Critical Factors for First-Time Benefit Auctions and Every Year, Really ...

The most important factor in launching a first-time benefit auction is to have the organization's board of directors buy into the labor-intensive, long-term planning required for a successful fundraising event. A benefit auction event has to fit into the organization's overall fundraising plan. In addition to special event fundraising, there are many other aspects of strategic fundraising that must be in place such as annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and other special initiatives.

If board members agree to move forward, the next step is to plan out the benefit auction event in detail. Create a budget. Figure out how much it will cost to put on the event. Estimate how much money you can realistically make from this event. Will that justify the time and effort required?

To be successful, you'll need strong leadership on your auction teams. I recommend having co-chairs for the event, and for each team. There are five essential teams needed to carry out the work before, during, and after your benefit auction event:

1. Audience development: To get the right people to your benefit auction event.
2. Acquisition: To procure high-yield auction items.
3. Communications and marketing: To promote the event and, most important, to communicate the impact of your mission.
4. Logistics: To take care of all of the practical details, including food, sound, lighting, volunteers, check-in, checkout, and the venue.
5. Sponsorship: To solicit and engage corporate and business sponsors.

There's a high degree of correlation between successful fundraising auctions and board involvement. Benefit auction events that do not do well typically have board members who are hands-off and don't attend the event. Get your board members involved and engaged—serving on committees and as liaisons, soliciting auction items, and promoting the event in the community.

Each year, revisit your benefit auction event. Don't just blindly start a new event without figuring out what worked and what needs improvement based on the prior year's event. Take the time to capture this feedback in writing. For example, if your team members need better training, create a strategic plan to put that in place.

Decide What Kind of Auction You Want

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

—ALAN KAY

Understand the Purpose of Your Auction

A successful auction starts with clarifying the vital mix of goals. Raise money. Host a social event. Increase awareness. Develop friends. The auction committee and board must decide what goals are most important. Is the emphasis on revenue generation? Throwing a fabulous party? Showcasing your mission and programs? Or cultivating relationships with current and potential supporters? The outcome is a unique blend of all of these purposes. Figure 2.1 shows a model that I use when consulting with my clients, to help clarify the purpose of the fundraising event and auction.

There are four core benefits of a fundraising auction.

1. Raising Revenue
2. Developing Donors
3. Communicating Impact
4. Creating a Fun Social Event

Consider These Questions for a First-Time Auction

Why do you want to have an auction? Is there another way to raise funds? Will you raise sufficient funds to warrant the effort? Do you have the needed leadership? A large active auction committee? Enough staff and volunteer support? Ample time? What are your auction goals? How do these fit with your annual fundraising plan? Do you have the full commitment of the board and organization? Revisit these questions each year prior to planning the next auction.

A: The Role of the Professional Benefit Auctioneer

Retaining a professional benefit auctioneer is the magic ingredient in any auction, taking the risk out of fundraising. Most volunteers across the country work hard year-round to maximize fundraising efforts. When the day of the event arrives, too many organizations turn the auction over to someone who does not have the training, passion, dedication, or relevant knowledge to be your auctioneer. The mayor, a media personality, or even a celebrity will not raise nearly as much money as a professional fundraising auctioneer. This common pitfall means that well-deserving organizations lose hundreds and thousands of dollars of potential fundraising each year.

This is what I call tripping over a thousand-dollar bill to pick up pennies. Typically, a VIP or celebrity auctioneer may have the allure of bringing local prestige to an event. They most often volunteer their time or request only a small honorarium. However, the savings realized on the front end almost always result in a loss of proceeds for the organization in the end. If you're interested in multiplying your organization's proceeds by hundreds or thousands of dollars, the most potent way to maximize fundraising efforts is to retain a professional benefit auctioneer.

In 2010, the National Auctioneer's Association found that auctioneers with a Benefit Auctioneer Specialist (BAS) professional designation raise twice as much for organizations as auctioneers who do not have a BAS professional certification. Further, BAS auctioneers also earn double the profits for their own auction businesses.³

Your organization will benefit greatly by retaining someone who understands fundraising, who will be dedicated to your cause, and who is a specialist in benefit auctions. Remember, people who attend fundraising auctions are now giving very deliberately, choosing organizations that touch their hearts and minds. BAS-certified auctioneers are trained to promote philanthropic giving in a professional and strategic way that will maximize proceeds and strengthen connections to your cause.

So how do you find a good professional auctioneer? There is a strong network of professional benefit auctioneers across the United States. Finding one that is right for your organization will take a little bit of research. I've included several resources in the Resources section at the back of this book.

U: One-of-a-Kind Items Make Your Event Unique

Soliciting and procuring the best auction items for your auction can make the difference in reaching your fundraising goal. Maximizing your fundraising efforts requires you to think strategically and to carefully identify specific items you will want volunteers to solicit before they start asking for donations. The best auction items are the ones that sell for more than their value. The best-selling items are the ones that are unique and match your audience: one-of-a-kind items such as specialty trips, dinners, and other items that guests can find only at your auction.

