At a conference I attended this past summer, consultant Lori Jacobwith gave a presentation on storytelling. She shared a framework for creating a story. Storytelling is a powerful way to educate and connect guests to your cause, regardless of your event's style. In some cases -- and certainly during the events of which I'm a part – the complete story is often revealed immediately prior to me asking guests to make a contribution during a paddle raise / fund a need. When you host events ... Read On >
marketing
The big push at the end — the email campaign in the final hours
I've talked about the tricky matter of determining guest count at a virtual live gala. And I've also covered three tips for boosting virtual gala attendance. Today I zero in on one suggestion relevant for boosting attendance at your virtual gala -- email marketing. This isn't the year to go light on emails. The day and time of your virtual gala is more easily forgotten than your in-person gala. That's why it's important to remind guests multiple times of when your event is ... Read On >
Video marketing auction items to support your online school auction
To support two school auction clients whose galas were cancelled due to COVID-19, I shot videos that they could use as teasers for specific items being sold in an online auction. The goal was to get participants interested in bidding on these items. How did my school auction clients use these videos? They sent the video link in an email blast to their community. They posted and shared the video on Facebook. They added the video to the item description in the software online. It ... Read On >
Who else loves getting jam-packed gift bags? (This French school’s gift bag was oh-la-la.)
Today I'm sharing a video. You'll get to see the contents of a gift bag from one of my school auctions. But first, let me provide some background on this event. Fundraising auctions -- or at least the kind I blog about on this site -- are a fairly "American" thing -- or so I've been told by those who have attended galas in Europe. One woman who noticed these differences worked for a mobile bidding vendor. She told me that eventually she wanted to return home to London and become a ... Read On >
Raffle Cheat Sheet: A tool that helps volunteers sell more raffle tickets
Last night I worked an event that had about 1,000 guests in attendance. It was a tasting-style event ... the kind that have 50 or 60 restaurant chefs in attendance, each handing out samples of their food and cocktails. As they always do, the nonprofit did an excellent job of recruiting, organizing, and training its volunteers. For instance: All the volunteers were taken on a tour of the hotel so they knew where to direct guests. They could point out the registration and checkout ... Read On >