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

Are You Looking for a "Magic Pill" to bring in MORE MONEY at Your Fundraising Auction?

We all know that a "Magic Pill" doesn't exist in the physical sense, but what if I tell you that doing one simple thing could double or triple your fundraising auction revenue; would you believe in a "magic pill" then? 

There are so many facets that make up a successful fundraising event: great venue, good food, dedicated board, etc.  I can speak for us at Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services when I tell you that our team of dedicated fundraising professionals will take your revenue to the next level and you will think that you just took a magic pill.  We have time and time again proven that we can consistently increase revenue to double or triple what the previous volunteer auctioneer was able to attain.  We do this with pre-event consulting.  We don't just show up the day of the event and you hand us a list of auction items and off we go... this is how you guarantee poor results!  We work with your committees and board up to a year in advance and guide you through every up and down of the fundraising event roller coaster with simple, yet effective techniques that guarantee to show you spectacular results.  Click Here to find out what consulting will give your organization. 

The greatest thing about our "Magic Pill" approach is that we have a super secret way that we actually pay you to hire us... Visit our website to find out how to get one of these "Magic Pills" for your next fundraising auction event!!  EliteFundraisingAuctions.com

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

What is the most important ingredient to a successful fundraising event?

Is the most important ingredient the type of live auction items or what kind of food you serve or how many silent auction items you have, etc.?  While all these are important, the answer is NO!  The single most important ingredient for a successful fundraising event is having the right people in the room. 

So you may ask “Who are the right people?”  These are simply the people that believe in your cause and have the means and desire to support your cause through monetary giving (Whether that be in a silent auction, live auction, fund a need, or any other type of revenue enhancer.  

A FUNDRAISING AUCTION EVENT SHOULD FOCUS ON FUNDRAISING!  

This sounds so simple yet many organizations get away from this and focus on the party.  Your event should be seen as an opportunity to raise as much money as possible and spread your Nonprofit’s message.  If your guests are coming just to have dinner and not support your cause monetarily then you are missing your opportunity to have a super successful charitable event.

Quite simply, you are looking for QUALITY NOT QUANTITY.  

You would rather have 150 guests with the means to support your cause than 500 guests who are there for the party or there because the boss gave them tickets.  For example, if you take those 150 attendees that have the means to support your cause and they give an average of $500 per person then your organization would raise $75,000; not to mention the fact that you will pay less for your venue, less for your food and less for your beverages, ultimately raising your net.  If you take the 500 guests that were mostly given tickets (i.e. from bosses, friends, etc.) and most of them don’t have the means to support your cause, you may be lucky to have them give an average of $100 per person.  This equates to $50,000, which is 50% less than the example above.  Your net figure is also going to be much lower because you will need a larger venue, more food and more beverages.

When your committee sits down for its first meeting, the primary objective should be putting people with the means and desire to support your cause in the seats!

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

What Should Your Nonprofit Organization be doing in the "Off-Season"?

We all know that the Fall fundraising season just came to a close and everyone is in holiday mode now.  All I can say is DO NOT wait to start planning, procuring and cultivating your donor list until the last 2 months prior to your next benefit auction event!  Here are three simple things you can do in the "off-season" to start planning for your next charity auction event:

1.  Cultivate your donor list - Start making those important phone calls and contacts to your donors that generously gave at your last event.  You don't have to start asking for more at this point, just thank them for their donation and start to develop a relationship with them.  Don't just call them when your next event is approaching and ask for money or items; this looks like you only care about them when you need something!  Really try to get to know them and take some notes as you talk to them to remind you for future calls.

2.  Hire your professional fundraising auctioneer and consultant - Good auctioneers book up extremely quickly, many times 8 months to a year in advance!  DO NOT WAIT TO BOOK THEM OR YOU MIGHT NOT GET TO WORK WITH YOUR FAVORITE AUCTIONEER!  I recommend booking your benefit auctioneer immediately following your last event if you were happy with the service they provided.

3.  Start to procure for items - It's never too early to start procuring items for your next event.  In fact, you have a great opportunity to ask for items or help getting items for your next event as you stay in touch with your donors and build those relationships (not necessarily the first phone call thanking them for their participation).

There are obviously many things you should be prepping for in regards to your next fundraising auction event, but these are three simple things that you absolutely should be doing well in advance to ease the panic when your event is right around the corner.  

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

Do Sign Up Boards at a Fundraising Event work?

Here at Elite Auctions & Fundraising Services we are always searching for alternative "revenue enhancing" ideas at our fundraising auction events other than the live auction, silent auction and fund a need or ask.  We have compiled a book of several revenue enhancers to use at your event and share this with all of our clients.  Well, here is one of those enhancers that works well if executed properly... Sign Up Boards.  When your organization has an over abundance of 8-20 person parties, like a bourbon and cigar tasting party for the guys or a fiesta and salsa dancing party for the girls, then a sign up board may just be the thing you're organization is looking for.

