I like to be prepared for my fundraising auctions, as I know it matters in different ways to the donor, the nonprofit, and the guests.
In this video, I share a recent example of how the printed description of a donation (a vertical of Far Niente wine) didn’t seem to match the label of the wine. The last thing I wanted to do was screw up the description of the 5-bottle donation. It’s pricey, and the donation even included a unicorn 2016 vintage.
Furthermore, about 300 C-level people would be sitting in the room, so I knew somebody was going to be enough of a connoisseur to know the difference between the vintners Oakville Estate and the easier-to-obtain Napa Valley blend.
Bidding could have been depressed had guests thought the bottles were from the blend. But in my research I stumbled across a video that prompted me to double-check the wine, and I realized I would be selling the more coveted Oakville Estate bottles.
I clarified the description onstage, promoted the rarity of the set, and it sold for almost 200% of value.
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