundraiser,
>and now I have another one for anyone who might be able to share some
>insight. A couple of potters who have been fairly active in our local event
>recently commented that some of the members of the local potter community
>feel that they are undercutting their sales by donating to Empty Bowl, where
>their work can be sold as low as $15 (if it is not chosen for the Silent
>Auction or the Best of Bowls event). The comment was that people are
>forgoing visiting the potter's studios and waiting for the annual Empty Bowl
>event to purchase a "bargain".
>
>The reality is that the vast majority of the nicer bowls made by
>professional potters are either priced individually for the Best of Bowls
>event (at prices higher than the standard bowl $15 price) or they are
>entered into the Silent Auction, where they fetch some very nice bids.
>However, we are concerned about this perception that local potters are
>undercutting their livelihoods by participating.
>
>I was surprised to hear these comments, because I have donated some of my
>work every year and haven't been concerned about what price my bowls are
>sold for. My only wish is that they raise as much as possible for the food
>bank. Of course, I am bivocational and am not relying on pottery for my
>livelihood.
>
>What do you think about this? Have any of you had similar experiences?
>
>Question 2: Another complaint we heard was that the potters want us to
>market them and their work/studios at the event. We have invited/encouraged
>them to all post bios/photos/business cards/brochures, etc to educate people
>and to let them know where to find the artist's websites and studios. The
>problem is, none of the artists took us up on that, and we simply don't have
>the resources to do this work ourselves. (We are your typical non-profit
>operating on a shoestring budget and relying on volunteers to pull off
>events like this.)
>
>Any advice here?
>
>Thanks in advance!
>Mari Anna
--
Bellows Falls Vermont
www.eleanoraeden.com
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