Female Fundraising Charity Auctioneers - Instant Live Auction Items with No Work

How to give Live Auction Packages donated within minutes

3/16/2020

Many nonprofits don’t have the time, donor base, or, frankly, energy to procure enough auction items for their event. When this happens, there’s something you can do with your auctioneer at the beginning of the event to try and source a few emergency items.

While setting up your event, leave a handful of index cards and a pen or two at each table so that people can keep their response private. The last thing we want is someone shouting out an item they’d like to donate and no one in the room looking interested. Then at the start of the evening, your auctioneer takes to the stage and makes an energetic ask for auction items.

I usually say something along the lines of, “If you have an item that you are interested in donating to the auction, right here right now, write it down on one of the cards on your table and someone will be by to pick it up.”

When we ask this question at an event, we already know there’s someone in the room with an amazing item they considered donating but for whatever reason the ask was never made.

I have gotten some amazing items this way.

At a recent event I got back six cards, three of which had spectacular items written on them. We quietly went back to these donors and asked them for more information about the items as the evening continued.

Once you start getting a few items, it’s not uncommon for more to slowly roll in. You end up with both new, fresh items to sell this year, and a lead on some great items for the next year.

It gives you an easy out to not sell all the items that night because you ran out of time. It also gives you information on who in your audience is willing to donate items and what type of items they have. This information is invaluable when it comes to sourcing items for the following year. It builds upon itself making your auction procurement time shorter and more efficient.

Has your nonprofit used this technique at your charity auction? Let me know how it worked for you down in the comments.

All about Buy-a-Spots | Count me In | Parties

3/9/2020

There are two ways to raise money during a live auction: Sell one item once to one person for a large amount of money, or sell spots for one item to multiple people at a lower price point.

Enter the Buy-A-Spot also known as Count Me In or Buy In Parties..

The Buy-A-Spot (also called Count-Me-In) approach often raises at least the same amount of money that it would have if the item were sold to one person.

We all know that the holy trinity of auction items are dinners, trips, and experiences. So for this example, let’s pretend that we have a chef-prepared dinner for sixteen people up for auction at our event. Sure, we can sell that entire experience to one wealthy donor for $8,000, or we can sell spots at that dinner for $500 each and raise at least $8,000. With Buy-A-Spots you’re very likely going to raise the same amount of money, but there are more people in the room with the capacity to give $500 than there are with the capacity to give $8,000.

Buy-A-Spots have traditionally been used for silent auction items, but they are becoming more and more popular during live auctions. And for good reason! By including Buy-A-Spot items in your live auction, you immediately start appealing to donors with a lower giving capacity, which means more of your room can participate in the event.

Here’s a few tips for using Buy-A-Spots in a live auction:

Buy-A-Spot works best for auction lots where the more the merrier is the attitude. It works great for dinners, parties, camping, etc. Anytime you can sell a spot at a table, you can do a Buy-A-Spot.
Pick a date for the Buy-A-Spot event before the auction so you can put it in your program. People need to know what date the event will be on so that they can plan ahead. If you have an item that you think is going to sell like gangbusters, pick a second backup date for after the first one fills up.
Buy-A-Spots are performed by the charity auctioneer during the live auction, but the bidding on these items works a lot more like a Fund-A-Need. Your auctioneer will ask for everyone who wants a spot to put their paddles in the air. This eliminates the competition element present during bidding for a traditional live auction lot and turns it into a communal moment, introducing the pressure that is more often seen during a Fund-A-Need.

If your nonprofit decides to give Buy-A-Spots a go at your next live auction, drop me a line and let me know how it goes!

Do You Have Donors or Experience Buyers at Your Event?

3/2/2020

Nonprofits like to use celebrities, musicians, and special guests as a lure to get people to come to the event and support the nonprofit. I am lucky enough to work with celebrities, musicians, and thought leaders fairly regularly in my work as a charity auctioneer, and I’ve seen these events be both exceptional successes and impressive disasters.

The problem with having big names at your event is that if your attendees are coming to the event for any reason other than supporting your nonprofit through a donation, they are not coming to support your organization.

You have experience buyers, not donors.

Experience buyers are those who attend a fundraising event with the goal of meeting the big name guest in attendance. They want to interact with this person; they want the Instagrammable moment, and they’ll pay any price for the privilege.

I get calls from organizations that have these experience-based events all the time. They tell me that their events are super successful, they sell tickets like crazy, but they aren’t raising any money with their live auctions, silent auctions, and Fund-A-Needs.

This is because they don’t have donors, they have experience buyers.

Unfortunately, this isn’t something that I can fix (which is something I’m very honest about). The attendees at these events don’t really care about the nonprofit the event supports. They only care about the experience they are buying themselves.

Nonprofits who find themselves in this position have a few options to increase their fundraising at these experience-based events:

Sell more tickets
Raise ticket prices
Include an upsell

Selling more tickets is fairly self-explanatory. If you sell more tickets, you will raise more money through ticket sales. Raising ticket prices can work, assuming that the attendees won’t balk at a price increase. Including an additional upsell—such as charging extra for one-on-one time or a photo with a celebrity—can also work, and depending on your guest list it can work quite well.

The trouble with experience-based events is that is really difficult to turn the attendees into real donors. They become used to receiving a one-of-kind experience in return for their ticket purchase and they begin to expect that. It’s a hard habit to break. Usually, these events are put on by a third party raising money for a nonprofit. They don’t have a donor list to pull from, so they rely on selling tickets and turning people into donors once they arrive at the event. But that doesn’t work. Donor outreach and cultivation takes a lot of time. There’s a reason that so many nonprofit employees make it their focus. The relationship between the nonprofit and the donor takes time to build.

Even if the nonprofit invites people to attend these events based on a donor list, it’s still very hard to break out of this cycle because the donors have now been trained to expect an amazing experience with no real pressure to donate. If you are really looking to turn experience buyers into donors, it can’t be done at a special event. It has to be done during one-on-one meetings, but I expect this won’t be worth the time investment for most nonprofits.

In the end, experience-based events are fine. You’ll make some money and your event will be well-known in the area. But, you won’t build your donor rolls and you won’t cultivate long-term relationships with people who want to support your cause. Depending on your goal for the event, that may or may not be a bad thing.

Prioritizing the Fund-A-Need at Your Nonprofit Event

2/24/2020

I tend to get pushback from my clients when I suggest moving the Fund-A-Need to the beginning of the event program. And I totally get it. Fund-A-Needs are traditionally done following the live auction. Moving the Fund-A-Need is taking a risk. Risks are scary. Change is scary. However, as I’ve discussed before, moving the Fund-A-Need to the beginning of the program has the potential to help your nonprofit capture every last dollar in the room.

I want to walk you through a recent conversation I had with a client because I want you to feel comfortable taking this risk at your next fundraising event.

Historically, nonprofits and other organizations, at the end of their large charity galas, would make a general call for donations. This was designed to invite anyone to give who hadn’t participated in the live auction or who wasn’t a major donor. Over time this became more nuanced and morphed into the Fund-A-Need as we know it today, but it has always stayed at the end of the auction. People are comfortable with this because it has always been done this way. Nonprofits carry on, using the live auction as a warm-up to the Fund-A-Need, unaware of how much better their Fund-A-Need could do if it kicked off the evening.

For a long time, I agreed with this positioning. I thought the Fund-A-Need worked best at the end because that’s where it has always been.

But I was wrong.

Having the Fund-A-Need in its traditional spot means that your guests, most of whom are not participating in the live auction, have to sit there politely, trying not to get bored, as a small percentage of the room participates in the auction portion of the evening. If your nonprofit has a particularly lengthy live auction, let’s say thirty or forty lots, this can easily take an hour or two. Now, I’m an auctioneer and even I find listening to bid calls for that long absolutely mind-numbing. What happens if most of the room is sitting there bored out of their minds for an hour or two? Their motivation to give dies.

Does this mean you should never put your Fund-A-Need after your live auction? Of course not! Personally, I will do the Fund-A-Need after the live auction if we have five lots or less. That’s just the right number of items to allow you to get through the live auction before you lose the room.

To figure out where the Fund-A-Need should go in your program, go back and look at your old show flows. Where did the Fund-A-Need fall? What time was it slotted for? Then, look up your participation percentage, and the number of auction items.

If you have more than twelve auction items, you should consider doing your Fund-A-Need first.

If your participation percentage is under thirty percent, you should consider doing your Fund-A-Need first.

If you have done your Fund-A-Need after 10 p.m for three or more consecutive years, you should consider doing your Fund-A-Need first.

If your event is on a weeknight, in a major city, you should consider doing your Fund-A-Need first.

Now, when I say first, I don’t mean first thing after people get to their seats. I mean that you should do your Fund-A-Need before the live auction, because the live auction is usually the longest part of the evening. There are many factors that encourage your guests to give, but there are many more factors that discourage giving. Boredom and time are the two factors most likely to discourage giving, so you want to eliminate those from the equation as much as possible.

We can mitigate boredom by not forcing the room to sit through a live auction that only a handful of people will participate in.

But what do I mean by “time?”

Towards the end of your event, there will come a time when couples start to filter out because they are tired, they want to avoid traffic, or they have to get home to relieve the babysitter. It’s inevitable. It happens at nearly every event I do. At one event I did, I literally watched half the room get up at 10 p.m. and walk out the door. At another, we had a three-hour dinner and then, after dessert was served, we started the auction. It was 9:30 p.m. Who’s going to sit around for that? People who want to buy something at the auction, sure, but no one else.

Moving your Fund-A-Need to the beginning of the program helps reduce the effects of both boredom and time.

Fund-A-Need success requires participation from as many people as possible. To achieve this, I coach my clients to move the Fund-A-Need to the beginning of the event and we are getting great results.

If the idea of moving the Fund-A-Need complicates your usual program, here’s one way you could consider setting up the evening:

Cocktail hour with a raffle or silent auction
A speech from a board member or the event chair
Give out an award if you have one
Bring out the CEO for a speech
Show a short video
Bring out your speaker and launch into the Fund-A-Need
Dinner
Live auction
Any other speeches or awards

At the end of the day, I think a more productive Fund-A-Need is worth switching up the usual fundraising event program. With an engaging charity auctioneer and a room motivated to give, your Fund-A-Need can smash past fundraising records.

Inside My Business: Secrets to Sealing the Deal

2/17/2020

I won’t lie.

I’m a good auctioneer.

I’m a rockstar at Fund-A-Need auctions.

I’m a fundraising ace.

I’m also a top-notch sales woman.

Did you just get the heebie jeebies?

