Less Is More

Less is more in several ways, starting with the number of items you auction. Less is also more in terms of the timing of the event. As I've noted, guests are tending to leave 30 to 40 minutes earlier than they used to. Take advantage of this with a less-is-more approach. Condense your event elements so that you have the most exciting, compelling, and on-target fundraising auction event possible.

Avoid Bidder Fatigue

Guests expect to attend a fun, upbeat, lively event. Attention spans are short, so keep things moving. Your organization cannot make money if the guests are gone. If guests are bored or there's been too much lag time, their attention will go somewhere else. We want to keep them focused on your mission and why they should support you generously at the auction.

My number one rule for show flow is “No BS!” By that I mean, “No Boring Speeches!” Why? In benefit auction events, time is money, and boring speeches will cost you—not make you—money. I've developed formulas you can use to calculate how many dollars per minute and per square foot you want to make.

To calculate the dollars per minute you need to make in your benefit auction event, simply divide your target fundraising goal amount by the number of minutes that will elapse from the second your doors open until the event's triumphant ending.

If your event drags out and is not well-orchestrated, it can cost you revenue for your cause, and you run the very high risk of losing the interest of your audience in the short and long term.

Make Every Minute a Revenue Minute

To calculate the dollars per minute you need to make in each segment of your benefit auction event (i.e., silent auction, live auction, fund-a-need), multiply the dollars per minute you need to raise for your benefit auction event by the total time allocated for each segment.

You can also assign a value to other revenue-generating activities. Share this information with your auction committee and board members to help them understand that time is money.

Brief, Inspiring Remarks

Here's my rule: Anyone who holds the microphone for more than one or two minutes is eating into prime fundraising time. This is important to understand from a financial standpoint, but it's also important from a momentum standpoint. To illustrate how crucial this rule is, please take out a piece of paper and write the word “SPEECHES” on it in large letters. Then, take your pen and scratch it out as hard as you can. Replace it with the word “REMARKS.” Ask the chairperson of the board who will tee up the live auction to make brief inspiring remarks instead of a speech or keynote address. Ask your client who will tell her first-person story for your Fund a Need to make first-person inspiring remarks. That phrasing alone will make a huge difference in the expectation of everyone participating in your event.

Before the Doors Open

After months of strategic design decisions and careful research, networking, and preparation, it's time for the big event. On the day of your benefit auction, you'll start by setting up the venue, training volunteers, and having final run-through rehearsals, sound and light checks, and final auction meetings with your team and auctioneer.

The Event Begins

The doors open and guests register. You may have a VIP or special patron event prior to the auction. After that or during the silent auction, volunteers sell opportunities for extra fundraising for the Heads and Tails game, a raffle or any special activities like mystery grab bag, a wine pull, or interactive games. (See Chapter 14 for more ideas for strategic income streams.) Many organizations hold their silent auctions during the cocktail hour. (See Chapter 11 for an in-depth look at silent auctions.)

Make Transitions Smooth and Efficient

Moving guests from your silent auction to your inspiring program is a critical transition. Whether the two will be held in the same room or in separate areas, there will always be transition time. For the smoothest and most efficient segue possible, assign volunteers to invite guests into the live auction venue from the silent auction. Your benefit auctioneer should also graciously invite everyone to come into the venue. Make sure to have a great sound system for the silent auction, the live auction, and the transition between the two. (See Chapter 11 for my innovative technique, the Clam Shell Offense, for quickly moving guests from standing at your cocktail hour to seating themselves for your inspiring program, live auction, and fund-a-need.)

Before starting the program, make sure everyone is seated. That job goes to your emcee or benefit auctioneer: Get everyone seated and ready for the program. For an event using food stations, the meal service and silent auction must be completed by this time. For seated dinners, preset salads should all be dropped at the exact moment that you close your final silent auction section. Placing salads on tables in advance saves you time. Everyone is hungry at this point, so when guests see the salads being served, they will naturally move toward the tables, making a natural transition from the silent to the live auction.

