Yard sales as fundraisers

Today we held a large yard sale to raise money for the Democratic Information Center, the name we have given to an office used by the County Democratic Party, a drum circle, an environmental group, and other loosely affiliated groups.  We did not announce the purpose of the yard sale, since we wanted people of all political beliefs and tendencies to buy our goods.

Yard sales are not the best way to fund raise.  We had to postpone the sale by one day because of the bad weather on Friday, our original day to set up.  We spent the day Saturday setting up tables and putting out our wares.  Then it briefly rained on Saturday night, necessitating a panicked covering of the goods, some of which were rained on.

Today went fairly well.  We did sell a pile of stuff, but we had two truckloads left over.  I had made a sign next to the cash box that read:

Notice to our customers:  We are not experts on pricing items.  If you believe an item is priced below what you should pay, you are welcome to add the amount you feel would be fair.  One customer did add two dollars to the price.

In all 14 people worked on this yard sale, setting up, pricing, selling, taking down.  We made less than two months rent.  We ignored the old rule of political fundraising.  If you want money, ask for it.

On the other hand, we did have a lot of fun.  OK, may not a lot, but as one volunteer said, it helped to build community.