Many people hate sales, but not me. Today, I want to share my secrets for a successful initial client call. Over the years I have developed a method for conducting these calls that helps me land the jobs I want, ninety percent of the time.

This initial call is part informational and 100% a sales call. These forty-five minutes are how we make the choice to work together.

People get in touch with me in all sorts of ways, but most often they reach out through a form on my website. Each time this form is filled out, I get an email with the person’s contact information.

As soon as I can, I take some time to look up the organization. I’m looking for a couple things here: who they are, what they do, and whether I can get behind their message. I only proceed with nonprofits whose mission I can get behind. If the nonprofit’s mission is something I cannot connect with, I politely decline.

I also spend some time researching the nonprofit’s past events. I’ll look at pictures and read over any information available about the event. I’m looking for details here. Seating arrangements, how people are dressed, major philanthropists in attendance, the timing of the event. But most importantly, I’m looking to see if people are paying attention. All these seemingly minor details can give me a ton of information about an event before we even hop on the phone.

At this point, my trusty assistant emails the organization with links to schedule a call and download a worksheet. The worksheet asks questions about the nonprofit’s most recent Fund-A-Need event so that I can better gauge how much room for growth the event has.

When it’s time for our chat, here’s how it typically goes
We hop on the call and jump right into a discussion of the upcoming event. Because I do my research ahead of time, there’s no need to spend time explaining the story of the nonprofit, their mission, and their past events. I’m maximizing time here by getting straight to the stuff that counts. Also, I’m beginning the process of building trust, based on the fact that I took the time to do my research.

I’ll ask for information on the upcoming event, typically based on data from previous years.

How many people?
How many revenue streams?
What kind of revenue streams?
Have you used a professional auctioneer before? If so, who?

These questions help me understand a few things:

Does the nonprofit know what it needs and what it wants from this event? Hint: Often, these are two different things.
Are they clear on why they haven’t been reaching their fundraising goals?

Then, we go over the worksheet and talk about what can be expected from the event, in terms of REAL fundraising growth.

My secret to winning all the clients I want is honestly.

I am always honest when giving advice on how to increase fundraising at events. If there is money left in the room, as oftentimes there is, I’ll say so. But, if the nonprofit in question is already achieving 70-80% participation during the Fund-A-Need, then I’m very honest about how we need to set realistic expectations in terms of fundraising. There’s just not a ton of money left in a room with that kind of participation.

At this point of the call, the client usually asks a ton of questions about how I work, how much I cost, what’s included, etc.

But what I think is most important is how I end the call. I talk a lot about feelings.

The nonprofit world is filled with women. As a woman, as a mom, as a former nonprofit employee, I talk about how I want to feel about the working relationship. Fundraising is a touchy-feely business. Donors give because of how we make them feel. How people feel is important.

Coming off of that first call I want my clients to feel like they can trust me, more than any other auctioneer, to do what’s best for them. To achieve this, I always tell potential clients exactly what I think. If they have a question, I give them the answer for free. I won’t give them step-by-step instructions, but I’ll tell them the solution to their problem and make a few recommendations.

Many auctioneers guard their secrets, but I don’t. I know a very well-known auctioneer who starts all of his calls by asking his clients to tell him about their organization. When you’re on the phone with me, the entire call is spent on your event. I want to take the time to really dig deep and see if I can help, because sometimes I can’t. Some people advertise a free consultation, but what that really means is you’ll explain your organization and event and the auctioneer will give you a sales pitch.

I really do provide a free consultation because my main goal is not to sell you on my service, I want to help you raise more money. I want to help you make the world a better place. For me, it’s about helping the organization first.

My business model is based on transparency. I want all nonprofits to succeed, even if they can’t afford me. You can find all of my secrets online for free, if you look. I am often on the phone answering questions and talking about fundraising longer with nonprofits who can’t afford to hire me, because I believe in the work.

I recently spoke to a client who was looking to increase their fundraising at their yearly gala. The way this event is structured, it functions more as a very expensive promotional event than a fundraiser.

They have a handful of speakers, a couple of honorees, auctions, and a Fund-A-Need to round out the evening. Their event is in NYC, on a Tuesday night. Most of their donors have to get up for work in the morning, so there’s no guaranteeing they’re going to stay long enough to even see the Fund-A-Need.

I suggested very plainly that they move the Fund-A-Need up in the program, placing it right after their opening speaker. This way, I’ve got the money early and it doesn’t matter what time people leave.

The event is a couple months away (at the time of writing) and I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised by what we’re able to accomplish with this single change.

Three Questions Your Charity Auctioneer Should Ask Before Your Auction

2/10/2020

Clients don’t often get angry with me because of something to do with their auction. I do my best to be open and honest through the entire planning process in order to avoid such situations.

The only time a client did get upset with me, specifically because of the auction, was the time I did not ask these three questions.

1. Can I double this item? If so, what is the minimum I can double it for?

After the client gives me a number, let’s say it’s $3000, I will rephrase the question and ask it again. “To be clear, if I have one bidder at $2700 and one at $2800 you don’t want me to sell two and make you $5500? You only want me to double it if I can get $3000 for each?

I ask this question twice because this is not a call that I, or any good auctioneer, can make on the fly. It leaves too much room for discrepancy. No auctioneer should be expected to make a call on the fly about how much you can and can’t sell an item for.

2. Does this item have a minimum selling price?

There are costs built-in to any event and there’s an amount the auction must make just to recoup the costs associated with it. I need to know the minimum price for each item so I don’t go below that price and jeopardize the income of the event.

3. Does this item have a minimum starting bid?

I didn’t always ask this question because, as an auctioneer, I really prefer to set my own starting bids. I can adjust them up or down depending on how well the auction is going, how the energy in the room is working, etc.

If a donor gives an item to an auction with the stipulation that the bidding cannot start lower than a certain amount, it’s important for me to know what that amount is. I can then adjust the order of the auction items, if necessary. If a donor stipulates that the starting bid on his item must be $2000, for example, I’ll move that item to later in the auction. You just can’t start most successful auctions with a $2000 opening bid.

Most people who aren’t in the industry assume that if you start high, you end high, but that’s not the case. When you start low, you end high because more people are able to participate, which builds the momentum and pushes the bids higher and higher. When items don’t sell well at my auctions, it is usually because the opening bid was set by someone else and it was high.

This is why I encourage nonprofits not to let their donors set the starting bids.

I did a school auction not long ago, and two of the donors were very concerned with how we packaged their items. One was specifically concerned that her item would have no bids unless we bundled it with something else. I offered to talk to the two donors on the phone and explain why their items were being packaged the way they were.

It turned out that their previous experience donating items to the school auction had not been pleasant. The previous auctioneer had not promoted and sold their items in a way that felt good to them, partly because he didn’t know enough about the items. They did not want to be embarrassed if their items didn’t sell again this year.

They didn’t need to worry. We smashed their fundraising goal and both items sold for way more than they thought possible.

In the nonprofit world it’s always a game of who is in charge. My job is to help the donor make the right choice, because they are in charge in this moment. They need to make the right choice in order for the item to be successful at auction, it’s my job as the charity auctioneer to lead them down the path to that choice.

I’m happy to report that these donors had a lovely experience and have already committed to donating again this year.

A Day in the Life of a Charity Auctioneer: Auction Edition

2/3/2020

A while ago, I showed you what a typical work day is like for me. If I’m working an auction, my day looks quite a bit different.

Most fundraising events take place in the evening, so I typically start my auction days at noon.
As a female auctioneer, I need more prep time than the men in my field. Sad, but true. So, I start early to make sure there’s time to get everything done properly.

I start with a shower, then I settle in to blow dry my hair. And I mean settle in. I like to blow dry my hair while sitting on the floor and reading a book. This means it takes me a bit longer to blow dry my hair than the average person, but it’s worth it.

Next, I consult my trusty charity auctioneer outfit spreadsheet. That’s right, I keep track of the outfits I wear to each event, each year. I only see most of the people at these events once a year, and the sad fact is that if I show up in the same outfit twice in a row, I will get comments.

Once I have chosen an outfit for the event, I pack it away in my garment bag and pack my auction bag.

Makeup comes next, but I don’t do it all before I leave the house. I do my skincare routine and put on foundation, everything else waits until I’m at the venue. My foundation looks best if it has time to sink into my skin before I do anything else. So, while it does that, I drive over to the venue.

Depending on how far I’m driving, I’m in the car between 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. I always stop for an energy drink on the way. I sip on it slowly on my way to the venue, usually only getting through a quarter of the can before I throw it away.

The first thing I do when I get to the venue is find my contact. If I can’t find them, I go straight to the sound booth to introduce myself. The sound crew is my backbone. If I don’t have good audio, the auction will sink like a rock. I get a sound check as soon as I possibly can.

Once the sound check is over, I head to the green room or whatever behind the scenes space they have set aside for the event. I get changed into my auction outfit and do the rest of my makeup.

At about 5:00 p.m. I have a final meeting with the Development Director. Ostensibly this is so they can make sure I have everything I need, but usually it’s the other way around. Then I wait for the auction to begin.

Some of my clients want me out on the floor schmoozing with the guests during the cocktail hour, some of them want me to rehearse with their Fund-A-Need speaker. I fill this pre-auction time with whatever small tasks the nonprofit needs me to do.

Sometime between 8:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. I take to the stage to do the Fund-A-Need and live auction. Afterwards, I meet with the auction recorders and go through my post-auction routine. Sometimes I will hang around to observe the rest of the event, especially if the crowd is particularly energized. Otherwise, I slip into my sweatpants and walk out the door. The funny thing about dressing the way I do for auctions is that as soon as I take my bright, shimmery outfits off, I become invisible. No one remembers what I look like and I can slip out of the building undetected, and before the valet station gets busy.

Then I drive home, probably stopping at McDonald's on the way. And that’s it, that’s a day in my life if I have an auction in the evening.

Are you a charity auctioneer or nonprofit professional? What does your event day look like? Let me know in the comments.

What Nonprofits Can Learn From Las Vegas

1/27/2020

I was in Las Vegas not long ago and boy has it changed.

Vegas started out as the gambling capital of America. However, as Indian casinos have become more ubiquitous and states have moved to loosen restrictions on betting and gambling, Vegas has been forced to rebrand.

Today, Las Vegas is the center of nightlife. It’s where all the hottest parties are day or night. Celebrities are paid to show up at various events and venues, their mere presence elevating the party to a whole new level.

It doesn’t take long to see what makes Vegas so unique. It’s all about the way they treat you when you’re there. They make you feel special, like a queen; the most important person in the room.

