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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nonprofit Cocktail Hour: More Than Just Drinks

10/21/2019

Almost every fundraising event has a cocktail hour. Usually cocktail hours last an hour, but they can run longer. Sometimes it is a standalone activity, sometimes it happens in conjunction with a silent auction.

There are many ways to approach this aspect of your fundraising event, but I want to talk about a new trend I’m seeing with some of my clients that I think you’re going to love.

Cocktail hours that double as a showcase for your nonprofit’s mission.

Some of my clients have begun taking advantage of this hour, when your guests would normally be drinking and networking, to give them an opportunity to see their dollars in action, up close and personal.

One of my clients works with young adults in the equal opportunity space. At one event, they invited a number of their beneficiaries to attend and set up booths, science fair style, during the cocktail hour. Each beneficiary used their booth to show what they were working on with the help of the nonprofit: book reports, science projects, art projects, etc.

Another one of my clients provides business training for women. They invited some of their beneficiaries to set up booths during the cocktail hour that highlighted their businesses. Some brought in wares to show and some highlighted the services their businesses provide.

In both of these cases the guests were given an opportunity to speak directly with the people the nonprofit helps. They could see in a very clear way, where their dollars were going. They formed connections with the beneficiaries and their stories.

What a great way to use an hour that would otherwise be spent drinking and making small talk.

Does your nonprofit do something similar? Are you interested in trying this approach in the future? Let me know in the comments.

The ABCs of Fundraising Events

9/9/2019

Fundraising events are like theatrical productions. A lot of people put in a lot of work to make sure these events go off without a hitch. Those of you who have a background in performance will recognize many of these terms but if you don’t, don’t worry! I’m going to walk you through it, step by step.

You can even print this list out and carry it with you as you attend meetings and plan events so you always sound professional and experienced.

Air Wall Partitions: Movable walls that allow you to create smaller rooms within a larger space.

Banquet Captain: The person in charge of your servers and running the service.

Breakdown: The act of cleaning up after the event. Returning the venue to the state in which you found it.

Check In/Out: A table near the entrance of the venue where your guests check in and pick up any forms as they arrive.

Corkage: The price hotels and other venues charge for serving wine brought in by the customer.

Cue to Cue: A document that lays out every cue in the program.

Dance Floor: A movable floor that designates a space for dancing.

Entertainment: The evening’s entertainment offerings. Comedians, dancers, musicians, etc.

F&B: Short for Food and Beverage. The department at a hotel or venue responsible for catering and service.

Family Style: A method of serving food on large plates placed in the center of the table. A faster way of doing service.

Floorplan: The layout of the room including the stage and all tables and chairs.

GoBo: Metal plates that slide over the front of lights to project images onto the floor or wall. Must be custom made.

Green Room: The room your special guests or honorees wait in until they are needed on stage.

Handlers: People who make sure your award winner, guests, and honorees are where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there.

Honorarium: Includes any fees, travel expenses, and accommodations provided to your special guests or speakers.

Honoree: A member of the community chosen to be honored at your event for the work they do in the community.

Installation: The act of setting the event up prior to the day.

Keynote: A speech given at the beginning of the event. Generally focuses on a unifying theme and major accomplishments.

Livestream: Live video of the event, available to watch online both during and after the event.

Mic Check: A point, before the event begins, when everyone checks that their mics are working and set to the correct volume.

No-Show: A guest who RSVP’d but does not show up for the event.

Overhead Projector: Suspended above the room. Used to project images and presentations on to walls and screens.

Projection Screens: Either front or rear projection. Used to display presentations. I prefer rear projection because it is neater and you don’t need to worry about people walking in front of the screen.

Run of Show/Show Flow: A minute-by-minute schedule that includes all elements of the event, including cues and volunteer duties.

Service: The time during which food or drinks are served at an event.

Site Visit: The visit you and your team make to look at the venue before your event.

Staff Meal: The meal your staff is served at the event. This meal is separate from your event and served in a different room.

Stage Manager: The person who calls the show.

Stage Monitor: A speaker that points at the stage so the person speaking can hear themselves.

Tech Run: A practice run of the event with all technical elements working.

Teleprompter: The device that displays text for the person on stage to read.

FUnd-A-Need: An auction that invites everyone to make a donation without expectation of something tangible in return.

Venue: The location of your event.

Virtual Attendees: Attendees who watch your event live, or after the fact, over the internet and participate by making a donation.

