The description overlooked providing a date OR day for this activity. We wrote it on the left-hand side.
This is Part 2 of a series examining how missing information on silent auction descriptions costs you revenue in your auction fundraiser.
My floor team are outstanding sales support in any auction. They find an item and work it until it has bids … or until they have outright sold it to a guest.
But if a silent auction description is lacking key information, my sales reps must leave their post to find someone in the marketing department who knows about this item and can provide the missing details.
Here are some additional common omissions on silent auction donation descriptions. Read the rest of this entry »
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's art is always edgy ... just like its performances.
Last Tuesday, I headed into Washington, D.C. to check out the open house offered by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. (I’m always game to learn about new potential benefit auction venues.)
I’ve been to Woolly Mammoth before, but under different pretenses. Read the rest of this entry »
Anybody know where this place is located?
If you’re wondering why some items in your silent auction just aren’t getting the bidding activity you expected, re-read your silent auction descriptions.
In almost every silent auction my team conducts, we are spending time researching the items to find out details. Critical information will be missing from descriptions. Until that information is known to the guests, they won’t bid.
Here are some tips on what seem to be common omissions.
In any metropolitan area, guests need to know the suburb, town, or general location of the business. Read the rest of this entry »
The McMommy Chronicles blogger ...
This past week I learned that one of my clients is a fellow blogger. A witty blogger. And she’s letting me re-post one of her clever posts here.
But first, here’s the back story.
In 2008, I worked with Christ Church School in Fort Lauderdale, FL. For the first time, they broke the 6-figure mark in their auction returns. After that gala, Shayna Altman-Neal, the Auction Co-Chair, wrote:
“Our event was awesome! We feel the night was incredible. We surpassed our goals, and set a new standard for this school auction. It was time to take our event to the next level, and we got more than we thought possible. It was a 30% net increase from the previous year. Read the rest of this entry »
Serving as Auction Chair is stressful enough. Let’s ensure you’ve got at least some basic tools to make planning the charity auction easier.
1. Free conference calls Read the rest of this entry »
A signed and numbered print of Shepard Fairey's HOPE piece was popular at a Washington, D.C. event.
(This is part 2 of a two-part post discussing the selling of art in your auction fundraiser.)
Last week I talked about why you should avoid selling traditional art in your live auction fundraiser. I gave tips for selling art, and I’m adding to it this week with three additional ideas.
This stunning (and it was!) hand blown glass vessel and tripod had a value of $6000. It saddens me to say what it sold for, so I won't.
I’m going to make a bold statement: Avoid selling traditional art in your live auction, unless you are an exclusive art auction.
Traditional art pieces — items like sculptures, paintings, drawings, and mixed media which are produced by a professional artist who makes his or her living from selling artwork – are risky auction items for the standard, non-art benefit auction.
Art is too subjective. What I like, you don’t. What fits my home décor, doesn’t match yours. Art has limited appeal, and the goes against the most general of fundraising auction strategies which is to select auction items with broad appeal.
Are there exceptions? Of course! Read the rest of this entry »
A Beach Ball theme brings out the bright colors.
The official theme was “Beach Ball,” but the overall effect was definitely more on the “beach” and less on the “ball.”
When spring break isn’t quite here and winter has been around for what seems like eternity, everyone is eager to relive some of the summer fun enjoyed so many weeks before. Sand, sun, and water may still be months away, but it’s nice to have a party that reminds us of the warm sunshine that is coming. Read the rest of this entry »
Got a charity auction coming up, and wondering what to tweet?
Or maybe you just want to help a charity you love by getting the word out on Twitter?
Regardless of your motive, here are some ideas to model. I see great auction-related tweets all the time on Twitter and pulled a few to get your juices flowing. Read the rest of this entry »
Last April I wrote about one positive point of a down economy: discounted venues for our auction fundraisers. Given the number of charity auctions which are held in hotel ballrooms and unusual venues, a falling price point for rental space is attractive for many groups.
Looks like some venues are still aggressively competing on price. Read the rest of this entry »