Nonprofits everywhere should take note. Most of the things that Las Vegas does to make you happy and keep you coming back can be translated to nonprofit fundraising and donor cultivation.

1. They don’t say no. No one says no. Ever. If you are in Vegas and you want something, someone will make it happen. In the nonprofit world, when things are hard or the request is strange, most of us say no. Stop doing that. Start saying, “Sure, I’ll see what I can do.”

2. They make you offers you can’t refuse. Vegas attracts you with a clever use of the fear of missing out, or FOMO. They send you emails raving about the cool new thing happening, emails filled with images and videos of people having the time of their lives.

Nonprofits, on the other hand, communicate mostly in dire terms. We write our donors about lost funding, saving kittens, or emergency appeals.

It’s so easy to ignore an email from a nonprofit. Do you know who it’s not easy to ignore an email from? Vegas. They grab your attention, they personalize communications. They go out of the way to make you feel important.

Many nonprofits have stopped using the phone. They’ll send a handful, or bagful, of emails each year, but they won’t call, they won’t text, and they certainly won’t swing by. If Vegas wants to get ahold of you, they are going to reach out through every available channel. And they aren’t going to stop.

So many nonprofits have more information than they can fit into a weekly or monthly newsletter. They’ll keep pushing things back to the next edition, unwilling to accept that the information is never going to make any edition. Stop doing this! Send out a second email, send a text, push the information out over social media. Communicate with your donors.

3. They take care of you. When you are in Las Vegas, they take care of you really well. Insanely well. You never want for anything. If you have money to spend in Vegas, they will get it out of you. Heck, even if you don’t have money to spend, they will get it out of you.

Nonprofits are essentially doing the same thing. We want to get money out of people. The only difference is that people tend to feel better after making a donation to a nonprofit than they do after a weekend in Vegas. So, in theory, it should be even easier to convince people to give. But it’s not, because Vegas does a better job of making people feel good.

Nonprofits should ask themselves what they can do to take care of their donors. The answer is probably an increase in personalized communication.

4. They excel at fostering a specific feeling. I started clubbing when I turned sixteen. I’ve been in and out of my fair share of nightclubs. And I can tell you that Vegas excels at selling a very specific feeling. The feeling that you are important, a rockstar, a big shot. Vegas celebrates every single purchase you make. All the nightclubs have scantily clad men and women on staff serving drinks and talking to patrons. Why? Because it makes us feel good to think we have a shot at impressing these incredibly attractive, magnetic people.

When you make a big purchase, like a bottle, they throw a party. There might be an announcement, a song and dance, or a parade. An attractive man or woman will be assigned to sit with your group and serve you all night. If you’re with a group of guys who perhaps look a bit dorky, a bit like you struggle in the dating department, they will send a gaggle of women to sit at your table so you feel amazing. Now I’m certainly not suggesting we have our development professionals dress in revealing clothes and hand out drinks, but I am suggesting that there’s a lesson in the Vegas experience.

Nonprofits must go out of their way to make each and every donor feel like the most integral part of the entire nonprofit machine. We should be celebrating our donors for everything they do; every donation, every volunteer hour, every promotion at work, every time they are honored by another organization.

Communications should be personalized at every opportunity, with more than just the donor’s name. Send out birthday cards, make phone calls just to chat about something they’re interested in. Invest in your donors as human beings, not just as bank accounts. Feeling good is what keeps people engaged in Vegas night after night, it will keep your donors engaged year after year.

5. They keep very detailed notes on you. This isn’t unique to Las Vegas, all the major high-end establishments do it. This is something that very high-networth individuals are used to, but for the rest of us it’s another detail that makes us feel special.

From the moment you check in to a hotel in Vegas they are keeping an eye on you. They record what you drink, what you eat, where you go, etc. They keep notes on everything. They do this so that when you come back the next time they can be like, “Oh Mrs. Annes, it’s nice to see you again. Here is your favorite iced tea.” That attention to detail, anticipating wants and needs, makes people feel incredibly important.

Let me tell you a little story about someone I know. This lady is super fancy. Twenty years ago she stayed at the Four Seasons on Hawai’i. During her stay she ordered a particular iced tea. She went back the next year, they remembered her and brought her that same iced tea before she even asked. She has been a loyal customer of theirs for twenty years because of this one action.

High-end establishments and companies in Las Vegas keep track of your information using high-tech software. I’m not suggesting you do it this way. You just need to take notes about your donors. Keep track of their names, family members they talk about, interests, their birthday, etc. You can do this on your phone, in Google Docs, in Excel, whatever works best for you. Nonprofits must care enough to take a real interest in their donor’s lives, to take notes, and to prepare before seeing them again.

6. They know what you like and use it to reel you back in. If you spend a night at a club drinking Fireball, you can bet they will remember that’s what you were drinking. At some point in the future, they will send you an email advertising a special deal on Fireball just for you next time you’re in town. They know what you like and they aren’t afraid of using it against you.

When you think about it, this practice is just email segmentation. Nonprofits can easily do this using any email list software that allows you to segment your lists. Sort people by birthday, giving anniversary, personal interests, whatever you like. Make as many lists as you like. This will only help you to precisely target your communications.

7. Vegas has changed with the generations. The Vegas of yesteryear is long gone, replaced with a younger, hipper, more vibrant, nightlife focused Vegas. They changed with the time in order to not get left behind. Nonprofits must do the same thing.

We need to embrace technology and trends as they come. We need to get comfortable with social media because that’s where our future donors are. Your donor base may not be primarily made up of millennials today, but before long it will be. We millennials love technology and social media. Get comfortable with these things now so you don’t get left behind as your older donors phase out.

Capitalize on things younger generations love, like Instagram. Vegas does an excellent job of creating Instagram worthy moments: Burgers you have to wear a lab coat to eat, milkshakes as big as your head, photo locations perfectly arranged to suit that Insta lifestyle. Get out of your comfort zone and work on incorporating Instagram worthy moments into your events.

This really all boils down to one thing: Treating donors like people, not like bank accounts. Nonprofits must invest in their donors as human beings. We should communicate with them regularly, not just to share updates and ask for donations, but just to say, “Hi.” Communications should be personalized as much as possible. Think of it as building a community and tending to friendships. Donors should feel like they are an integral part of the community that supports the nonprofit. They should feel special and they should feel valued.

Inside My Business: Events Aren’t Always What They Seem

1/20/2020

There’s a surprising amount of jealousy in the nonprofit world, especially when it comes to events.

Fundraising events and galas can be flashy, star-studded affairs. The coverage of which can make it seem like every nonprofit around is more successful than yours. But, that’s just not true.

People almost always exaggerate. If you read a press release stating that the local animal shelter raised a staggering $1.6 million at their latest event, pay attention to the information that isn’t included in that press release.

You don’t know where that revenue came from. Was it strictly donations, or are they factoring in ticket sales, sponsorships, underwriting, etc?

You don’t know what their goal was. Yes, $1.6 million is absolutely an impressive, staggering amount of money. But if their goal for the evening was $3 million, it wasn’t a fundraising success. They did not meet their goal and will now have to rethink their budgetary priorities.

In American culture we are trained to look up at the wealthier, more successful, more beautiful people around us. We see this everywhere online. Social media has certainly exacerbated the issue, but celebrity culture has always existed.

What we forget to do is look around us at the people doing the work. We overlook the small nonprofits doing amazing work on a shoestring budget with two full-time employees. We overlook the nonprofits who would love to be able to host a fundraising event or throw a party.

Always be grateful for the donors who support your nonprofit, no matter what. They believe in you and the work you are doing enough to give you some of their hard-earned dollars. It doesn’t matter what the nonprofit down the street is working on or how much they raised last quarter. What matters is the work you are doing today.

Do You Need a Charity Auctioneer When Using Giving Technology?

1/13/2020

Giving technology comes up frequently with a number of my clients. It’s remains one of the newest trends in fundraising, and it’s worth looking into how you can best utilize it at your next event.

Today, we’re going to talk about technology that allows nonprofits to use apps, tablets, and cell phones to facilitate their Fund-A-Need.

You can use technology to run your Fund-A-Need in two ways:

Go through the Fund-A-Need levels just as you normally would, asking people to raise their paddles and pausing at each level to have them enter their gift into tablets at their tables.
The person leading your Fund-A-Need stands on stage and says, “Ready. Set. Give.” Everyone uses the tablets at their table to give and you’re done in just a few minutes.

Giving technology always recommends that you hire a charity auctioneer to facilitate the technology at your event. But, is that really necessary?

No. It’s not.

The truth is, if you are using technology to facilitate your Fund-A-Need, you don’t need a charity auctioneer. Your Fund-A-Need will run just fine without one.

Here’s why:

First, technology like this can make your Fund-A-Need go a million times faster. You’re done in just a few minutes.

Second, there’s nothing a charity auctioneer can say on stage during this time, that a staff member or volunteer can’t say. You need a cheerleader to stand on stage for the few minutes the Fund-A-Need will last and say things like:

We’re looking for 100% participation. If you haven’t given yet, please take out your tablet, click the link, and make your gift.
Wow! Look at this generosity. Thank you so much.
We’re going to make a huge impact with these donations
Wow! Look at that thermometer jump up!

Anyone can do that, for far less money than a charity auctioneer costs. Where I live, nonprofits can expect to pay at least $3,000 for a charity auctioneer. With a Fund-A-Need like this, that’s $1,000 a minute! Save your money and use an enthusiastic staff member or volunteer.

Why I Don’t Do Technology-Based Fund-A-Needs
Two clients recently asked me to assist with Fund-A-Needs using giving technology. I went over their numbers with them and we had a conversation about what they could expect from this type of Fund-A-Need. The truth is, running a Fund-A-Need like this is not going to bring in a lot of money. You might match your total from the year before, but you certainly won’t see an increase and you may very well raise less.

This is the reason I personally don’t take jobs that include a technology-based Fund-A-Need. I used to, until I realized that it’s not the best thing for the nonprofit or for my business. I can’t confidently guarantee that I can raise your nonprofit more money. And, my services are not inexpensive. My services are an investment. It doesn’t make sense for nonprofits to pay both my fee and the price of using the technology.

Professionally, it’s not worth it for me to take these jobs either, because every single time I am in front of an audience I am in front of new potential clients. Fund-A-Needs with giving technology do not allow me to best showcase my skills. Any business owner interested in growing their business will tell you that they must do their very best for every single client. Auctions like this don’t allow me to do my very best.

If you want an increase in your Fund-A-Need revenue, you need a charity auctioneer on stage to manipulate the energy in the room and get people to give. People don’t give as much to their phone as they do to a person.

