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►Silent Auctions – Better Displays

November 6, 2014 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
photo of silent auction display

If the donor sent a brochure, display it!

If you’ve ever been in the office or on the committee when donations come in the mail, you know that many of them include an informational or promotional piece, like a brochure, menu of services, takeout menu, postcard, folder, etc.

It may be your first inclination to give these items to the winning bidder, so you just stash them away in the winner’s envelope with the certificate.

DON’T!

In order to make it easy for people to spend money (one of my mantras), make sure promotional items that would help potential bidders understand an item, see the value, or get excited are put on display next to the bid sheet. Either stuff into a clear plexi sign holder, or, for small items, I lean them against a 4″ x 6″ plexi.

If you hide all the juicy details until after the bidding is over, you’ve lost the opportunity to promote your donors and encourage more (and higher) bids. Promote your items better next time!

Comments are closed - Categories: Better Buyers, Consulting, Event Logistics, Silent auctions

►Silent Auction Posters

October 21, 2014 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
photo of a silent auction poster

Make it easy for people to spend money by hanging a poster listing this silent auction section’s items in order

Here’s a simple way to make it easier for people to shop your silent auctions.

This is just a table made in Excel with columns for the Item Number, Item Name, and an extra column where later you will write in the winning bidder’s name or number.

Simply save the table as a PDF, and then FedEx/Kinko’s can blow this up to a 20″ x 30″ for about $4 in black and white. You can tape or spraymount it onto a standard foam core board (about $4 at Michael’s craft store). If you’re going to hang it, attach a cord or ribbon.

These boards should be easily visible (up high!) within each auction section, and make sure that the items are then displayed in the order listed on the board. Guests should be able to look up at the board, see “514 Massage, Mani, Pedi” and walk right to that bid sheet to bid. If you have electronic (text) bidding, signage like this still helps guests to see what items interest them at a glance.

After each silent auction section closes, it’s fast and easy to write in winning bidders and display these in front of the Checkout area so patrons can easy check to see who won.

Comments are closed - Categories: Better Buyers, Consulting, Event Logistics, Silent auctions

►Auction Signage, the Signs

October 7, 2014 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
photo of silent auction signage

Clearly label each silent auction section

People often ask me about the Silent Auction Signage I use.
Providing much of the standard event signage is one of additional benefits I provide to my nonprofit clients. Why should each of my clients spend hundreds of dollars on signage they’ll only use once a year?
Instead, over the years I’ve purchased all kinds of handy signage, and I can pull from this stash and bring 8-12 signs for a client, saving them time, hassle and money. (With the added benefit that I know we’ll have good signs to add polish and professionalism!)

Ask your auctioneer if they provide signage that says:
-LIVE AUCTION
-SILENT AUCTION (or silent auction section names like SUPER SILENT, DON’T MISS, BLING THINGS, OUT ON THE TOWN, or many others)
-REGISTRATION (and/or EXPRESS CHECK-IN, REGISTERED ONLINE, WILL CALL, NEED TICKETS)
-CHECKOUT (and/or PAY HERE, CREDIT CARD CHECKOUT, CASH/CHECKS CHECKOUT, EXPRESS CHECKOUT, -DONATIONS ONLY, GET INVOICE HERE)
-PICK UP ITEMS (or ITEM HANDOVER)
-CHANCE TO WIN
-PURCHASE TICKETS
-BIG BOARD

If that’s not part of the services for the auctioneer you choose, then I hope these signage ideas help you to create your own signage and make it easy for your guests to experience all your event has to offer them!

Comments are closed - Categories: About GALA GAL, Consulting, Event Logistics, Live Auctions, Silent auctions

►Silent Auction Signage

September 20, 2014 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
photo of silent auction signage

It’s easy to see these silent auction sections

In 2004 I built these tabletop sign poles for a client. They are about 5 feet high, and have a wide base meant to sit on top of the table so that guests can see and read them from 50-100 feet away across a ballroom or down a long hall. The problem I see groups make is either that they don’t have any silent auction section signage at all, or the signage they have is lost on the tables or lost on easels, only readable to the handful of folks standing within a few feet.

