Q&A With a Charity Auctioneer: Comp Tickets - Yay or Nay?

5/23/2018

Q: Should we give out comp tickets for our yearly gala?

Answer:

I hate comp tickets.

They are the worst idea in the entire world.

Charity events are about raising money, why on Earth would you give tickets away for free? In my opinion, there is no good reason to give away tickets to any charity event.

When you give away free tickets a couple of things happen:

You devalue the ticket and your event.
It’s unfair for those who bought tickets at the market price.
You are giving away money and losing out on revenue.

The assumption that people are going to spend money once they are in the room is 100% not true. People attending with comp tickets are usually there to party or promote themselves, not to help your organization.

It doesn’t matter if you have butts in the seats, it matters if you have the right butts in the seats. You need people who care and have the capacity to give. You will lose money with comp tickets, because most of those time people with comp tickets are not going to spend money at your event. If they had the capacity to give, they would have purchased a ticket. And, while they may care deeply about your organization, if they cannot donate, they are costing you money by attending your events.

I regularly work with the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County on their annual gala event. To make their event more successful we looked at data on who attended and made a gift over a three year period. We found that about 200 people consistently bought tickets, came to the event, and did not donate a dollar. For the next year’s event, we made two invitation lists. The priority list included everyone who had attended and made a gift over the last three years. Everyone else was put on a secondary list. The secondary list did not receive personal invitations to the event, but they did get the announcements on social media. Our aim was not to encourage the secondary list to attend. The first year we did this, we increased the fundraising from approximately $100k to $160k, with less butts in the seats.

A committed room of people who care and donate is really inspiring. It creates a feedback loop that promotes giving in others. We have only invited people back to the event if they have consistently donated over the years. We have a smaller list of people but the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County continues to grow their fundraising by about 10% a year.

Stop giving away comp tickets. Focus on the people who care about your nonprofit organization and have donated to you in the past. Hosting a small event does not mean you will raise less money. A room full of energized and engaged donors will always make your fundraiser successful.

Check out my post on hosting successful house party fundraisers for examples of how smaller events can still raise big money.

For more than ten years, fundraising expert Abra Annes has been a leader in the nonprofit world, consulting with top nonprofit organizations and, speaking at national and local conferences. As one of the top charity auctioneers, Abra has conducted hundreds of charity auctions – raising millions of dollars for a variety of nonprofits, schools, and charity organizations every year.

Abra is a member of the National Auctioneers Association and is one of 28 people in California to have their Benefit Auction Specialist designation. A gifted public speaker, she regularly conducts workshops on fundraising auctions, and is a sought-after speaker at fundraising events both locally and nationally as well as an active participant in the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

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House Party Fundraisers: Why This Old School Fundraising Idea Still Works to Raise Big Money Fast

5/18/2018

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My grandmother turned ninety this year. We went on a cruise with the entire family. My grandmother and I have been involved in the same Jewish nonprofit organization for many years. I clearly remember her telling me about hosting a luncheon at her house in the 1960s for a group of twenty of her lady friends from her network. My grandmother hosted the lunch on behalf of UJA-Federation and then asked every lady to contribute $10 towards an Israel campaign. They raised $200 in one afternoon, which was a lot for the time. In fact, my grandmother has been telling me this story for years and when I became a professional fundraiser I realized that my grandma had hosted a house party.

In today’s world, this type of fundraiser is unique and rarely done. These events seem to have fallen out of style in favor of larger gala events. Many organizations view house party fundraisers as an old-school fundraising method. Despite this popular opinion, these fundraisers are still highly successful when done properly.

Why incorporate house parties into your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy?

There are a couple of reasons why your nonprofit may want to consider including house parties as part of your larger fundraising strategy. Practically speaking, this type of fundraiser costs your organization very little in terms of time and dollars. Much of the work falls on the shoulders of the major donor or board member whom you ask to host the event. This relative hands-off approach makes house parties an excellent choice for nonprofits who are already stretched thin.

