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►2017 Bookings in full swing!
photo of Jenelle Taylor

It pays to hire a professional!

After a fantastic 2016, the GALA GAL team is looking ahead to an invigorating new year, and we’re looking for you!

Since 2002, I have worked with hundreds of nonprofits across Florida, and trained hundreds of fundraising auctioneers across the country through my private BOOTCAMP for Benefit Auctioneers course.

I’m available to help most any cause, and this year I find my heart being pulled to social justice causes, the underdog, the underfunded and hugely impactful.

If you’re making a difference in the world, I want to use my 14 years of fundraising to increase your impact, raise your revenue, and expand your outreach. You are committed to moving America forward, and so am I. Let’s plan your biggest fundraising auction yet for 2017!

►Auctioneer Style ~ Choose the One You Want to Watch!
Is your auctioneer entertaining?

Is your auctioneer entertaining?

I’ve been working in the auction industry since 2001, and specifically with fundraising auctions since 2002. I’ve been to auction school (Go Nashville Auction School – whoot whoot!) and I’ve been onstage all across Florida conducting benefit auctions since 2007. However, I don’t “chant”. You probably think all auctioneers sound the same, and maybe you can’t even pick out what they’re saying when it all goes by so fast.

My onstage style is quite different. I joke with folks that “I flirt with the audience for money,” and – as you’ll see in this YouTube clip GALA GAL Jenelle sells a South Africa Trip – I talk directly with the bidders, invite the audience to encourage higher bidding, and basically just charm them into staying in the game. At all times, the bidders know how much they’re bidding and aren’t confused, scared, or intimidated, even when we get up above $20,000!

Your guests should leave saying, “That was the best auctioneer I’ve ever seen!”

If they don’t, give me a call 🙂

►More Donations During Your Fund-A-Need
photo of Jenelle Taylor

It pays to hire a professional!

This spring I tried out a fundraising technique popularized by a colleague of mine in the San Francisco Bay area. He calls it The Run Around, and it’s a way to encourage much more participation at your final fundraising level. By taking the emphasis off of the size of each gift and focusing on getting more and more people to give (and give again), you can raise more money AND end your Fund-A-Need ask on an upbeat note with the crowd’s support. Check out this 5-minute clip on YouTube to see how we raised $4200 with a $1500 item. GALA GAL does The Run Around

►Mobile Bidding Considerations
photo of auction display

Auction Bidding is Enhanced by Displays

Today a client asked me

“Quick question – mobile bidding. Does it enhance an auction? Have you seen increased participation (read larger bids) utilizing mobile bidding?”

and I replied:

 Good question!

Typically mobile only makes sense when there are a lot of attendees, a lot of auction items (100+) and the silent auction revenue is $30,000+.

Pros:

IF people use it, they can set max bids and not have to either log back in or walk to a table – most mobile bidding systems can just continue to bid for them up to a set maximum.

Auction displays can take less space

Everyone can see all the auction items if they wish (on a device) without walking around

You can close the bidding later

Cons:

Typically costs $3000-$5000+

Either you have to pay for one of the mobile company’s staff to be on site (could add $1000), or you’re 100% responsible for any kinks or problems. Unless you have a savvy tech person, this could add significant stress.

It can be hard to get people to engage in mobile bidding for several reasons:

 ~Some require downloading an app, though some just have a web address people key in

~Some say mobile is less social, since people move around less and must spend time staring at their phones

~Requires either than people use their cell phone data plans (and battery life) or the club has a reliable wi-fi connection that’s open to everyone; some mobile systems rely on wi-fi and can get bogged down or crash

Results:

Whether or not mobile adds revenue above and beyond the cost of using the technology is a source of heated debate! Just a few weeks ago auctioneers from around the country shared mixed reviews in an online forum. When the technology works as promised,  is adopted by the attendees and gets used, certainly there are benefits to being able to shop from anywhere in the venue and not have to physically revisit a bid sheet.

On the other side, paper silent auctions have worked for decades by generating that person-to-person, last-minute competitive bidding atmosphere, especially when your professional auctioneer is making announcements and making the auction closings fun for everyone in the room.

What mobile definitely does is eliminate the need to clerk, record, tally or key in silent auction purchases once bidding closes, and for some groups, that fact alone makes the technology worth several thousand dollars, just to eliminate checkout!

 There are 10-12 major mobile bidding companies nationwide, all scrambling for footing and market share. All have demos you can do or samples you can view.

Industry software leader Greater Giving has great educational info with just about everything you need to know about mobile here.

