...it defeats the whole purpose of local advertising when the 15-year old boy of the president of your chorale group wins the Cupcake Bouquet so lovingly donated to the Spring Concert. Complete with a 25% OFF coupon for a future cake :doh:
I'll post a pic in the next day or so...the cupcake bouquet I made was the sample. I'm making 5 more for my kids' school teachers for end-of-year gifts.
I got tons of compliments though 
. So many could not believe they were REAL. From far away it looked like a silk flower topiary.
I had a similar thing happen. I donated 2 boxes of cookies with gift certificates to the local primary and intermediate schools. A lady who has already ordered from me won one of the boxes. I was hoping for 2 new customers. Oh well.....
For my personal chef service, I donated a dinner for two cooked in your home to a United Way function. No one has ever called me about it...I don't even know who won it. I also donated a full service to an charity auction. Someone paid $280 for it, and has never called to redeem it! I am finding that donations don't help me find clients. I guess they're not costing me anything if no one redeems them though!
I have to agree with ChefCJ, I have donated a lot of gift certificates for cakes, merchandise, etc. and rarely do they get redeemed. I consider it some very cheap advertising. Most organizations will give you some sort of thank you listing for the donation, you can still deduct the donation on your taxes (always ask for a receipt) and it may or may not cost you any more in the long run. Think of it this way, the $15 off a cake really cost you $7-10 depending on the order, so that's not bad. If a couple of other people saw the bouquet before he picked it up, you may have more than paid for the materials with those order! Good luck!
-Lori
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