Welcome and Thank-You Remarks

Where you position the welcome and thank-you remarks is critical. Ideally, this should occur within five minutes or so of guests being seated, because it alerts the audience that you're beginning your program. This is a good time to offer a perfunctory thank you to the sponsors, the committee, and the board. Recognize board members and committee members at their seats. Ask them to stand for a warm round of applause. You'll save time and build momentum.

You may want to give the auction chairperson flowers or a small gift. Take care of these tasks now, so they don't interfere with the show flow crescendo to the big emotional moments that open hearts and wallets.

It's Go Time

Your guests are seated, eating or chatting. There's a magic moment to begin the fundraising piece. I call this “go time.” It's a serious moment when program elements start ratcheting up. Everyone's attention is riveted on the speaker, and there is absolute quiet in the room.

This is when you'll have an inspiring and compelling speaker make wonderful and momentous remarks for less than two minutes. This is different than the first-person story that leads into the fund-a-need. These remarks are about transformations, results, and the benefits of your organization.

WWH: Why We Are Here

Next is the communication about the impact of the contributions your guests will make.

There are several ways to offer brief inspiring remarks about your organization, which help your audience understand why they are at your event. One option is to have an individual make those remarks. Another is to have a montage, where three or four people each say one or two sentences about how your organization has transformed their lives.

Whichever you choose, you want your speakers to make their remarks about the compelling impact of your organization immediately before the live auction. The timing makes this powerful. The speakers will have more of an impact by making their remarks first, and then introducing themselves. Look to the performing arts for expertise on how to perform this segment well.

An Inspiring Live Auction

Next, we turn to the live auction. Introduce your auctioneer personally from the stage saying, “We're here to raise as much money as we can for (your cause). Here to help us do just that is our auctioneer, (name the auctioneer).” From a strategic standpoint, it's very important for the leader of the organization to introduce the auctioneer and to shake hands, which bestows credibility on the auctioneer.

Your benefit auctioneer should then talk briefly, highlighting the compelling and exciting points about your cause, and kicking off the live auction. Expect the auctioneer to intersperse bullet points about your organization throughout the live auction. Many benefit auctioneers are trained to do this, but some are not. Help your auctioneer transition from the “why we are here” remarks to the live auction by giving her compelling bullet points to use during the live auction.

Time Allotments

The time allocation for each live auction item depends on the skill level of the auctioneer but should be close to two minutes per item for a professional benefit auctioneer. An auction game, like heads-and-tails, takes about seven minutes. The fund-a-need takes about 10 to 15 minutes. The key point is to budget every single minute in a written timeline.

Positioning the Fund-a-Need

If you have fewer than a dozen live auction items, position the fund-a-need immediately following the live auction. If you have more than 12 live auction items, place the fund-a-need right in the middle of the live auction. During the middle of the live auction, guests are paying attention and they're typically physically in the room, so the fund-a-need will have the most impact. If guests are tired or bored or they've left the room, it's highly unlikely that they will give you money.

Starting the Inspiring Program

Within five minutes of having all of the guests seated, have your benefit auctioneer quiet everyone and introduce whomever is making inspiring remarks. It's very difficult for someone who is not professionally trained to quiet and focus an audience, but if you get everyone quiet before the first person speaks, you'll set the right tone for the entire event. If you have a plated meal service, at this point, guests are eating their salads. Spiritual or religious groups might offer a blessing. It's important to invite guests to “please enjoy your meal now.” If they wait to eat, it will throw off your entire evening, so be sure to include that in the script for your emcee or auctioneer.

Run on Honorees

What do you do when an honoree talks too long—actually one hour too long? Yes, it's true, we have actually had this happen twice. Even though as an auctioneer I sounded the alarm to the executive director and the auction chairperson, they did not feel there was anything they could do. That's not true. Of course there was. You need a plan to get the hook, graciously. In both cases, because of the lengthy speeches, the live auction and fund-a-need were pushed to the very end of the event, so late that over half of the audience was gone, gone, gone. Each organization lost over $50,000 and did not come close to what they had raised the previous year.

