The first question to ask before you start planning the auction.

Imagine the scenario.

You’ve agreed to chair the benefit auction for a charity in your hometown. You’ve got lots of ideas but feel overwhelmed.

You’ve heard that auctioneers book months in advance, so you’ve decided to call a few today to get an idea of their services.

Stop. Don’t pick up the phone until you’re crystal clear about the answer to this question.

Why are you holding this event? What is the primary reason this fundraiser is being held?

You might think this is ridiculous question. I assure you it isn’t.

Consider the following story.

==============

Last month the Events Coordinator of a local school hired me for her upcoming auction. As we scheduled our upcoming consultation dates, I suggested we should talk about the school’s Fund a Need in one of our first meetings. I explained that I wanted to share some new strategies.

I told her that it would be best if a higher-level staff member – probably the Head of Advancement – was invited to our meeting. Often, paddle raise discussions benefit from having a Head’s involvement. Not only is their input useful (because they often know the major donors better than the Events Coordinator), but typically they want to be included in appeal strategy because the paddle raise is often a large portion of the fundraising.

In our meeting with the Head, it became clear that he wasn’t on the same wavelength as the Events Coordinator and me.

At one point I asked, “In your mind, what is the purpose of this event?”

(Hint: It wasn’t fundraising.)

He wanted people to have a nice, safe evening. The night was about camaraderie, making friends, building community, and socializing. Because of this, he didn’t have much interest in changing anything about the paddle raise, because – in his mind – the event was already meeting the goals intended.

The Events Coordinator was shocked. So was I.

After the meeting she went to her immediate supervisor (the Director of Development) and shared the conversation. “If this event is about throwing a party,” she told her supervisor, “Let me order some kegs and be done with it. We don’t need an auction.”

The Director of Development did not agree with the Head of Advancement. She reminded the Events Coordinator that the auction was in the budget! The gala was a 6-figure line item. She encouraged her to make any changes needed to hit that financial goal.

If you were volunteering to be Gala Chair at this school, would you be planning for the party or the auction? I’d say it’s a little confusing.

==============

My advice: If you volunteer to be a Gala Chair, make sure you know what the nonprofit expects from you. A party is easier to plan than a fundraiser.

When an organization calls me to inquire about services, I have a series of questions I ask to better understand the event. If the person calling me is knowledgeable about the past benefit auctions, our talk takes around 40 minutes. One question I ask is why the group is conducting this event. “To raise money for XYZ,” is the common response, but a deeper dive into that response will reveal other reasons as to why an event is being held.

As a benefit auctioneer, I believe it is important to understand why the fundraiser is taking place because it will determine how I work with my client.

For instance, if the goal is first and foremost to raise $100,000, then a group is usually focused on implementing time-tested strategies to ensure they achieve their dollar goal. They will re-arrange the schedule, change the menu, and refuse to let anyone of importance on stage if they feel it detracts from raising that $100,000.

But if the goal is to honor a local hero, the auction proceeds are secondary.

At that point, I know that if I suggest anything which might be perceived to conflict with the hero ceremony, I’ll lose that point! At this gala, the goal is to honor the hero — not raise cash. Thus, I’ll suggest appropriate ideas in relation to the event’s goal knowing that the auction takes second billing.

As you talk with your school or nonprofit about why an auction gala is being organized, here are some reasons I’ve heard that go beyond fundraising.

• Pressure from a donor – “We had one exceptionally nice item donated this year, and the donor refuses to let it be sold in a silent auction so we need to have a live auction.”
• Honor a local hero – “It is important for us to honor our Volunteer of the Year, so we’re going to have 60 minutes of speeches honoring him, and then the live auction will follow at 9:30 PM.” (Ugh, get me out of that room!)
• Tradition – “This is a social function. Our guests donate a lot of money throughout the year via another channel, so although we do some fundraising at this event, it’s always done with a light touch.”
• Entertainment – “Our Board Chair attended another gala that had an auction and she thought it was such fun! So now, she wants to include an auction in our event. It will be new entertainment for our guests.”
• Image – “Everybody in town attends this event. It’s a seen and be seen event. An auction has always been part of our evening so we always have one, but we don’t like to spend much time on it.”
• Volunteer involvement – “The auction doesn’t make that much money, but the women really enjoy it. It’s almost a competition among them! They get all kinds of items donated, and they like feeling that they are making a difference in our chapter. We like to encourage and foster that kind of involvement, so we wouldn’t ever stop having the auction, even though it’s not a big money-maker for us.”

Being honest with your benefit auctioneer as to the primary goal of your charity auction will go a long way in building your relationship. Your auctioneer will be able to suggest ideas appropriate to your gala and gracefully complement your mission.