The devil is often in the details. There are several “small” things that you can do to put your event on the path to success. This list is a great start: Hire a professional. Don’t risk your most important hour of fundraising for the entire year. Hire a professional fundraiser! Use a high quality public address system for the size and nature of your event. If you can’t communicate with your attendees they won’t understand your mission and your impact and revenue will suffer as a result. Room layout is important. As much as possible, make sure your room layout (position of bar, food, silent auction, etc.) is such that guests are likely to be where you want them to be when you want them to be there. Use big and bold bidders' numbers. Make sure bidders' number can be easily read from across the room. Size centerpieces and decorations to ensure excellent visibility. Make sure your guests can see your speakers, videos, and that the auctioneer can see and communicate with your guests. Large intrusive centerpieces are the enemy of communication and fundraising! Build and stick to an effective timeline. Call Kevin to talk through the elements of an effective timeline that meets the goals of your event.

We recommend a bell shape curve for the live auction item order. The first roughly 20% of the live auction should be items with broad appeal that will engage the attendees and generate active bidding. These items should not be the highest value items; these first items are designed to build momentum. The middle 60% of the live auction should be the highest value and profit items. The final 20% of the live auction should be any items that you are concerned about how they will sell or be received by your attendees. The goal is that we have built excellent momentum and generated a lot of revenue in the middle of the live auction and that momentum will continue and carry any items that may be concerning. If the last couple of items do not do as well, then our momentum is not hurt and our revenue is already made.

Momentum and timing during a live event are very important. Every minute your guests are in attendance is an opportunity to engage with them, deliver your message, and generate revenue. We tell clients about layering in up to 7 different revenue streams throughout the evening, with each revenue stream having a specific place in the program. Specifically, the live auction should begin as guests are finishing dinner and have dessert in front of them following an impactful mission moment. Kevin often jokes that you want to start the live auction at the “top of the alcohol curve and the beginning of the sugar rush.” Call us for ideas on how to layer multiple streams of revenue in your event and how to work with the venue and food service provider to make sure each revenue stream is maximized.

We work very closely with several mobile bidding providers and in most situations think that mobile bidding is the right choice for silent auction bidding and managing checkout for several reasons. However, the success of the Fund-a-Need is driven by very different psychology from the silent auction and, while mobile giving can be used in many elements of the event, it is not the best way to conduct the Fund-a-Need. Reach out to us to discuss the best ways to integrate mobile bidding into your event to maximize all possible revenue streams.