When it comes to getting people to attend your event, the tactics run wild.
You might have tried to “steal” guests via the cold-invitation approach. One of my clients poured through the benefit auction catalogs of nearby charities, made note that so-and-so supported THAT event, and then sent them an invitation to their own gala.
It was effective. Remarkably, the nonprofit’s highest silent auction spender that year came from sending the woman a “blind” invitation. I seem to recall she even bought a table at their event.
(This is one argument for continuing to print some elegant paper invitations, despite your desire to go all-online. Emailing someone without permission is considered spam, regardless of how “beautiful” your email invitation might be. But when someone receives a beautiful paper invitation in their mailbox, it’s not immediately — if ever — seen purely as “junk mail.”)
A better way to build your audience is to identify untapped supporters in your community. Despite what you think, these people DO exist. In this video, I give two examples of ideal auction guests and share why they have never attended a benefit auction in their respective communities.
Francoise says
May 17, 2013 at 9:15 AMDisposable income doesn’t automatically mean that one becomes a donor. People personal interests, if close to your cause, do, and your cultivation of the person. Not what is in it for you, but for them!
Sherry Truhlar says
May 17, 2013 at 11:53 AMFrancoise, I agree with you in that disposable income in-and-of-itself won’t do it.
Of course, I’d rather have a group of people WITH disposable income than not. 🙂 I’ve seen two groups fill a room …. with volunteers. The guests were lovely people, committed to the mission. They salivated over the items for sale. But they didn’t have money to spend, so those 400 guests didn’t do much to further the cause financially. Dang it.
It’s about attracting those who have money to spend, AND an interest in the offering (with “offering” being either the cause or the item), isn’t it?
Mike Miller says
May 17, 2013 at 11:19 AMGreat tips Sherry. The dynamics of the crowd certainly do play into successful auctions. Once the volunteer committee knows about some of the auction items they may be able to identify people who have a fondness for that item and try and get them to attend. Free spirited and fun loving people are always great to have on hand as well. They are the life of the party.
Sherry Truhlar says
May 17, 2013 at 11:55 AMMike .. agreed!
Regarding “identifying people,” I worked with one of my clients to get some people in the room who liked a particular artist. We had one of his paintings for sale in the live auction, and we asked him for a list of collectors who lived in D.C. To us, it didn’t matter if they cared about the nonprofit’s mission … we just wanted them in the room for that one item.
Barbara Garelick says
May 20, 2013 at 10:48 AMYes, I agree…it’s the age old Quality VS Quantity adage.
Sherry Truhlar says
May 20, 2013 at 10:59 AMYes. And in the case of brownies or chips, I usually opt for quantity.
Barbara Garelick says
May 20, 2013 at 11:23 AMDitto
Sherry Truhlar says
May 20, 2013 at 11:33 AM🙂
Apollo Action says
August 7, 2013 at 6:37 AMGreat tips. Very insightful.
Thank you.
Sherry Truhlar says
August 7, 2013 at 8:47 AMThanks, “Apollo.” Appreciate you stopping by! Quick request: If you leave any further comments, please use your name (Johan van der Merwe … Elric Stander) because otherwise it tends to look as if you’re only creating inbound links for SEO purposes.