Whether you're a true gourmand or simply a gal who enjoys a good meal, your guests will love these four benefit auction ideas incorporating a farm-to-table dining experience. Earlier this month while on the train traveling back from New York to Washington, D.C., I read Amtrak's magazine Arrive. One article covered the farm-to-table movement and listed several restaurants known for their work in this area. What is the farm-to-table movement? In essence, it's about sourcing ingredients ... Read On >
Live Auctions
Research-related excursions as charity auction item ideas
Last week I participated on a webinar in which we talked about charity auction item ideas and how to strategically procure them. Since then, I've had procurement on my mind! One of the participants worked for an Alzheimer's-related non-profit. She asked for suggestions on items to sell which might bring awareness to her mission, and still be of interest to her audience. Off-the-cuff, I suggested she might want to offer an item that tied to the research of Alzheimer's. Someone might be ... Read On >
Fashion Week tickets are hot charity auction items
Here's a super hot idea for your charity auction items list. Fashionistas know that Fashion Week happens twice a year -- once in the spring (usually March) to showcase fall fashions, and again in the fall (usually September), to showcase spring fashions. It's held in several cities around the world (New York, Paris, Milan, London, etc.). I've only sold tickets to New York. The tickets sell for a few thousand dollars without hotel or transportation. Why are these tickets so desirable? And how ... Read On >
Schedule the benefit auction BEFORE the headline entertainment
Are you planning on holding an auction fundraiser with headline entertainment? If so, pay heed to your scheduling. The order of events dramatically affects how much you raise in your benefit auction. Here's an example. For the past two days, I've been representing the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) at ASAE's Springtime Expo in Washington, D.C. (ASAE is the membership association for association staff members. NAA is a member of ASAE.) ASAE has decided to incorporate a benefit ... Read On >
A School Auction Excels at Marketing a Potato Cannon
The right unique school auction items will sell for high dollar in your gala. And a potato cannon, made by the school's beloved maintenance department, in an all-boys Catholic school ... is a perfect example of that. The cannon sold for $1000 at the school auction... twice. (Once the Auction Chair saw how well it was selling, she confirmed the maintenance team would be willing to build another one. The school doubled its revenue on that item.) Not only is this a fun idea, but what ... Read On >