Use your board as a sounding board

Many of our clients have a large board involved with their event and one of them uses the twenty or so board members in a very interesting and productive way.  They assemble a list of probable live auction items and send the list out to each board member and ask them to rate them from most interesting to least.  The results were not only interesting, but they represented a good portion of the attending crowd and even i was suprised by what they liked and what they didn't.  

The other result from the inquiry was that it got board members to suggest enhancements that they could add and even got a few of them to suggest entirely new auction lots that they came up with after seeing what other people donated.  

All in all anything that gets the board more involved and gives them the opportunity to participate is a win-win situation.  It also starts the "buzz" from the top down as the board members start talking up the great auction lots at this years event to friends, family and other supporters who will be or should be attending .  

Do you need more than just an "auctioneer"?

Many of our new clients are pleasantly surprised after our second or third meeting about how we have offered many new suggestions and ideas about ways to grow their events. "Our last Auctioneer never mentioned any of this stuff, we talked a couple of times and then he/she showed up at the event, read our catalog to the crowd, and left!" 

We believe that the best way to have a great idea is to have a lot of ideas, ideas that are based on what has worked at hundreds and hundreds of events nationwide and what might work at yours.  Would you welcome suggestions and new approaches about:

• Getting your board on-board
• Getting everybody on your committee on the same page
• Timelines
• Messaging
• Silent auction strategies
• Unique new live auction lots and their ordering
• Crafted appeals
• Changing the mindset of your attendees from "They do the same thing every year" to "I wonder what they're going to do this year?"

As far as I know, the only way to accomplish this is to engage a CONSULTING FUNDRAISING AUCTIONEER, who will work with your team.  Just a few questions during the interview about what kind of participation to expect from a prospective Auctioneer should let you know whether you're getting a bid caller or a game changer!

Benefit Auction Summit 2015

Greg and I just returned from the Benefit Auction Summit in New Orleans.  Benefit Auction Specialists from around the country attended this summit hosted by the National Auctioneers Association and I thought I'd share an overview of what was discussed.  First and foremost, benefit auctions continue to be the fastest growing segment of the auction industry.  The Auctioneers that attended are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars raised annually and these certified BAS auctioneers only represent a fraction of auctioneers across the country!  

Greg and I were asked to present at this gathering and we spent 90 minutes sharing our consulting techniques.  The days of an auctioneer just showing  up at your fundraiser and reading your program are  fading fast. When we asked the crowd how many of them consult, most of the hands in the room went up, but it's the level of consulting that we focused on and even seasoned veterans were taking notes.  Fund-a-needs were discussed as to their placement and structure as well as a very robust discussion on new technologies like mobile bidding and text to bid options.  There was also a presentation on how "millennials" are participating in philanthropy.

All in all, the benefit fundraising world is doing well and people all over the country are showing up in record numbers to support organizations that have taken the time to craft  their event so guests leave feeling that their time was well spent.

So if you want a little consulting on consulting,  or a little more insight as to what's going on at fundraisers across the country, give us a call, we took notes!

How'd they get those?

Did you ever go to an auction where one of the lots was tickets to something that you knew had been sold out for months?  Of course some of those are the result of somebody associated with the organization donating them, but others are simply you being clever about getting your own "tickets".

Board members, committee members and staff who have black, platinum and gold credit cards are offered pre-sale and advance tickets to major events long before the public gets a crack at them. Some even offer a list of what's going to be available in the future right there on the monthly statement. If any of these offerings are a good fit for your attendees, ask them to purchase some and reimburse them. Better yet, get them to "underwrite" them as a donation to your auction.

The other method is to have somebody track the top ticket websites so you can be ready to purchase those hard to get seats when they go up for sale at 12:01 on a Wednesday night eight months before your gala! You pretty much know when your event is going to be held so you can focus on those performances that take place after yours. So by the time your event rolls around  you are the ones who "got those tickets".