Because of the many pros and cons (and how those affect your overall revenue/schedule/logistics), it’s something you should ask your professional auctioneer about as early as possible.

Like this great client of mine did! Thanks for the question, Sara 🙂

►Raffle pricing
poster showing raffle ticket pricing

Fingertips for $40

Recently a client asked me about raffle (Chance to Win drawings) pricing.

“I found this on-line as a guideline to selling tickets. Does this make sense?

Raffle ticket sales:  3 tickets for $5, 6 tickets for $10 and finger tip- to-finger tip $20″

Here’s my take:

1. Raffle chance pricing depends on the value of the prizes to be won.

2. Calculate the math equation: How much do you want the raffle to raise (have a goal),  who will be asked to buy tickets and what pricing feels exciting to them, and how many tickets (at what level) can you expect to sell? PRICE x QUANTITY = MONEY RAISED

3. In the example you found, “3-$5 and 6-$10” are the same odds, so there’s no incentive to spend $10 rather than $5.

4. The PURPOSE of unequal odds (increased chances for paying more) is to wildly slant the odds in favor of those more generous. We want to encourage folks to donate more. In Florida (and other states-check your state gaming statutes*) all chances to win do not have to be equal.

5. So, I like

3 – $10, 8 for $20, or fingertip-to-fingertip for $40.

That way the focus is just on selling $40 worth, and if someone is considering $20, have them grab a friend and get tons more chances by splitting the fingertip-to-fingertip (which might be 40-ish tickets)

If the prize(s) are smaller, you could go with 2-$5, 7-$10, fingertips for $20

*A reminder to always know and follow your state regulations on raffles, which often fall under gambling policies. In some states, nonprofits are limited to one per year or need a special license. In Florida (and other states) drawings are required to have a “no purpose necessary to be entered” option, which is why setting any pricing for a chance drawing must be disclosed as a “suggested donation” See the Florida statute here, and happy fundraising!

►Another reason you need a female auctioneer!
photo of Gala Gal and team

Study says men give more when the person fundraising is attractive

This morning I read a piece entitled “Men Strive To Give More To Charity When The Fundraiser Is Cute.”

Believe it or not, researchers found that both men and women donated more to online campaigns after they saw how much others had given. The men, however, gave an even larger increase to attractive females.

If that happened just by looking at a photo of the female asking for donations, could it be that the effect is magnified in person? When you put a charismatic, attractive female auctioneer on stage and give her a microphone to engage people about your cause, might that increase the competitive bidding in your audience? Think about it, every single time he or she bids again, that’s more dollars raised for you!

Combining the “all eyes on me” aspect of live auctions with a smiling, friendly female face is your recipe for awesome auction results.

Just ask my clients!

►About that Safari Trip…
Photo of GALA GAL Jenelle Taylor

Try to avoid this at your non-profit, says GALA GAL Jenelle Taylor

A client called today for advice. They’ve planned to feature a safari trip as one of the live auction items for their event in a few weeks. When I read the description a few days ago, I realized with some surprise that this was not a typical sightseeing safari trip – this was a hunting safari!

I’ve seen and sold a number of safari trips, but they’ve always been photo safaris, or – said another way – photo shoots, not actual shoots.

My dad was a hunter, though I am not. Even though I would greatly prefer to only shoot things with a camera, I understand that a portion of the population worldwide shoots for sport and challenge. I’m comfortable promoting this item during the live auction alongside the other trips and experiences.

However, some of this organization’s supporters called to complain today, with the expectation that the trip will be pulled from the auction.

What should you do if some people feel an auction item is controversial?

Whether it’s selling a puppy, dinner with the embattled mayor, a hunting safari or countless other potential hot buttons, how should your committee proceed?

  1. Pull the item from the auction? After how many complaints, 1? 5? 25?
  2. Only pull the controversial item if the complaint comes from a major donor?
  3. What about moving the item from the more visible live auction into the silent auction?
  4. Should you try the “Sealed Bid” method for this auction item, so that if no one bids, no one knows, but if folks do bid, their names and amounts are known only to the committee?
  5. Or how about sending an e-mail blast or newsletter notification for interested parties to place bids via fax or email or text prior to the event?
  6. Keep the item in the live auction, but work hard to identify someone on the staff or committee or patrons interested in the item and willing to quickly raise a bid card, ensuring that it sells easily if other bidders don’t materialize?

There’s no one right answer, of course. While you may not want to bend to a few disgruntled voices, you also don’t want those voices to complain even more loudly on Facebook or the nightly news if they feel dismissed.