Finding items that match your audience's desires and purchasing power will dramatically increase your charity auction proceeds. For example, if your audience is arts and culture focused, unique items that your guests would enjoy might be a package tour in Hollywood, a sold-out concert in your area, or perhaps a New York Broadway show package. If you have an audience that loves sports, consider tickets right behind home plate on the 100th anniversary of your wonderful stadium, or a meet-and-greet with players or coaches.

A great example comes from the grand opening fundraising gala for the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Connecticut. With my consultation, the gala committee created a live auction item to match the audience's interest in Katharine Hepburn. They contacted the current owner of her estate, who agreed to donate his home for a dinner party. The committee then procured Chef Jacques Pépin. They put together a dinner for 12 at Katharine Hepburn's estate prepared by Chef Pépin and served in Katharine Hepburn's dining room. This item was so successful that it sold for over $8,000—twice!

There are two ways to determine how to match items to your audience. The first is to review and study records from previous auctions to determine what items were the most and least desirable and the most and least profitable. Make a list of the top 20 best-selling and worst-selling items that your team can use to solicit and procure best-selling auction items.

The second way is to match items to your organization's cause. For example, a dog rescue group knows that their audience will include dog owners and dog lovers. A perfect auction item for this audience might be a VIP package to the Westminster Dog Show, including airfare, hotel, and VIP access to the event. This unique item would have dog lovers practically drooling.

In both cases, matching items to your audience and your cause requires a thoughtful approach to solicitation, which needs to start long before any volunteers begin asking for donations. Remember, the best auction items are the ones that sell, and the best-selling items are the ones that are unique and match your audience's interests.

C: Cultivate Auction Guests

Developing your audience is a critical aspect of a successful auction. Having a competitive crowd means attracting people who have the capacity to bid high in your auction. Why? You need attendees who have the ability to support you financially. That means you'll need to put power bidders in the room.

To do this, create a special team which focuses only on getting the right people in the room. This is called audience development, and it's the most vital aspect of a successful benefit auction. So, form an audience development team, not a ticket or invitation committee.

An audience development team builds a competitive audience by getting high bidders in the room. If possible, include people who represent different areas of your community, so they can conduct significant outreach to people who can and will bid high.

An audience with the capacity to give generously will drive bidding over 100 percent of the value of items for two main reasons: They have the financial capacity to bid high, and they connect to your cause. Past performance is the best indicator of future performance, so identify your top 10 bidders from past events, and have the audience development team do everything possible to get them to attend again. We'll discuss audience development in more detail in Chapter 5.

T: Timing Is Everything

Timing is one of the most overlooked areas in auction planning. Effective timing means putting all of the elements in your program in the best order to support your fundraising goals.

Timing is mainly based on food style choices. So, the very first thing you have to decide is what style of food you will have at your benefit fundraising event: a sit-down dinner or food stations. (Note: Buffets don't work for benefit auctions under any circumstances. If you are considering a buffet, let me be blunt: Don't.) We'll discuss this in more detail in Chapter 7.

The number of items you auction will also impact timing. For example, school auctions tend to have a lot more items, which requires starting the meal service earlier. Gala-style auctions typically have just a handful of items, meaning the auction can start later. In any case, time your auction with a stopwatch.

At a recent golf auction for Big Brothers and Big Sisters on Cape Cod, I recommended that the auction team close the silent auction 15 minutes earlier than originally planned, seat golfers immediately, skip the salad, serve dinner with a plated meal, and begin the fundraising auction during dinner. With these minor modifications to the sequencing and pacing of the event, the organization doubled their money. Why? They were able to capture golfers' attention and dollars right away. They also held the awards ceremony after the dinner and the fundraising auction, which meant that the audience stayed for the entire event.

I: Inspiration for Impact

Your top priority is to showcase your organization's mission and inspire people to action. This means encouraging generous bidding—and giving that transcends the benefit auction fundraiser. It does not really matter, says fundraising consultant Tom Ahern, if people think about your cause. What matters most is that the audience is “moved enough to lend a hand and make a gift.”⁴

In a two-year study of over 100 Super Bowl advertisements, John Hopkins University researchers Keith Quesenberry and Michael Coolsen found that the most successful ads told stories.⁵ Neuroeconomist Paul Zak says that stories evoke a strong neurological response.⁶ So, inspire your audience with stories, not statistics. Million-dollar consultant Alan Weiss says, logic makes us think, emotion makes us act.⁷

It's not about how many meals you serve or how many people come to your event. Tell the stories to inspire your audience to action. The best stories are ones that emotionally communicate the impact of the donor's gift.

When do stories work best to inspire your audience to action? First, when you welcome your guests, simply put your hand on your heart and make brief inspirational remarks about the impact of the sponsoring organization. This can be one sentence. Brevity and authenticity are key.

Second, use my proven 59-second story to share a first-person testimonial immediately prior to the fund-a-need as a way for the audience to understand the power and the impact of their giving. Finally, right before the fundraising auction is a perfect time to engage and inspire the audience.