But that's not the crime. Think of all of those guests who were so bored and tired that they left or felt stuck in their seats just wishing they could be home. They were deprived of hearing the inspiring fund-a-need story and giving to a cause they care about. When I think back on this, it still makes me sad because they lost so much money and did not even realize it!

Entertainment, Dancing, Awards

At the conclusion of the live auction you may have awards, entertainment, or dancing (if the fund-a-need is in the middle). A fun way to focus guests on bidding is to say, “Bid now. Dance later.” Once guests get involved in the entertainment, like dancing, it's nearly impossible to refocus them on bidding. If you have music during the dinner hour, make sure that you don't play dance music right before or during the live auction, because that will reduce your ability to raise money. Play upbeat dinner music that's not danceable because it will create momentum and start building energy up to the live auction. Get all your fundraising done before you move to awards, dancing, or entertainment.

After the Live Auction

Don't open the auction checkout until after all fundraising is complete. This includes the live auction and the fund-a-need special appeal. Strategically speaking, you'll want your audience focused on how they can make a difference, not worrying about a checkout line. Sometimes, especially in nonprofits for performing arts, there may be a post-event party or a VIP party.

After the event is a great time to raise money, as you follow up with all your guests, donors, and sponsors. Go to each table and thank guests for bidding and attending, and make sure you invite them for next year too.

Food Choices Have Consequences

You can choose from several different food styles during the silent auction. Whether it's hors d'oeuvres or food stations, what's critical is that food service is completed prior to your inspiring program. If you want to raise money, every guest must be seated when that program begins.

Stand-up cocktail parties with heavy hors d'oeuvres don't work well to raise money. (Think Manolo Blahnik stiletto heels for the entire night—ouch!) Some groups inadvertently sabotage their events by having a cocktail party and an inspiring program going on at the same time, which detracts from the focus of the benefit auction event: fundraising. When your guests are seated, you have the opportunity to get them riveted and excited about your cause. That's when you can really see transformation and you have the opportunity to build loyalty to your nonprofit organization.

Choose the Right Foods

Integrate food stations into silent auction tables. Make food choices that will promote bidding in the silent auction. For example, if you choose food that requires a fork and knife, like carving a turkey or pasta, guests will need to sit down. Sitting down during a silent auction is the enemy of fundraising! Instead, choose finger foods that guests can pick up with a toothpick and put on a napkin. There are some fabulous hors d'oeuvres choices that can fit any budget. Also, be aware that though turkey and pasta, chocolate fountains, and carving stations are showy and reasonably priced items for food stations, they take up a lot of room, create boring lines, and make guests sleepy (think Thanksgiving), which is the antithesis of momentum and energy.

Seated Meals

For seated meals, the silent auction typically is scheduled for about 60 to 90 minutes from when guests arrive until they are invited to be seated to start the inspiring program, live auction, fund-a-need appeal, awards, and entertainment. If guests arrive at 6:00 p.m., close the last silent auction section by 7:30 p.m. Have a 10-minute transition time to the venue where you have your inspiring program. Make sure that you have plated salads served at every table before guests enter the room. Tell your caterer that the last guests will come in and be seated at 7:40 p.m. and that you want the salads plated and on tables by 7:30 p.m. so that they are not serving them as guests are coming into the room. You want guests to sit down and immediately begin eating their salads.

Food/Dinner Stations

With food stations, guests walk around and sample different food choices at stations during the silent auction and cocktail hour. Food stations require approximately a one and one-half hour to a two-hour period from when guests arrive. Remember, this is your guest's meal. If they are hungry, they will leave before your fundraising and you will loose substantial funds. If the invitation says the event begins at 6:00 p.m., schedule 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. for gourmet dinner stations, the silent auction, mingling, and any VIP reception you might have. The time period will vary based on the market where you live, the time of year, and the distance guests drive to the benefit auction event. Be sensitive to the time needed for your guests to drive to your venue. In many larger cities, the starting time for a fundraising event may be later that in a small community where there is less traffic and commuting concerns.

