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Giving in 2015 and involving Millennials


I recently attended a presentation sponsored by the Giving USA FOUNDATION entitled “The  Annual Report on Philanthropy for the year 2015”.

We were informed that 2015 was a year of steady and strong giving, explaining that the total contributions for 2015 where $373 .25 billion.  88% of the total contributions came from individuals, bequests, and family foundations. The individual contributions were up 3.8% over 2014, family foundations giving increased 6.5% and bequests were up 2.1%.  2014 and 2015 combined saw giving increase 12.2% which is the largest two-year increase since 2003 – 2005.

I am including a graphic that presents many other interesting facts about our giving in the year 2015. The graphic was created by the Giving USA Foundation.

Now with individuals being the greatest source of contributions it is extremely important we discover the most effective way to involve the next generation of donors, the Millennials. During this same presentation we heard from a panel of experts involved with philanthropic organizations. One of the subjects they discussed and I felt important to share with you is how to encourage and motivate Millennials to participate in the many aspects of fundraising for your charitable organization.The panel pointed out that Millennials don’t give to organizations, they support causes and because Millennials are so connected through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media, they have the ability to influence so many of their friends for your cause.  In order to take advantage of this fact it’s important you use social media not to sell your organization but to tell the world about your cause by sharing stories and pictures and featuring people who have benefited from your service. If the millennial is moved by your message and connects to your cause they will become an influential voice to all their friends and family via social media.

Blackbaud also reported in their Generational Giving Report that 50% of Millennials share information about charities they support with their friends on Facebook.
It was also pointed out that with the millennium’s being 18 to 32 years old, the best way to excite them about your cause is to encourage them to volunteer. In the beginning volunteering their time and energy is the path to Millennials becoming your loyal donors.
With the Millennials being the largest generation since Baby Boomers we can certainly see the importance of connecting your cause to this generation.
Written by Connie Waddell, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services
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The Ultimate Fundraising Auctioneer

Check out this new “movie trailer” video showcasing Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services.  We are so proud to be in this exciting business and LOVE our nonprofits and schools for the good they bring into each community we serve.  If you need a professional benefit auctioneer and consultant we would be honored if you considered us!

 
Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services
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What Should Your Nonprofit Organization be doing in the “Off-Season”?

Drawing out a plan

We all know that the Fall fundraising season just came to a close and everyone is in holiday mode now.  All I can say is DO NOT wait to start planning, procuring and cultivating your donor list until the last 2 months prior to your next benefit auction event!  Here are three simple things you can do in the “off-season” to start planning for your next charity auction event:

1.  Cultivate your donor list – Start making those important phone calls and contacts to your donors that generously gave at your last event.  You don’t have to start asking for more at this point, just thank them for their donation and start to develop a relationship with them.  Don’t just call them when your next event is approaching and ask for money or items; this looks like you only care about them when you need something!  Really try to get to know them and take some notes as you talk to them to remind you for future calls.

2.  Hire your professional fundraising auctioneer and consultant – Good auctioneers book up extremely quickly, many times 8 months to a year in advance!  DO NOT WAIT TO BOOK THEM OR YOU MIGHT NOT GET TO WORK WITH YOUR FAVORITE AUCTIONEER!  I recommend booking your benefit auctioneer immediately following your last event if you were happy with the service they provided.

3.  Start to procure for items – It’s never too early to start procuring items for your next event.  In fact, you have a great opportunity to ask for items or help getting items for your next event as you stay in touch with your donors and build those relationships (not necessarily the first phone call thanking them for their participation).

There are obviously many things you should be prepping for in regards to your next fundraising auction event, but these are three simple things that you absolutely should be doing well in advance to ease the panic when your event is right around the corner.  

Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services

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Do Sign Up Boards at a Fundraising Event work?

sign up board

Here at Elite Auctions & Fundraising Services we are always searching for alternative “revenue enhancing” ideas at our fundraising auction events other than the live auction, silent auction and fund a need or ask.  We have compiled a book of several revenue enhancers to use at your event and share this with all of our clients.  Well, here is one of those enhancers that works well if executed properly… Sign Up Boards.  When your organization has an over abundance of 8-20 person parties, like a bourbon and cigar tasting party for the guys or a fiesta and salsa dancing party for the girls, then a sign up board may just be the thing you’re organization is looking for.

Here’s how it works.

Step 1:  Design a poster board with the amount of lines matching the amount of people the party is for and number them 1-8, 1-10, etc. and set a fixed price for each participant (i.e. $50, $100, etc.)

Step 2:  Have a reveal time when the board(s) are uncovered and open for sign ups (Hint: Have your professional auctioneer make a big deal about it on the sound system).

Step 3:  When guests come over to the boards have volunteers explain each party to them and have the guests put their name/bidder number on the open lines.  Once the board(s) are full then your parties are sold out!

Simple, fun and effective!!  This is one of many ways to add a revenue enhancer into your fundraising auction event.  Good luck with your fundraising auction event!

Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS with Elite Auctions & Fundraising Services

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How to Raise More Money from Your Donation Web Pages

When it comes to raising money from your donation pages I think every bit of advice can help.  Here are some suggestions from the blog of John Haydon’s: “19 Ways to Raise More Money From Your Donation Pages.”

This should get your donation page on track:

  1. Ditch the vintage PayPal button
  2. Write a powerful headline
  3. Use fewer words – Only focus on your story and your call-to-action
  4. Limit paragraphs to 2-3 sentences
  5. Use pictures
  6. Use white space to direct the eye
  7. Remove the sidebars and navigation menue
  8. Reduce steps to donate
  9. Only ask for what’s required
  10. Write copy in second person narrative – The word “you”
  11. Pick on call to action
  12. Repeat the CTA three times
  13. Use bullet points and numbered items
  14. Use big fonts
  15. Use big buttons
  16. Keep it above the fold
  17. Make it mobile
  18. Optimize your donation pages for search engines
  19. Create a seamless donor experience across all marketing channels

Written by Tracy Karbus of Elite Auctions & Fundraising Services with information from John Haydon.

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Motivational Speakers at Your Fundraising Auction Event


Condoleezza Rice speaks at the Solutions for Change Auction
There are two very important segments of the event that a good motivational speaker is needed… before the live auction and before the fund-a-need.  The speaker prior to the start of the live auction should be someone that can somewhat educate the crowd about the cause and share a personal experience to get the crowd emotional.  Getting members of the crowd to “tear up” is always a good thing.  This speech should not exceed 2-3 minutes and the live auction should begin promptly following.  Videos are okay to utilize for this but they have to be great not good.  

The second speaker should come on following the live auction just prior to the fund-a-need.  This speaker needs to be extremely passionate, as the crowd is many times drained from the live auction that just took place.  The speaker must re-energize the crowd and talk about what specifically the fund-a-need dollars will represent (i.e. building a new structure for the organization to help kids, funding a specific cause, etc.).  I have found that younger teenagers or children that are good in front of people and have a personal impact experience to share are excellent for this speech.  Once again, a video can be used here but it must be great not good.  If you used a video for the first slot then try to have a live speaker for the second and vice versa. 

Motivational speakers are imperative to the success of your live auction and fund-a-need.  You can do without them but don’t expect incredible results.  As you can see so far, there are a lot of small elements that all add up to a big result.
Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS
EliteFundraisingAuctions.com
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Signs Your Organization might be ready for Benefit Auction Software


Imagine an event night with seamless transactions and automation systems that track bid packages, bids, and donor activity. Many nonprofit organizations are managing their single largest fundraising event on Access or Excel spreadsheets. This can create certain challenges like version control if there are a number of people managing the events details.  It might be time to consider software if your organization:

  1. Has high volume of new volunteers each year. Software maintains history
  2. Has multiple people who need to enter attendees, donations, items etc. – Cloud software can have unlimited users and real time updates
  3. Needs to sell tickets and take donations online – Software reduces data entry
  4. Is not able to tell its auctioneer or board which part of its auction raises the most money
  5. Is not able to tell your auctioneer or board the average % of value your silent and live auction delivered at an event
  6. Doesn’t know what sold well the year before
  7. Doesn’t know who its most generous donors are
  8. Has long lines at check-in and out and spends weeks afterwards collecting the money
  9. Doesn’t know who was thanked from the event guests to coordinators
  10. Needs to reduce the stress of its volunteer and paid staff

There are many types of software out there.  Determine what actions your organizations need to be able to do.  For example, do you need a website to share information about your event? Do you need to take donations, ticket sales, preview your catalog, sell sponsorships and display your sponsors?  Do you have one person entering and managing auction data or a team?  Once you’ve answered some of these questions, start comparing and contrasting software to your list of musts.

A PC version is nice for one person but when an organizations has multiple people managing auction details,  an online version means multiple users can work at the same time. Furthermore, the IT team doesn’t have to install it on a network.  Information is available 24/7 for the auction team.

Software helps you keep the history of the event to hand off to next year’s team.  Also, software that runs reports helps organizations measure areas of success and opportunities to improve.  Lastly, it can help with quick registration, entering winning bids and checking attendees out quickly.

It might be time for software if you’ve recently said, “I’ll never volunteer again!”

Debby Roth-Bush, Greater Giving for Elite Auctions& Fundraising Services

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How important are recorders for your live auction and fund a need?

clipboard

One of the most important jobs at a fundraising auction event are the recorders.  These are the people that are logging in the winning bid amounts and donation amounts from the live auction and fund a need.  They will also be the people running the recorder sheets to the check out personnel.  Sounds simple right?  We see more mistakes made here than almost any other volunteer job… it is a tragedy because this is where serious money can be lost!
 

Here is the formula for success with your recorders: 


  1. Don’t have volunteers that like to drink alcoholic beverages handling your recording.
  2. Assign this job to three people with identical recorder sheets to prevent missed bid amounts or bidder numbers.
  3. Have pre-designed recorder sheets that are simple to understand.  Lay out your live auction sheet in the same order of the actual live auction and let recorders know if there are any items that have the potential to sell twice.  Design your fund a need sheet in columns with the same levels your professional auctioneer will be asking your guests to give.
  4. Make sure that the three recorders check each other’s sheets and combine to one sheet for the checkout personnel.
  5. All recorders need to be placed in a quiet corner close to a speaker, so they can hear, and just listen, logging in data based on what the auctioneer says.  DO NOT HAVE RECORDERS TRY AND FIND THE BIDDER NUMBERS THEMSELVES; THIS IS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER!
  6. Have the recorders meet with the auctioneer prior to the event to go over the system.


Written by Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS
EliteFundraisingAuctions.com
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How Important is Audio/Visual at a Fundraising Auction Event?


Having great, not good, not okay, but great sound is imperative to your fundraising auction event’s success.  Here are some tips regarding audio/visual at your fundraising event:
  • Never use the in-ceiling house system.
  • Always surround the room with speakers (Don’t leave out the attendees in the back). 
  • Always have screens with auction items displayed during live auction. 
  • Don’t forget to have high quality sound in your silent auction area as well (If located in a different area). 
  • Don’t have too much treble or too much bass. 
  • Have a professional A/V company handle it!

I am no expert in designing or setting up the A/V equipment and I’m assuming you are not either, so have a professional do this step… it can make thousands of dollars difference in your bottom line!  Just picture yourself at a fundraising auction sitting at one of the tables in the back of the room when there are only two speakers in the front and people around you are chatting with each other.  All you can hear is a rumbling sound but you can’t quite make out what the auctioneer is saying… you can’t bid if you can’t hear so the result to the non-profit or school is less money.