A quick note. Long, boring speeches do not inspire. In fact, I'd like you to remove the word “speech” from your benefit auction fundraising vocabulary. If you want to inspire, make brief inspirational remarks. These are a montage of short, well-crafted, authentic, and heartfelt statements about how the organization has changed someone's life. Think strategically about your stories and storytellers and select the stories and storytellers that inspire you. If you are inspired, chances are your audience will have the same response. An inspiring story connected to your organization's cause will move your audience to take action, bid high, and truly engage with your mission.

O: Outcomes

The desired outcome of benefit auctions is to raise as much money as you can for your cause and to engage your audience for long-term support. Achieving outcomes is easy because auctions are formulaic. They are based on past data, simple math, and strategic thinking and planning. See more on how to measure impact in Chapter 9.

Because auctions are formulaic, you can actually predict how much money you're going to make. It's simple math. Who are your top bidders? Who are your supporters? Who are your sponsors? How much did they give previously? What's your return on investment?

The ratio to measure is the value of an auction item to a high bid. For example, if you have a $100 gift certificate to the new great restaurant Mama Kingstoni, which a guest buys for $50, you have only achieved 50 percent of value. If a guest buys the gift certificate for $115, however, you've received 115 percent of the item's value.

Know this ratio for every single item—in aggregate for fundraising, in aggregate for the silent auction, and for each individual category (e.g., beauty, travel). Why? It makes it easy to think about how to reduce the number of items and actually increase revenue. How much money do you think you leave in the room? How much are the speeches costing you?

Every auction has revenue-producing activities and non-revenue-producing activities. When thinking strategically about your auction, identify the activities that produce revenue and those that do not. Your goal is to change the outcome by focusing on those that do.

How much focus are you putting on non-revenue-producing activities? What are those activities? Dancing? Standing around talking? Speeches?

A common mistake is for a board president or event chairperson to take time allocated for the fundraising auction to give a speech. Ten minutes taken for what should have been a one-minute speech means a loss of five items sold on behalf of your cause. Think strategically about how to control the amount of time and the positioning of your speeches.

N: No Bidder Left Behind: The Fund-a-Need

I've learned over the years that people do want to give to organizations they support. However, if you want them to give to your cause, you have to ask. The way to ensure that every bidder has the opportunity to give at a level that is meaningful to them is to structure your event in a way that allows every guest to participate at that level.

The fund-a-need is the winning way to engage every single guest in your audience. Also called a special appeal, it's a powerful technique you can use at any fundraising event. Guests want to support you, but they may not want or need a silent or live auction item. A fund-a-need gives them the opportunity to raise their bid cards and give cash at various levels—essential to a modern fundraising auction. We don't want any bidders to feel left out or to not have the opportunity to give meaningfully to your organization. While the silent and fundraising auctions are competitive bidding, the fund-a-need is collaborative giving. That's why it's an absolute must for every single auction without exception.

Imagine sitting in the audience at a Labrador retriever rescue fundraising auction when out from behind the curtains comes Sailor, a three-legged yellow Labrador. This was the culminating moment for a brilliantly crafted fund-a-need. The founder and a volunteer veterinarian pieced together the tragic story of Sailor, the first dog the rescue group had ever rescued. They revealed that Sailor had been run over by a driver, and the veterinarian shared how he and his team volunteered to bring Sailor back to life. The audience was glued. You could hear the silence and feel the emotion in the room. When Sailor came out, there was no doubt how important giving was to this group.

At the end of the story, the group literally illuminated the inspiring significance of their mission. They passed out over 300 battery-operated tealight candles that the audience turned on all at once. This represented the number of dogs the group had rescued since its inception, with Sailor as the first rescue. Donors felt the impact of their gift and consequently the organization raised over $50,000 in just 10 minutes.

A well-executed fund-a-need can significantly increase revenue and dramatically deepen donors' connections to a cause. We'll discuss this in more detail in Chapter 13.

S: Sound, Lights, Action!

Often, committees skimp, forget, or just avoid using professional sound and lighting, but they are critical. Here's a basic truth: If the audience cannot hear you, they will not bid. A benefit auction has a very specific design, and there are two components that matter. First, insist that professional audio and visual specialists take care of the sound and lights. Never, ever use the speakers in the ceiling of a venue—they are designed to make one announcement or maybe play a little background music during dinner. They are inadequate for auctions, and if you use them, you will have miserable fundraising results.

Speakers on stands that surround the audience will help guests hear every single word, which keeps them engaged. Whether at the $5,000 level or at the $50 level, you want to make sure that your guests are inspired to action. An auction-quality sound system is important for fundraising, and also for a silent auction when the room is the noisiest.

Lighting matters too! Make sure that you light your silent auction items so that guests can see the items, read the descriptions easily, and bid high. During the fundraising auction, the house lights should be turned up. Please do not have subdued or romantic lighting, because you want to light the real stars of the event: your guests. We'll discuss sound and lighting in more detail in Chapter 7.

Conclusion

There is nothing more important to your organization than fulfilling its mission. Benefit auction fundraising can help raise funds to position your mission in the community, support your cause, and impact your community. Fundraising auctions have the greatest potential for raising the most revenue. Use the proven strategies and techniques in this book to ensure record-breaking fundraising and donor engagement! How do you spell success? A-U-C-T-I-O-N-S!