[upthesaukee]

When my wife and I partake in a charitable cause, we look at the basic cost; ie, a golf tournament that is $150 per person, $600 per foursome. We know when we get to the tournament and sign in / register, there will be one of more tables of raffles and other money making deals. We participate in those we want, and walk away from those that are less interesting to us.

We have been to the Humane Society dinners in the past at the Woodshed, and usually went as a table of four. We made the reservations for a table of four, at $XX per person. We then bought the raffle things etc. .

We make our plans around these events and plan our finances accordingly. We pay early to go, and plan to have X amount of money with us to buy the extra stuff.

Baygo, if you are going to do an auction for seating, I would suggest that the seating auction is concluded at least a couple of weeks before the event, so that people can plan accordingly. That would be the only way that I would participate. If it were to go up to the day before, or two days before, well, I think we would just pass on it. Like other's have said, we want to make our plans, not have to hang around and see if we made the cut or not.

Thanks for stepping up to the plate, but I suggest setting a good price per person, and then work the raffles (door prizes and 50/50).

Good luck, however you work it out.