Smaller events like this are amazing for donor cultivation. At a large gala you will have hundreds of guests in attendance, but at a more intimate house party you may have only twenty or thirty. This makes house parties great opportunities to really get to know your donors. You, or representatives of your nonprofit, can really sit down and talk with them. As you know, strong donor relationships are at the core of any fundraising plan. House parties are an excellent way to build relationships and foster long-term generosity. House party fundraisers are also highly targeted. The attendees at these events know exactly why they have been invited and what is expected of them. Often it's a less stressful environment because it's a small group of people. It is also less formal and shorter than many other events. A new donor may be more comfortable in this environment than at a huge gala where they may not know anyone and may have a hard time networking.

What does a house party fundraiser look and feel like for your donors?

The house party fundraiser involves asking either a major donor or a board member to host an intimate gathering at their home. The host will provide food, drinks, and some type of entertainment for the evening or lunch. Reaching out to a donor with a unique home or garden can be a big draw for the event. People love getting an inside look at unique and fabulous homes. It can also encourage invitees to commit to attending your event and make the evening feel special.

All event attendees should come to the event prepared for your ask. Do not keep this part of the evening a surprise. Make sure it is part of the invitation and language promoting the event. All house parties do not have to be fundraisers. They can simply be informational introductions to the staff who will follow up with your donors later.

The majority of the event is schmoozing, networking, and chatting. This is typically followed by a formal presentation. This is a presentation that you and your team have planned ahead of time. The presentation is followed by a call to action.

This call to action can take many forms:

An ask for donations
An invitation to another event
A request that attendees lobby on behalf of the organization
An invitation to a meeting with staff from the organization

Think outside the box and choose a call to action that fits your nonprofit’s specific needs.

Tips for a Successful House Party Fundraiser

1. Pick a Proactive Host

Your host must be willing to get their hands dirty organizing the event. They should be willing to use their home or other property as the venue. They need to be willing to invite their friends, and they need to be upfront about the purpose of the evening. They should be prepared to cover the costs of the evening, and to make an additional donation to your organization. They should believe in the work your nonprofit is doing. They should be committed to following up with attendees after the event, thanking them for their time and expressing gratitude on behalf of your nonprofit organization.

Not every host is self-motivated enough to pull off an event like this. If your host is not 100% on board, your event will not be a success.

Likewise, you need to be comfortable being incredibly frank with your host. They need to know, in no uncertain terms, what is expected of them and that you will be asking people for money. If your host is uncomfortable with the process, it is not going to be a success.

2. Settle on a Stunning Location

Part of the allure of these events is the location. Your host should have access to a stunning home or property at which the event will take place.

3. Increase Your Invite List

Generally, the invite list for this type of event includes a mix of guests; people who are already on your donor rolls, friends of the host, and a small handful of people representing your nonprofit. When deciding who to invite, keep in mind that not everyone will attend.

In general, you will want to invite AT LEAST three to four times as many people as you expect to attend.

4. Perfect Your Pitch

Over the course of the evening your nonprofit will give a presentation, sometimes with a video component. The CEO or other representative will give a short talk about the work your organization does in the community. This pitch serves the same purpose as any other appeal; to form that all important emotional connection between your donors and your organization. At the end of this presentation your nonprofit representatives will deliver your call to action.

5. Be Gracious

At the end of the evening the nonprofit representatives should thank each guest personally for attending. Thank your host as well. After all, you could not have done it without them. Don’t forget to have the host send thank you cards, or follow-up with a phone call in the days immediately following the event. Use this time to thank the guests for coming and for being generous with their donations.

For more information on securing major gifts for your nonprofit check out this post.

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Q&A With a Charity Auctioneer: Staff Expectations

5/16/2018

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I'm starting a new series call Q&A With a Charity Auctioneer. Each week I'm going to answer one question that comes up a lot when working with my clients.

Q: What are your expectations for staff in terms of support/participating in paid organizational events?

A: People are not going to like this answer.

Your staff, if they want to attend an event as a guest (meaning they are not working the event), should be expected to pay for a ticket. I have worked far too many fundraisers where the staff treated the event like one giant company party.