Get your auction signage higher, clearer, and bolder.
Make it easy for people to spend money!

Comments are closed - Categories: Better Buyers, Consulting, Event Logistics, Silent auctions

►Dates Still Open!

August 21, 2014 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
image Jenelle Taylor Auctioneer

Summer’s already over! It’s auction time once again

August is wrapping up, winding down, and the Fall Fundraising Season is full of fantastic events! I’m currently working with nonprofits in Tampa, Naples and Orlando, catching up with returning clients and happy to add 3 new events so far this fall.

Just this week I’ve helped committee members select auction items, design bid cards, a choose mobile bidding provider, figure out how many volunteers they’ll need, edit the event timeline, and energize the Board! I’ve still got some dates open, so just shoot me an e-mail if you think I might be the one for you.

Comments are closed - Categories: About GALA GAL, Auctioneers

►WOW! Does your auction team look like this?

May 1, 2014 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
photo of Gala Gal and team

Your Auctioneer and Bid Spotters can look like this!

I am so thankful to these four lovely ladies for joining me a few weeks ago for a fantastic live auction and scholarship Fund-a-Need for the 18th annual Starry Starry Night!

All 5 of us are Florida-licensed auctioneers with specialized training in fundraising, and they did an awesome job working the crowd as Bid Spotters for me.

Would your big event benefit from an all-female team?

Your auction doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s. It can look like this 🙂

Comments are closed - Categories: About GALA GAL, Auctioneers, Live Auctions, Other Money Makers

►Live Auction for the Black and White Gala in Orlando Oct. 19th

October 21, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Jenelle Taylor Auctioneer for the Gala October 19

Awesome live auction event in Orlando last weekend!

I was honored to be the auctioneer for a great event last Saturday.

This just appeared in my Inbox, and I can’t stop smiling! Thank you to DJ Ronny!

 

I have been a DJ and event producer in Orlando for over 15 years now and I have to say your auctioneer abilities at the Black and White Gala last Saturday was absolutely the best I’ve observed. Starting off with a giveaway contest to juice up the crowd and then working the room like the charming and consummate professional that you are, was brilliant. I have sat through so many agonizing charity auctions over the years where the idea of a root canal seemed like a pleasant alternative to the teeth pulling witnessed by “celebrity” or downright incapable auctioneers simply chosen because they were free or run the organization. You are proof positive that spending money for a professional is absolutely the best route to financial success in a live auction. I will be coming to you anytime I need such an amazingly talented auctioneer.

Sincerely,

Ron

Comments are closed - Categories: About GALA GAL, Auctioneers, Charity, Live Auctions

►Boost Your Benefit Auction – NEW Book!

August 19, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Cover Photo of new book Boost Your Benefit Auction

Advice for Charity Auctions from 50 Fundraising Auctioneers – New Book

I’ve been busy!

This has been a crazy summer, but this weekend I shipped the first copies of my 4th book!

Wow, was it a great project – challenging, fun, and an awesome end result.

I am so excited to bring this book to market BECAUSE…

there’s seriously never been anything like it.

50 auctioneer contributors.

42 auction companies from across the country.

More than 112 fundraising tips. (I stopped counting at 131!)

ORDER your copy for $29.95 at one of the following secure links:

Books and Seminars for Charities here:http://tinyurl.com/Solutions4Charities

Or (for auctioneers) Resources for Auctioneers here:http://tinyurl.com/Auctioneers-Boost
These shortened URL’s connect to the secure payment processor hosted by GreaterGiving.

