As above, I only send a letter and another letter direct from the charity to prove it is real. Most people are very forthcoming and generous for charity, and sending an envelope and postage usually restricts them to whatever fits in the envelope.

Hi Glen,

First let me say good luck with your charity collecting. It's amazing at some items that you receive from celebrities.

I'm in the process of collecting items for our auction and with as many letters that I have sent out (over 1500) it is impossible to send postage or items for them to autograph. At first I just sent a letter telling them who we are, what we do, and why we are doing the auction. For a while I was receiving items almost every day, then it slowed down (over 1500 letters/only about 134 items received to date). And for about a month I didn't receive anything. Well, I since changed my letter around and added 2 photos (4x6) of our horses. Our new arrival came on May 10 and is about 300 pounds underweight (she is skin and bones) so I send her picture (pull heart strings), the other picture is a collage of all our horses. Well, I started that letter with pictures on May 16, 2008 and on May 30 and 31st I received items, very nice items from Tim Allen and Dwight Yoakam. So I think the letter with pictures is a big help - very fast turn around. I guess what I am trying to say is try and add a picture that will pull heartstrings if at all possible. One that will show what you do, it does help.

My opinion: If you only send a certain amount of stamps or a SASE you may only get a photo (whatever postage will cover). If you send no stamps or SASE you may get bigger and better items. (we have gotten movie script, racing shoes, football, baseballs, etc.)

Let me know if you want to see our letter and/or pictures. Glad to help out if you need it.

Again, good luck. I hope your auction is a great success and I hope I helped you out a little here.

Sherry

If anyone wants to review my letter, pm me your email and I can send you the work doc.

glen

Ok, I have selected my Charity, created a form letter with a celebrity database now I just need to send. I wasnt planning on sending anything for the celebrity to sign, is that ok? For my personal collection I typically send a 8x10 photo, but I think that would be too much of an expense for charity collecting. I was planning on sending a letter with my return address printed on a label a few stamps or IRC (depending if I was sending outside that States). The celebrity then just needs to affix the address label and stamps to a envelope they supply (cutting down on my postage cost), what do you think?

Thanks
Glen