Sometimes the most obvious of marketing techniques are overlooked. For instance, using signage. At the benefit auction, I direct guests toward items by referring to the signage. "Join me in the Red Section," I'll say, "Look for the Red Section sign. We're admiring class projects in the Red Section." Or, "You can buy these at the Raffle table. Look for the sign that says "Raffles." The tricky part is the cost. Though it's relatively easy to have graphics and signs produced, small grossing ... Read On >
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Silent Auction Idea for Entertainment: Frames for self-portraiture
Last Saturday I worked for a school that used “Gotham City” as its theme. I saw this idea and immediately thought of all the ways it could be used in other silent auctions. One of the least expensive ways to add entertainment to your silent auction area is to incorporate photography. Photo-related entertainment concepts might include ideas such as ... Flip books The Boothomatic (I received a promotion last week on a new type of booth designed specifically for “Selfies.” The entire ... Read On >
The difference between a minimum bid and a starting bid
Today's post applies to live auctions. Over the last two weeks, I’ve received some version of this email from two different clients: "The donor of this item wants to set a minimum starting bid of $1500. What do you think? What starting bid would you recommend?" It’s not uncommon for those new to benefit auctions to confuse the terms “starting bid” and “minimum bid.” Usually your donor is expressing “minimum bid,” meaning that he doesn’t want the item to sell for less than the amount he has ... Read On >
How to get higher bids at your benefit auction: Encourage “group-ons”
One client sells a popular item in the live auction. It’s the chance for eight people to dine at a nice restaurant with the Head of the School. Fine wines are served and the food is spectacular, but the real draw is the chance to enjoy a meal with the popular headmaster. “Get your 'Group-on,'” one of the auction co-chairs encourages. “Bid on this item with your friends!” It’s a clever play on words. Since the word “Groupon” has entered our vocabulary around 2009, many of us know a Groupon to ... Read On >
How to organize a charity auction: Part 2 (Auction Chair tools)
[This is the second part of a two-part blog. Read "How to organize a charity auction, part 1" here.] As mentioned in Part 1, I thought about writing on this topic a few months ago and decided, "Nope. I need to save this topic until January." The reason being is that January is the month that many stores -- Home Depot, Walmart, Kmart, Target, Staples, The Container Store (the annual Elfa® sale) -- advertise one particular theme. Getting organized! This is THE month that many stores ... Read On >