School Auctions, Fundraising Auctions, Charity Auctioneer

marketing

Classy example of sharing an auction dress code

Last Saturday I worked a school auction in the Washington National Cathedral.  The dress code was "Cathedral Dress."Though I've been to the Cathedral many times, I've worn everything from shorts (as a tourist) to a dress (for an organ concert). I wasn't exactly sure what was appropriate to this event, so I asked.I learned that it could be cocktail, but nothing too flashy or bright.  Sort of a “business cocktail.”Dress codes are important; you want everyone to be comfortable, and most ... Read On >

When to use “Submit your best bid” for item donations that can’t be sold at the fundraising auction

Earlier this month I wrote about how nonprofits can sell item donations that arrive after the fundraising auction, or arrive before the event, but have a date restriction preventing the item from being sold at the auction itself.  Typically these are donations for a sporting event, concert, or festival.If you run enough auctions, this situation is likely to happen to you.There are a few approaches for converting these donations into of these tickets to the highest bidder.For example, ... Read On >

Busted! Be wary of images used in fundraising auction displays

In the summer of 2015, the nonprofit division of Venable law published "Busted: Nonprofits Will Have to Pay the Photography Piper." The article itself is short and worth reading, but here's the synopsis. For many years, nonprofits have pulled images from the internet and used them in their publications or websites.Until recently, software didn't exist to make it easy for photographers and their agents to track down these copyrighted images.  Now the software exists, and nonprofits are ... Read On >

[Video] Should you promote the benefit auctioneer?

Yesterday I received this question from a client. Again this year, we are thinking about putting a Smartphone Auction card in our invite and on the back, adding information about two or three exciting live auction items with details about our auctioneer (you), including maybe your photo.  We are trying to inform our guests that we have a new auctioneer.  Here is what we were thinking we could say: "We’re putting together an exciting array of auction prizes, including X, Y, Z, and more! ... Read On >

[Video] Get aggressive about email marketing your auction

Boy was I on fire when I recorded this video!  I shot this about three months ago, after having two conversations with clients that got me all flushed about email marketing. I turned on the camera and my passion oozed out. (The audio didn't sync with the video on this, but the content is fine.)I get frustrated when clients explain that a school / nonprofit policy states they can’t send out more than one or two emails a month. Or that they have to promote the auction in a section of the ... Read On >