NEW BRICPICKER RAFFLE for St. Paul School (2016)

[Ed Mack]

Some good ideas.  The school does do various events throughout the year that they get more of a variety of things donated to them.  I was just looking to see if any one thing would really motivate people.  I can see the vast majority would rather win large and expensive LEGO sets/lots than other non-LEGO products.  

[gregpj]

1 hour ago, Ed Mack said:

Some good ideas.  The school does do various events throughout the year that they get more of a variety of things donated to them.  I was just looking to see if any one thing would really motivate people.  I can see the vast majority would rather win large and expensive LEGO sets/lots than other non-LEGO products.  

You could always do a cash prize. $500 ... spend it however you want.

[Sandwraith]

Retired UCS stuff would be the biggest draw to me personally. Giftcards can be iffy if not in the US as i don't think Amazon.com cards work on .ca and such. So international rafflers might shy away and avoid the hassle.

iPhone raffles always seem to be popular (if it's the latest models).

[Darth_Raichu]

14 minutes ago, gregpj said:

You could always do a cash prize. $500 ... spend it however you want.

Or $500 Amazon gift card (or equivalent per country of choice).  There might be rules regarding handing out cash prize.

 

[Lego Templar]

I would do various gift cards Amazon Best Buy target Walmart eBay etc. maybe instead of 500 to Amazon 100 to each store I mentioned. Bigger variety and you don't come out of pocket anything extra.

I'm going to steal Jaisonline idea when this goes live. I personally don't care what you pick but obviously Lego should be at least 50% of it. I'm guessing the what 63,000 from last year came from 90% AFOL.

[Darth_Raichu]

How about laptop / Samsung tablet / whatever Apple equivalent ??  Anyone can use laptop or tablet

[Ed Mack]

I am having the meeting tonight. I will see what the school PTA can chip in.  I will be donating a Super Star Destroyer.  Jeff will throw in something.  Some generous members have already started donating sets, so we can come up with another kick ass lot.   A gift card choice will be one of them.  LEGO, Amazon, eBay, Toys R Us...Whatever.  I will let the winner decide.  Personally, I though a new Ipad would be a home run, but we haven't had much response about it.  An Apple tablet is over $1000.00, so I don't know if that's doable.  I have some time to decide.

[Flanagan Bros Inc]

Yeah, the thing about the newest iPad is that, as you said, it's over $1000. I think a super rare retired Lego set, like the Taj Mahal, would attract more donations and buzz from the people being solicited than an iPad would. I think some sort of non-Lego thing, or a few, is a good idea, but that much money would be better invested in an extra rare Lego set, or 2 or 3 smaller items. 

[CrabslayerT]

2 hours ago, Ed Mack said:

I am having the meeting tonight. I will see what the school PTA can chip in.  I will be donating a Super Star Destroyer.  Jeff will throw in something.  Some generous members have already started donating sets, so we can come up with another kick ass lot.   A gift card choice will be one of them.  LEGO, Amazon, eBay, Toys R Us...Whatever.  I will let the winner decide.  Personally, I though a new Ipad would be a home run, but we haven't had much response about it.  An Apple tablet is over $1000.00, so I don't know if that's doable.  I have some time to decide.

Not everyone likes apple products.

I would be willing to donate my time to teach if you're interested...... 

[Emvisawthatswho]

Hi Ed - got my delivery of Rio Sets today. 1 will be in the mail in the next day or so for your raffle. Good luck.

[Lordoflego]

Looks like most people want retired sets right? Remember brickpickers, some people will be donating Lego, you still want retired sets? You have crapload of exo-suits coming your way lol...

[Sfcommando14]

Looks like most people want retired sets right? Remember brickpickers, some people will be donating Lego, you still want retired sets? You have crapload of exo-suits coming your way lol...

That's actually my favorite idea yet. The bad investment lot. People can send in their shelf-warmers and someone will get a huge bundle of random sets. If it ends up as 20x Exosuits, even funnier

[Salimr]

Will we be able to pay with pay pal this year? I thought last year it was only with a credit or debit  card?

6 minutes ago, Sfcommando14 said:

That's actually my favorite idea yet. The bad investment lot. People can send in their shelf-warmers and someone will get a huge bundle of random sets. If it ends up as 20x Exosuits, even funnier

I'll donate a few sets to that if it ends up being a thing  I missed out on exosuits but have way more birthday gifts than kids I know!

[donbee]

Lego donated is tax deductible right? Because it's a non-profit? Do you give a receipt?

[Ed Mack]

On 10/3/2016 at 8:25 PM, Salimr said:

Will we be able to pay with pay pal this year? I thought last year it was only with a credit or debit  card?

I'll donate a few sets to that if it ends up being a thing  I missed out on exosuits but have way more birthday gifts than kids I know!

I don't know.  I will have to check.  For some reason, PayPal does not accept money for raffles last year..  Maybe they do now.  The credit card process did work well though.  

[Ed Mack]

On 10/3/2016 at 9:11 PM, donbee said:

Lego donated is tax deductible right? Because it's a non-profit? Do you give a receipt?

I will have to find out from school if they can give a receipt.  

On 10/3/2016 at 8:19 PM, Sfcommando14 said:

That's actually my favorite idea yet. The bad investment lot. People can send in their shelf-warmers and someone will get a huge bundle of random sets. If it ends up as 20x Exosuits, even funnier

I can throw in Exosuits with other sets as well.

[Ed Mack]

On 10/3/2016 at 7:34 PM, Emvisawthatswho said:

Hi Ed - got my delivery of Rio Sets today. 1 will be in the mail in the next day or so for your raffle. Good luck.