Technology can certainly help your nonprofit save time on the Fund-A-Need. However, you are going to make less money and you’re going to pay more to hire an auctioneer and use the technology than you would just hiring a charity auctioneer to run a full Fund-A-Need at your next event.

I’m not saying that giving technology can’t have a positive impact on your fundraising. It can be incredibly effective at increasing the revenue and reach of silent auctions, for example. I just don’t think the Fund-A-Need is the right place to use this technology.

Does your nonprofit use technology to facilitate the Fund-A-Need? What do you see as the pros and cons of this approach? Let me know in the comments.

Fund-A-Need in Ten Minutes or Less

1/10/2020

It’s not uncommon for clients to ask me how they can speed up their Fund-A-Need.

I always recommend that nonprofits do a full Fund-A-Need at their event. It’s the absolute best way to raise the most money in the least amount of time. However, a full Fund-A-Need can take some time. More time than some nonprofits want to allocate to it.

A full Fund-A-Need with between six and eight giving levels, in a full room of motivated donors can take up to 25 minutes to complete. But, that 25 minutes can potentially generate up to $500k (depending on the size of the room, giving capacity of the donors, nonprofit engagement, etc).

It really is worth your time.

What happens though, if your nonprofit has already front-loaded your fundraising? If you’ve already approached your major donors individually and they’ve made large donations or are sponsoring the event in some capacity?

In cases like this, while I still recommend a full Fund-A-Need, you can make the choice to take a faster approach.

Let’s talk about how you can do a Fund-A-Need in ten minutes or less?

Giving Technology
Technology is hands-down the fastest way to run a Fund-A-Need. You can be done with the entire Fund-A-Need in three minutes.

The main downside to this approach is that when people pull out their phone or tablet at an event, there’s really no way to know what they are doing. Sure, they say they’re making a donation, but how do you know they aren’t checking their email or texting their friends?

Bidding technology also undercuts the communal nature of the Fund-A-Need. What’s designed as a communal moment of giving to a shared cause becomes a moment of solitary screen time.

You also won’t get big gifts in a text-to-give situation. People give money to people, not to screens. I’ve written before about the invisible ingredients of a Fund-A-Need, having a charity auctioneer who knows how to manipulate those ingredients will always make your nonprofit more money.

A Three-Level Fund-A-Need
Restrict your Fund-A-Need to just three giving levels. Set your levels at $1,000, $500, and $5, or something similar.

This approach has the benefit of momentum, energy, and participation. You’ll get a ton of participation because the giving levels during this type of Fund-A-Need tend to be lower, but you won’t make as much money. However, if all your major donors have already made a donation, then it really doesn’t matter.

This approach takes about ten minutes, but I don’t recommend it unless all your major donors have already donated at a high level.

A Paddle Pick Up
This is another modified Fund-A-Need that is super speedy. Set five giving levels for a larger range of giving opportunities. You’ll need volunteers to go around the room with boxes, clearly labelled with each giving level.

Your auctioneer announces a giving level and then pauses so that everyone who wants to give at that level can put their paddle in the air. The room cheers and says thank you, then those people drop their paddles into the corresponding bin.

What I love about this approach is that it’s very fast, but it does kill the energy and participation levels. No one really feels appreciated. There’s also not as much pressure to give because things are moving so fast.

This Fund-A-Need can be done in about eight minutes.

Centerpiece Fund-A-Need
This is a Fund-A-Need that I created for a client of mine who had a very specific request. They wanted to do a Fund-A-Need that would feel equal for every donor at every level. I call this method the Centerpiece Fund-A-Need.

For this one, get a large bucket or container that you can fill with dirt, sand, gravel, glass pebbles, etc. Then collect a bunch of small dowels or sticks and top them with an image that connects to your nonprofit. On this image there should be space for your donors to write their names and donation amounts.

When you do the Fund-A-Need you only make one ask. You ask everyone to write their donation on their mini-paddle and come up and plant their paddle in the container.

The great thing about this approach is that you can do it at any point in the evening. You can even ask multiple times. The display of mini-paddles gives the room a visual manifestation of their giving. There are no set levels with this approach which also opens it up to everyone, no matter their giving capacity. It’s very low pressure and allows everyone to feel good about participating.

A faster Fund-A-Need is possible, but your nonprofit will have to make a trade off. You’ll very likely raise less money than you would with a full Fund-A-Need. If you are looking to save time on your next Fund-A-Need, consider approaching all of your major donors ahead of the event and securing their donations ahead of time to mitigate the drop in Fund-A-Need donations.

A Day in the Life of a Charity Auctioneer

1/6/2020

I’m always curious to hear how other people run their businesses; what a typical day looks like and how they stay on top of everything. I find the different ways of doing things endlessly fascinating and sometimes I learn new strategies that I can incorporate into my life.

I hope I’m not the only one who finds this interesting because today I’m going to give you a look at my typical day when I don’t have an auction in the evening.

My day starts bright and early at 6:30 a.m. I get the baby up and then go wake my two older kids. Our mornings are pretty busy, so I try to make breakfast the night before when I can.

As an aside: I LOVE MAKING BREAKFAST FOOD. My love for breakfast food is deep and unyielding. Pancakes, waffles, banana bread, fancy breakfast pastries. I make it all.

At 7:45 a.m. I do the morning school run. That’s the latest we can leave if there’s any hope of being at school on time.

At 9:00 a.m. the nanny arrives and I am free to start my work day. From 9:00 a.m. to noon you’ll find me in my home office, sitting in front of the computer with headphones on. I slog through emails and notifications, put work together for clients, and sometimes have a client call or two.

At noon I try to exercise for at least 45 minutes. I hate cardio, so I don’t do it. Instead you’ll find me doing a combination of weight training, pilates, and yoga.

1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. is reserved for new client calls, working with my assistant, writing contracts, doing billing, etc. By 3:00 p.m. I am out the door to pick the kids up from school.

3:00 p.m to 6:00 p.m. is family time. I don’t look at my phone, check email, or do anything for my business. Instead I’m helping with homework and playing with my kids. I’m lucky to have the privilege of arranging my life this way. I am able to run my business and be with my kids every day. That’s not something I take for granted.

At 6:00 p.m. we do kid dinner and then the kids get ready for bed. I would love nothing more than to sit down with my kids and enjoy a meal, but they are not enjoyable to eat with. They are three tiny, tyrannical customers and I am their short order cook.

Sometime after the kids are in bed I’ll eat dinner. I do intermittent fasting. It’s something I’ve done since my early twenties, before I knew it had a name. Most days I only eat one meal in the evening, though I do consume coffee and tea throughout the day.

From 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. I’m back in front of my computer tying up any loose ends from the day. There are some days where I don’t have any work left to do, when that happens I’m cleaning the kitchen, listening to a podcast or watching a YouTube video, and making breakfast for the next day. These podcasts and videos are never work related. If I’m listening to a nonprofit podcast, I’m driving in the car to an event. My favorite podcasts to listen to for pleasure are story-based podcasts. Two of my current favorites are Ear Hustle and Armchair Expert. As you know if you’ve read Ten Things You Don’t Know About Me, I’m obsessed with skincare. If I’m watching YouTube videos, they’re probably about skincare.

After all that is done, I’ll sit down to watch some TV. And I love me some TV. My current favorite show, my guilty pleasure, is Alone. I watch Glow, The Handmaid’s Tale, and all that popular stuff too, but my absolute favorite right now is Alone.

Then, I go to bed.

And that’s it, that’s my day if I don’t have an auction to go to in the evening. It’s busy, but I’m grateful that I’m able to do what I love while taking care of my family.

Online Raffles: Prizeo and Omaze

1/3/2020

A client recently asked me:

We have a lot of people in our community who cannot afford to come to our event, but would like an opportunity to participate from home for a very low price point. What can we do?

I told them about Prizeo and Omaze. Two very similar services that allow you to run an online raffle for a very reasonable price.

Here’s how it works.

Your nonprofit works with the site to set up a raffle for an amazing prize. Your supporters, and people from all over the world, donate as little as $10 for a chance to win the prize.

It’s that easy.

This is a great option for nonprofits who have a lot of donors who cannot attend their annual events. It’s also an amazing opportunity to reach philanthropic-minded people around the world who may not hear about your nonprofit any other way.

Next time you’re looking for a way to engage supporters who can’t attend your event, check out Prizeo and Omaze.

Is Your Charity Auctioneer Really on Your Team?

12/27/2019

I get calls pretty regularly from nonprofits frustrated with the auctioneer they used the previous year. Sometimes their frustration stems from circumstances that were beyond the auctioneer’s control. But my guess is that most of the time, the auctioneer took the job for the wrong reasons. Trust me, I’ve done it before.

The reality is, many charity auctioneers are in this business to make money for themselves. The biggest feel good moment of their night is when you hand them a check.

The thing is, we do our best work when we put our own needs aside and focus entirely on the needs of the nonprofit.

Here’s how to know if your auctioneer is really on your team:

They always work in the best interest of the nonprofit and their donors. Their focus is not on how much they will earn for the evening, but on how much they can raise for you.

They make your donors feel appreciated and loved for their generosity. They do this regardless of the donor’s capacity to give. Minor donors are just as important as major donors. Everyone who gives should be celebrated. Everyone who volunteers should be celebrated.

They’re honest. I am honest about what my clients need and don’t need for their event, every step of the way. I am honest about what I think the event can achieve. I am honest about what they are doing right and what they could do better. As charity auctioneers, our job is to be completely honest and transparent.

They offer free advice. Any charity auctioneer worth their salt will give you free advice over the phone before you fork over any money or sign a contract. If an auctioneer says, “If you were my client, I could help you with that,” they are trying to get you to sign up for their services regardless of if they are the right fit for you.

They tell you what to look for in a charity auctioneer. I am up front about the qualities that I think make for a good charity auctioneer. I tell all of my potential clients to watch my videos, and the videos of anyone else they are considering, before they make their final decision. If they feel I’m a good fit, they should pick me. If any part of them feels that I’m the wrong fit for the event, they should go with someone else. They don’t always pick me. This puts the nonprofit’s needs above my personal money-making capacity.

Here’s how to know if your auctioneer is not on your team:

They promise you the world. They say they can raise you millions of dollars when you normally raise $250k. They make promises without understanding the nuances of your nonprofit and your fundraising event.

They don’t care about metrics and data. If your auctioneer is basing their promises on nothing—no metrics, no numbers, no data—run and hide. They are making it up. Your charity auctioneer should always look at your numbers before providing an estimate of how much you can raise at your event. Always. People lie, numbers don’t.