BBQ Ribs Make Sticky Stuck Bidders

Barbeque ribs make sticky stuck bidders. Even if you have a theme (e.g., Western, jewels and jeans, etc.) and even if you have country attire and Western-style food, try very hard not to have sticky foods (e.g., chicken wings or ribs) to eat during the silent auction. Why? It's physically impossible to eat chicken wings and ribs standing up when you are bidding. When people are eating they're not bidding! Choose finger foods that are not greasy, that are easy to eat, and that don't leave people's hands feeling too dirty to pick up a pen. This holds true no matter which way you choose to serve your guests: passed hors d'oeuvres, small hors d'oeuvres stations in pods, or bigger food stations. No sticky or messy food choices! Food choices have significant consequences. Work with the caterer to come up with ideas that help you achieve your number one objective: bidding. Make it easy to bid.

Consider the amount of space you need for the types of food you choose. For example, food stations that include pasta and carving stations are a good choice because they are economical, very showy, and guests like them. However, you better have a lot of room, because they take up more space than another food station service. In any kind of food station, you want to avoid lines.

At an event in Colorado, there were 100 people standing in line for only one carving station. There was a beautiful round of beef being hand-carved for each guest, like at a wedding reception. If your guests are standing in line, guess what they are not doing? Bidding! Make sure that your guests can get their food easily and move on. Some very astute event planners and auction consultants say that they don't have any plates or forks whatsoever. Think about it. If you have finger food that you can have on a napkin, it means that your guests are not going to sit down and they don't need to use a knife and fork to cut. If you have something messy that could soil a dress or shirt, your guest is going to want to sit down. The minute your guests sit down, getting them up to continue bidding is nearly impossible. Be sure to plan your silent auction thoughtfully and strategically so that you are not inadvertently making choices (e.g., food selections, stations with lines) that are actually counterproductive to your primary objective for the silent auction: bidding. Think about anything that could inadvertently cause lines and then remove them ahead of time.

My well-known disdain for buffets is based on the fact that you make zero dollars when your guests are standing in a boring buffet line. Take the same buffet items and create separate food stations interspersed with silent auction items instead.

Don't Let Dessert Make You Lose Money

Time the dessert when you have finished your fundraising. If you choose to bring out dessert before the end of your fundraising, be sure to finish the first half of the live auction and get the fund-a-need done. When you have two auction items left to go, bring out the dessert. If dessert is served in the middle of the fundraising, you will lose $10,000 or more because you will have lost the attention of your audience. Even if you have a lovely and charming benefit auctioneer, exciting auction items, and your fund-a-need speaker makes compelling remarks, you can lose a lot of money if dessert isn't timed properly.

Chocolate fountains attract guests, but they're detrimental. Believe me, I believe that chocolate is the forgotten mineral. However, everyone clusters around a chocolate fountain, and it's almost impossible to raise any money. Instead, have a plated dessert. Dessert buffets don't work because the timing conflicts with the live auction and the fund-a-need.

It's best to bring desserts to guests when they are seated at tables. These can be served family style or on individual plates. In different regions, dessert has different connotations. For example, in New England, as soon as guests have dessert, they are ready to go home. Have a special volunteer called the dessert controller who stands at the catering door and makes sure that the dessert is served at the right time—when it will have the least impact on your ability to raise money for your organization.

Timing

Back up the closing of the final silent auction section to the conclusion of the two-hour time period. If you end at 8:00 p.m., close the last silent auction section at 7:50 p.m., leaving a needed 10-minute transition time to the live auction. If the venue for the live auction is far away from the silent auction, use a stopwatch to determine how much time it will really take to move all of your guests from the silent to the live auction. Based on that information, you can create an accurate transition time. For the sake of understanding an ideal sequencing, assume that it takes 10 minutes. This means that you close the last silent auction section at 7:50 p.m. Assuming you have two silent auction sections, you close the first section at 7:40 p.m. and the second section at 7:50 p.m. This timing exercise is good to do with your auction committee and pencil and paper.