 

Comments are closed - Categories: Auctioneers, Better Buyers, Charity, Consulting, Event Logistics, Grab Bag, Live Auctions, Other Money Makers, Raffles/Chance Drawings, Silent auctions, Technology

►Planning Your Fund-a-Need Appeal

July 1, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Photo of GALA GAL Jenelle Taylor

Fund a Need donation appeal, 5 steps to success

Structuring a Successful Appeal

 

Determine your Fund-a-Need goals. 

    
Do you envision presenting the audience with one group goal, such as building the playground or raising enough to buy the $250,000 piece of hospital equipment? This strategy has the advantage of helping everyone in the audience feel able to contribute, regardless of amount, and works well with handheld bidding technology. Alternatively, some appeals promote several specific levels for donations, and tie these to the mission by explaining what those dollars can provide. For instance, $2500 furnishes a room in our shelter; $1000 provides legal service to a battered woman; $500 provides transportation assistance; $250 funds clothing and necessities.

Prepare the presentation.                            

In order to inspire giving, you need to communicate on an emotional level. Some groups show a video of their programs in action, and others invite a recipient to speak. The most important part of your message, however, must be a compelling story. Statistics rarely motivate people to give, but genuine emotion can. Take note, however, that even the most tragic story must be delivered with a hopeful resolution; your supporters want to feel uplifted by the transformations your services provide.

 

Let people know you will be asking.        

In the weeks leading up to your appeal, ask for commitments from your best supporters. It helps your audience tremendously when a bid card goes up in the air as soon as the auctioneer asks for money. Having donors already identified and ready to start the giving encourages the rest of the audience to join in.

 

Use matching incentives to boost funds.

Ask your major sponsors to offer a challenge match if a goal for dollars raised or number of participants is reached (“ABC Company will donate $10,000 when we raise $10,000”).

Know how you will track the donations.

Will the auctioneer call out bid numbers? Is there an envelope on the table? Will volunteers be coming around?

Comments are closed - Categories: Consulting, Event Logistics, Other Money Makers

►Selected as a Presenter, Summit 2013

June 13, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Photo of Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS

Selected as a presenter for the Benefit Auction Summit, National Auctioneers Association (NAA)

We’re celebrating!!

Just got word that the committee for the Benefit Auction Summit chose my session “62 Ways to Create More Prepared, Engaged Bidders”!

This is the only national conference specifically for fundraising auctioneers, and it is a BIG honor to present to such an accomplished group of professionals from across the country.

I’m excited to share the “62 Ways” 90-minute session because it’s all about helping my peers help YOU raise more money. We understand that you only have this 1 night, once a year to host your attendees, so we want to work with you to maximize every way to make it easy for people to spend money!

I’ll be covering

  • 20 ways to create the best Live Auction display tables
  • 22 things your auctioneer can do to help people get excited by the auctions and also
  •  20 things you can do as the non-profit to help your audience come prepared to both attend AND spend.

The best part for you?

All of my GALA GAL clients – the organizations I help with their events – you get all 62 Ways to Create Prepared Bidders included, everyday, as part of our consulting relationship. (If you want this for your event, shoot me an e-mail to check if your date is available here.) You’re the reason I do what I do, and why I’m excited to share these ideas with other high-profile auctioneers across America.

To learn more about what Benefit Auctioneers do when they get together each year, you can find content from the Summit in 2010 (my presentation here), and I’ve shared some takeaways  from the other presenters that year here and 2011 Summit here. Apparently I still have to post notes from last year!

Comments are closed - Categories: Auctioneers, Better Buyers, Board members, Charity, Consulting, Event Logistics, Live Auctions

►First-time Event Done Right, 12 Do’s

May 22, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS

You may have heard that I got invited to Paradise Island, The Bahamas (made famous by the Atlantis mega-resort) to do an auction last month.

The Purple Paws Live Auction was a first-time event, and yet it was a smashing success, exceeding all expectations and likely to double in revenue generated next year.