They don’t give you options. It’s one way or no way. Fundraising isn’t a one size fits all proposition. There are always different options for every aspect of each event. If your auctioneer says there isn’t, they are lying to you. A lack of options betrays a lack of flexibility on the part of the auctioneer, or suggests they don’t understand fundraising enough to customize and tailor their service to your event.

Hiring the right charity auctioneer for your event is important. Look for someone who goes out of their way to research your organization, who understands your mission and values. Watch video of potential charity auctioneers in action to see if they are right for you. The right charity auctioneer is out there, you just have to find them.

The Centerpiece Fund-A-Need

12/23/2019

The primary challenge that many nonprofits face is creating an inviting culture of philanthropy. Major donors sometimes feel everyone should be able give $100 at a fundraising event. Other donors may feel that the ticket price is their donation, and they may not have the ability to participate in any fundraising activities on top of that.

Recently, I had a client ask if I could create a giving experience that was the same for all their donors, regardless of how much they could afford to give. The goal was to reduce the pressure typically associated with a Fund-A-Need and standardize the giving experience. I put together a unique approach to the Fund-A-Need that I am so excited to share with you.

I call it the Centerpiece Fund-A-Need.

Here’s how it works:

Come up with an image that represents your nonprofit, leave space on that image for your donors to write their name and their Fund-A-Need gift amount. Get creative. The sky’s the limit when it comes to theming.
Create mini bid paddles by affixing the image to the top of a small dowel or stick.
Collect buckets or other containers that you can theme to your event. Fill them with sand, gravel, dirt, or glass pebbles and place it in a prominent place in the event space. The idea is that the mini paddles stay upright when placed in the container.
Communicate with your major donors before the event and explain this new approach, so that they are prepared to give during the Fund-A-Need.
Make the ask at your event. Ask your attendees to plant a seed for change by opening their wallets and giving any amount they can. Invite them to write their generous gift on their mini bid paddle and stick their paddle into the container.

This approach provides a moving, visual illustration of the impact your donors have on your nonprofit and the community. Looking around the room, your donors will see all the paddles standing up in the containers and they’ll understand how impactful their donations really are. It’s a wonderful activity that the entire room can engage in at one time, keeping the communal nature of the Fund-A-Need alive.

Having no set giving levels allows for donors to feel welcome to give any amount they can. The experience becomes purely about the donor’s connection to the nonprofit and what they feel comfortable giving.

Your auctioneer is free to make the ask multiple times during the evening without it feeling stilted. You can use the ask as a transition if you are moving your donors from one room to another. You can use it as a transition between other pieces of your event. You can end with a final ask inviting anyone who hasn’t already given to do so, and providing extra mini bid paddles for those who are moved to give a second time.

I particularly like this approach when it comes to private schools, which have some of the largest wealth gaps of any of the organizations I work with. Some parents pay full tuition for their children and some children attend on full scholarships, so there’s a wide range of giving capacities. When the school throws it’s annual gala, who is supposed to come? Only the wealthy parents? Or, do you encourage everyone to come and have a good time regardless of what they can give?

I think you know where I’m going with this.

Event fundraising, especially auctions and Fund-A-Needs, can feel very elitist. Sometimes, at large Fund-A-Needs with high giving levels, those who can’t give very much are uncomfortable when a major donor gives $50,000. They may feel that their $50 donation is pointless next to someone who can part with such a large sum. This approach removes the potential for elitism and creates the exact same experience for all donors, while presenting them with a visual representation of the impact of their giving.

Looking to have a Fund-A-Need at your next event? Give the Centerpiece Fund-A-Need a try and let me know how it goes.

50 Crowd-Pleasing Nonprofit Fundraising Ideas

12/20/2019

Creating a fundraising event every year, while keeping things new and fresh, can be daunting. Lucky for you, I’ve got a list of fifty amazing fundraising ideas that you can try next time you need a fun, new way to raise money.

100-Point Wine Dinner
Host a multi-course dinner prepared by an amazing local chef and paired with outstanding, locally-sourced wines. Sell seats to this dinner for a set price.

50/50 Raffle
Sell raffle tickets at your next live event for a chance to win 50% of the raffle proceeds. Combine this with a traditional raffle for extra incentive. Check with your local and state laws regarding raffle rules and regulations.

Amazon Smile
Shopping through Amazon Smile can earn your nonprofit money. Spread the word to your supporters and encourage them to set your organization as their Amazon Smile recipient.

Baking Competition
Host a friendly baking competition. Challenge participants to bake the best chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, brownies, etc. Bring in local bakers to judge the bakes. Charge a sign-up fee for the bakers and an admission fee for the audience.

Battle of the Bands
Have a particularly musical community? Host a battle of the bands at a local venue. Charge a sign-up fee and get the audience involved by having them vote for their favorite group. Ask for donations at the event or charge at the door.

Bingo Night
Host a bingo night for the community. Charge for bingo cards. This is a great all-ages event, or you can theme the night and make it more adult-friendly. You can either give away prizes to the winners or give them a cash prize based on the amount of money brought in by the game. Remember to check your local and state laws regarding raffle rules and regulations.

Book Fair
Host a book fair benefiting your organization. Source books from local booksellers and major retailers. Ask people in the community to donate their gently used books. Great for schools and nonprofits focused on literacy and education.

Boon Supply
This fundraiser is completely FREE. Simply sign up with Boon Supply, then spread the word of your fundraiser over social media. People can browse Boon Supply and make purchases for the duration of the fundraiser. 40% of all purchases goes straight to your nonprofit or school.

Bowling Tournament
Work with a local bowling alley to host an amateur tournament benefiting your nonprofit. Charge a sign-up fee and request a portion of the evening’s proceeds as a donation.

Box Tops for Education
A true classic and a great way to raise a little extra money for schools in your area. Each box top turned in to the school is worth 10 cents. Ask your students, parents, and community to clip box tops for you.

Car Wash
Hold a car wash in your parking lot. Charge a set amount per car. Use volunteers as your car washers.

Chili Cook Off
A specific take on a cooking competition. Gather participants to compete to see who makes the best chili in town. Charge a sign-up fee and bring in local chefs to judge the dishes. Set up a donation table at the event for extra revenue.

Cooking Competition
Host a friendly cooking competition at a local venue. Give each person or team a basket with ingredients and challenge them to prepare a dish from the contents of the basket. Bring in local chefs to judge the dishes. Charge a sign-up fee and an admission fee for the audience.

Community Clean Up
Get members of your community together to clean up public parks, waterways, or other spaces. Provide shirts for everyone to wear. Ask members of the community to donate based on area cleaned or amount of trashed picked up. Great for nonprofits focused on conservation and public spaces.

Dance Marathon
A classic with a historical origin. Host a dance marathon with teams of participants competing to see who can stay moving the longest. Have your teams collect pledges from people in the community for every hour they dance. Establish rules for how long they must dance each hour. Charge a small sign-up fee per team and sell concessions at the event.

Dance Off
Dance offs are great for communities with performers. Host a dance off at your nonprofit or a local dance studio. Charge an admission fee and sell concessions at the event. Get the audience involved by asking them to vote for their favorite performer.

Easter Egg Hunt
Host an easter egg hunt for kids in the community. Ask volunteers to help you fill and hide the eggs. Charge a small sign-up fee per child and set up a donation table at the event. Maybe the Easter Bunny will make an appearance.

Fashion Show
Hold a fashion show at your nonprofit or another venue. Ask local boutiques to provide clothing items or make it a do-it-yourself affair if you have a particularly crafty crowd. Charge an admission fee for the event. You could even auction off the clothing items after the show.

Fund-A-Need
Make a Fund-A-Need part of your next fundraising event. It’s like an auction, but without the items. Hire a charity auctioneer to help run the event. Encourage everyone to make a gift at the giving level comfortable for them. Thank your donors for their generosity and support of your cause.

Game Night
Host a game night at your nonprofit. Ask a local game shop, if you have one, to supply board games for the evening. Charge an admission fee and sell concessions at the event.

Girls’ Night Out
Work with a local venue to arrange a girls’ night out for your female supporters. Think fashion, great food, entertainment, whatever is local to you. Charge a sign-up fee and work with any venues to receive a portion of the proceeds as a donation. When bundled with other items, tickets to these events make a great addition to your silent auction.

Golf Tournament
Have a local golf course? Work them them to host an amatuer golf tournament benefiting your nonprofit. Charge a sign-up fee and set up a donation table at the event.

Guys’ Night Out
Work with a local venue to arrange a guys’ night out for your male supporters. Think sports bars, golf, car shows, whatever is local to you. Arrange for food and drinks to be catered or for the night to take the guys through a bar or local restaurant. Charge a sign-up fee and work with any venues to receive a portion of the proceeds as a donation. When bundled with other items, tickets to these events make a great addition to your silent auction.

Karaoke Contest
Ask a local karaoke bar to host an event for your nonprofit, or rent equipment and have the contest at another venue. Charge a small fee for each song and allow the audience to request specific songs for an extra donation. Sell concessions at the event, or ask for a portion of the food and drink sales to go to your nonprofit.

Kids Camp
Host a kids camp for a day or a week in the summer. Provide educational and outdoor activities. Charge parents a registration fee appropriate for the length of the event. Parents will be delighted their children have somewhere to go for a few days. Perfect for schools and nonprofits focused on children.

Live Auction
Make a live auction part of your next fundraising event. Hire a charity auctioneer to run the auction. Source amazing auction items, trips, and experiences. Invite all the right people to attend.

Movie Night
Host a movie night at your nonprofit or other local venue. Charge a small admission fee and serve concessions at the event. This event works well for kids and for the cinephile crowd, just make sure to choose your movie appropriately.

Murder Mystery Dinner
Great for donors looking for a more adult experience. Work with a murder mystery theater group to put on an event benefiting your nonprofit. Encourage everyone to participate and really get into the story. Serve a great meal made by a local chef.

Museum Night
Have a local museum who hosts events outside of regular operating hours? Talk to them about hosting an event for your nonprofit. Attendees get to view the artwork/interact with the exhibits in a more intimate setting and your nonprofit gets a cut of the admissions price. Set up a donations table for extra revenue.

Online Auction
Like a silent auction, but online! Use mobile bidding technology to setup your next auction entirely online. This allows people who can’t attend your event to participate in your auction. Combine this with a traditional silent auction to allow more people to participate.

Paint and Sip Party
Paint and sip parties are all the rage. If you have a local paint and sip business, see if they will host an event benefiting your nonprofit. Ask for a cut of the profits as a donation to your nonprofit. Great for nonprofits with millennial and creative donors.