The Most Profitable Time for Fundraising

Remember, less is more, and your guests are tending to leave earlier than ever. Position your fundraising activities early. During a seated meal service, position the live auction and the fund-a-need when you have the opportunity to raise the most money. Imagine a bell-shaped curve. The golden time for fundraising is before or at the top of the curve when guests are at the height of food and alcohol consumption. You can actually feel the golden time for fundraising. Position your live auction and the fund-a-need when guests are on that upswing. If you wait until guests are going down the backside of the curve when they are settling in and relaxing, it's really challenging to get them motivated to bid. Don't wait! Conduct your fundraising early in the event.

Get Into the Fundraising Right Away

If you have a great sound system, which I know you will, think about a couple of times when you can have your “go time,” when you begin the why-we-are-here remarks, the live auction, and the fund-a-need. Did you know that when the last plate goes down, about 45 percent of guests have already completed eating their meals and are starting to get bored? This is the perfect time to start the why-we-are-here remarks. These typically take two minutes. Then, introduce the auctioneer and start the fundraising. It works fine for servers to clear plates during the live auction. However, during the fund-a-need, servers need to take their seats. Make sure that you communicate this to the banquet captain beforehand so that he is crystal clear that everyone, including servers, needs to be absolutely quiet during the fund-a-need.

Regional and Cultural Norms

There are regional differences across the country regarding the meal service and the live auction. For example, in the South, many groups consider it rude to conduct a live auction when guests are eating. However, in New York or California, guests are eager to move the event along—think dinner theater. (Note: be sure to have an outstanding audio system.) It is accepted and appreciated to conduct the live auction and fund-a-need during dinner—or even during your first course! Work within the cultures and norms of the area where your benefit auction is located, and also consider the impact of how you sequence your fundraising activities. Find ways to maximize fundraising while observing cultural norms.

When to Close the Silent Auction

You will make more money if you close a traditional paper bid sheet silent auction (as opposed to mobile bidding) before you start your inspiring program. Close it as close as possible to when guests move into the venue for your live auction. This creates momentum and excitement. Your benefit auctioneer can make announcements to close the silent auction and get guests thinking about bidding. If guests did not buy something in the first section, there might be something in the second section. If they did not get something in the first two sections, the auctioneer can encourage them to bid in the third section.

Close the Final Section

Sometimes, the final silent auction section is open at the end of the event during dancing. This is most common in school auctions. It's better to close the final section as soon as the last auction item is sold or the fund-a-need concludes, whichever happens last. Why? Experience has shown that there is no best time to close the silent auction. In other words, the timing of the closing of the silent auction (i.e., before, during, or after the live auction) does not affect your silent auction revenue. But closing the silent auction late will hurt other aspects of your event. When you close the silent auction, there are a lot of details, including paperwork and moving items. Focus on getting the logistics right so guests can get through the checkout line efficiently.

Create an Unforgettable Inspirational Moment

There are a few moments when you can create that compelling emotional mission moment during a benefit auction. The first moment is during the “why we are here” remarks. When you have an individual or a montage of three or four people sharing how your nonprofit organization has impacted them personally, it's really compelling.

The other time is during the compelling first-person story for the fund-a-need about how your organization changed the speaker's life. For example, this could be a compelling true story about how one of your rescue animals found his or her forever home or how one of your alumni benefitted from your outstanding education. (See Chapter 13 for more ideas on fund a need stories.) Guests remember love, and they remember transformational stories. The audience will fall in love with your nonprofit organization and your cause because of the way you have designed your event. When you follow up with guests after the benefit auction event, draw on these stories. Make sure that you start with your schedule and show flow, and time your event to optimize fundraising.