Volunteers: Unpaid workers who donate their time to help organize, execute, and clean up after your event.

Waitlist: A list of guests who have RSVP’d but cannot fit inside the venue unless another guest no-shows.

X-Stands: Also called Service Stands or Jack Stands. These are for meal service at a large venue. Waiters use these to support their tray when serving a large number of entrees.

CharitY Auctioneer: A professional auctioneer hired to plan and call auction and run the Fund-A-Need.

Zoom Lens: Allows your videographer to vary the focal length of recorded video.

This list is far from comprehensive. As you continue to improve your fundraising skills and plan new events, you will naturally become familiar with the terminology.

Did I leave your favorite nonprofit fundraising event word off the list? Comment below and let me know.

Fund-A-Need: Before, During, or After the Live Auction?

9/6/2019

When it comes to special event fundraising, Fund-A-Needs are the best bang for your buck. They have the best ROI in terms of time spent and money raised.

Despite this, many organizations still like to have a live auction as part of their charity event.

A question that often comes up when I’m working with clients is: Where should we place the Fund-A-Need in relation to the live auction?

Your Fund-A-Need can happen before, during, or after the live auction. Over the past year I’ve done all three and there are pros and cons to each.

After the Live Auction
The most popular time to have a Fund-A-Need is after the live auction.

It is perfectly fine to have the Fund-A-Need after the live auction unless:

Your auction has more than eight items
Your crowd is particularly rowdy and drunk
Your crowd tends to leave early
Your event takes place in the afternoon

These factors lead to more people getting bored and leaving your event early, which means that many of them will not be around for the Fund-A-Need portion of the evening.

Now, I’m a really engaging auctioneer (if I do say so myself) but keep in mind that during a typical live auction only about 10-20 people participate. The more items in your live auction, the more time the majority of your audience will be disengaged and at risk of boredom.

During the Live Auction
I only do a Fund-A-Need in the middle of a live auction if the auction contains more than ten items and I’ll tell you why.

Once the auction gets rolling it is really hard to stop the momentum. Not only that, but it’s hard to get that momentum going again.

At any live auction there is an energy build-up that happens. The first item or two up for auction tends to be bid on less enthusiastically while this energy grows. After a couple items everyone is ready to bid and we’re off to the races! Interrupting the live auction destroys this energy and forces the room to start building that energy all over again.

The first item after the Fund-A-Need becomes a sacrifice to the Fund-A-Need gods. It’s likely to sell for less than you would like as we work to build that energy again.

It’s also confusing for people to go from buying things, to serious and excited about your cause, and back to buying things. With a longer auction this isn’t as huge of a deal because there are more items to sell which allows for that energy build-up to happen again.

Before the Live Auction
Putting the Fund-A-Need before the live auction is controversial and I’m only starting to appreciate the merits of this practice.

If you have a rowdy crowd, enthusiastic drinkers, or a lengthy program you want to catch people when the excitement is high, which typically happens at the beginning of the event once everyone is seated.

Holding the Fund-A-Need ahead of the live auction virtually guarantees you’ll get everyone engaged in giving, allowing them to just relax and enjoy the rest of the night. And you, as the development professional, won’t care how much they drink or how much they talk because the money’s already been raised.

Many people dread the Fund-A-Need because some auctioneers (not us!) create an awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere during this part of the evening. It’s only after the Fund-A-Need is out of the way that people feel like they can start enjoying themselves.

The Fund-A-Need is the only time of the evening when everyone comes together as one big group. Inclusivity is a key aspect of Fund-A-Needs, unlike live auctions where very few people are actually participating, making this an excellent way to kick off the event.

My advice, when placing your Fund-A-Need before your live auction, is to go straight into the Fund-A-Need while people are enjoying their salads. No speakers, no awards, just the Fund-A-Need. A well-run Fund-A-Need starts the evening off right and gets everyone excited to continue giving.

Regardless of where your nonprofit decides to place the Fund-A-Need in the evening’s program, your Fund-A-Need success relies heavily on the energy and excitement in the room. For more tips and tricks, check out my post on getting your Fund-A-Need to work harder for you, or grab a copy of my free ebook 8 Easy Steps to Your Best Fund-A-Need Ever.

What Doesn’t Sell at Nonprofit Charity Auctions

8/30/2019

When planning your charity auction, you want to source items and experiences that people will actually want to bid on. This relies a good deal on who your target audience is, different groups bid on different things, after all. But there are some items that tend not to sell well, regardless of your audience.

