If a Kendra Scott jewelry store is in your area, call the community / charity relations contact in your local store. For the last two years, my clients have received generous donations from the retailer via its "Kendra Gives Back" program.Frankly, I haven't seen this kind of generosity since Keurig hit the market several years ago.Do you remember that? Not so long ago, every auction I worked had at least one Keurig coffee system in its silent auction. It was often accompanied by a ... Read On >
Procurement
New idea for your silent auction or raffle: Surprise Box
I want to share a new idea for silent auctions or raffles.Let's kick it off with a related story.============================Many years ago, one of my clients was annoyed.She oversaw the fundraising for the local chapter of a national nonprofit. The national management team had recommended she and other fundraisers working in major cities change the model of their silent auction.This new silent auction model was based on the success another major metropolitan area had ... Read On >
New for 2017: Procurement training “Mastering Nonprofit Auction Consignment”
By a long shot, the most popular trip I've sold in benefit auctions over the last ~3 years has been a trip to Cuba.For over 50 years, Cuba was a forbidden country for Americans. We couldn't (legally) travel there.As the rest of the world marched on, time stood still in Cuba -- and that's what auction guests are eager to experience. They are hot for Cuba because it's a step back in time.Magnificent buildings are occupied, but crumbling. Cars considered antiques in the United ... Read On >
Finding a big donor – in prison
File this under the topic of "Donations found in the unlikeliest of places."While flying Delta last month, the inflight magazine Delta Sky profiled lifestyle company Beekman 1802.Years prior to starting the company with his partner, one of the two co-owners, Brent Ridge, was a doctor who was working at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.While Martha Stewart was in prison, Ridge wrote her a letter asking her to donate money to his employer, Mount Sinai.She did. The resulting gift of ... Read On >
New for 2017: Auction procurement training class “How to get 2016’s top-selling items” plus a newly-released Auction Item Guide
Like an aging beauty queen lacking any other skills, my 2015 Auction Item Guide™ (“What sold for lots of green in 2015”) was desperate to hang on to her glory. But over the holidays, I ripped off her crown and showed her the door.Meanwhile the new 2016 Auction Item Guide™ (“These stole the scene in 2016”) took over the reigning duties and made herself at home on my website.You can now get the new Guide AND participate in a “pop-up” auction procurement training class, "How to get 2016's ... Read On >