Penny War
Two or more groups compete to raise money, collecting coins and dollar bills to score points. Each team collects their coins in containers placed in a common area. Encourage people to stop by and donate their spare change to the team of their choice. Increase competition by awarding positive points for all silver coins and negative points for pennies, or the other way around. Very popular with schools.

Pet Party
Throw a party and invite everyone to bring their pet. Hold pet storytime, play games, and serve food for your guests and their pets. Charge a small admission fee per person and pet. Ask for additional donations at the event.

Pet Wash
It’s a car wash for your pets! Set up a pet wash in your parking lot and charge a small fee for each animal washed. Perfect for nonprofits focused on animals.

Photo Contest
Have some artsy people in your community? Host a photo contest and invite everyone to participate. You can ask for photos that fit a specific theme or no theme at all. Charge a fee for submissions and show the photos in a gallery at your nonprofit or another venue. Ask visitors to the gallery to vote on the best photo. You can even ask permission to sell the photos to benefit your nonprofit.

Pool Party
Perfect for summertime when everyone is itching to get outside. Coordinate with your local public pool to host a pool party benefiting your nonprofit. Charge a small admission fee, sell concessions, and set up a donation table at the event. Great for kids.

Progressive Dinner Party
Progressive dinner parties are wonderful for donors looking for a more refined experience. Participants agree to serve one course of a meal at their home and the group travels from home to home enjoying a fabulous meal and accompanying drinks.

Pub/Restaurant Crawl
Invite your supporters to take part in a pub or restaurant crawl. Talk to the venues about receiving a portion of the sales as a donation and charge a small fee to participate. Use the opportunity to visit a selection of locally-owned businesses. Ask if they will put out a donation jar on the night of the crawl for your nonprofit as an extra revenue stream.

Raffle
Host a raffle. Sell raffle tickets for a five dollars a piece and raffle off some amazing prizes at your next event. This works great in conjunction with any live event. Arrange the prizes on a table so people can see what they are buying tickets for.

Read-a-thon
We all wish we could read more books. Why not hold a read-a-thon over the summer months and encourage all ages and reading levels to participate. Charge a small sign-up fee and have participants gather pledges from their family, friends, and neighbors for every book they read. Perfect for libraries, schools, and nonprofits focused on education and literacy.

Scavenger Hunt
Put together a scavenger hunt in your community and invite people to attend over social media. This is a great way to get people out into the community, you can even align your clues and items with the mission of your nonprofit to further increase awareness. Charge a registration fee for each group and set up a donations table at the end point of the event.

Seasonal Carnival
Host a summer or fall carnival benefiting your organization. Set up games, bring in performers, and hire local restaurants to provide concessions. Charge a small admission fee and keep a portion of the proceeds from game tickets and concessions. Set up a donations table at the event.

Silent Auction
A fundraising classic. Silent auctions go great with any number of other fundraising activities. Source auction items from local businesses. Arrange the items and their bid sheets on tables and encourage the public to stop by or make the silent auction part of a larger fundraising event. Use mobile bidding technology to allow people to bid on items without being present at the auction.

Sing-a-thon
A staple in many church communities. Host a Sing-a-thon and charge a small admission fee. Consider selling concessions at the event for a second revenue stream. Encourage attendance by combining this event with a silent auction.

Talent Show
Have a lot of performers in your community? Host a talent show at your nonprofit or other local venue. Invite everyone in the community to participate by having the audience vote for the winner. Charge a small admission fee and sell concessions at the event. Perfect for school and nonprofits focused on the arts.

Themed Run/Walk
Host a themed walk/run and encourage everyone to dress up in costumes or matching shirts. Charge a sign-up fee and set up a donation table at the event. Perfect for nonprofits focused on public health.

Tie-Dye Party
Does your nonprofit sell shirts to benefit your cause? Why not host a tie-dye party where attendees can jazz up their shirts with some tie-dye. Provide scarves, wraps, and hats for additional donations.

Trivia Night
Host a trivia night at your nonprofit or local bar or restaurant. Topics can include anything from current events and politics to sports and pop culture. Align your questions with the mission of your nonprofit for extra thematic relevance. Charge a registration fee for teams and pass around a donation sheet at the event itself.

Walk-a-thon
A staple of elementary schools everywhere, walk-a-thons are a great way to get people of all ages up and moving. Charge a small sign-up fee and have participants collect pledges from family, friends, and neighbors for every half mile they walk.

Zoo Night
If you have a local zoo that hosts events, talk to them about sponsoring an event for your nonprofit. You can charge a percentage of the admission fees and set up a donation table inside the zoo. Consider combining this event with a zoo-themed silent or live auction for additional revenue streams. Perfect for nonprofits benefiting animals, children, or wildlife conservation.

What’s in My Auction Bag

12/16/2019

I remember showing up to my very first charity gala. I had one rollaboard suitcase and a garment bag with three different outfits and pairs of shoes inside.

I no longer use a suitcase, instead I use a large tote which I call my auction bag. Inside are all the items that I need, or might need, for the event I’m working that day. I just grab my auction bag and I’m ready to go.

Are you a newer auctioneer overwhelmed by all the stuff to haul back and forth to events? If so, this list is for you. Here are the eighteen essential items in my auction bag.

An extra pair of auction shoes. You will always break a heel or lose a sole at the worst possible time. Unless you carry a spare pair of shoes, in which case you will almost never need them.
Business cards. Everyone who sees me on stage is a potential client, and I’m always prepared.
Six fine-tipped black sharpies.
Two silver sharpies and two gold sharpies. Sometimes you need to write on dark objects.
Elnett hairspray. Smells horrible. Works wonders.
A hair brush.
A hair straightener. Doubles as an improvised iron.
Scissors. Useful for cutting auction notes, raffle tickets, and extra long fake eyelashes.
Blister bandaids.
Gum or mints. Wintergreen or peppermint only.
A clipboard with a compartment on top to store my notes and pens.
A set of makeup brushes from bh cosmetics.
A makeup bag with all my auction makeup.
Extra pairs of eyelashes because I go through them like nobody’s business. My eyelashes of choice are Bluelans.
Deodorant.
A phone charger.
My camera and a tripod. I often film myself so that I can show the videos to potential clients, review my skills, and ensure there is an accurate record of the live auction and Fund-A-Need. I use a Canon G7 X.
My hand-held, wireless microphone and receiver. I use a Sennheiser EW 100.

That’s it. That’s everything I carry with me in my auction bag. What are your auction must-haves? Let me know what you don’t leave home without in the comments below.

Get Comfortable Asking for Money

12/13/2019

If the thought of approaching a donor and soliciting a donation makes you break out in a cold sweat, you are not alone. Asking for money is something nobody is taught how to do and almost everyone is uncomfortable with it at first.

There’s a lot of advice out there for improving this skill. One of the more common suggestions is to challenge yourself to ask for a discount every time you buy anything. If you are making your purchase in person, you ask the person at the register. If you are making your purchase online, you include the request in the notes to the seller.

The point of this challenge is to get you comfortable doing something incredibly uncomfortable. Asking for discounts is not something that’s natural in American culture, so for many of you this may be an incredibly uncomfortable activity. That’s the point. If you can get comfortable asking a random cashier for a discount you have no reason to ask for, on an item you were going to buy anyway, you can get comfortable soliciting donors.

This challenge is fine but I don’t think it’s enough.

What you really need is practice.

Practice with your coworkers. Practice all the time. Make it a part of your weekly duties.

Practice with your board. Board members should be involved in fundraising to some extent, as part of their duties. They may be responsible for soliciting their friends and other major donors. Take a large portion of a board meeting and get everyone in attendance to practice with each other and give feedback on the asks.

Practice talking about your nonprofit in a confident, passionate, mission-focused manner. You don’t have to practice this part with other people, though that is certainly a good idea. You can do this in your car or in the shower.

Sit in on other solicitations. This is especially great for major solicitations. Go out with a coworker or your CEO and just observe. What does the conversation actually sound like? I think you’ll find it’s just like any other conversation.

Relax. Your donor often already knows the ask is coming and will ask you to get to the point long before you planned to. This is especially true when soliciting long-term donors.

If your donors have a strong relationship with your nonprofit, asking for gifts is a breeze. You’ve already done all the hard work of building their emotional connection to your organization, now you are simply inviting them to act on that connection.

Get out there and start asking. Asking for money is one of those things that gets easier and less intimidating the more you do it. You’ll discover what works for you and what works for your donors. You just have to do it.

Remember, a botched ask or a rejected solicitation is not personal. There are so many reasons why your donor might not be able to give at the moment you ask, and that’s okay! The world won’t end, but you will learn something about asking for money from every solicitation you do, no matter what.

Do you have any tips for getting comfortable asking for money? Share them in the comments.

The Invisible Ingredients of Successful Fund-A-Needs

12/9/2019

Recently, I’ve heard from several nonprofits who just can’t capture the Fund-A-Need magic. They have all the right things working for them, but the magic isn’t happening.

They are missing the secret, invisible ingredients in the Fund-A-Need souffle.

I’ve written a bit about the things that make a Fund-A-Need successful. Today, we’re going to talk about the invisible ingredients in the Fund-A-Need recipe. The things you don’t see that must be working for your Fund-A-Need to be a success.

Before we jump in, if you haven’t already, click on over and grab a copy of my free Fund-A-Need worksheet to help you plan your best Fund-A-Need ever.

Now, back to why we’re here.

The invisible ingredients of a successful Fund-A-Need are:

Momentum
Energy
Pressure
Moments of Reflection

All four of these things must work together in the room for a Fund-A-Need to reach its full potential.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

Momentum
Newton’s first law of motion states that, “Every object persists in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.”

Your Fund-A-Need is the object, persisting at a uniform pace. Your auctioneer is the force, impressing herself upon the object to slowly build momentum as she works down the giving levels.

The momentum at the top of the Fund-A-Need drives the momentum at the bottom. This makes those first few giving levels so important, even though there are very few hands being raised. Acknowledging these donors and getting the room excited about these massive donations, carries you into the lower giving levels. The momentum that your auctioneer builds at the top will only grow as the levels decrease and more hands start shooting into the air.

Building and sustaining momentum means it’s best if your auctioneer doesn’t stop to announce prizes or sell things at each level. These interruptions disturb the flow and can bring the momentum to a grinding halt. Pausing to show a video, look at slides, or have a presentation are all bad ideas in terms of momentum.

Energy
Energy is the feeling in the room that gets people excited and ready to donate.

