Benefit Auctioneer, Mike Grigg with Elite Auctions & Fundraising Services discusses the importance of a plated dinner versus a buffet style dinner at your fundraising auction event. If you must do a buffet use food stations intermixed with your auction items. Try to avoid having a buffet at a fundraising auction event. There is a clear winner here… just watch to find out!
Category: Event planning
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Los Angeles Seminar: Skyrocket Your Fundraising Auction Revenue!! When: Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Where: Embassy Suites LAX North. 9801 Airport Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90045 (Fill out Registration Form at the bottom of this page. Limited seating available.)
Seminar Content:
Who Should Attend?
Investment:
Please fill out all information below and click ‘Submit’. The registration fee is $67. If you do not register online prior to the day of the seminar, the fee at the door will be $97. You will be redirected to the Seminar Payment page to make your payment after entering all information below. If additional members from your organization will be attending the fee will be $20 per additional member. Please list the names of each additional member in the ‘Additional Members‘ box below. LIMITED SEATING AVAILABLE SO PLEASE ACT QUICKLY! |
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/aOwES5nLsTo]Auction Hero was created by Mike Grigg with Elite Auctions and Fundraising Services to help drive donation results prior to a fund a need or appeal. It comes from the theory of “All they can say is no.” The professional fundraising auctioneer will ask the crowd if there are any auction heroes in the audience that would like to go above and beyond the call of duty and ask the guests to give a gift that is meaningful to them above the highest pre set level of the fund a need. Here is a video to demonstrate.
Here is a handy checklist from start to finish that you can use. Not all topics on the checklist are covered in the post, but many are self explanatory.
9 – 12 Months prior to Event
- Choose an Event Chair or President
- Select your Committee Coordinators
- Figure out a budget
- Choose a venue
- Choose a theme for the event
- Figure out who your target guests will be
6-8 Months prior to Event
- Develop a marketing plan
- Figure out the event timeline
- Choose an auctioneer
- Choose the Audio/Visual company
- Choose your entertainment
- Begin procurement and table sales (ongoing until event)
- Create a sponsor kit with different levels
3-5 Months prior to Event
- Viewing of the venue with committee members
- Advertising and PR for the event
- Develop your fund-a-need cause
- Send out invitations/save the dates
- Figure out how you will collect the money at the event
1-2 Months prior to Event
- Begin setting up your staff
- Secure volunteers
- Finalize the event’s timeline
- Get the live auction list to the auctioneer to put in appropriate order
- Finalize the Program and send to printer
- Finalize any videos or auction Power Points
0-1 Month prior to Event
- Let your auctioneer know if there have been any changes
- Start packing supplies, displays, and anything you need to bring to the venue
- Send out a Facebook announcement, website blog, or email blasts to remind guests
- Let the venue know how many guests will be attending
- Finalize the guest list
- Finalize all forms that will be needed at the event
- Meet with your committee and volunteers the day prior to the event
Post Event
- Finalize your accounting
- Send out thank you announcements to guests
- Have a post event meeting with committee and auctioneer
- Go over pluses and minuses
- Set the date for the next event
- Book the auctioneer for the next event if you were happy with him
- Send out a press release of the organization’s success
- Take a short vacation!
A-list celebrities and even local celebrities can add to the excitement of your event. Celebrities make great emcees, but do not use them as your auctioneer. They are not trained and do not call auctions for a living. If you are going to have celebrities at your event try to market your event with their names in the advertisement if they are definitely booked. This will add a whole new draw to your event.
Try to stay away from celebrity attendees coming on stage and auctioning items; simply let them come on stage to promote an item and pump up the crowd and let the auctioneer do the bid calling. If you are going to have a celebrity as a guest speaker have the auction and fundraising first then the celebrity can speak after all the money is raised. Remember, you are there to raise money first and entertain second.
 Most of your auction attendees have more fun with the live auction versus the silent auction at a charity event. However, in order to sell a lot of low to mid-range valued items for a charity event in a short period of time and keep your audience captivated, a silent auction should be utilized.
Charity auctions should have no more than 8-12 items or about 45 minutes max in the live auction portion. These should only consist of your highest ticket items. People are not attending a charity/benefit event to hear an auctioneer all night, however in order to capture their full attention for the big ticket items, a professional auctioneer is essential. In some cases more items can be worked into the schedule, just ask your auctioneer what he or she recommends. Silent auctions are ideal for charity events that have a strict time-frame and a lot of items to sell. Attendees can enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while they place silent bids on some of the lower to mid-range priced items, which can get them in the mood for the higher dollar items to be held later in the live auction. Silent auctions have their purpose during the cocktail hour, but in order to maximize the key items’ values you must do a live auction as well. Ask your fundraising consultant about some of the great techniques to maximize bidding during your silent auction because the average item brings about 60% of value. Elite Auctions has a revenue enhancer to bring that number up to 80%! |
| If you are not holding a charity event and have more of a ballroom setting with many items to sell, then the most effective way is by live auction. All-day events like prop auctions, memorabilia auctions, or any type of multi-item auction work best with a live auction event, because the silent auction format simply takes too long and does not keep the bidders’ attention. |
For most charity events I highly recommend doing a plated dinner versus a buffet. Mainly because with a plated dinner your guests are already in their seats and relaxed, ready to pay attention to the speakers and auctioneer. A buffet takes a long time to before every table is served, which pushes the auction and fundraising way back to a time that people are exhausted and maybe a little too tipsy to give full attention to what you are there to accomplish… raise money!
The secondary reason for having a plated dinner is simple… it is more classy and makes your guests feel like they are at an event that demands respect and high dollar giving. Remember, every small thing that you do to enhance your event has a positive impact on your bottom line. You not only want your guests to leave your event giving every last dollar and then some, but also talk about how classy and fun your event was to their friends and peers. This will result in higher attendance for your next event, which can result in making more money.