Successful Charity Auctions Do These Things...
/A few tips to ensure a successful Charity Auction Fundraiser.
Bidder and Event Management - If you are transitioning from “old school” pen/paper and Excel spreadsheets to manage your event, there are some great solutions that will not only engage your onsite guests, but can also build a stronger relationship with those who cannot attend all while increasing your bottom line and making your life so much easier. Here are a few options to consider.
A great Audio System is not a luxury and is worth every penny you spend on it! A surround-sound approach is best. A speaker in each corner, or around the perimeter, of the room will avoid blasting out the people near the stage, plus your guests in the back will be able to hear just as well. Hotel and banquet hall “house” sound systems are inadequate 99% of the time. They are NEVER as good as a professional stand alone system. You need sound where ever you will have bidders in the building. If your bidders can’t hear…they won’t bid.
A “cool” venue may not always be ideal for a Charity Auction. Try to envision the room with tables, a stage and 400 people in it before committing to a venue that looks awesome but may not be conducive to an effective auction. Restaurants are prime example of potentially problematic spaces.
Stop allowing donors to manipulate your auction. Donors sometimes offer advice on where to place their items in the auction. They will always want it in the Live Auction. Allowing politics or friendships to dictate how you run your auction is nothing but trouble. A trusted auctioneer will advise you on where donations will perform best. Avoid promising a donor where their item will appear. Don’t be afraid to walk away from a problem donation. It will only be embarrassing to the donor when the item they think is worth $12,000 sells for $1,200 in the live in front of 450 people.
Leave no money on the table. Ask every guest for an extra $25 before they leave. The method isn’t important…just ask. A majority of guests in your crowd are NOT winning anything in the Silent/Live Auctions. Give them the chance to donate any extra cash in their pocket.
Don't put your BEST items at the end of the Live Auction. When arranging the order of your items, use a ‘bell curve’ approach. Place your highest demand items just past mid way through the auction. This way, those unsuccessful bidders on your high profile items still have something else to buy later in the auction.
The first few items are Live Auction “pace setters.” They should be of “average” value with broad appeal to your group. This gets everyone excited from the start. Keep everyone involved by not focusing your Live Auction on only “big ticket items”. A good auction item is anything we can get two people to fight over. Not just things valued over $5000. This will help your Live Auction avoid gaining a reputation of being “only for the rich people”.
Do everything possible to keep things moving and stay on schedule. “This always happens” or “These types of events NEVER run on time” are weak sauce excuses. Good events run on schedule.
Auction yields seriously decline around 10:00 pm on a Friday/Saturday. (9pm on weeknights) Start with this fact and work backwards with your event schedule. Use realistic times when calculating serving times, speeches, any program elements & auction timing. Will Mr. BIg Shot CEO really keep his speech to 2 minutes? Respect your guest’s time.
There is no perfect number of items for a Live Auction. I recommend you go with your very best auction items for the Live. If you have 6 GREAT items and 2 more that are so so. Go with the Solid 6! Remember, a good item, is a good item, is a good item. Those fringe items will almost certainly do just fine in your Silent Auction.
Let’s be clear. Items do not sell for more BECAUSE they were placed in the Live Auction. Nor do items underperform simply because they are placed in a Silent/Online Auction. I see solid items perform great in Silent Auctions all the time. I also see weak items bomb in a Live Auction. You should have honest conversations with Donors, Board Members, Staff about the worthiness of any item in consideration for the Live Auction. There are few things worse for a non-profit then embarrassing a donor. Explain your reasoning and make the case for why your Silent Auction is the right place for an item. The embarrassment that comes with a Donor's item bombing in front of 500 people is hard to recover from in any Development Office.
One more thing on Live vs Silent Placement. Much of the "My item MUST be in the Live Auction" issues we see are directly related to past performance of similar items in very poorly managed Silent Auctions. The number one issue at Benefit Auctions, for years, has been over crowded and often unorganized Silent/Online Auctions. Items underperformed because bidders could barely find and sort through the really good stuff. THAT is why things did poorly. That thing in the Live that sold over value? It was a great item that many people were willing to fight for.
Reinvest in your auction. Streamline. Computerize. Organize. Adjust. Adapt. Pivot. Listen to volunteers. Ask for feedback. Listen to the data. Fix problems. Be original. Try new things. Don't do what the organization “down the street” is already doing.