Ask yourself, what could possibly go wrong if we auction this item?

As your committee tries to “think outside the box” for atypical auction items, if you don’t have these conversations early on, you may find yourself – like my client – scrambling to find a solution 1 day before the catalog goes to print.

►Silent Auction – Bidder Blockers and Sheet Stealers
photo of Gala Gal

Don’t let those “bid blockers” and “sheet stealers” ruin your auction!

If you’ve never seen one at your event, you’re lucky! While it’s great to have fast and furious bidding on your silent auction items, and it’s fun to watch that competition, too many times I’ve heard (or seen) heated bidders try to bend or break the rules of fair play.

I’ve seen Bid Blockers who square their shoulders and won’t let anyone else get to the bid sheet to bid against them, or Sheet Stealers who actually pick up or hide the bid sheet and try to sneak it back on the table right before closing time! I’ve actually seen someone rip up a bid sheet…twice! The same guy!

Anyway, if every year a few of your classroom projects or priceless opportunities create more bad blood than goodwill among your bidders, you’ve got a few options: either move those items to the main Live Auction, where peer pressure and encouragement will spur on the bidding, or post signs and make announcements reminding people that if your auctioneer sees a bidding war heat up, she plans to step over there and see who really wants it the most with an on-the-spot, mini live auction. It’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s fair.

But make sure to warn people first. And, of course, if you use mobile bidding for your silent auction, you’ll never have this issue again 🙂

What are your auctions most highly contested items year after year? How have you solved it?

►Silent Auction, or Mini On-the-Spot Live Auction?
photo of easels with poster-sized bid sheets

Draw attention to a row of Can’t Miss items

What to do when you have so many great auction items that you can’t even fit them all in to the time slotted for the Live Auction?

Most live auctions at charity events are 30-45 minutes, and with an industry average of 3-4 minutes per live auction sale, that means only 10-15 items make the Live Auction cut for many events.

What if you have 20 awesome items that you need to get in front of bidders? I suggest blowing up the bid sheets to 20″ x 30″ mounted on foam board, place them on easels in a very high traffic area, add signage, place 1-2 full-time volunteers who never leave and can answer all questions about the items, and then get into the mindset of a county fair carnival barker, “Ladies and Gentlemen, don’t miss this awesome opportunity right here. Step right up to bid on ….” You get the idea.

Sometimes, I place these easel items in a semi-circle directly in front of the ballroom doors, and I let the crowd know that these items -while available for normal bidding during the silent auction – will be closed by on-the-spot, mini live auction between 7:40-7:45, immediately before the doors open for dinner. All interested in bidding need to gather here at 7:40 to get a last chance to be the winning bidder.

By doing this, we get as close as we can to the energy, excitement and ego of a live auction even though there wasn’t time in the program. As guests gather, I gets everyone’s attention in the vicinity and say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re now going to close these 5 SUPER silent auction items by mini live auction. They are such great items that we didn’t want anyone to miss the opportunity, so whether you’ve already bid or not, everyone is welcome to bid right now as we close these awesome items. First up, you’ve been bidding on Item 901, 1 week RCI Timeshare anywhere in the world, valued up to $1800. The current bid is $1200, but who’ll go $1300, do I hear $1300, yes and now $1400…” Each item will take just seconds to close, and inevitably we’ll raise several hundred more dollars, remind folks that a professional auctioneer will entertain them later, and generate auction closing excitement right before releasing the guests to dinner.
Win. Win. Win!

►SUPER Silent Auction items
photo of bid sheet blown up to poster size

Great way to make sure everyone sees your best silent auction items!

How do you make sure that the more significant, valuable or noteworthy items in your silent auction don’t get lost among the smaller items and packages?

Sure, you can make a small section of silent auction with somewhat larger displays, or target spot lighting (or both). For just a few dollars, you can really make a statement and get bidders’ attention.

Sometimes I call these “Almost Live” items, meaning that they were good enough for the live auction, but either we already had the live auction spots all filled, or this event doesn’t have a live auction.

Simply save the ready-to-print bid sheet as a PDF and have FedEx/Kinko’s blow it up to 20″ x 30″ for $4 (black and white). Whether it’s one item or 10, having a super-sized bid sheet will help ensure you get the eyeballs (and bids) you want.

Since color displays of this size would be crazy expensive (like $20-40 each), we just printed the color photos, slid into clear slip sleeves from Office Depot, and attached via O-ring and ribbon. Guests still bid just like a normal bid sheet, though we did have Sharpies on hand to make bids easier to see.

Which items will be SUPER at your next auction?

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