My MDing services have been requested at a historic church

[daddydigger]

Hey diggers,

A person I work with heard I did a lot of treasure hunting and approached me with a unique proposition. There is a historic church in a small town near here that needs some restoration work. She asked me if I would be willing to MD the grounds, sell everything I find and give them the proceeds.

She says the church needs lots of work and any amount, no matter how small would be helpful. I agreed of course! I need your help though. What's the best way for me to do this? Sell the items on ebay? I thought about making a video of my finds and then asking if any viewers on youtube wanted to buy the items I found.

I don't know, would someone pay a dollar for a wheat penny if it would help an old church?

Any ideas or advice you might have is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dave.

[LKLive13]

Maybe you could have an auction here on this site and announce that all the proceeds would be going to that church? This way you beat the Fleabay fees and may even get some donations!!

[DirtyRob]

Yep....do an auction!!!!!!!!!!!

And get a cool video to go with it.

[Ontarget]

Have to agree. An auction on site might bring the locals out to support a good cause.

[hawgdawg]

Knowing its going to help the church will probably help bring a little higher prices on the stuff....look forward to seeing what you come up with....

[goes4ever]

good luck, sounds interesting, and I assume if you dig something that you want to keep for your collection, you can just make a fair donation for its value?

[beerdoodle]

betting the place has been pounded to death. Too obvious a location. And with or with out permission. May find a few goodies tho............................

[Sonny b]

Some kind of an Auction would be a great idea. Either on here or on the church grounds for the congregation or townsfolk to bid on. You may find some coins or even some important relics that tie into the churches history that might even bring more than coinage. No matter though. What you are doing is a great thing. Thanks for being a good ambassador to our hobby and good luck. If I was closer I would come and help. HH

[pocketspill]

They should get more creative. The congregation probably has people with older homes. The congregation should "donate their yards" for detecting and take a search fee from the detectorists (you) which goes into the church fund. I don't know about you, but I'd pay a fee to the church to hunt old homes if it meant I didn't have to spend so much time freestyling for permission.

Even when I've pulled a 9-silver day from a church, adding up the value of the coins barely covered my gas and lunch money.

[beerdoodle]

Originally Posted by pocketspill

They should get more creative. The congregation probably has people with older homes. The congregation should "donate their yards" for detecting and take a search fee from the detectorists (you) which goes into the church fund. I don't know about you, but I'd pay a fee to the church to hunt old homes if it meant I didn't have to spend so much time freestyling for permission.

Even when I've pulled a 9-silver day from a church, adding up the value of the coins barely covered my gas and lunch money.

And I bet you like the Kentucky wildcats as well.......................

[Grumpysrb]

Divide the church property into a grid. Sell each section for Mding. You'd probably make more money that way. Have the hunt on a specific weekend and invite the media, where a spokes person could mention the restoration and need for money, with an address to mail donations. An auction should be held at the church so bidders can see why they are there. Bids would be higher. The congregation can donate items. They could also auction the church for something like a spring wedding.

[RyanChappell]

Sounds like their expectations are too high. What would one typically find even if it turned out to be a good site? 50 silver coins? What is that worth? $300? Not even!

No doubt your bragging exagerated their perception of our take. They must think you can pull the American Digger BS and find $15,000 worth of relics!

Best case, you deflate them now, and get other detectorist to donate $20 per 100 sq ft spot, and do the same with the member's houses...

If you could backhoe scrape the topsoil between searches... wow! We're talking time machine then...


Good luck.

[pocketspill]

Originally Posted by RyanChappell

Best case, you deflate them now, and get other detectorist to donate $20 per 100 sq ft spot, and do the same with the member's houses...

But unless the church property is acres and acres dividing it up would result in some tiny little grids. Lawns/farms of congregation members could add up to some serious hunt time. I'll bet that they could pull in $25-50 per site depending on age/size. You could set minimum criteria. (E.g. Over 80 years old. Grass not grown up. Multiple visits okay.)

I ran this type of idea by the pastor of an old church during Summer and he thought it was a fantastic idea and he thought the old-timers in church would be all for it. The "trust" of the church would be assigned to the detectorist. I have an umbrella liability policy with State Farm and a certificate/letter from them I could use, but it may be that some kind of insurance/liability waiver is needed since the church is involved.

[pointer80]

I think I would show them some post on the forum and explain that the finds are not going to bring that much and that I would rather just make a donation because it is for a good cause. I would also do like pocketspill said and try to inquire about some other yards the congregation might own and maybe even volunteer to work on the church a little. I do not agree with beerdoodle as far as the location is to obvious so there might not be nothing there. I have had my best detecting at a church right on the main drag. I thought I wouldn't find anything because everyone had to have hunted it but, it was full of good stuff? You just never know.

[Grumpysrb]

Who said they were going to rake it in or there would be acres to hunt. They asked him to ibring in money, any amount. I think if he had 12 plots several feet square, for $10 each, he'd bring in more than detecting them himself. And, It is for charity. I've seen people spend more money than normal because it was for charity many times. There are basically to types of MDer. The ones out to make money and the ones out to discover, and varyiing degrees of the two. I'd pay a fair amount to hunt the site, knowing that I may not find anything, but willing to look knowing that. Anything I did find I may donate to the auction.

[gordonquixote]

Maybe find something first and then figure out how to sell it?

[Perquimans]

It’s all for a good cause... Hunt the place and then have some type of auction--I would say on this site!! Good luck

[SevenOneSix]

You could tell the church to set up online and mobile donations through etransfer or securegive. I'm sure it would have to be advertised so maybe contacting a local radio station and ask if they would sponsor. GL and hope it works out well!!

[Grumpysrb]

I don't think an auction on this site alone would do well. People with a connection to the church or neighborhood history would be much more interested, and be more likely to bid higher. Maybe setting up a website with a bit of the churches history would turn up some interest. I know I'd like to hear something about it and if it had the ability I'd doate a few dollars.