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►Cancun was the SUMMIT!
photo of Benefit Auction Summit 2017

Featured Presenter Every Other Year!

It’s that time of year again, when the biggest names in Benefit Auctions nationwide gather to share and learn.

Oh, yeah, that happens, too, but many of us go year after year to see our much loved peers and friends! You see, the benefit auctioneers are a very tight group.

In fact, I’m part of a connected international (and private) group of more than 1000 individuals who do fundraising auctions.

That means that at any time, I can reach out to professionals across the country  – to check out a consignment provider, bounce off ideas, or mentor someone. I can even get feedback on your committee’s brilliant (or kooky!) new idea 🙂

This year, to shake things up a bit we gathered in Cancun, Mexico, and a good time was had by all. My presentation this year continues my streak of being featured as a presenter for our industry every other year since 2010. As you can imagine, we come away with new techniques to bring back home to you, our nonprofit partners!

►Cruise Raffle
lapel pin of blinking ship

Selling chances to win for that cruise or yacht trip!

Ah, the Chance to Win, doesn’t most every event have one?

Of course, the very first thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with your state’s (and sometimes city) raffle, gaming, gambling, drawing statutes.

Did you know that in Florida, you can’t require anyone to pay for a ticket?

Print out the Florida statute here.

Once you know the rules, this is a great option for the “blinky lights” pin to show who bought a chance to win (and, obviously, who hasn’t yet).

Do you know that Holland America has a reduced-price program that your nonprofit might qualify for? It’s a great program with a reasonable fixed cost, and never expires. Check it out here.

If you’re selling chances to win a cruise or a yacht excursion, instead of generic pins consider these cute things, found at FlashingBlinkyLights.com. It’s themed, flashy, and if you don’t want to pin into guests’ fancy clothes, then simply attach each to a lanyard or a wrist-tie ribbon like my client.

Here’s to selling those chances and raising big money!

►”Lucky Line” with Mobile Bidding
photo of mobile bidding incentive caption

Using Mobile Bidding? Add an incentive to get guests to Bid More!

Do you use the “Lucky Line” for your traditional silent auction bids on paper?

It’s a way to encourage folks to be more generous, give a little more, just jump down a few bidding lines rather than the next bid available. I’ve got an explanation in a viewable Google doc here.

For years we (the benefit auctioneer community) have been trying to replicate this bidder incentive with handheld mobile/text bidding, but to date most mobile technology companies haven’t figured out a way to virtually highlight only bids past a certain point, and then segregate just those for a random winner.

And then my new client shared a semi-solution!

While the one “who makes the most bids” isn’t random and may not encourage as many people to try for the prize as the Lucky Line highlighting does, it certainly is trackable in mobile bidding reports, AND worth celebrating and rewarding! Using the technique above, the organization rewards participation, not dollars, which is an equalizer of sorts.

How have you figured out ways to incentivize more bidding using technology?

 

►3 Payment Options
GALA GAL offers 3 ways to pay

It doesn’t cost to hire a professional, it pays!

What do you pay for your auctioneer, and how?

When you’re hiring someone who does fundraising auctions for a living, you know it’s an investment in your success.

You get 1 night, once a year to hold your event, and your auctioneer may be on the microphone longer than any other speaker! Choose the right look, the right personality, the right ambassador to be the face of your annual fundraiser.

I try to offer folks 3 options to reserve a date on the GALA GAL events calendar: an all-inclusive rate (good if you have a budget or will secure an Auction Sponsor), a retainer to get started and a percent of the Live Auction results generated, or, some events qualify to use the Buyer’s Premium, which includes your bidders in auction underwriting so that you can hire a professional auctioneer at little to no cost.

Can you afford to hire a professional auctioneer?

Can you afford NOT to? You don’t get a do-over for your big event. With at least 3 options, there’s a way for just about every organization to partner with a full-time fundraiser like me.

►3 Magic Words to Get Anything Donated
photo of Jenelle Taylor

Today’s tip is about the “Three Magic Words” that help you get just about anything donated. In fact, these words elevate your request from an all-too-common “ask” to an opportunity.

Ready? Here they are: feature, showcase and highlight. And the question? How would you like to be included? 

Instead of begging for a donation, explain that  – of all the possible businesses in town – for this event you’d like to “feature” ABC Business so you can “highlight” their great ____________ and “showcase” what they do to your prominent supporters and community members. “Our committee thinks more people should know about your terrific ____________, so we wanted to invite you to have one of the exclusive (another good word!) spots in our live (or silent) auction. How would you like to be involved?”

If they say “no,” thank them and say (to yourself), “Next.” They either see the opportunity or they don’t, and someone always will when you share how wonderful your cause is and how much you want to include them in your biggest 1 night, once-a-year event.