Here are 12 of the many things the BAARK! all-volunteer team did so right:

  1. Awesome Chairperson.  Passionate about the cause, well connected, and tenacious.
  2. Get businesses to underwrite major costs and write sponsor checks. 
  3. Get help from an auction consultant on item descriptions, displays, order of sale, the evening’s timing, volunteer roles, etc. Sarah used the AUCTION! book I sent her, and we talked extensively in e-mails and phone conferences.
  4.  Venue with appeal.  Use committee and sponsor connections to get the place folks have heard about but never had the chance to see.
  5. Sold-out event. Start with a small venue so you can sell out, and use Facebook and social media to really push ticket sales. If you don’t have a mailing list or Facebook Fan Page with hundreds of folks yet, build THAT first. 
  6. Auction items matched to your guests. Nothing random. Each item specifically sought after because of its broad appeal to the attendees. Plan before you ask.
  7. 100% donations. For a first-time event especially, there’s no point in paying for auction items, as that takes your hard-won donor dollars and gives them away.
  8. Prepared Buyers! “Bodies aren’t bidders” we say. Sarah and I made sure that the guests were fully aware of the Live Auction Opportunities and How to Bid, using prior e-blasts, displays, handouts, Power Point, and microphone announcements. 
  9. Zippy Schedule. Keep your guests entertained and attentive, with food, games, Live Auction and Fund-a-Need donations all flowing nicely from one to the next.
  10. Mission Message. The 3-minute video they created was perfect before the Fund-a-Need, showing clearly the huge impact of more dollars and donations.
  11. Event Support. Well trained staff and volunteers add so much to a great guest experience. We all met in person prior to the event to answer questions and build a confident team.
  12. A Gala auctioneer. Truly, a fundraising event NEEDS to be equal parts entertainer, ambassador, and marketer. Not only was the audience laughing and smiling the whole time, but they were reminded to give generously to the cause, and 72% of the Live Auction items sold for more than they were worth.
Your Mission.
Accomplished.
I look forward to the chance to do it again. Maybe with you 🙂 Just shoot me a note.

Comments are closed - Categories: Auctioneers, Better Buyers, Charity, Consulting, Event Logistics, GALA GAL Case Study, Live Auctions, Sponsors

►Don’t Make This Critical Mistake With Your Schedule

May 10, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Clock Face Microsoft Clipart

The Trick You MUST Know About Benefit Auction Timing

Today I got an e-mail from a client stating,

we will be advertising the event as starting at 7pm and ending at 10pm”

“Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,” my brain screams, as I scramble to hit the “Reply” button before I read even one word further.

This is one of the MOST important tidbits I share with Benefit Auction clients:  the 30-1 Rule.

 

Here’s my hastily typed plea:

Ooh, ooh, ooh, this is one of those things I must speak up about 🙂

 

If you want people to be engaged in the event between the hours of 7:00-10:00, then you must must must advertise as 6:30-11:00, because people never arrive right when doors open, but 15-20 minutes after, and then have to park, walk, register, etc., so the earliest folks are beginning to engage in the event just before 7, with the majority trickling in AFTER that.

 

And then at the end, people mentally check out of an event when they believe they have experienced all that was included in their ticket price. If we say it runs until 11:00 BUT we internally plan to have all money raised and everything wrapped up by 10:00, then they feel they are getting home “early” and leave with a good impression that we were efficient.

 

If you advertise that the event ends at 10:00, people will be looking to leave by 9:00-9:15, hoping to let the babysitter go early or perhaps to beat the line at valet, and those departures before our event goals are wrapped up can really create a bunch of problems for checkout and put a damper on the evening.

 

Please please please add the 30-minute cushion to the front and 1-hour cushion to the end 🙂 I promise you that doing this will allow us to have guests engaged and content to be in attendance during the “action” hours of 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

 

Jenelle

Comments are closed - Categories: Auctioneers, Better Buyers, Charity, Consulting, Event Logistics, Other Money Makers

►Congrats to the Red Wagon Gala Committee

April 22, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Red Wagon Gala Christ Child Society Naples

GALA GAL Jenelle Taylor conducts the 2013 Red Wagon Gala for Christ Child Society Naples

Here’s a quick example of great post-event press coverage, Red Wagon Gala in the Naples Daily News.

