connie on wed 14 mar 01
>From Bob Pike
The whole concept of raising money for a charity auction is to get
people to support the charity. Over the years we have donated our work many
times and then it dawned on me that the only donators to the charity were
the crafts people and artists. The bidders went home with good value for
their money. They "bought something". They didn't donate anything. So the
auction attendees came out to purchase something they would like to own,
sometimes at a great bargain. If they paid more than the retail price of a
piece, only then did they make a donation. It's no wonder craftspeople are
so upset at times when they see their pieces being sold for half their
value.
We now tell anyone interested in a donation of our work that we
will give them as much work as they want if they pay us the wholesale price
and they can have anything over that, and we explain that the buyers should
be donating, not the artists.
If people truly went to the event to support the charity, they
would be bidding twice the retail value, not getting half price bargains.
We will still donate our work outright to a charity we wish to
support. We just can't keep donating to everyone who walks through the door.
Bob and Connie Pike
Pike Studios
High River Alberta
Canada
pikestudios.com
pikec@cadvision.com
Elca Branman on wed 14 mar 01
Good point; I never thought of it that way..
Elca Branman,revving up for NSECA..
On Wed, 14 Mar 2001 00:37:12 -0700 connie writes:
> From Bob Pike
>
> The whole concept of raising money for a charity auction is
> to get
> people to support the charity. ......
it dawned on me that the only donators to the charity
> were
> the crafts people and artists. The bidders went home with good value
> for
> their money. They "bought something". They didn't donate anything.
..
Elca Branman.. in Sarasota,Florida,USA
elcab1@juno.com
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Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman on wed 14 mar 01
And the purchasers of the donated pottery who pay an amount less than or
equal to the "value" of the pottery do NOT get to take a charitable donation
for their purchases. They have truly bought a pot.
If I donate a pot that might normally sell for $50, I (as a ceramic artist
in business to earn a profit) do not get a charitable donation deduction.
I'll be writing off my materials costs on my tax return, the same as if I
used those materials to make any other pot that sold.
The purchaser who pays the charity up to $50 for my pot gets NO deduction
because he has purchased my pot at up to its normal price, and has gotten
full value for the money.
The purchaser who pays the charity more than $50 gets a charitable deduction
(if he itemizes deductions on his US tax return Schedule A) for the amount
greater than $50.
That's how it works in the USA. You may think it's right or wrong, but
that's how it works.
Bonnie
Bonnie Hellman
> From: Elca Branman
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 16:15:47 -0500
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: Donating your work
>
> Good point; I never thought of it that way..
>
> Elca Branman,revving up for NSECA..
>
>
> On Wed, 14 Mar 2001 00:37:12 -0700 connie writes:
>> From Bob Pike
>>
>> The whole concept of raising money for a charity auction is
>> to get
>> people to support the charity. ......
> it dawned on me that the only donators to the charity
>> were
>> the crafts people and artists. The bidders went home with good value
>> for
>> their money. They "bought something". They didn't donate anything.
> .
>
> Elca Branman.. in Sarasota,Florida,USA
> elcab1@juno.com
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
> Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
> Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
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>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
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>
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>
Mudnjoy@AOL.COM on tue 20 mar 01
Artists aren't the only donators, don't forget the great donation of time,
and perhaps space by the hosts of the event. I value time my own and others.
I only donate to causes I believe in, never for just the exposure, who was
the clayarter who said "I can expose myself for free" I guess he never got
caught and paid a fine, court costs or an attorney. I've NEVER had a refered
sale from a donation but I have made a few good contacts. You never know
when they will pay off.
Joy in glorious poppy blooming Tucson. Hoping my darling geek will get
my glaze recycling info posted on my web real soon. With Photographs!!!!
e-mail mudnjoy@aol.com
web site http://holdreadstudios.hypermart.net/
..
On Wed, 14 Mar 2001 00:37:12 -0700 connie writes:
> > From Bob Pike
> >
> > The whole concept of raising money for a charity auction is
> > to get
> > people to support the charity. ......
> it dawned on me that the only donators to the charity
> > were
> > the crafts people and artists. The bidders went home with good value
> > for
> > their money. They "bought something". They didn't donate anything.
> .
>
> Elca Branman.. in Sarasota,Florida,USA
> elcab1@juno.com
>
Marie Gibbons on tue 20 mar 01
Mudnjoy@AOL.COM writes:
> I've NEVER had a refered
> sale from a donation but I have made a few good contacts. You never know
> when they will pay off.