Energy is also what makes other people want to join in.

Each auctioneer has her own energy. Mine is what drives my Fund-A-Needs to feel more like a pep rally than a sales presentation, even though that is what I am doing. I am selling the idea of helping the nonprofit make a difference in the community. The energy in the room is how you communicate to the audience that giving and participating in giving feels good, and that taking action is what everyone else is doing.

The action we want people to take is putting their hand in the air during one of the giving levels, and we want them to feel good while they do it.

Energy also sustains the Fund-A-Need which, let’s face it, can run a little long. A Fund-A-Need with excellent participation can easily last fifteen minutes. If your event has 500 people in the room, that time increases to 25 minutes, easy. That’s a lot of time to ask people to sit quietly and pay attention. Good energy is what makes it possible. Energy feeds the momentum and gets more and more people feeling good about giving and participating as we move through the giving levels, keeping everyone’s attention until the lowest giving level, which is designed so that everyone can give.

Pressure
Pressure is an invisible force exerted on the room by the auctioneer and members of the audience. This is an invisible social pressure that happens when all the people around you are doing a thing. In this case the thing is donating to a worthy cause.

Oftentimes just being in the room at a charity event creates this pressure because attendees know donations are expected. People will naturally start to feel left out if they are not participating in something that everyone else is doing. Those who already planned to give will feel pressured to dig just a little bit deeper than they planned.

Pressure also builds as the auctioneer moves around the room, should she choose to do so. For me, the closer I get to one side of the room, the more hands shoot up on that side.

Pressure is healthy in this context, but it can still make some people uncomfortable. I never call people out for not giving during a Fund-A-Need. That creates a negative pressure that is not conducive to fostering generosity.

Moments of Reflection
Moments of reflection should exist throughout every fundraising event. Every time the audience is listening to a speaker, watching a video, or looking a pictures, you are creating a moment for them to reflect on their life with gratitude. What follows naturally is a desire to help improve the lives of others.

These four invisible ingredients all work together to make people feel gratitude for their own lives and good about giving to your cause.

Getting These Invisible Ingredients Working For You
The charity auctioneer running the Fund-A-Need must be able to command the attention of the audience. Carrying a room like this gives the auctioneer control over what happens to the energy in that room. They either feed the room to build that energy and raise excitement levels, or they take energy from the room and bring everyone to a more somber place. The energy feeds the momentum and builds the pressure.

This sounds like hocus pocus to a lot of people, but I’m telling you it’s real. Next time you watch someone on stage, pay close attention to what they’re doing. You can see this phenomena everywhere, not just at charity auctions. Someone who is standing still on stage is commanding the room in a way that creates a serious energy. Someone who moves about the stage with enthusiasm, like at a pop concert, is doing so to create an energy of happiness and excitement. They are inviting the audience to take this energy into themselves and to feed off it.

The charity auctioneer is the person who controls these forces during the Fund-A-Need.

Before interviewing potential charity auctioneers, watch some of their work online. Look for someone with good, positive energy who knows how to control a crowd without shushing them.

Make sure the person you decide to work with knows the emotional journey you want to take your guests on.

Make sure they acknowledge the first gift of the Fund-A-Need appropriately.

When running a Fund-A-Need your auctioneer has to keep track of a lot of things at once.

Are you nearing the goal amount?
How many people haven’t made a gift yet?
If people aren’t giving, what happened earlier in the program to cause this response?
- Did the speaker speak for too long?
- Did we fail to touch on the one aspect of the nonprofit that this person was invested in?

It’s a lot to pay attention to, but it’s key to gauging when to interfere with the natural progression of the Fund-A-Need and what to do differently the next time.

A Last Chance Intervention
I can tell from that very first gift how the Fund-A-Need is going to go and how hard I’m going to have to work. Occasionally, I will make the choice to pause between giving levels for a purposeful moment of reflection, giving people a chance to consider digging deeper or donating for the first time.

I only do this if I’m sensing that the Fund-A-Need isn’t going well and I’m not having any luck manipulating the momentum, energy, and pressure in the room. It’s risky, and I don’t recommend it unless the Fund-A-Need is really not working. Not just a little bit not working, I’m talking has no chance of coming anywhere close to the goal without a major intervention.

Each time I stop like this, I am taking a huge risk of destroying the momentum, which is why I only do it if the Fund-A-Need is already in trouble. I can’t explain how I do this without messing the Fund-A-Need further, it just happens. I think it’s an instinct about people or an ability to read the room. No one taught me how to do it. You need to be a great auctioneer and a savvy crowd-reader to make this choice and not mess it up.

Even when you’ve set your fundraising event up perfectly, with all the right people in the room and a mission-focused program, your Fund-A-Need souffle can still fall flat if these invisible ingredients aren’t working for you. That’s why it’s imperative to have someone who really knows what they’re doing running the Fund-A-Need. This person can call on their skills and experience to manipulate these invisible forces and give your Fund-A-Need the best chance at success.

Build Your Fundraising Event Around Emotions, Not Activities

12/6/2019

When a client hires me to work with them on an event, they want to talk about all the pieces of their event: the cocktail hour, the silent auction, the live auction, the Fund-A-Need, the speeches, dessert, etc. These activities are important, the order they happen in is important, and it’s easy to see why people get wrapped up in this part of the planning: It’s quantifiable.

However, focusing on the activities that make up the event is not the most important thing. For any fundraising event to be successful, the focus must be on the emotions you want to create in the room.

The first thing I ask my clients after they go through their list of activities is, “How do you want your guests to feel at the event and after they leave?”

Before long another list is coming at me, this time made up of words like: inspired, hopeful, excited, curious, enthusiastic, and engaged.

Great! These are all wonderful feelings to evoke at your event.

Then I ask the most important question, “How do we let these words be our guide to creating an event that fosters these feelings in your guests?”

The problem with focusing on activities and not emotions is that you end up with an event that feels cookie cutter. Rather than your event leaving a lasting impression on your guests, they end up feeling like they’ve attended the same event a hundred times over. That’s not what we want.

A fundraising event is a party, sure. It is fun, but it also has to take people on an emotional rollercoaster ride so that when they exit the car they are ready to make a donation on the exit platform.

I can’t tell you want emotions you want to evoke at your event, the answer is different for everyone. If you get stuck coming up with a list of emotions, here are some questions to answer:

What emotions will make your guests feel inspired to give?
Have you communicated these intended emotions with your speakers?
How can you sustain these feelings throughout the entire evening?

The next time you plan a fundraising event, try coming at it through a lens of emotions and feelings, rather than auctions and speeches. This can mean making bold choices for your program. Maybe you get everyone’s attention at the beginning of the event by turning the lights completely off and starting with a bit of theater on stage. Think about how to use your event space and your program to foster the emotional atmosphere that leads to giving. Don’t be afraid to do things differently and think outside the box.

My Auction Makeup

12/2/2019

Today, I thought it could be interesting to give you a rundown of what I keep in my auction makeup bag. My makeup bag used to be enormous. I never knew what would work well and what I would need for the evening. Over the years I have whittled my makeup bag down to thirteen essential products that meet my exacting criteria.

To be in my makeup bag, a product must:

Be long-lasting. It must hold up to long hours, hot lights, and sweat. I can’t have makeup melting off my face while I’m on stage.
Read well from the back of the room. If you have ever been on stage before, you know stage makeup is a different beast. It’s bold and exaggerated because people in the back of the room must be able to see what’s happening on stage.
Look good on camera. I use footage from my auctions in my business materials and on YouTube.
Look natural up close. I know, I know. I just said stage makeup is bold and exaggerated, and it is! But I also want to look good when talking to people face-to-face. It’s all about balance.
Affordable or amazing. I go through a lot of makeup, so what I buy can’t break the bank. If I’m going to splurge on a product, it better be amazing.

As you can see, I have strict criteria for what goes in my makeup bag. These products all meet my criteria.

A brush set from bh cosmetics. I’m obsessed with bh cosmetics brushes because they are soft, they blend like a dream, and they are well-priced. They wash and dry easily too. If you are scared about buying makeup brushes this is a great introductory set. They have a ton of different set options, but my favorite are the Studio Pro brushes.
MAC Cosmetics blush in peony petal. Is it bad that I’ve been using the same blush I started with in high school? I seriously can’t get enough of this color. It’s matte, long-wearing and gives me a youthful glow on stage.
Maybelline Brow Drama in deep brown. Although brows are all the rage now, I’m not so into them. Perhaps this is because I’ve always had full brows, I don’t understand why I need to fill them in. This is easy to use, looks natural, and doesn’t run when I’m sweating from calling bid numbers.
Maybelline Volum’ Express the Mega Plush Mascara. Lashes for me are a PROCESS! If I am doing a big event, meaning I will be onstage or seen on a live cam, I’m always wearing false lashes (see #12 below for my favorite super cheap, compliment generating lashes). If I have an intimate auction with 200 people or less, I go with my natural lashes but I need three different layers to get the look I want. This is the first step in my natural lashes routine.
L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara. This is my go-to mascara off stage. When I’m on stage, this is step two in my natural lashes routine.
L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Waterproof Mascara. This mascara is step three in my natural lashes routine because it locks EVERYTHING in place and it doesn’t move all night. I’ve used this for the past eight years and, in my opinion, this is the best choice for performance makeup.
Physicians Formula Bronze Booster Highlight and Contour Palette. This palette has great shades and great blendability at a great price. What more do you need from a contour palette?
Giorgio Armani Power Fabric Foundation. I have been around the block with foundations. This is my current foundation holy grail. It looks natural on the skin while giving me medium full coverage. It easily lasts ten hours. It doesn’t crack or look weird on textured, acne prone skin and it looks great on camera.
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser. Great coverage from a drugstore product. If you haven’t tried this yet, you need to.
Marc Jacobs’ eyeliner. I have tried over 120 different eyeliners. No joke. This is the best by far. It does not move even one centimeter from my waterline. For a zero budge eyeliner, this is a performer’s dream.
Kat Von D Tattoo Liner. When I am wearing false lashes, this tattoo liner cannot be beat. It’s the perfect formula and worth every penny.
Bluelans eyelashes. I used to purchase expensive eyelashes. I’m talking $10 per set, which is not cheap when you’re going through two or three sets a week. So, I went looking on amazon and gave these $4 lashes a try. They are my new go-to lashes. They look amazing onstage and I can wear fresh ones every time. These are not your natural but better lashes, they are made for the stage thick, fake lashes.
Various Makeup Geek and MAC eyeshadow in browns, purples, and blues. I use mostly matte eyeshadow so that I don’t have to deal with any rogue glitter on my face, which can often read as sweat from far away. Makeup Geek and MAC both make great, long lasting eyeshadow that don’t budge.