This nice summary and accompanying photos ran just days after the event, and serves multiple purposes:

  • appreciating those who just attended
  • publicly thanking major sponsors
  • recognizing the hard work of the committee and volunteers
  •  and raising visibility for the organization.

This kind of coverage has to be arranged in advance, so that a reporter and photographer are in attendance.

For your next event, take the time, no – make the time –  to reach out to local papers, TV stations, society magazines, or even area event website managers to get a commitment for coverage for this 1 Night, Once a Year event you’re pulling off!

After all, we all know that once it begins your event whirls by so fast that you’ll probably need  to read about how it all went too 🙂

Comments are closed - Categories: Charity, Event Logistics, Live Auctions, Sponsors

►Sponsor Recognition

March 19, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS

What else can you do to thank your event sponsors and cost underwriters besides just listing them in the program?

It’s good to do more, since your guests may never open those programs you spent so many hours (and dollars) on. Since you want your sponsors to feel honored and appreciated, consider adding as many of these other recognition tactics as you can:

  • Offer a Patron Party with auction preview and menu tasting one month prior
  • VIP reception an hour before general admission
  • VIP post-auction reception with gelato, decaf cappuccino and swag bags
  • Give sponsor tables Auction Bucks (incentive bidder credits) for their guests
  • Provide champagne, a dedicated server for the dining table, premier seating
  • Make sponsor thank you foam core boards and place on easels at the entrance
  • Project sponsor logos on the wall
  • Make a Power Point slide show which loops during dinner of sponsor logos
  • Have a parting gift with a sponsor thank you card attached, such as:

Sponsor Thank You card tied with ribbon to some kind of parting gift, like a mini bag of chocolates. This recognition piece might say…

“Please join us in thanking these sponsors for their generosity. When you support them, ______________ benefits!”

or

“Tonight’s festivities made possible by these fine sponsors. Please consider supporting them with your business!”

or

“Thank you for supporting ___________this evening. Please consider patronizing these sponsors who made tonight possible”

 

What other sponsor recognition ideas have you seen? Please share in the comments!

Comments are closed - Categories: Charity, Consulting, Event Logistics, Sponsors

►Donation Card Designing

March 15, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Photo of Jenelle Taylor GALA GAL

A benefit auctioneer should conduct your Donation Appeal

I was talking with a fundraising auctioneer pal yesterday about “donation cards” – the little cards that are either placed at each seat or peeking out of the program.

 

As your fundraising consultants, benefit auctioneers work with you to raise the most money for your cause. Donation cards are one option, but that approach lacks both urgency and peer encouragement. Your guests might never pick up that donation card, or may take it home with good intentions and no follow through.

Since auctioneers know how to handle a microphone and a stage, we are always going to recommend a traditional “direct appeal”, meaning a well planned part of your evening with an inspiring testimonial and the call to the “raise your paddle”.

In fact, a structured, auctioneer-led ask routinely raises $20,000, $60,000, $100,000 and up with professional auctioneers across the country. Whether you call it Fund a Need, Fund a Cure, Fund a Cause, Paddle Raise, Call for Donations, Cash Call, Donation Appeal, Direct Appeal, Planned Appeal, Bid to Give, or any other name, we believe that nothing connects your mission to your audience more than a straightforward but tactful conversation with your supporters, all working together toward a common financial goal. Then, when you add in Challenge Matches and similar giving incentives…the Paddle Raise concept is very hard to best.

However, if for whatever reason you still want to stick to donation cards on the table, I did a Google Image search of Donation Card and found tons of examples to help you plan and design! Check them out here: http://tinyurl.com/DonationCardSamples

Comments are closed - Categories: Auctioneers, Charity, Consulting, Live Auctions, Other Money Makers

►Voting with Dollars – Genius Quick Tip!