>
I totally agree with this statement.... as an artist I personally feel that
you can't look at anything you are doing for immediate gratification, beyond
the gratification you get from creating your work.... the rest of it comes in
time....
I have done shows in which I made good sales, and felt great about beating my
entry fees and maybe even feeling like I made a little money for my time, I
have also done (more) shows where I made few if any sales, leaving feeling a
bit down for the investment of time and not receiving the monitary
reinforcement for my work... however, many many times, these are the shows
that end up giving me much more than the sales of my work, they provide me
contacts, future invitations, referals, later sales... it just takes a little
time to show up. I like to think of two different kinds of bank accounts...
there is the traditional money in the bank account, which is important and
needed, and sometimes takes a bit of creative problem solving to keep
something in it... then there is my Good Karma account.... the Good Karma
account holds things for the future.... workshops that I have taught that
ended up not paying well or at all.... shows that I have spent time on and at
that didn't bring in money at the time.... donated pieces, and or time
investments to good causes..... Of course you have to keep a good balance
on these two accounts.... sometimes I will have to say no to an event or
charity because the Good Karma account is full.... and that is ok... but I
do make sure that I deposit to it on several occassions.
Marie Gibbons
www.oooladies.com
Arvada Colorado . . . my irises are about 6 inches high now! summer is
coming!
MAC on wed 30 may 07
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
Marcia Selsor on wed 30 may 07
I have had several varied experiences.
In Montana, I would donate 20-30 bowls for a women's shelter
completely at my expense. Dinners were sold for $8 and the bowl was
free. How's that for valuing your work?
For the first 2 years there was not even a thank you from the
organization. I only participated because a co-op partner was very
involved with this venue. The last year that I donated I did recieve
a thank you but 2 other potters' bowls were put into a special
auction. None of the other potters from our co-op were offered that
opportunity.
Last year I was invited to participate in an Empty Bowls project in
the Rio Grande valley. I drove 60 miles up the river to throw bowls,
decorate them and threw a few bigger pieces for an auction. I never
saw the finished pieces until attending the lunch in my local town.I
appreciated this venue in that it didn''t require my clay donation,
firing donation, glaze donation. It only required my skill.
I have given to many fund raisers over the past 30+ years. I agree
that patrons do NOT come looking for the potters studios but will buy
a bargain. Since Reagan's administration, we haven't been able to
deduct a decent value on our donations. That may have changed this
year...I don't know. I have seriously cut back on my pottery
donations to fund raisers. I have to be really committed to the cause
to donate my work and I have never realized a sale from a patron who
became aware of my studio through a non-profit fund raiser...at least
never in Montana. I'll donate money first or volunteer.
Marcia Selsor
http://marciaselsor.com
Janet Price on thu 31 may 07
When I donated a bowl to a silent auction at a local craft center, I was
asked to set a minimum bid. When it sold, I was then given an
acknowledgement of a charitable contribution for the minimum bid and the
person purchasing it was given the same for the amount over the minimum.
(The money went for some non-profit effort associated with the
center, not their operating expenses.)
This seemed very reasonable to me.
Janet
MudSlingers, Inc. on fri 1 jun 07
Dear Mari Anna:
I am also donating soup bowls for a similar fundraiser in Hunterdon County, NJ. They are going to serve soup in the bowls given by the potters and that person gets to keep the soup bowl. There's no auction of pottery or booths for potters to sell and market themselves. The focus is on the needy.
I do it because I want to. I'm not concerned with undercutting sales. I'm happy to contribute to something that helps other people. I sell my higher end pottery at shows and galleries.
Hope this helps. Just my humble input.
Linda
-----Original Message-----
>From: MAC
>Sent: May 30, 2007 6:03 PM
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>Subject: Donating Your Work
>
>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
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Jon Brinley on wed 6 jun 07
I don't claim to be a tax expert nor do play one on TV. But what works for me probably won't work for you.
I work for a large international corporation and on occasion I am asked to donate some work for one thing or another. I ALWAYS preface any donation with " How does this benifit me?" Usually the answer is it doesn't. So I try to take care of my needs before anyone else's no matter how bad they claim to need it. With this I make the following request.
Can I set up a table and sell my ware on certian days(usually payday) and make a cash donation?
This works best for both parties. Them not having to handle a sale and me making sales. But what I like is I have about 4000 employees that walk by my table with half stopping to look and most of them buying.
Two of these a year keeps me busy and makes them happy ,which makes me happy. Also have made several 'Corporate sales" which puts my work all over the company. Now if I can get a museum to make a purchase.
Jon Brinley
Sweetgum Pottery
Midland, Ga. USA
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