Why You Should Hire a California Based Fundraising Auctioneer if your Charity Auction is in California

First off, if you are having a fundraising auction event you should definitely retain a professional benefit auctioneer that is a member of the National Auctioneers Association, their state auction association (California's is the Western States Auction Association), and better yet has the Benefit Auctioneer Specialist (BAS) designation as well.  With that out of the way lets discuss why you should be hiring a California based charity auctioneer for your California based fundraising event.

As we all know California has several areas that are unique to that region.  Quite frankly the Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland, etc.) is a lot different from Central California (Bakersfield and Fresno, etc.).  Of course, Southern California has many different pockets as well, such as Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County, and San Diego to name a few.

This means many things, but here are just some of them:

1.  Different regions of California have unique general occupations that drive the economy in those areas.
2.  Different regions have contrasting income levels and age groups.
3.  Different regions have particular auction items that will do well just in those zones.
4.  Different regions have unique venues to utilize for your fundraising auction event.

Overall, California is DIFFERENT as you travel north to south and east to west.

Don't you want a benefit auctioneer that has knowledge of these differences and familiarity through experience of what works and what doesn't work in these specific regions?  Most of the time in order to have this knowledge you need an auctioneer that is local to the state and understands these differences so he or she can fully maximize the degree of services that they provide to your nonprofit or school.  You want a professional fundraising auctioneer that understands the people in the audience and what they want.  Not to mention, a professional auctioneer that is well read and understands the laws of California when it comes to charitable fundraising.

Here at Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services we understand California and have been in the auction business since 2002.  Our Chief Auctioneer, Mike Grigg is a California native and has been a professional auctioneer for almost a decade and a half.  We have raised literally Millions of dollars for nonprofits and schools in all different areas of California.  We are here in California to serve California nonprofits and schools!

Next time you retain a professional fundraising auctioneer and consultant for your California charity event... Go local, go with a California Auctioneer.

Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services.

Top 3 Reasons why You should have a Live Auction at Your Fundraising Event

Live auctions are an essential element to any successful fundraising event and by overlooking this element you may be leaving BIG bucks on the table!

Here are the top three reasons why you should have a live auction at your fundraiser:

1.  Live auctions are FUN!  A survey conducted by the National Auctioneers Association determined that the number one reason why people attend live auctions is because they are fun.  You can't have a FUNdraiser without the fun!  People will keep coming back for years to come if they have fun at your event, and with the right people in the seats this directly equates to more revenue.

2. Live auctions bring the big dollars!  A live auction with the correct 7-10 items will many times eclipse a silent auction with 50 items in revenue generated.  If you want to tap into the larger donors in the crowd, a live auction with higher dollar items is a perfect way to accomplish this.

3.  Live auctions provide a spectacular marketing opportunity!  Leading up to your fundraising auction event you should be taking advantage of as many marketing opportunities as possible to advertise your event.  When you have great live auction items you should be advertising these as well as the event itself.  If you go on a local news station's broadcast then talk about some of your top live auction items that will be sold at the event to create a buzz.  Remember, don't just focus on the party... focus on the fundraising.

Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services

How to Get Bidders to Bid at Your Fundraising Auction Event

First off, there are several ways to get bidders to bid at your benefit fundraising auction, but the MOST important aspect is to make sure you have the right people in the seats with the means to support your cause!  Check out this past blog post explaining this in more detail:  What is the most important ingredient to a successful fundraising event?

Here are the top 3 ways to get bidders to bid at your charity auction event:

1.  Hire a professional fundraising auctioneer to take the helm during your live auction and fund a need.

2.  Make sure you procure desirable items for your auction.

3.  Do not start your bidding too high.  This includes not using items with high minimum bids (i.e. consignment items).

There are several factors that play into a successful auction but these are the key elements that make your auction a record breaker and help you achieve fundraising bliss.

Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services

7 Things You Should Know About Conducting a Successful Fund a Need or Special Appeal at Your Fundraising Event

1.  What is a Fund a Need or Special Appeal?

A Fund a Need (aka: Special Appeal, The Ask, Cash Ask, Fund a Mission, etc.) is the single most important fundraising technique at your benefit event, whether you do silent and live auctions or not.  The fund a need is a completely different fundraising aspect than your silent auction, live auction or other revenue enhancers.  It allows your donors to give a cash amount at a specific level to help fund a specific need or needs that your nonprofit or school has.


2.  What should the fund a need benefit?

This is your opportunity to ask your donors to give at specific levels to fund your Nonprofit's biggest need for the upcoming year.  For example: If you are a school and need to purchase iPads for the 6th graders, this would be a perfect fit for fund a need.

3.  How should we determine the different levels for our donors to give?

We at Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services believe that you should do no more than six levels beginning high and working to low.  The first high level should be determined prior to the fundraising event with one of your larger donors so that there are no crickets in the room when your professional fundraising auctioneer begins the ask.  Once you have established your high level, work with your professional auctioneer to determine how many and which levels should follow.