March 14, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS

Image Credit depositphotos.com

Does your event have a contest component where guests “vote with dollars” such as a costume contest or dance contest?

 

Typically, guests purchase lengths or bundles of tickets, and then they “vote” by putting tickets into containers (paper bags, glass bowls) for their favorite contestants. As the night goes on, they can purchase tickets again and again to help a particular candidate win with the largest number of tickets.

(As a side note, the same process works for the Bucket Chance to Win, previously called Chinese Raffle.)

 

So, hundreds of people have been piling tickets into containers for hours, and now you have to quickly count them up to announce the winner. What if you have a bunch of contestants and tons of tickets? How can you count all that super fast, you ask?

 

Thanks to seasoned Orlando fundraiser and Femmes de Coeur President Judy Conrad for the solution:  Borrow a super-sensitive and perfectly calibrated gold measuring scale from a local jeweler…and simply compare ticket weights to find the winner, no counting necessary!

 

GENIUS! Thanks, Judy 🙂

Comments are closed - Categories: Consulting, Event Logistics, Grab Bag, Other Money Makers, Raffles/Chance Drawings

►Get the AUCTION! bible, 1 Week Sale!

March 1, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Cover image of the 250-page Charity Auction Manual called AUCTION! The 98 Solutions to Every Charity Auction Challenge by GALA GAL Jenelle Taylor CAI BAS

Write-in workbook to plan your Benefit Auction, step-by-step, used by Professional Fundraising Auctioneers and their clients across the country

Save $100 off the regular online price! It’s the March Madness sale at GALA GAL, so snatch up your 250-page AUCTION! manual by March 7th, 2013. Get “The 98 Solutions to Every Charity Auction Challenge” at your fingertips.

Read a detailed and helpful “Questions to Ask” excerpt here, and just shoot me a message with your e-mail and I’ll send you our mailing address for a check, use a credit card via secure server with discount code Sale49 here.

                 This is the first sale since last July (8 months ago!) so get your copy now 🙂

Money-back guarantee of course.

Comments are closed - Categories: Board members, Charity, Consulting, Event Logistics, Live Auctions, Other Money Makers, Raffles/Chance Drawings, Silent auctions, Templates

►Black Tie Events…for Free? Auction Underwriting for the New Millennium

February 14, 2013 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS

Have you seen this? http://www.dodgedartregistry.com/

Underwrite your Benefit Auction just like the new Dodge Dart Registry idea

Crowd-funding idea for your next auction?

The website reads, ”

NEW RULES FOR BUYING YOUR CAR. Pick out the features you want in your new Dart and then invite friends and family to sponsor individual parts of the car.

You can raise a portion of the cost of a new Dart or the full price. Then all you have to do is go to a dealership and pick it up.”

 

How clever! Not only does this speak to a hip, Millennial generation, it offers a solution to funding a major cost –  by crowd-sourcing.

What a great idea to change up how you offer sponsorships this year for your event. Sure, most events already ask for sponsors, but typically at generic dollar amounts not tied to anything specific. Anyone else bored with the “Sponsorships available at $25,000, $10,000, $5,000 and $2500” approach?

This year, be forward thinking and socially savvy. Post a great photo from last year and offer opportunities to underwrite parts of the event at all different price levels. Instead of funding the engine on a future Dodge Dart, your supporters can fund the venue, the food, the bar, the linens, the decorations, the invitations, the technology…even pay for your professional auctioneer!

Just like chipping in to buy a beloved and deserving person a new car, your benefactors will feel good about helping fund something concrete, and empowered by being given a real choice. Come to think of it, isn’t that exactly the feeling we want to give our non-profit supporters all the time?

Comments are closed - Categories: Auctioneers, Charity, Event Logistics, Other Money Makers

►MC or not MC?

July 3, 2012 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS
Emcee for your event

Who’s your MC?

