We Annually Host "The Ultimate Yard Sale" In Our Parking Lot

We annually host "The Ultimate Yard Sale" in our parking lot. We sell vendor space to the public. One space is equal to 2 parking spots. Each space is a $50 donation and a larger space (3 parking spots) is an $80 donation. With your space you get 1 six foot table and can rent additional tables for a $10 donation each. (All of our vendors know this is a fundraiser for NIE and no one has refused to pay. If you are ABC audited, they have to have the option to get the space for free if you want to include the monies collected in your NIE revenue). Vendors cart in their own items and cart out what they do not sell. We also sell vendor space in a food court. These are generally the folks who sell food out at our local Farmer's Market. They are entirely self-contained and they get to keep the profits from what they sell. NIE has a booth of items donated by employees which generally brings in about $1000.

The event is promoted both in-paper and in radio spots. Attendance is around 3000 people and we ask for a $3 admission donation (again, people are nice & knowing it is a fundraiser, no one has refused to pay it so far). The event is held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on a Saturday.

Things to think about:

Security (our vendors set up the night before so we hire City of Monterey police officers to patrol the parking lots both the night before and during the event. This is expensive but don't skimp!)

Port-o-Potties (we have 5 + 1 handicapped with hand washing stations)

Seating (we rent hay bales)

Live Talent (we use a local radio station who broadcasts live from the event)

Table Rental (we rent about 100 tables - one for each vendor plus a few extras)

Refreshments for your volunteers (especially if they are working all day)

Parking (each vendor gets 1 parking pass and 4 volunteer admission passes. This one is big. You have to secure permission from your neighbors (if you have any) to use their lots. To do this, some of them may ask to be added to you liability insurance and request a letter to document it. You have to make sure lots are marked (i.e., disabled, volunteer, employee, general parking) and have a person staffed at each lot to make sure it goes smoothly when 1000 cars are trying to park at once)

Permits (if you are serving food, chances are you need an event organizer permit from your Health Department - about $250)

Set up/Clean up Garbage & Recycling (a local box manufacturer donates about 20 garbage boxes and we rent a 50 yard dumpster. Someone has to be continually dumping the trash boxes because they fill up quickly if you are serving food)

Donation Station (Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc.)

Registration Packets (when a vendor signs up, we send them a packet that includes instructions for setting up, their booth # and a schematic, inventory sheets, a pen, an apron, inventory stickers, parking passes and volunteer passes)

Fencing (we erect temporary fencing (you know, the orange plastic stuff) around the front of our lots to prevent anyone from sneaking in before we are open)

Volunteers (you will need lots, and lots, and lots of volunteers. People to do garbage, parking, admissions, the NIE booth, general runners, people to put out and retrieve the signage & banners, people to handle vendor check in (this can get crazy) and people to help vendors find their assigned spaces and on and on the list goes. We have about 40 employees who volunteer and 8-10 kids from the high school boys basketball team)

Signage (you'll need signs for Vendor Check-In, for the parking lots, admission tents, for the recycling bin ("no garbage please, recycling only"), and banners for the street corners)

ABC Compliance (if you are ABC audited, this one is very important. You don't want all your hard work to be disqualified in an audit. In order to take any money as profit, everything you are charging for has to be a donation. This has to be clear to the person making the purchase. They have to be able to get the space, food, admission, etc. for free if they don't wish to donate. Please read the rule book or talk to an ABC person BEFORE the event.)

There is much more and I could go on for days but hopefully this list gets you started. I had a lot of fun organizing our event and the public loves it. We made (profit) about $5,500. This was down from our previous year's profit of $8,000 because it rained and our attendance was severely affected.

Please feel free to call or e-mail me if you would like more information.

Jean-Marie -- Jean-Marie Findlen , Manager, Newspaper in Education The Monterey County Herald 8 Upper Ragsdale Drive / P.O. Box 271 (93942) Monterey, CA 93940 PH: (831) 648-1105 Fax: (831) 648-1126