A simple and easy solution is to create a staff-priced ticket. Staff-priced tickets should still cover the price of their meal and a portion of the event expenses. You should not be losing money on ticket sales. Ever. For any reason, but especially not from your staff. Staff-priced tickets do two things. First, when staff pay for their own tickets they have to buy-in to the event and are guaranteed to show up and appreciate it. Second, it shows fiduciary responsibility in the eyes of your board and your donors. Your organization is not losing money on any of your guests and your staff are not being given a free ride.

If your staff cannot afford a ticket and would like to work the event, they should be given free access. However, they should be expected to work the entire time. They do not get any of the benefits of being a guest. They are not seated at a table, they are not given the same meal as a paying guest, and they do not get to leave the minute the event ends.

In order to be successful with staff working the event for free, set clear expectations in advance. Make sure everyone understands what working the event means. The goal of having staff work an event is not that they get free entry into your fundraiser, but rather that your organization saves money by not hiring event staff.

It is my opinion that when staff choose to, or are expected to, work an event they should not be expected to participate in any fundraising activities at the event. They have donated their time rather than their dollars.

The Gray Area

Many nonprofits struggle with navigating the gray areas of this topic. Do people who donate auction items get free tickets? Do people who help set up and create decorations get free admission?

I don’t have answers for every possible situation, but, for me the most important factor to remember when navigating this gray area is that this event is a fundraiser, not a party. The most important factor of any fundraising event is who is in the room. When the room is filled with people who are there because they received comp tickets or because they donated a few hours of their time, you will end up with a room full of partiers instead of donors.

My advice is to draw a hard line in the sand and stick to it for all your major fundraising events. For other events, feel free to invite anyone and everyone, including your volunteers.

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5 Tips for Major Gift Solicitation Success

5/10/2018

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What constitutes a major gift varies quite a bit from nonprofit to nonprofit, depending on the donor base and social reach of your organization. For many nonprofits, any gift over $1000 counts as a major gift, while some may not consider anything below $10,000 to be a major gift. The point is, major gift solicitations are relevant for every nonprofit organization.

Major gift solicitations are typically done face-to-face and they almost always take six months or more to secure. Six and seven figure gifts often take a year or more to secure. Despite the long lead time, soliciting major gifts is hands down the easiest, most cost-effective way to fundraise. It is easier than trying to raise the same amount of money through a direct appeal, social media campaign, or special event.

If you are new to major gift fundraising or looking to start a major gift fundraising effort at your nonprofit, here are a few tips to get you started on the path to major gift solicitation success.

1. Don’t Rush the Process

It can take people a long time to commit to a major gift donation. Don’t stress if it is difficult to schedule an appointment with a donor or if you are waiting for an answer to an ask. Be patient and do not rush their decision-making process. Give your donor the time and space they need to make an informed decision, while continuously working to build that important connection between the donor and your nonprofit organization. It may take three or more meetings to get a monetary commitment from your donor. This is completely normal. Keep your team and supervisor up to date on the status of the gift you are working to secure.

2. Be Flexible with Your Schedule

Be willing to meet major donors whenever, wherever - regardless of whether they are ready to commit to a gift or are simply looking for more information. Securing major gift donations is all about patience, flexibility, and taking the time to build a genuine relationship with your donor. Flexibility is important because you want to remove any obstacles from your donor’s path. Remaining flexible with your schedule shows your donor that you will go out of your way to answer any questions they may have, or to show them around your organization. This is important because your major donors need to feel a real connection between themselves and the work of your organization. They also need to feel completely confident that you are going to use their generous gift properly.

3. Time Your Ask - Watch Out for Holidays

If you look at the calendar and factor in spring break, winter break, the holidays, and summer vacation, there are really only between thirty and fifty days a year when your major donors are going to be able meet face-to-face. Holidays, vacations, and school schedules can easily complicate your ability to connect with your donors. Schedule an appointment early and confirm each week, starting four weeks out from your date, to ensure the meeting does not get moved. However, if a donor needs to reschedule be open and accommodating to their need.

4. Be Fearless

Be Fearless. Don’t shy away from asking for money. Your donor already knows why you have asked to meet with them and is likely expecting an ask. Be just as upfront about your organization’s needs as you are about their mission and work in the community. Show your passion for the work your organization is doing. Be enthusiastic and passionate. If you are truly excited about the work your nonprofit is doing, your donor will reflect that enthusiasm.