Here's how it works.

Step 1:  Design a poster board with the amount of lines matching the amount of people the party is for and number them 1-8, 1-10, etc. and set a fixed price for each participant (i.e. $50, $100, etc.)

Step 2:  Have a reveal time when the board(s) are uncovered and open for sign ups (Hint: Have your professional auctioneer make a big deal about it on the sound system).

Step 3:  When guests come over to the boards have volunteers explain each party to them and have the guests put their name/bidder number on the open lines.  Once the board(s) are full then your parties are sold out!

Simple, fun and effective!!  This is one of many ways to add a revenue enhancer into your fundraising auction event.  Good luck with your fundraising auction event!

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

Wine Auction for Your Fundraiser

Wine is one of the most popular items to sell at fundraising benefit auction events.  Remember to check your state laws regarding selling wine at fundraisers as some states have laws prohibiting it and others have none at all (another great reason to have a professional benefit auctioneer handle your auction).  

There are many ways to sell wine at your fundraising auction event.  Here are a few:


1.  Wall of Wine.  Visit this link by Debby Roth-Bush of Greater Giving for great Wall of Wine ideas: http://www.pinterest.com/debbyroth/wine-pull-wall-of-wine/ 

2.  Wine in your live auction.  There are several ways to auction off wine in your live auction.  You can sell premier wines by the bottle, you can sell wine tasting trips, or you can sell wine by the case.  All of these methods tend to do extremely well at fundraising auctions.
 
3.  Wine in your silent auction.  Similar to a live auction you can sell wine in just about any way imaginable.  We have seen a lot of success by selling fine wines by the bottle in the silent auction and then delivering them to the winning bidders' tables at dinner (check the venue for corking fees).
 
4.  Wine as a raffle item.  Bottles of wine, wine tastings and cases of wine can be raffled off at your fundraising event as well (once again check with your state laws on wine sales and raffle rules).

All and all, wine is an excellent choice for fundraising events and tends to do extremely well at auctions benefiting your great cause.

Contact Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services today to find out how to incorporate wine into your benefit auction event.

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

13 Tips for Your Live Auction Fundraiser

1.  Always have your professional auctioneer help you with putting the live auction items in the best order.

2.  Live auction should be no longer than 45 minutes, but preferably 30 minutes.  It takes approximately 2-3 minutes to sell each item.

3.  It is very important to schedule the live auction early in your program. You want the bidders awake and energetic

4.  We recommend having the live auction during dinner.

5.  At events where there is little to no seating for the bidders it is very difficult to get the best results from your live auction.
 
6.  Make sure you have recorders in place to write down the winning bidder numbers and amounts (We recommend having 3 recorders, pre-designing the recorder sheets, and allowing us to meet with the recorders prior to the beginning of the event).

7.  Find out if any of the items can be sold twice and let us know.
 
8.  Inform us if any of the items have reserve/consignment amounts.
 
9.  We recommend utilizing professional bid spotters (ringmen) during your live auction (1 ringman per 100-150 guests is optimal).

10.  Allow your professional auctioneer to set starting bids and control the increments of the auction.

11.  Make sure that the house lights are brought up and spot lights down so that your auctioneer can see the bidders.

12.  Be careful with consignment items in your live auction.   

13.  Consult with us before choosing consignment items as they can many times take a lot of revenue out of your auction.  We can recommend good consignment companies that we trust.

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

How to Raise More Money from Your Donation Web Pages

When it comes to raising money from your donation pages I think every bit of advice can help.  Here are some suggestions from the blog of John Haydon's: "19 Ways to Raise More Money From Your Donation Pages."

This should get your donation page on track:

1. Ditch the vintage PayPal button
2. Write a powerful headline
3. Use fewer words - Only focus on your story and your call-to-action
4. Limit paragraphs to 2-3 sentences
5. Use pictures
6. Use white space to direct the eye
7. Remove the sidebars and navigation menue
8. Reduce steps to donate
9. Only ask for what's required
10. Write copy in second person narrative - The word "you"
11. Pick on call to action
12. Repeat the CTA three times
13. Use bullet points and numbered items
14. Use big fonts
15. Use big buttons
16. Keep it above the fold
17. Make it mobile
18. Optimize your donation pages for search engines
19. Create a seamless donor experience across all marketing channels

Written by Tracy Karbus of Elite Auctions & Fundraising Services with information from John Haydon.

