Using DVC for charity auctions

[LilLisaLou]

I didn't know if I should post here or in planning.

At my daughter's school they have a fundraising auction and sometimes there are trips or hotel stays that get donated.

Have you or have your heard of anyone using their DVC points to do something like that? We are brand-new owners and I have a lot of reading to catch up on here.

Would it be best to make a reservation and just auction off that particular reservation? A set number of points with a points chart attached?

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[CarolMN]

My advice would be to actually make a reservation that you think will be of interest to a large number of people. (Be sure to specify that it is for lodging only and that the unit sleeps x).

Rather than complicate the auction with a lot of complicated information, I'd say that other dates may be available. If you can only afford a set number of points, you might limit it by saying something like "other dates in June, July or August 2008 may be available".

 

[salmoneous]

There's a tax problem to consider...

If you donate your points to the acution, you won't get any deduction for your donation. If you rent the points and then donate the sale of the rental to the school, you would get a donation. Sounds crazy, but that's the US tax code for you.

For some people this is important, others.. not so much. But it's certainlly something you want to consider.

 

[LilLisaLou]

There's a tax problem to consider...

Thanks for the heads up on that.

 

[awatt]

We donated a one week stay in a stusio at SSR, and limited teh dates of availablility to regular and value season. At the tie this worked out to be Sept to end of January, excluding Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks, We also stipulated when teh vacation had to be used by.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

What a cool idea!!

 

[kismet1003]

Thats a very thoughtful idea !!!

 

[cme]

We have done this four times and each time, they were the most profitable item for the auction!

 

[LilLisaLou]

Someone else told me that the school can write to Disney for a donation of tickets so it can be a nice little package. awatt, thanks for sharing how you worded it. I like how you did it.

 

[Plutofan]

There's a tax problem to consider...

If you donate your points to the acution, you won't get any deduction for your donation. If you rent the points and then donate the sale of the rental to the school, you would get a donation. Sounds crazy, but that's the US tax code for you.

For some people this is important, others.. not so much. But it's certainlly something you want to consider.

If you rent the points then you have to consider that you would owe federal income tax on the rental profit and Florida/County tax on the rental income. If you donate the points (donate the reservation) you may get a donation for part of or all of your MF depending on your tax situation. You should consult your tax advisor about your situation before entering into any transaction.

 

[d-r]

we donated for an auction at my son's preschool. We just made a little printout with information about it - we stated that it would be a M-Thursday stay in a studio (sleeps 4), at the winner's choice of the dvc resorts depending on availability. You have to remember that most people don't understand the ins and outs of dvc so you have to keep it sort of simple. The person who won wanted to stay at OKW after looking at the different resorts and that was what we booked. I think it worked out well for everybody. We were clear in the description that it didn't include park tickets or meals. I think it worked out really well.

 

[spiceycat]

I would go for Thanksgiving week - it won't cost you much in points and is a very, very high demand week.

but agree with salmoneous you rent and give them the money. but I always ask first - despite it not being to my advantage - some places would rather rent it themselves.

oh expect a bunch of yelling here is you get a Thankgiving week. Lots of people get very upset that DVC member who rent will get prime weeks. but EVERYONE has a fair chance at the 11 months to get it.

 

[disneymom8589]

What a great idea to use points at auctions. I had never thought of that.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

One reason to donate the vacation instead of the cash is that sometimes it may bring in more $$ to the charity than you can get by renting it to a stranger. We have a Maui vacation rental that we value at about 150 DVC points per week when doing a direct exchange. We just auctioned it for charity for the equivalent of more than $19 per point! We obviously had two very interested bidders who were very generous.

-- Suzanne