5. Always Come Prepared

Major gift solicitations are all about being prepared. Come with a folder filled with statistics, facts, and success stories to backup your case for giving. Consider including a copy of your organization’s budget and annual report. Show your potential donors exactly where the need is and how they can help you. Share success stories with them, illustrating past and present uses of donor funds. Make these stories personal, if possible. Introduce your potential donor to the personal stories of individuals in the community who have benefited from the work your nonprofit does.

I recently talked with the campaign chair of a national organization I’m involved with. I asked her for her major gift solicitation tips. She told me her secret to regularly closing six-figure gifts. She carries a folder with her everywhere she goes and inside that folder is a stack of 21 laminated photos. On the back of each photo is a quote from that person about how this organization changed their life. She is always prepared to tell a story and back that story up with a picture, making a personal connection to the beneficiary. She carries 21 photos because the scope of her nonprofit’s work is so large that she’s never sure of her potential donor’s interests, so she has multiple stories ready to connect with multiple passions and interests.

Soliciting a major gift is the most effective way to raise money. One major donor can contribute as much as entire direct mail or social media campaigns. If your organization is lucky enough to have access to a potential donor with interest in your cause and the financial means to make a large donation, spending a handful of afternoons with them is a small price to pay to secure their contribution. Additionally, major gift donors are likely to donate again in the future if they see measurable results or improvement from their gift. They want to know that you are being good stewards of their dollars. The success of any major gift solicitation hinges on how prepared your organization is to make the pitch. You are already doing good work in the community. Coming prepared with specific examples of how donor funds will be used and past success stories will greatly increase your chances of securing that donation. And remember, fundraising is all about building relationships. Really get to know your potential donors, take the time necessary to build that connection to you and your organization and the donations are sure to follow.

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Five Simple Tips for Awesome Video Appeals

5/3/2018

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5 Simple Tips for Awesome Nonprofit Video Appeals

Are video appeals part of your fundraising plan?

They should be.

As of February 2018, there are over 1.5 billion YouTube users watching over 5 billion videos each day on the platform. These numbers are staggering. And if your nonprofit hasn’t gotten the hint yet, video isn’t going away. In fact, video the prefered content consumption medium by the majority of the population. But, you shouldn’t consider video appeals just because the medium is popular. Consider this statistic: Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text (insivia). If you want donors to remember who you are and what you do, video is the way to go.

So, what are video appeals? Video appeals are, quite simply, an ask in video form. To be effective, video appeals must do all the same things that any other successful fundraising ask does:

Introduce the audience to your nonprofit organization.
Include a story designed to build an emotional connection between potential donors and your nonprofit
Present relevant facts to support your continued work in the community.
Make it super easy to donate.

A successful video appeal can be done on any social media platform – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, etc. You can even embed your video in a targeted email campaign. Research by Martech Advisor shows emails that contain video have a 40-50% increase in click-through rates compared to plain text emails. People are far more likely to watch a short video than they are to read an email. This is especially true for younger donors or for donors who are not currently deeply connected and involved with your nonprofit organization.

Here are a few simple tips to start you on the path to success when planning your nonprofit organization’s next video appeal.

1. Don’t Overthink the Production Values

I know what you are thinking, “My nonprofit can’t afford to do video appeals. We just don’t have the budget, right now.” Forget what you think you know about video. A successful video appeal does not have to be professionally produced. We are in an era of amazing technology. Most of us carry this technology with us every day. With a decent smartphone you can shoot, edit, and post a high quality video.

Don’t just take your phone out, prop it on your desk, and talk. Successful video appeals are not just talking heads. Talking heads are BORING and not compelling. Successful appeals always tell a story. Use your video to take your potential donors on a trip to visit the people and locations your organization serves. Film the people, places, or animals in need. If you are an animal shelter, show some of the animals arriving at the shelter. Follow their journey from the intake process to medical care to being adopted by a loving forever family. Make sure to tell the full story, don’t stop halfway through. Your donors want to see how their funds will be put to use; they want to see the happy ending.