Have a Thank-A-Thon with Your Donors After Your Fundraising Auction Event

We all understand, or should understand, that thanking your donors after your fundraising auction event has concluded is an absolute must.  However, the way that you thank your donors for their generous contributions to help your cause is so very important.  Many organizations simply send out a form letter showing what was purchased/donated and a generic message thanking the donor for their contribution.  This is obviously a good idea for their tax purposes, but how personal is this for the donor and does it make them feel special?

Imagine being a donor that just gave $5,000 or $1,000 or $250 of your hard-earned money to a cause that you believe in and just receiving this form letter, which is really a must for tax purposes anyway.  Do you feel special in any way?  Do you feel that the organization values your participation in such an important event?  Do you have any excitement or feeling of obligation to attend their next event?  In some cases yes, but in most cases not really.

I suggest that you get together your entire board and staff and have a Thank-A-Thon party.  Provide some food and beverages for your board and staff and start calling your donors on the phone.  Spend 30 seconds to a minute explaining how thankful your organization is for their donation and how the funds will be utilized to better your cause.  The purpose of this call is not to ask for anything but to simply thank your donors and inform them of how the funds will be or are being utilized to better your cause.  If the donor does not answer just leave them a message, no need to keep calling until they answer.   If you had 150 people give at your event then a board and staff of 10 people have to spend about 15-20 minutes each or about 15 phone calls each. 

Most organizations do not do this simple step, so imagine how much this will put you in the minds’ of your donors versus other organizations that they give to throughout the year.  Simply put, it makes them feel special and valued which can many times equate to future support.

Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS  
EliteFundraisingAuctions.com

Signs Your Organization might be ready for Benefit Auction Software

Imagine an event night with seamless transactions and automation systems that track bid packages, bids, and donor activity. Many nonprofit organizations are managing their single largest fundraising event on Access or Excel spreadsheets. This can create certain challenges like version control if there are a number of people managing the events details.  It might be time to consider software if your organization:

1. Has high volume of new volunteers each year. Software maintains history
2. Has multiple people who need to enter attendees, donations, items etc. – Cloud software can have unlimited users and real time updates
3. Needs to sell tickets and take donations online – Software reduces data entry
4. Is not able to tell its auctioneer or board which part of its auction raises the most money
5. Is not able to tell your auctioneer or board the average % of value your silent and live auction delivered at an event
6. Doesn’t know what sold well the year before
7. Doesn’t know who its most generous donors are
8. Has long lines at check-in and out and spends weeks afterwards collecting the money
9. Doesn’t know who was thanked from the event guests to coordinators
10. Needs to reduce the stress of its volunteer and paid staff

There are many types of software out there.  Determine what actions your organizations need to be able to do.  For example, do you need a website to share information about your event? Do you need to take donations, ticket sales, preview your catalog, sell sponsorships and display your sponsors?  Do you have one person entering and managing auction data or a team?  Once you’ve answered some of these questions, start comparing and contrasting software to your list of musts.

A PC version is nice for one person but when an organizations has multiple people managing auction details,  an online version means multiple users can work at the same time. Furthermore, the IT team doesn’t have to install it on a network.  Information is available 24/7 for the auction team.

Software helps you keep the history of the event to hand off to next year’s team.  Also, software that runs reports helps organizations measure areas of success and opportunities to improve.  Lastly, it can help with quick registration, entering winning bids and checking attendees out quickly.

It might be time for software if you’ve recently said, “I’ll never volunteer again!”

Debby Roth-Bush, Greater Giving for Elite Auctions& Fundraising Services

How Important is Audio/Visual at a Fundraising Auction Event?

Having great, not good, not okay, but great sound is imperative to your fundraising auction event’s success.  Here are some tips regarding audio/visual at your fundraising event:

• Never use the in-ceiling house system.
• Always surround the room with speakers (Don’t leave out the attendees in the back). 
• Always have screens with auction items displayed during live auction. 
• Don’t forget to have high quality sound in your silent auction area as well (If located in a different area). 
• Don’t have too much treble or too much bass. 
• Have a professional A/V company handle it!

I am no expert in designing or setting up the A/V equipment and I’m assuming you are not either, so have a professional do this step… it can make thousands of dollars difference in your bottom line!  Just picture yourself at a fundraising auction sitting at one of the tables in the back of the room when there are only two speakers in the front and people around you are chatting with each other.  All you can hear is a rumbling sound but you can’t quite make out what the auctioneer is saying… you can’t bid if you can’t hear so the result to the non-profit or school is less money.

Not only is it important to have enough speakers but it is equally important to have enough amperage to power the speakers.  You want rich, deep sound when the auctioneer is chanting or your emcee is speaking.  I leave you with one final thought: “Is it worth paying a fee to an A/V company if you can make significantly more at your event?”

Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS
Chief Auctioneer/Consultant
Elite Auctions & Fundraising Services
http://www.EliteFundraisingAuctions.com