That’s it, that’s what’s in my auction makeup bag. Did I leave out any of your favorite products? Let me know in the comments. And let me know if you want to see an auction makeup tutorial from me over on my YouTube channel.

Who’s in Charge of Your Fundraising Event?

11/25/2019

I know, I know. This seems really basic.

Before you begin planning your fundraising event, you need to have a conversation about who is in charge.

There’s a few reasons for this:

When asked, most nonprofit employees and volunteers will get overly involved in things that aren’t their business. For example, planning the annual fundraising event is not a good use of your Executive Director’s time, but if given the opportunity most will get in there and micromanage the heck out of it.
It should be clear who is running the show. Discussions will happen throughout the planning process, but eventually decisions need to be made. It helps to make it clear who the final decision maker is. The phrase, “Too many cooks in the kitchen,” exists for a reason.
This is an area where many Development Directors clash with their CEOs. Most DDs feel like they are in charge of planning events, because they are the DD. Most CEOs feel like they are in charge because they are the CEO. This dynamic should be addressed before the planning process begins to avoid any awkward or uncomfortable squabbles in front of board and committee members, which happens a lot more than you think.

Being in charge of planning an event doesn’t mean that you stop listening to the people around you. This is not a “my way or the highway” situation. Good leaders know how to listen and take advice from those around them, before weighing their options and coming to a decision that may not be what they personally wanted but is the best decision for the organization.

Additionally, before the day of the fundraising event, you and your colleagues should decide who is going to run things on the day. You need one person who people can go to with questions, one person handling any small metaphorical fires that pop up. There’s nothing worse than 35 people all running around trying to solve the same problem. Avoid that disaster and delegate from the beginning. Your auctioneer should be made aware of this person, so they know who to go to with any questions on the day of the event.

Delegating leadership roles like this from the beginning makes the planning process run smoother. Do yourself a favor by approaching this topic head-on before jumping into event planning.

How does your nonprofit decide who is ultimately in charge of events? Let me know in the comments.

Keynote Speakers: Should You Have One?

11/22/2019

It’s always surprising to me how many nonprofit’s book a keynote speaker for their fundraising event. Of course, they have their reasons. Some feel like their program isn’t long enough without a keynote speech. Some feel like it brings legitimacy to their event, helping to sell extra tickets. Some do it because they believe it’s just the thing to do.

I’d like to encourage more nonprofits to really think about their reasons for booking a keynote speaker, especially one from outside the organization.

Typically, keynote speeches are long. When this speech is assigned to someone outside your organization, major program time is devoted to someone who doesn’t necessarily have a commitment to promote your mission.

For example, say a professor from a nearby university gives the keynote at your next event. Are they going to talk up your organization? Or are they more likely to tie things back to work being done at the university?

I can’t tell you have many times I’ve seen this happen.

If your nonprofit decides to move forward with a keynote speaker from outside your organization, be careful about who you ask. Work with them to help their speech tie back to the mission of the nonprofit, and to limit unnecessary tangents.

Keynote speeches are almost always too long, and if your speaker is not associated with your nonprofit, your audience is probably going to tune out. You are better off having a shorter program with messaging that is laser-focused on your nonprofit. Your guests, and your fundraising, will thank you for it.

Does your nonprofit use a keynote speaker? Does it work well for you? Let me know in the comments.

My Post-Auction Routine

11/18/2019

Several years ago now, I received a call from a client one week after their event. They needed to know who won their raffle because they couldn’t remember. In the week since their event I had worked four more. I did not remember who won their raffle.

My post-auction routine grew out of that experience. I follow these steps exactly with each of my clients immediately after their event ends.

The first thing I do when I am done with an auction is meet with the Fund-A-Need recorders. Usually there are between three and five people tasked with manually recording the donations during the Fund-A-Need. We sit in a room and go over each donation and donor number, line by line. We reconcile the numbers and create one master sheet with all the Fund-A-Need donations. Then, I take a photo of each page of the master list with my phone. Photos have become essential because it’s not uncommon for one page of the master list to get messed up or lost. Next, I ask each recorder to write their name on the top of each page of their recorded Fund-A-Need donations in case we need to check their handwriting or have any questions for them. I then have each recorder take a picture of every single page they filled out, exactly like I did with the master list. I have them email these photos to themselves and to the Development Director.

I repeat the same process for the live auction, silent auction, any raffles that happen, etc. I create a master list of all the auction lots, who won the item, and what their bid was.

Once I have my master sheets, I meet with the Development Director, Executive Director, Party Planner, whoever is on site and available. I give them all the information. I physically hand over the master lists to this person. I also give them a list of any issues that occurred. For example, if I was supposed to sell two trips to Mexico but I only had one bidder, I will make a note of that and let them know that only one of the trips sold.

This is where we iron out any issues from the auctions. If an item sold and the buyer decided they didn’t want it after all, I’ll point out the second-highest bidder. I can remember these details up until the moment I leave the building, after that my attention is focused on the next event I’m doing and I probably won’t remember who else bid on that fabulous trip for four to Iceland. We get all the discrepancies and issues ironed-out that we possibly can before I leave.

Then I leave.

I make sure to pay for my parking.

I listen to a podcast on my drive home.

If it’s Saturday, I stop at McDonalds and get a number nine. But only if it’s Saturday.

I get home, take off all my makeup, and settle in to watch a nature documentary or something else that calms and soothes me.

Then, I go to bed.

That’s it. That’s my post-auction routine. Following this procedure before leaving events has been life-changing. I no longer have to worry about discrepancies or forgotten winners. Everything is squared away before I leave and I’m able to turn my attention to my next event, guilt free.

What is your post-event routine? I’d love to hear what works for you down in the comments.

Should You Use a Fund-A-Need to Launch a Capital Campaign?

11/15/2019

When I sat down to write this article, I had just come out of a meeting with a long-term client. This was a development committee meeting with a new Development Director. I went into this meeting having never met her—let’s call her Sarah—before, but I had a great relationship with the previous DD, we shared a lot of the same ideas about fundraising.

Sarah led the meeting, as she should in her capacity as Development Director. In attendance were some major donors who sit on both the board and the development committee.

This nonprofit has two major sources of revenue: a raffle and a Fund-A-Need. Their Fund-A-Need started out generating around $250k when I began working with them and we’ve managed to increase that by about 10% each year. Their event is relatively small, maybe 200 people, and they have an amazing participation level. About 98% of their attendees make a gift at the event, including a number of major donors.

During the meeting, Sarah explained that they would like to use this year’s Fund-A-Need to launch and complete a capital campaign.

If you are unfamiliar, capital campaigns focus on raising large amounts of money for a specific purpose: new buildings, major renovations, etc. During a capital campaign, you approach your major donors and ask for large donations specifically to fund these projects.

When Sarah introduced this idea, I was stunned. Their goal of raising $3 million with this capital campaign was way above our annual 10% increase and very difficult to meet with an event of this size. As we dug into this idea, it became clear that Sarah wanted to make a huge splash in her first year and this was how she chose to do it. Unfortunately, they hadn’t completely thought things through.

However, they thought their plan was solid for a couple of really good reasons. They had a need that they felt was immediate and would have an impact. Immediate is good. Impactful is good. To run a successful capital campaign your need must be both immediate and impactful, the problem is making a capital campaign ask at a live event.

Here’s why.

Why Not to Launch a Capital Campaign at a Live Event
Regardless of what level they give at, most donors who have the capacity to give don’t make giving decisions on the spot. Giving decisions require conversations with spouses or partners. Depending on the amount asked for, these decisions may necessitate a conversation with a financial advisor. These decisions certainly require a conversation with the nonprofit. When people do raise their hand for a spur-of-the-moment donation, it’s never a large amount. No one donates $100k impulsively unless they are a billionaire.

This fundraising event is how this nonprofit closes their annual gifts. Donors come to the event with the understanding that they are making whatever their annual gift is at the event, whether that is $500, $1,000, or $5,000. Running a capital campaign at this same event would mean soliciting attendees twice, once for their annual gift and once for a donation toward the capital campaign. With a goal of $3 million, these aren’t going to be small asks. It’s easy to see how this would make donors feel bad about the event and the nonprofit. Major asks, such as those required by a campaign of this size, should always be done privately and in person, not at an event.

At fundraising events, 20% of the guests make 80% of the donations, the remaining 80% of the guests make 20% of the donations. It’s important to think about how it will make your donors feel if you suddenly start asking people to raise their paddles to make a $250k donation to a capital campaign. It’s going to make 80% of the people in the room feel like their donations are inconsequential, that’s the exact opposite of how you want them to feel.

Additionally, most capital campaigns come with naming opportunities. Think about all the names on the buildings where you live. It’s likely that many of them are there because that person, or their family, made a large donation towards that building. If you are running a capital campaign at an event, how do you deal with the naming opportunity? Does the honor go only to the person who makes the largest donation? How will that make your other donors feel? Do you have a plaque made with the names of everyone who made a donation that night?

Capital campaigns require a lot of planning and work. You can’t throw a successful one together quickly. Campaigns of this magnitude require every department working together to achieve success. And your whole budget changes. Say your nonprofit has ten major donor families who always buy a table at the event. Do you solicit them for a capital campaign contribution, and then ask them to buy a table on top of that? What does this campaign mean for sponsorship? What effect might it have on your smaller donors? How does it change your budget for the year? Before launching a campaign of this magnitude, you really need your ducks in a row.

So, How’d it Turn Out?
Ultimately, the committee heard me out and decided they would separate the capital campaign from their Fund-A-Need. They’ve decided to approach their major donors privately and ask them to contribute to the capital campaign funding their project. At the Fund-A-Need, we’ll call attention to the campaign and the generous donations by those families, but we won’t be asking for donations to the campaign at the event itself.

I still think they will need to adjust their fundraising expectations for the event. The Fund-A-Need is probably not going to do as well because the donors that normally generate 80% of their revenue will have already been approached to make a donation to the capital campaign. They may not want, or be able, to give again.

This isn’t meant to scare anyone away from running a capital campaign. These campaigns are important and certainly have their purpose. But, you do need to make sure you take into account the major asks you will be making throughout the year, when it comes time to planning your fundraising event. Hold events specifically for those donors who aren’t asked to contribute to the capital campaign. Or perhaps make the decision not to hold an event in the same year as a capital campaign, communicate this with your donors and set their expectations for the solicitations they will receive. Just please, don’t run a capital campaign at a live event.