So just ask! And remember: feature, showcase and highlight.

►FUBI: Funny, Useful, Beautiful or Inspiring
Funny Useful Beautiful Inspiring

Don’t Interrupt – ATTRACT!

As I was preparing my 90-minute presentation on Branding and Marketing for the National Auctioneers Association annual conference, I came across this GREAT article from a cool-looking group: The Emotional Intelligence Agency. Their tagline is, “Be as interesting as the internet.”

In their recent article in Fast Company magazine, they explain how marketing has changed.

The buzz word now is “emotion,” and how to connect in memorable ways with your target audience.

There are “four kinds of emotionally compelling content: funny, useful, beautiful, and inspiring.”

They condense this to FUBI – an easy thing to remember when planning (or posting) on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Snapchat, You Tube, your website, or anywhere else.

You don’t have to be all of these, and, in fact, you should consider having a different tone on different platforms. Maybe your posts are funny on Twitter, useful on Facebook, and beautiful on Instagram. You might even assign a different person to manage each distinct “voice.”

So, for my presentation, I made this 4-leaf clover image, because if you focus on being funny, or useful, or beautiful, or inspiring with your posts and content, I bet you’ll get luckier with your results.

►A National Presentation!
plaque NAA award Jenelle Taylor

Honored to present for the annual conference

On Thursday, July 13th I flew to Columbus, Ohio, to see hundreds of auctioneer friends.

Friday the 14th I was honored to present a 90-minute session to my peers and colleagues, all about who is attracting attention and staying top of mind in our industry.

I then gave them more than 30 tools and ideas to build their benefit auction businesses across the country.

Could your nonprofit use help branding and marketing?

I’m a national expert on that, too 🙂

(And I work with nonprofits on affordable short-term contracts and monthly retainers, unrelated to auction galas. Just call me, 407-791-1360, or use the CONTACT link on the home page.)

►Working Women of Central Florida
photo of speaker Jenelle Taylor

Thanks to Jessica Rivelli from Working Women of Tampa Bay for the invite to speak!

Did you miss it?

I’m happy to speak to your board, your staff, or civic groups like Rotary, Kiwanis or chambers of commerce.

Of course I can talk about auctions, and how to best support the causes you believe in, but some people don’t know that I also speak nationally on branding and marketing.

Things are changing all the time in social media.

Isn’t it time you got some help?

Call me to chat: Jenelle @ 407-791-1360 cell

►Who’s the “Voice” of your nonprofit?
photo of branding handout

Who’s the “voice” of your social media posts?

I’m a huge, huge fan of Entrepreneur magazine. In fact, if you’re not already following them on Facebook, seriously, click over there and do it right now.

I’ll wait.

It’s that important.

If you want to be smarter about, well – anything – you should be following Entrepreneur magazine on Facebook.

Their posts are 2- or 3-minute reads about stuff you want to know, and I guarantee you’ll see something each week you want to click on and open.

By the way, I don’t get anything for promoting them. I’m just a super fan.

When I was researching for my presentation to the Working Women of Central Florida, I came across this awesome article Entrepreneur mag posted, “22 Statistics That Prove the Value of Personal Branding.”

It’s about how we (people, you and me) connect better with people, not companies, and you’ll do yourself and your organization a 561% favor by letting your employee’s personalities show when they share posts about your cause.

Since you can control the tone, images and message you put out there, sit down and really think about how you want to be perceived. Is your org inspiring? Are your clients beautiful? Are your services useful? And isn’t life just funny sometimes? (NOTE: If you don’t yet know about FUBI, read about it here.)

You can even let different people shine in their elements. If you’ve got a stellar soul who can communicate all you want to say on all your platforms, give him or her a raise! Otherwise, try trusting your inner circle with the platform that best matches his or her personality, and see if you don’t get more likes, follows, and engagement from your fans.

►VIDEO – Selling an Inside Joke!
photo of auctioneer GALA GAL Jenelle Taylor

Sell More Memories, Less Stuff!

This might be my favorite video clip ev-er!

It starts at $100 and you’ll never guess where we end up 🙂

Watch the short VIDEO on my You Tube channel.

There’s a lot I love about this clip – this small crowd of 160 solid supporters, the clear joy of giving in the room, and the fact that I’ve done this event for years so we’ve built this great rapport!

(Sidenote: we really do have the best job in the world.)

Anyway, the winning bidder doesn’t even keep the hat! It’s all in fun, a vehicle for donations, and a few minutes we will all remember as a highlight. Can your event do that?

Sell more memories to make your event a signature celebration of your cause.

Not sure how? Just call me: 407-791-1360 in Tampa.

 

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