I got cc’d on an e-mail that one of my November events confirmed a local TV anchor to emcee (or MC, if you prefer) their gala. This is a common practice which you’ve no doubt seen or done.

There are so many logistics to juggle when you’re planning a fundraising event:

which venue, what entertainment, ticket pricing, getting folks to attend, staffing, auction items and on and on. And who’s going to run this thing??

If your event has a live auction or Fund-a-Need appeal for donations, there’s just too much riding on your 1-Night, Once-a-Year event to risk with just Joe Anybody. Hire a professional who does fundraising for a living, all year long. Once your fundraising is safeguarded, consider asking this auctioneer to serve as MC for you. Benefit Auction specialists will be charismatic and able to command the crowd’s attention. Doubling up like this will save you time and money, since you won’t have to do the back-and-forth to confirm and manage another person or pay for another meal.

If you want a different voice to host your event for whatever reason, then certainly invite a community dignitary,  involve your Board president, a TV news anchor, or even a celebrity in your program.

But whatever you do, don’t hand over your fundraising

to anyone who is a professional something-else!

 

Those well meaning folks can leverage their personalities and knowledge of the crowd in a support role. Use your special guest in direct interaction with your attendees, but leave the auction psychology to the fundraising pro.

Your celebrity or community dignitary can best benefit your event by:

  1. Donating a Chance-of-a-Lifetime opportunity to the auction. (Actress Cheryl Hines   donated a private poker party with her to her favorite central Florida gala!)
  2. Hosting his/her own table for the dinner portion and inviting folks to bid for the chance to move to that VIP table
  3. Working the Live Auction on the floor, shaking hands and encouraging those who bid
  4. Drawing attention to your high-end items by visiting with folks at the Live Auction table during the 90-minute preview time

Your Board president can best benefit your event by:

  1. Hosting a pre-event VIP reception for last year’s big spenders and this year’s sponsors and special guests, giving them an initial hour to sip champagne, schmooze, and shop the auction unencumbered by the masses. These guests might even get a mini live auction with 3-5 things that are only offered to this elite VIP group.
  2. Promote the importance of fundraising by escorting VIPs and likely deep pockets personally to the Live Auction display table and facilitating an introduction with the auctioneer. This serves your guests by making them aware of the opportunities only available that night, and it initiates the rapport important to getting more bidding.
  3. Thanking the event sponsors and really explaining how their large gifts allow you to provide services.

Your TV news anchor (or Board member, CEO, staff member, or services recipient) can best benefit your event by:

1. Sharing the emotional appeal of your mission by putting faces and personal stories to the services you deliver. Getting the right person to introduce the video, deliver a keynote, or set up the Fund-a-Need appeal is crucial.

2. Being available to the guests throughout the night, mingling and adding a welcoming warmth to the festivities.

While several folks are appropriate for various aspects of MC hosting, the money you need to operate for months will come from the auction and appeal proceeds, so entrust the opening bids, the increments, the snap and sizzle of the numbers to a benefit auction specialist.

Comments are closed - Categories: Better Buyers, Board members, Consulting, Event Logistics, Live Auctions

►The Auction Bible

June 24, 2012 - Author: Jenelle Taylor, CAI BAS

At a lunchtime meeting with a Clearwater client today, a committee member pulled me aside.  I was surprised and flattered by her request:

 

“Could we have a second copy of your book? It was such a big help to us last year, and Sandy is using the copy you gave us for this fall’s event. But we’d like to put a copy in the archives.

In the archives?

Wow!

I am happy that they continue to use their copy of AUCTION! The 98 Solutions to Every Charity Auction Challenge, and humbled that it’s been deemed important enough to join other historical records in this church’s vault.

Check out an excerpt here “68 Essentials to Ask at a Mid-Point Planning Meeting”

Comments are closed - Categories: Better Buyers, Consulting, Event Logistics, Live Auctions, Raffles/Chance Drawings, Silent auctions