The other component to consider is if you have an out of state vacation home or hotel/resort donation, see if there are any choice offerings that take place in the same location as the lodging. Together they might just be one of the best auction items of the night! 

Marketing not charity

When you start on the solicitation trail for silent and live auction items, you can use the incentive of your attendees demographics to help you get a "yes" by having the person you're asking  take off their charity hat and put on their marketing hat!  Most of the businesses that you approach have gone through their "charity' budget long before you got there, but there's always marketing funds in reserve throughout the year.  Have a breakdown of your demographics handy and emphasize that the couple of hundred people who attend your event consist of those who are already customers and those who may be, after seeing your support for their organization.  I also suggest that "who" asks will certainly make the difference in how the ask is received.  If one of your solicitation team members has a personal or customer based relationship with a prospective donor they should be the one to ask.

It's also important that you try and target the ask by knowing what you actually would like from the donor, so that you don't get into the "what do you want"...."what do you got"  conversation. If you need the donor to contribute something that's part of a great auction lot, let them know that.  A well thought out ask shows a lot more respect for the donors time and resources than "gimme something"

And now I’d like to introduce…

Almost every event has a series of speakers who make their way to the podium pull out a crumpled sheet of paper and “make a speech.” Some are dynamic presenters and some…not so much. Sometimes the flow of the evening is determined by these people, instead of the other way around. And what your speakers say is critical to the success of the evening.

At an event last year three people - a CEO, a board member, and a celebrity - got up before the auction and proceeded to hammer out a message of “the economy sucks…..we’re all broke….we need to tighten our belts, etc. etc.” As I stood off to the side of the stage, I could feel the energy in the room drain and actually saw people put their paddles on the floor. I do not suggest that anybody pretend that things are peachy keen, but there’s no need for three consecutive speakers to take the wind out of anybody’s philanthropic sail.  A message of needed support and acknowledgment of difficult times can both be addressed.

Along with content, length is also a concern. One painfully long thank you speech by an honoree at a large event in San Francisco actually delayed the evening by 30 minutes! The following year the organization video-taped the acceptance speech for that year’s recipient. Then they projected it on the large screens and let the honoree come up on stage, get the award, say thank you and return to his seat.

It’s obviously a tricky matter when it comes to editing or controlling people’s speeches. But your guests will appreciate it if you take the time to offer your speakers a well-placed word about brevity when discussing their speeches.  Everyone’s goal should be for the audience to still have plenty of energy and enthusiasm left by the time the auction starts to keep those paddles waving.

Eye Can’t Hear You

A few years ago at an East Bay Auction an interesting thing happened.  The event included about three hundred people at a beautiful Country Club.  Everybody was enthusiastic and came ready to spend and support and enjoy the evening.

After doing my  normal “can everybody hear me clearly” announcement, I felt confident that everybody could. So I started the 43 lot auction and paddles were going up everywhere. The lot descriptions and numbers were being projected on a large screen behind me and and bids were coming from every corner of the room.

Then, about halfway through the auction the laptop sending the PowerPoint slides to the projector failed and the large screen behind me went black. Oddly enough, people started telling the spotters that they couldn’t hear me! The only thing that had changed was the screen going black.  The sound was exactly as it was for the first twenty lots, no levels were changed, no microphones replaced, nothing changed except… the big black screen,  and now they couldn’t hear me.

So what caused this sudden loss of hearing?  Their eyes!  Having the lot numbers displayed near the stage gives your audience a chance to “track” where the auction is. When a lot that is of interest gets close, the interested parties can stop their socializing and get ready to bid.  Most people have already perused the catalog and know which lots they are going to bid on.  But when you take away their visual reference system, they need to “hear” when a lot of interest is coming up.

“Which lot are we on” and “I wanted to bid on that” is not something you want to hear from the crowd.

I have never had the feed to a projector go out in the past and hopefully will never have one go out again in the future.  I do however, wonder if one of those large pads and a Magic Marker tucked away behind the stage is a ”sound” investment.