Art is too subjective to do well at your typical charity auction. You run the risk of no one in attendance loving the piece enough to bid on it. At charity events, artwork rarely sparks a bidding war. Most of the time artwork will sell to the one person who wants it, if it sells at all. Even if you have the right professionals to evaluate the artwork, it’s probably not worth including art in your auction.

An exception to this is if your nonprofit works with the art community. In that case, your audience would naturally include those more interested in acquiring pieces of art.

Clothing and jewelry are similarly subjective, though often far less expensive than a piece of art. Physical items of clothing are a particularly difficult sell because they rely on someone being the proper size and finding the item appealing.

Again, there are exceptions to this. The famous Wine Women & Shoes events make incredible amounts of money each year on the premise of clothes and shoes. But, this is a highly specialized event and what works here is not going to translate well to a typical nonprofit auction.

Instead aim for these items:

Trips. Trips are a no-brainer at charity auctions. Aim for trips that are all-inclusive, or bundle hotel rooms with airfare and an experience at the trip destination. And always look for trips that attendees would likely not be able to access on their own. We’re talking once-in-a-lifetime, exclusive experiences. One of my favorite sources for trips is HGAFundraising.com. They offer amazing packages at literally unbeatable prices, guaranteeing your nonprofit a huge return on your investment.
Food and Wine. Food and wine are the juggernauts of nonprofit auctions. They always sell. Wine often sells for far more than retail rate. Load up on restaurant experiences and local wines whenever possible.
Experiences. Tickets to events: sports games, the opera, the ballet, etc., are all great options for any charity event. Many times the people attending your events don’t want for things in their everyday lives. Offering experiences rather than items encourages your guests, who may not want to bid on a physical item, to get in on the action.

Generally speaking, when sourcing items for a charity auction, aim for items that have a broad appeal. You want as many people as possible bidding on each item. Trips and experiences are always your best bet, especially if you can get your hands on some truly one-of-a-kind experiences that your guests aren’t able to get elsewhere. And whatever you do, stay away from clothing items that rely on sizing.

Bombing On Stage: It Was My Ego’s Fault

8/5/2019

When I bomb on stage, typically the audience can’t tell. It’s only my ego that is bruised.

I work with my fair share of celebrities. I try to be humble and not brag about them or post photos about them on social media. It’s a perk of my job - which I love. I do not take jobs simply because of the celebrities involved. I take auctions because I believe in the organization and their work.

Except one time. I let my personal desire to interact with a group of high-net worth people and gain exposure get in the way. I made the poor decision to take a job I knew was a mistake. I let my ego take control.

I’ll tell you what happened.

The Client
Last year I was approached by a very popular, fancy magazine focused on high-end products for wealthy people. This magazine features 20-million-dollar yachts the way Target features t-shirts. Its pages are filled with ads for $100,000 dollar watches, cognac, horses and all the other toys that the wealthy spend their millions on. Their target audience is the 1%. The magazine had its heyday in the 80’s and recently rebranded to become more appealing to younger audiences.

This magazine contacted me about raising money for a third party nonprofit organization, a practice that is more common than many people realize. It’s the upper-class equivalent of Safeway asking you at checkout if you’d like to donate a dollar to help the homeless.

The Promise
I was told that if I helped them meet their fundraising goal of $200,000, I would be given a feature in their magazine in addition to my fee.

This had the potential to be HUGE for my business. The exposure alone was worth its weight in gold. Not only that, I was going to have the opportunity to meet several of the biggest names in the culinary world at this fundraiser.

I couldn’t say no.

What followed was an experience so overflowing with red flags and flashing neon warning signs that any sane person would have walked away. But I couldn’t say no to my ego. I’m great at my job and I wanted that exposure.

Red Flags
The first thing that should have sent me running the other direction was the nonprofit itself. I have a hard and fast rule when deciding which nonprofits to work with: If I learn about an organization and I am not moved to make a donation myself, I will not take on the client or the special event. I need to have the capacity to care for the nonprofit’s mission. If I don’t, I can’t speak in an authentic voice to help others understand the importance of the organization as well as tug at their wallets.

This nonprofit is run by two prominent chefs. It’s mission is to help younger chefs rise through the ranks and achieve Michelin star ratings. I’m not much of a foodie, give me a good burger and fries at the local greasy spoon and I am happy. This organization wasn’t one that I would personally donate to, nor could I see a real benefit to the community.

