If you could pick your prize

E

ed gagne

Well-known member
I'm starting my fifth year as a local DU chapter chairman and I'm looking for some opinions, dangerous on this site I know. I would like to ask you fine folks what you like to see at your local conservation events? Imagine a raffle table full of awesome things and you see the one thing that is going to cause you to buy as many tickets as it takes to win that thing. What is that thing?
Opinions on things to do at these events or suggestions are also welcome


Thanks in advance.
 
A big honking slough that has a sign that reads "go ahead and hunt here, courtesy of du" that isn't in canada.

On an only slightly more serious note, decoys and calls. Cool ones, not greenhead gear.
 
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I won a prize a couple of years ago that I thought was really cool. It was a handcarved decoy, a handmade blanket chest, a nice bottle of scotch and a few other things. I like the handcrafted stuff. The dinner that I go to each year usually does package things. We, my son and I, always throw a lot of tickets into the fishing package which generally includes a Yeti cooler, a couple of rods/reels, and a bunch of other fishing tackle.

Chad A
 
Anything hand made, especially decoys. Bean bag boards (some call it corn hole) are a cool prize too. I do like the packages, like previously mentioned. Maybe a dog training package for new pup owners. or a canine travel package.


The resin or cast sculptures, DU calls, Avery Decoys, etc don't do it for me.
 
Hand carved and painted decoys always get my tickets as well as art. Guided trips always get a few as well. I always put one or two in on the guns and skip the rest. I was at a marsh fund raiser a while back where a hand made heirloom quilt was the top fundraiser. Things that are unique seem to get the job done.
 
Do a Free Raffle.

Get 2-3 different prizes in the $500-$700 price range ( maybe a 9mm pistol, an AR rifle, a shotgun, a big screen TV, etc). Get items that apply to different people but only give away one item.

Set 300 tickets on a table upside down. On the bottom of each ticket there is a 0 or 20 (150 of each). People turn the tickets over to see if they are in the raffle for free or if it costs them $20. $3,000 income and $700 expense for a $2,300 profit.
 
Guided trips, hand carved decoys [shorebirds go well, less space, wives like shorebirds], canoes, kayaks, call mojo and decoy companies for discount stuff. Try different prints other than DU. Locally carvers donate birds, but get a percentage of the winning bid.
Go to local art shows and buy for your chapter. Our chapter has businesses underwrite the cost of a item to be auctioned or raffled...
 
A great idea from a school charity auction I used to attend:

They'd get the local bank to donate a cash bag full of a non-disclosed sum of money. I never won, but I'm guessing the total was around $100, a mix of small bills and change. Every silent auction and live auction item had a retail value posted, and all the bidders who paid more than retail for an item got a free ticket in a drawing for the sack of cash. The auctioneer would really sell this hard and generate a lot of enthusiasm as the bidding started to slow down. That made sure that a lot of lower value items--the ones that usually go for a few bucks less than retail value in an auction--would get bid up to a few dollars more than retail. It worked really well to squeeze a few extra bucks out of a lot of items.

They also made a lot of money on donated small items from local businesses--$25 at the grocery store; an oil change or tire rotation; a cord of firewood delivered. Those items are easy to sell and folks will pay retail because they know they'll pay for it eventually anyway, but someone has to beat the bushes to get the donations.


Get some non-duck stuff. Many of us bring our spouses, and they buy raffle tickets, too. I watched a serious bidding war over a nice hand-made basket at a TU silent auction a few years back. My mom is still mad she lost! Pottery, kitchen stuff, women's clothing can all get decent money. Weekend get-aways can be popular. Local hotel or resorts will often donate a night or two redeemable during their slow season, which can be perfect for hosting out of town guests or a couple's get away for an anniversary or date night.

We find that duck trips can get decent money at TU and ASF auctions. Maybe a local guide would host a fishing trip for DU?

Things that usually go for less than they are worth--Framed artwork (but not decoys, pottery, carvings for some reason); high dollar trips.
 
One more tip. Selling trips in your auction is much better than selling things. It's very hard to get artwork, guns, decoys, etc cheap enough to make a good profit and anyone who has been to a few dinners has already got a bunch of that stuff. Find people with boats, private land, vacation houses, or find a chef. Offer fishing and hunting trips - and they don't have to be elaborate. Weekend or weeklong stays at vacation homes are very profitable and don't cost the donor anything. Get someone who is a good cook to donate dinner for 6-10 and have him take some wild game to the winners house and prepare a great meal for them and their friends. Trade a hunt with the chairman of another dinner (i'm in if you've got something good to trade). One important thing-make ALL Trips valid for only 1 year. If they don't use it, it's

We did 502 people and $70,000 net last November-a new record for us.
 
A trip to Big Grass Marsh or one of the other Canadian DU projects, that truly are a sight to behold in early fall. Nothing else comes close as far as I'm concerned. Seeing for ones self is believing...
 
Ed,

Years ago, or DU chapter started to include a rig of hand carved decoys from local carvers. One year we did just black ducks, another GEs, one year it was scoters and eiders. These would sit on a table with about 6 other really nice prizes - a nice gun, a ground blind, gift certificates, a MOMarsh boat, etc. Strangely, the decoys were ALWAYS the last to be taken. I could never understand it. The boat always went first, followed by the gun, and then the other things. I guess it depends on where the dinner is held and who is attending. If you have die hard duck hunters, they will probably go for things like boats, a mid-range semi auto, gift certs. to Cabelas, etc. Our main prize has always been a $2,500 gift certificate to LL Bean or Cabelas. That seems to get people coming up over and over to buy tickets.


Nate
 
Ed, First,when is your event date?We all may want to goand win.

As you know you have to know your crowd. If it is mostly hunters I would go with the boat /multi gun raffle. We did a 3 gun raffle with a raffle table to go with it and it was good draw.
A hunt works too if you can get a guide to donate. In the past we gave away single day hunts and most guys would up grade them to multi day hunts. It is a win win for the chapter and the guide.
At last year 's Kings Bay dinner a hand craved deke went for 1200.00
 
Kevin B. My dinner is March 21st at the Alburgh American legion. All other details are being worked out in the next few weeks. I appreciate the suggestions and a few are already implemented at my dinner. I would like to try the free raffle idea out and possibly the multi-carver rig of blocks. I already donate a pair of mine. The Lake Champlain Islands area is full of do it yourself guys so a hunt would have to be far away in a distant land to catch the wallets of my membership. We have gotten rid of most DU prints and get one or two NDR prints from a famous Vermont artist.


Thanks guys, anything else you can think of please pm me.
 
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