Ways to Support AGSEM!
The Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum has had 34 years of providing educational and recreational opportunities to the citizens of San Diego County and Southern California. Unlike most museums and non-profit organizations, our 1,000 member strong volunteer group provides the expertise and manpower for all of our programs and fundraisers. These are the folks who restore and maintain our antique equipment and staff our historic reenactments, concerts, and myriad of other events throughout the year. We are proud of our success as a strong family venue that is open to all ages. Even in these tough economic times, we are having our most successful years in terms of events and grounds use. Your donations and support will help us meet the increased costs of operating our antique equipment, repair facilities, machine shops, blacksmith shops, looms, and food concessions during our harvest demonstrations and events and continue to provide affordable educational and recreational experiences for our visitors.
Your donations are highly valued and greatly appreciated by everyone involved in AG&SEM. If you wish to donate, please call (800) 587-2286 or mail a check to: Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum,
There are other easy ways to support our museum as well.
First, AGSEM has been contacting companies that are dedicated to making a difference by giving back to the communities in which they have facilities or where their employees, franchisees, and clients or customers work and live. These companies often define their commitment in terms such as corporate responsibility or community involvement. We have been asking them to consider our museum when they are providing community organizations with donations, sponsorships, matching funds, or grants. If you are a part of a company or organization that provides community organizations with donations, matching funds or grants, please tell us about your company or organization by contacting our fundraising volunteer, Marion Francis at mdfrancis@socal.rr.com, our director Rod Groenewold at rod_agsem@yahoo.com, or call the museum at (800) 587-2286.
Second, many companies reward their employees for volunteering in the community by matching their employees’ donations to community organizations. If your company has a matching donations program, please participate in it and ask for your donations to the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum to be matched. If AG&SEM is not on your company’s approved list of community organizations, ask that we be added. Once we are approved, each time you donate money to the museum, your company will donate a matching amount also. This is a wonderful and easy way to benefit our museum during these tough economic times by making your donations count that much more. If your company needs specific information from AG&SEM, contact Marion Francis at mdfrancis@socal.rr.com or call 1-800-5-TRACTOR to get the appropriate information sent in.
Last, we will again be raising money for our building fund by holding raffles and auctions throughout this year. AG&SEM wants to emphasize arts, crafts, blacksmithing, and weaving created by our members here at the museum. We want to prepare a collection of items, an AG&SEM Artisans’ Collection, made by our members to raffle at the shows. Please help build our AG&SEM Artisans’ Collection for this years raffle by donating your craft items to it. These craft items include woodworking, blacksmithing, sewing, tatting, rugs, quilts, knitting, lace work, afghans, framed photographs/paintings, film/video, miniatures, and much more! Turn your items into the office or email the_ignitor@agsem.com for more information.
You may also donate items to be auctioned off or given as raffle prizes. Please ask your company or any businesses you frequent to make an item donation. Along with the publicity they receive at the raffle or auction, these businesses will get a free ad in one issue of The Ignitor (a $25 value for a business card size ad). Donations are tax deductible.
Here are some ideas for raffle and auction items:
· Artwork; Autographed sports or entertainment memorabilia
· Cash; Crafts or Handiwork; Camping Equipment
· Day Trips; Golf or Fishing Trips; Winery Tours
· Elegant Evenings Out; Resort Accommodations; Spa Treatments
· Food; Table or Cooking Ware; Bar-B-Q or Picnic items
· Gift Certificates for Restaurants, Merchandise, or Services
· Jewelry
· One-of-a-kind experiences- Ride a… plane/classic car/boat/parade float
· Private Instructions: Golfing, Fishing, or Cooking Lessons
· Tickets to Entertainment; Sports; Performances; Amusements Parks; Museums; Harbor Cruises; Excursion Trains
· Member contributed services that can be auctioned off
· Vacations or use of Vacation properties
· anything that you would want to purchase or receive as a gift
Please use the gift donor letter and the item donation form links in this article to print the letter and form. These are used to carefully identify donor items so that AGSEM can be sure to send a thank you letter. Please print as many copies of the gift donor letter and the item donation form as you need.
Thank you very much for all that you do for AG&SEM. If you have any ideas, questions, or suggestions about fundraising for the museum, please contact me at mdfrancis@socal.rr.com .—Marion Francis
