Q: Help! We just heard from someone who purchased a week-long vacation at a Florida vacation home during our annual auction nearly two years ago. The purchaser had finally carved out some time to be able to take the vacation, and contacted the contributor to make arrangements—only to find the contributor has sold the house! Now, the purchaser is asking that the school return the money. How do we handle this?
A: Excellent question. Consider putting the terms of your auction in writing at the beginning of your auction catalog. You do this by including a statement regarding "Conditions of Sale." It is customary to stipulate "all services are to be fulfilled at a mutually convenient time within one year of the auction date, unless specified otherwise." If your purchaser hasn't made other arrangements with the donor (or the new home owner) that extend beyond one year of your auction date, then you can invoke this condition of sale provision and graciously inform the purchaser that the deadline for making use of the vacation home has passed.
From time to time, one of ISM’s Development experts will tackle a question that we are sure everyone has in the back of their minds. This month, L.J. Mitchell, ISM Adjunct Development Consultant and Development Director of Mary McDowell Friends School (NY), addresses how to avoid a certain auction snafu! Do you have a question you would like one of our experts to answer? Submit it here!