4.  When should you conduct a fund a need?

The fund a need should be done at every single fundraising event that you conduct where you will have an opportunity to be in front of your donors in a sit-down environment.  The beauty of a fund a need is that you do not have to do any other fundraising elements, and you do not have to procure items to conduct one successfully.  It is simply your donors showing their support of your cause.


5.  Who should conduct the fund a need?

A fund a need must be conducted by a professional benefit auctioneer, preferably by a designated Benefit Auctioneer Specialist (BAS) to get the most desirable results.  There is a definite formula for success here and a professional will more than pay for themselves!


6.  Should we use mobile devices or electronic giving for our fund a need?

The simple answer is NO!  The success of a fund a need depends largely on emotion and a group of people giving together to fund a great cause.  Using mobile devices to give takes out almost all of the emotion and generally produces mediocre results compared to a traditional appeal using a qualified professional charity auctioneer.


7.  Why is the fund a need important?

The fund a need is important for many reasons.  The top two reasons are that it raises funds that would otherwise "walk out" of your event and it enables you to determine who your biggest supporters are.  Knowing who your biggest supporters are is essential to having fundraising success in the future, but that's an entirely different blog for another time.


Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services

 

What can Auction-tainment do for your Fundraising Auction Event?

Are you looking for a way to spice up your live auction?  Then Auction-tainment is for you!  My favorite way to utilize auction-tainment is by having a professional sound technician play a snippet of music when the auctioneer says sold.  It works best to plan this ahead of time and make the music match the item.  For example, imagine your professional auctioneer selling a suite at a baseball game and as he says "SOLD", Take Me Out to the Ballgame comes on for about 5-10 seconds as the auctioneer transitions into the next item.  It keeps your audience entertained, engaged and energized (The three E's).  This approach can be done as you open an item as well.  However, it must be accomplished with a professional auctioneer and sound tech in order to have the full effect and not seem corny. 

Auction-tainment can be done in many forms, utilizing what works best for your audience.  If you are a theater group, actors can be incorporated into the live auction.  If you are a school, the band can be showcased during the live auction. 

While a professional benefit auctioneer will improve your bottom line by leaps and bounds, auction-tainment can take your event to a much more memorable experience for your donors and keep them coming back for years to come!

Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services

Why are Silent Auctions dwindling at Fundraisers?

We are noticing more and more nonprofits eliminating their silent auctions from their key fundraising auction events.  When we ask what the reasons are, these are the most common remarks:

1.  "They require too much work and manpower."
2.  "We don't raise that much money with the silent auction."
3.  "We don't have enough volunteers to run it successfully."
4.  "It complicates the check out process."

All in all, some nonprofits are saying that their silent auctions aren't raising enough revenue to justify the work involved to put on a successful silent auction.

So you may ask: "What do we at Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services think about this?"  It's quite simple actually, we think whatever makes the most sense for the individual nonprofits that we work with.  There are several alternative ways to generate equal or more revenue than a silent auction produces with much less work, volunteer participation and the dreaded Check Out Armageddon.  However, if nonprofits still want to conduct silent auctions we are all for it, and in fact have several proven programs to astronomically increase revenue brought in at the silent auction. 

While we have noticed that approximately 30% of our clients have eliminated the silent auction aspect (up from about 15% three years ago), there are still several organizations that are sticking with it.  Either way, Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services have proven techniques to increase revenue in both areas, just visit our website at www.EliteFundraisingAuctions.com to find out more!

Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services

What is a Benefit Auctioneer Specialist?

A fundraising auctioneer that goes the extra mile to earn his or her BAS designation is an auctioneer that you want working for your event.  Not only do they receive special training that very few auctioneers attain, but this also is a great indicator of an auctioneer that will do whatever it takes to be on the cutting edge of the fundraising auction professional spectrum.  

The following is the definition of Benefit Auctioneer Specialist (BAS) from the National Auctioneers Association:

[BAS is a two-part educational program which trains auction professionals to enhance their services to clients.  Coursework focuses on the fundraising components of the benefit auction event, item acquisition, audience development, additional revenue items, contractual agreements, and public relations.

The BAS program is offered through the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) Education Institute and is taught by nationally recognized Auctioneers and professionals who serve the benefit auction industry.
 
Earning the BAS designation requires not only completion of the coursework, but also testing, submission of specialized reports and various experiential projects. 

As a BAS graduate, we are among the less than one percent of Auctioneers throughout North America with specialized training in benefit auctions.  To maintain this designation, each auctioneer and fundraising consultant holding a BAS designation must complete 24 additional hours of continuing education courses every three years.]

Here at Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services we are committed to staying on top of the latest trends so that we can provide the best possible service to all of our clients.  We are proud to have the BAS designation behind our names and I would highly recommend that you utilize an auctioneer for your fundraising auction event that is also BAS designated.


Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services