What everybody ought to know…… About The Fundraising Auction & Consulting Business

WHY WE ARE PUBLISHING THIS INFORMATION

A little while ago we were talking with the Executive Director of a big nonprofit organization, a well-informed woman.  She said that she had never done business with a professional fundraising auctioneer and consultant because she was afraid she wouldn’t see the return from hiring a professional vs. using a volunteer.
Since we are professional fundraising auctioneers and consultants you can imagine that was something of a shock… made us think.

The fundraising auction business does use a lot of specialized techniques, but there really isn’t anything complicated or mysterious about what those techniques accomplish for your nonprofit or school.  Because we’ve used them so long and so frequently, we’ve just assumed that everybody understood them...That has been our mistake.  And a big mistake.  For if nonprofits and schools don’t understand what professional fundraising auctioneers and consultants do, they aren’t likely to invest their money in them.
“So what?” you ask.  Well, here’s “what”.

If nonprofits and schools don’t invest their funds in professional fundraising auctioneers and consultants, they won’t have the capital they need for growth which ultimately affects the people they help.  That capital can come from primarily from one place; People at your fundraising auction event.  Not just a few people with great fortunes, but from many people who have the means to support your cause. 

Or look at it from a different point of view.  Nonprofits or schools who don’t understand the value of a professional fundraising auctioneer and consultant are easy prey for a wide variety of mistakes often made at benefit auction events that ultimately result in mediocre returns.

Or look at it from the purely personal points of view.  A lot of nonprofits and schools might like to invest in a professional fundraising auctioneer and consultant where they could increase their fundraising event revenue.  But if they are unfamiliar with the techniques and value provided by a professional, they aren’t likely to invest their money in them.

For all these reasons, it is important that nonprofits and schools know as much as they can about the fundraising auction event business.

But where do you start?

Well, it would seem that a good place to start would be with the “techniques” used by professional fundraising auctioneers and consultants that our friend, the Executive Director, was concerned about.  And we might as well go back to the most common techniques in the business.  You may find a lot of this explanation pretty elementary, but the next person may not be completely clear about the exact differences between the various techniques.  So we’ll start right there, in the belief that you’ll be kind enough to skip what you already know.

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