SAEF fundraising perseveres Adapt, Innovate, Reimagine and keep going!

by Jennifer Hammerberg

The year 2022 continues to challenge us to find new ways to do things rather than sticking to “the way things always were.” The Stockbridge Area Educational Foundation held its annual fundraising auction—the Festival of Tables—online this year. This was the second year for the online auction. Forced to completely cancel in 2020, we came back with the first online version of the auction in 2021.

To our surprise and delight, this new way of running the auction brought a fresh perspective and some real benefits. The fact that the auction was online and lasted for a week really opened it up to anyone, regardless of schedules. Having it run across several days also allowed more flexibility and the time for people to enjoy it and for word to spread. We kept it local, with a local pick-up and pay location, but we also accepted payments electronically and processed several credit card payments through PayPal and Square.

We were excited to discover we had many first-time participants and first-time donors. Not bad for an event that has been around for nearly 20 years! Several people commented that they had never been able to attend and were so excited to be able to participate. Local businesses and residents contributed donations valuing over $23,000 this year for people to bid on—from the infamous Adiska Deep Water Fishing trip to a random group of golf clubs previously owned by our own Dick Howlett. When the dust cleared, SAEF brought in over $18,000 in winning bids, donations and sponsorships!

Looking ahead to next year, we are likely to keep the auction portion online, but we hope to be able to bring back an in-person component to the event as well. We have heard from many people that they miss the camaraderie and food, and we do, too! The in-person event takes a lot of work; it’s basically like throwing a wedding every year. One idea we are considering involves partnering with another nonprofit (or two) and allowing them to offer food, drinks and entertainment, while we stay focused on the auction. We want to find ways to help as many people in the community as possible with this event in the future. If we can join with one or two local, education-focused charities, with all of us benefiting, think how amazing that would be! After all, many hands make light work!

We are so grateful and proud to be part of such a strong community. Now we have the exciting work of launching our next big giveaway. Watch this May to see all the seniors who receive scholarships from SAEF and hear about their future plans.

Thank you everyone who contributed in all ways!

Jennifer Hammerberg

SAEF President