The power of the paddle raise is often not fully understood. It can be under promoted or thrown together at the last minute leaving the message of the need poorly presented. The Paddle Raise is the most valuable single item being sold and needs to be given the time and the marketing collateral to sell the audience on participating fully. If the goal is to raise $50,000, then create $50,000 worth of attention for heaven’s sake!
The 52 Card Elimination Game is a simple game and the supplies are inexpensive - about 40 cents per player. Each card represents one play and requires a duplicate card for the dealer running the game. Multiple decks can be used depending on the number of guests OR depending on the price point. It's a good idea to offer games at different price points so that the entire buying power of the audience is tapped.
Lanyard bid numbers are used to keep guests hands free during the silent auction timeline. These photos were taken during the silent auction. Notice they are not holding a bid packet. I am 100% against bid packets for several reasons that I will get into in another post. The most important reason is that guests have no place to put them other than under their arms or at their seats.
A properly worded talk can inspire supporters to engage with all the profit making activities and even become involved in future events as sponsors, volunteers, board members and activists. I’ve also witnessed some talks that are neither inspiring or worthy of the organization’s message and need. In fact, the wrong speaker with a poorly thought out or self-serving speech can damage an event and hurt attendance for future fund-raising functions.
The End of the Night Raffle is often promoted that “You must be present to win”. The key to this raffle’s success is waiting with anticipation to see who wins the prize(s). Choose a Grand Prize with broad appeal to drive ticket sales. Consider offering more than one prize. More prizes increase sales and create more winners.
The live charity auction model can be as relaxed and informal as a picnic and as elaborate and entertaining as a Broadway show or as intimidating and intense as a Sotheby’s or Christie’s auction. Most fundraising auctions fall somewhere in between. All are productions that involve many players, hundreds of details with dozens of procedures and can be easily managed to profitability and fun.
Auction meetings are always better with nutricious food that tastes great. This is one of my favorite recipes because of the ease of switching up ingredients with subsitutes and extra flavors. Meat can be added to this vegetarian version. Make sure that vegetarians have plenty of healthy choices. Encourage the volunteers to eat throughout the evening rather than waiting for a set time. Let everyone know great food awaits them and that they can "come as you are".
Starting with highly desirable travel packages is one the best solutions for getting people excited about your charity auction. Professional consignments are items that are specifically designed to be sold at fundraising events. Unique travel packages, unusual adventures, and sports and celebrity memorabilia to name a few.
I have a few loose rules I use to order the LIVE AUCTION CATALOG for your charity auction. Sometimes the items are nearly identical in value, desire and sometimes the donor for every item is in the room and if that is the case, I’m not convinced it matters so much what the order is. It the items have been carefully procured based on the audience’s interest and bidding history, a bidding competition will likely be in play. It is that competition that drives the bid to the highest possible amount for that audience on that night.
Those of us in the business of influencing change know that the most important way to getting into someone’s head is through their emotions. Anger is behind every injustice. Without anger few are motivated to get involved. The other important emotion is compassion. Once we see the injustice visited upon a person our compassion causes us to want to give, volunteer or create a vehicle for change.
The Dessert Dash is an fundraising activity that encourages your guests to interact with one another during the live auction timeline. Guests seated at each dining table decide individually how much money they are willing to pool together for the right to run and grab a dessert from the dessert dash table. They write that amount on the Dessert Dash Bid Sheet. The bid sheets are picked up, tallied and the table raising the largest amount of money is in first position when the dash begins. The auctioneer calls out the tables in ascending order until the last table has made a run for it.
Lanyard bid numbers are used to keep guests hands free during the silent auction timeline. These photos were taken during the silent auction. Notice they are not holding a bid packet. I am 100% against bid packets for several reasons that I will get into in another post. The most important reason is that guests have no place to put them other than under their arms or at their seats.
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