Not only is it important to have enough speakers but it is equally important to have enough amperage to power the speakers.  You want rich, deep sound when the auctioneer is chanting or your emcee is speaking.  I leave you with one final thought: “Is it worth paying a fee to an A/V company if you can make significantly more at your event?”

Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS
Chief Auctioneer/Consultant
Elite Auctions & Fundraising Services
http://www.EliteFundraisingAuctions.com
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How to hire a professional fundraising auctioneer… What should I ask when determining which auctioneer to hire?


DON’T FORGET TO TAKE YOUR AUCTIONEER’S ADVICE WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING MONEY AT YOUR EVENT!
Hiring a professional auctioneer for your charity, benefit or fundraising event is an essential element to maximizing your organization’s profit.
www.elitefundraisingauctions.com
Here are some questions that can be asked to determine whether or not the auctioneer is reputable…
1.  Do you specialize in charity auctions?
Auctioneers that specialize in charity, benefit and fundraising auctions are going to be best equipped to handle all aspects of your event from the silent auction, live auction and the fund-a-need or appeal.  There are many proven “tricks of the trade” that a professional charity auctioneer will know vs. a volunteer or non-charity auctioneer.
2.  Are you bonded as an auctioneer in the State of California?
Auctioneers that conduct business in the State of California are required by law to be bonded by the state.  If the company you are interviewing is not bonded by the State of California be very cautious to proceed with them.  Check your state laws regarding auctioneers if you are not conducting your auction in California.
3.  Are you a member of the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) and your State Auctioneers Association?
It is not manditory that auctioneers be members of the NAA or their state associations, but all auctioneers that are members of both associations are required to follow a code of ethics while practicing as a legitimate auction company.  Do not do business with auctioneers that aren’t members of both associations because they may not be looking out for your best interests.
4.  How many successful auctions have you completed and how many years have you been in the business?
Choosing an auctioneer that has not conducted more than 50 successful auctions and been in the auction business for at least 5 years may not be in your best interests.  In order for auctions to have a positive outcome they must be handled by an auctioneer that has the
proper knowledge and experience, which can only be gained by conducting a multitude of successful auctions over a legitimate time period.  (Pictured right: Mike Grigg, AARE, BAS of Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services on stage taken by Henry A. Barrios The Californian)
5.  Do you have any auction videos that I can view?
An auctioneer should be able to show you videos of him/her in action.  If he/she does not have videos, request to attend one of his/her upcoming auctions so that you can see how he/she works with the crowd to entertain, raise money and how his/her overall personality will mesh with your organization.
6.  What type of training have you had regarding benefit auctions?
There are several different training courses and designations that an auction can complete.  The National Auctioneers Association has the Benefit Auctioneer Specialist (BAS) designation that less than 1% of fundraising auctioneers hold.  It would be a huge bonus if your auctioneer had this designation.  Ask them if they attended auction school to learn his or her chant as well.  An auctioneer that is new to benefit auctions or doesn’t have any training might not be the best choice for your event.
7.  Do you charge for your services?
Auctioneers that don’t charge for their services are not going to take your event seriously.  Many times they are not charging because they don’t value their ability to maximize your profit.  Ask the auctioneer what their fees are and use your judgment in determining if their cost is fair.  Remember, good charity auctioneers are the line item in the budget that make you money… It does not cost, it pays to have a professional benefit auctioneer.  They will pay for themselves with the extra revenue they will achieve vs. a volunteer.  Volunteers, weathermen, comedians, etc. are not trained as auctioneers and will lose thousands of dollars for your cause… they will cost you far more than hiring a professional with their lack of experience and consulting knowledge.  “Having a volunteer or unqualified auctioneer handle your event is like having your accountant work on your car.”

*Remember, a good charity auctioneer has a lot of tips that can maximize your event’s profits using a multitude of different techniques.  Auctioneers that have conducted a lot of auctions have seen many different money-making ideas and know what works and what doesn’t work (i.e. timeline, types of auctions, what order to put your items in, fund-a-need, etc.)