2. Target Your Video to Your Audience

All fundraising appeals are more successful when they are targeted towards a specific audience. Different audiences have different expectations. If your donor base is older, embedding the video appeal in an email is a great way to get it out there. If your intended audience is younger, millennials and next gen donors, you’ll want to consider using your video as part of a larger social media campaign. Consider cutting any longer video appeals you have down and repurposing them for social media.

Check out my appearance on Nonprofits are Messy with Joan Garry for more tips.

3. Plan & Make a Storyline.

Nonprofit fundraising relies on establishing an emotional connection between your organization and potential donors. Your video appeal can’t be successful if you just take your iPhone out into the field and start recording willy-nilly. To create successful video appeals and also to save time, resources, and headaches: Plan first, plan second, and shoot third. What do I mean by this? Before you start filming, create a storyboard of what your video will be. Let’s continue to use the animal shelter example. If you want to tell the story of one dog from intake at the shelter to placement with a family, you’ll need to know when dogs are coming to the shelter and you’ll need to plan to shoot every few days until they get adopted. You can’t just walk into the shelter today and hope that a dog will be coming in. Instead, create a list of shots that you will need to complete the “story” for your video. Do you need B-roll footage? Are you doing any interviews? Do you need any close-ups or wide angle panorama shots? Making a list will keep you organized. You could delegate the actual shooting to someone else. Remember, your video needs to tell a complete story from beginning to end. Make sure to end on a happy note, highlighting the good work your nonprofit is able to do because of your donors.

4. Integrate Your Video With Your Social Media Presence

Social media is ever-present in many people’s lives. If your organization is hoping to use a video appeal to connect to younger donors, it is imperative that you make your video appeals part of your social media presence. Young people live on the internet, they are constantly connected to different social and professional networking applications and sites. Use this to your advantage. Don’t just email your video to your donor list. Post your video to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Better yet, create a stable of videos - some informational and some including an ask. Get new videos out there regularly to keep your donor base engaged. Encourage your donors to share the video with their social media followers to increase your reach even farther.

5. Make it Easy to Donate

Your potential donors are already online watching your video on a social media platform or in their email, why not take advantage of this and include a link straight to your organization’s donation page. This takes advantage of the emotional connection your video has just worked to create. Make sure to include smaller donation amounts for those donors who are donating impulsively after clicking on the video. If your nonprofit’s website isn’t set up for online giving, why the heck not? If you are going to invest in video appeals, make sure your website is optimized for both online giving and mobile viewing. Remove as many barriers to donating as you can.

6. Mix it Up

If you are planning to create a year’s worth of videos, consider mixing up the style and tone to keep things fresh. Here is a list of some simple, easy tips to increase the production value of your videos for free.

Voice-over. Record a voice-over on your phone or directly onto your computer. Layer the voice-over over your video footage for a simple and easy video.
Text overlay. All editing software, including the free ones, offer the ability to overlay text onto your video. Just record the video and add text.
Source copyright-free music. Use the right music to create emotion in your audience. Use copyright free music in order to keep your video online and keep your nonprofit from a costly copyright infringement situation.
Source copyright-free stock video footage. Looking to add footage to your video or create a video without recording any footage? There are tons of great stock, copyright free video footage sites. Just remember to give them credit if you use their materials.
Free tutorials. YouTube is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to free and awesome tutorials. Want to learn how to use iMovie in twenty minutes? Need to learn how to use the fancy lens on your camera? Can’t embed the video in an email? Check out Youtube for free and easy to follow tutorials on anything and everything.

Video appeals are an integral part of my clientele's nonprofit fundraising strategy. The pervasive nature of social media and the internet means that more people are tuned-in to technology than ever before. Deciding not to take advantage of this when launching a fundraising campaign has the potential to leave a lot of money on the table.

Get inspired!

Here are some of my favorite video appeals:

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Q&A With a Charity Auctioneer: Comp Tickets - Yay or Nay?

House Party Fundraisers: Why This Old School Fundraising Idea Still Works to Raise Big Money Fast

Q&A With a Charity Auctioneer: Staff Expectations

5 Tips for Major Gift Solicitation Success

Five Simple Tips for Awesome Video Appeals

5 Simple Tips for Awesome Nonprofit Video Appeals

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