Barter is Always an Option

I recently encountered a problem while soliciting products for Peace Love & Cure, a Foundation that raises money for Triple Negative Breast Cancer research. I tried, unsuccessfully, to convince a store to donate merchandise to our Foundation Event. This is a problem I have dealt with before though. Stores are constantly asked to donate to one foundation or another, and after a while, unless you are related to the store owner or have a contact, getting something for nothing becomes extremely difficult.

 

Throughout my three years taking part in this foundation, I have noticed that little stores have a higher tendency to donate than bigger stores and companies are always interested in barter. In my case, I am good at using technology, especially iMovie. I am able to help companies edit a video and/or create a short promo, so instead of asking for something, I tried this new approach. In return for donating items, I will create a thirty second to one minute promo video for them using any footage they might have such as videos and photos.

 

In my opinion, more companies are willing to donate when you are willing to do something more than just ask for product. As a result of my barter, I received one hundred “speakers” that I can now insert into the event bags for everybody to enjoy.