Furthermore, this fancy magazine had no connection to the nonprofit they were holding the event for. Rather, they were connected to the nonprofit only for access to the high-end chefs that they could provide. Another warning sign that I completely ignored. Their relationship was purely a business deal where the nonprofit provides the chefs and the magazine pays for them with a six-figure donation. And rather than donate the $200,000 themselves, they held an auction to pass along the cost to fine dining aficionados and wealthy subscribers.

The Details
Invitations for the event were posted on a ticket site and sold to whomever wanted to buy them for $1,500 a pop. Another red flag! The room that night was filled with people who purchased tickets to enjoy a ten-course tasting menu prepared by some of the best chefs in the country. They weren’t buying tickets to donate to a charity. No one in that room had any emotional connection to the cause of helping young chefs attain Michelin stars. They were buying a high end experience, not coming to a fundraising event for their favorite organization.

The event had a 100 person, or 50 couple, limit and a goal of raising $200,000. This means each couple needed to donate a minimum of $4,000 on top of the $1,500 paid for each ticket. The guest list was not curated at all. Rather they assumed that if couples could afford a $3000 meal, they could afford to spend $10-20k on a high-end auction package. What they didn’t know is that most major donors, don’t just donate because they have the capacity to give, they give big gifts because they have a multi-year relationship with an organization and know the inner workings of the nonprofit (how it is run, board members, transparency, etc).

The Auction
Another rule, which I bent for this occasion, is that I never begin an auction after 9 p.m. People are just too tired, too drunk, or too ready to go home to bid with any sort of enthusiasm. They scheduled the auction portion of the evening to begin at 10 p.m., after the ten-course tasting menu and the many, many glasses of wine that experience entailed. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. I remember very clearly one guest who, by the time I took to the stage, had fallen asleep on top of her table using her Chanel purse as a pillow and her fur wrap as a blanket.

This was also a rare occasion when I agreed to an auction with more than eight items. This auction had twelve. All twelve were amazing. Some of the best things I have ever had the opportunity to sell. These were private dinners prepared by famous chefs. Chefs you see on TV. Chefs who have year long wait lists for their restaurants. Under normal conditions these babies would more than exceed the evening’s fundraising goal.

But these were not normal conditions.

The icing on this particularly under-baked cake was that the magazine refused to let me set my own starting bids. Instead, they set every opening bid at $10,000. $10,000! With an audience who was first introduced to the nonprofit that evening and who possessed an overwhelming urge to pass out on table tops, this was never going to work.

On this night, at this auction, with this group in attendance they barely made half of their fundraising goal. I was up on stage, doing my thing, grasping for any tendril of enthusiasm that I could get my hands on and all I got was crickets.

No one was bidding.

It was mortifying.

At several points, the chef whose dinner was being auctioned at the time grabbed the microphone out of my hand and lowered the price. Because, oh yes, did I fail to mention that the chefs were on stage with me while I was calling the auction for, what essentially amounted to, a private evening with them? They lowered the price on all items to ensure they sold, while also making me look like the worst auctioneer in the world who didn’t even know how to set starting bids.

The Aftermath
After the event, the fancy magazine blamed everything on me and said I “didn’t bring enough energy,” despite the fact that I advised them to make different decisions regarding crowd size, auction timing, starting bids, and the like through the entire consulting process. It was decided that I hadn’t tried hard enough to get people excited and convince them to spend $10,000 on another fancy dinner.

They asked me to donate my fee to the nonprofit because I failed to meet the fundraising goal and, of course, I would not be getting that feature.

When I travel for events, as I did for this one, my fee covers my travel expenses. Without it, I have to pay for my travel out of pocket. But I agreed to make the donation, despite the fact that the evening’s failures could have been avoided if they were open to my advice, because I needed the experience to be over.

Lessons Learned
I wish I had trusted my gut. I wish I didn’t let my ego get in the way. I wish I had said no when I saw all these red flags. And more than anything, I am disappointed in myself for taking an auction that I knew had no chance of being successful.

After this experience my advice to nonprofits is:

Make sure all the guests in the room have a connection to your organization
Be wary of third party fundraisers
Don’t start your auction after 9 p.m.
Have a connection with your donors
Trust your auctioneer to set opening bids

Have you ever bombed spectacularly at an auction? What did you learn from the experience?