Places to request charity donations (for silent auction) in NOLA & BR

I am on the board of several golf tournaments for charities and my role is to get auction items. I can't tell you exactly which places I hit up but I always get donations from every golf course (round for 4), hotels downtown (Marriots and Hiltons are pretty easy), and Spas for massages. They key is to have an idea what people are looking to get and go get it. You can also apply for donations on restaurant web sites like Domenica and such.

A woman I used to work with was in charge of getting auction items and I was always amazed at the stuff she would get. One year, she even got a Roomba from the company that makes them.

She had a 3 pronged approach:
1. She sent a flood of letters to corporate HQs like the Roomba folks. She would ask for a contact name who deals with charities but she also included a lot of information about the charity, the event, and she would say that she was looking for something with a value less than $50. Some didn't respond. Some responded with a contact name. Some responded with a donation.

2. Phone calls to larger local businesses asking who she can meet in person to talk about a donation.

3. Show up in person at smaller local businesses during off hours and ask for a donation. She always did her homework and was able to talk about the business and give examples of what types of items they could donate.