Great...Another two members (brickcrazyhouse and echin313) offered some sets as well.  I also got a cool offer from Flanagan Bros Inc for a custom LEGO snow globe.  

[Ed Mack]

The meeting with the St.Paul School PTA went well.  This year's prizes will be even better than last years in my opinion.  There will be a $500.00 gift card of choice (large selection anyway) and some (many) high end sets.  The BrickPicker "lot" that is being donated by members is growing nicely.  Thanks...

[allen9917]

This is just for my education, how large is the St. Paul school and why is it struggling to keep open while being the best in the county?

[Ed Mack]

This is just for my education, how large is the St. Paul school and why is it struggling to keep open while being the best in the county?

I think there are a few reasons. Overall, enrollment in Catholic schools is down across the country. I think the economy plays a large part in that. It's hard to come up with an extra $5000.00 a year to pay for a school when public is free. St. Paul School used to have well over 300 kids in it, but the old nun who ran it well retired and a lousy principal took her place. Many families left because of this principal.

Also, the old head priest of the local church and school was not engaged. A new, younger and active priest has taken over and has done wonders for the community. We also have a kick ass principal now who sets high standards and busts his butt for the school. He is from a large public school system and has really instituted some impressive programs. Last year as a Kindergartener, my son Max had Spanish, computers twice a week, art, music, gym twice a week. Public schools don't come close in many cases.

I think what has also hurt was that even with the new principal and priest, there was always a feeling that St. Paul was a great school...but it might close, so some people were afraid to make a commitment. We liked the school so much, we said screw it, we will make it work. A lot of other families feel the same way. We picked up an additional 25 kids this year, which is great. If we can increase it next year another 25, we could be in good shape.

As for the voting, they have won many awards and their graduates finish top of their class in many cases. Bottom line...it's money. Anybody with experience in Catholic schools know that tuition is only a portion of what you are asked to "donate." While I am not a over the top religious person, we chose St.Paul because of its programs and reputation. There are kids from all walks of life in the school. All types of nationalities and religions. They teach manners and respect and there is a sense of goodness that permeates through the school. It is worth fighting for once again. Believe me, the school community prayed last year for a miracle and the LEGO raffle delivered. They.....AND I...are grateful.

[Salimr]

13 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

I think there are a few reasons. Overall, enrollment in Catholic schools is down across the country. I think the economy plays a large part in that. It's hard to come up with an extra $5000.00 a year to pay for a school when public is free. St. Paul School used to have well over 300 kids in it, but the old nun who ran it well retired and a lousy principal took her place. Many families left because of this principal.

Also, the old head priest of the local church and school was not engaged. A new, younger and active priest has taken over and has done wonders for the community. We also have a kick ass principal now who sets high standards and busts his butt for the school. He is from a large public school system and has really instituted some impressive programs. Last year as a Kindergartener, my son Max had Spanish, computers twice a week, art, music, gym twice a week. Public schools don't come close in many cases.

I think what has also hurt was that even with the new principal and priest, there was always a feeling that St. Paul was a great school...but it might close, so some people were afraid to make a commitment. We liked the school so much, we said screw it, we will make it work. A lot of other families feel the same way. We picked up an additional 25 kids this year, which is great. If we can increase it next year another 25, we could be in good shape.

As for the voting, they have won many awards and their graduates finish top of their class in many cases. Bottom line...it's money. Anybody with experience in Catholic schools know that tuition is only a portion of what you are asked to "donate." While I am not a over the top religious person, we chose St.Paul because of its programs and reputation. There are kids from all walks of life in the school. All types of nationalities and religions. They teach manners and respect and there is a sense of goodness that permeates through the school. It is worth fighting for once again. Believe me, the school community prayed last year for a miracle and the LEGO raffle delivered. They.....AND I...are grateful.

You are lucky to have found such a great school for your family and smart to fight for it!

[Flanagan Bros Inc]

Our Church fell into a similar situation. Our congregation was growing rapidly and we had to build a new church building. However, shortly afterwards we underwent a few rapid changes in priests, some worse than others, and then the economy tanked. That left us with quite the debt. Thankfully we've recently had a young, enthusiastic priest that really drew people back in, followed by our priest from before the changes being brought back to our parish. Wherever we got the loan from has also been very workable and we've been steadily paying it off. Many schools and churches, however, have not been so lucky. We've been blessed where I live to have multiple excellent private schools in addition to multiple decent public schools nearby. 

[Ed Mack]

3 hours ago, Flanagan Bros Inc said:

Our Church fell into a similar situation. Our congregation was growing rapidly and we had to build a new church building. However, shortly afterwards we underwent a few rapid changes in priests, some worse than others, and then the economy tanked. That left us with quite the debt. Thankfully we've recently had a young, enthusiastic priest that really drew people back in, followed by our priest from before the changes being brought back to our parish. Wherever we got the loan from has also been very workable and we've been steadily paying it off. Many schools and churches, however, have not been so lucky. We've been blessed where I live to have multiple excellent private schools in addition to multiple decent public schools nearby. 

I think the issue with many Catholic schools is that for so long they had the church there to prop them up, but with the recent financial stagnation, there isn't a lot of money left to support quality schools.  The new leaders of Catholic schools have to have to be competent with money and run the schools like a business.  Our current principal is excellent and earns every dime he makes and he does know how to crunch the numbers, but we are still digging out of a hole.  If public schools were half as efficient, all of our property taxes would be much lower.

[Ed Mack]

@exciter1just donated a Pet Shop to the BrickPicker Member Raffle.  That raffle is going to kick some butt.  

[Ed Mack]

Salimr just offered to donate a set as well. The BrickPicker package deal is growing bigger every day. Nice.