Have you ever pulled together a video of your gala to use as a marketing tool for your auction the following year? If not, here's a typical example of a video you might wish to model. A couple of months ago (November 2014), one of my first-year clients was St. Marcus School, a private school in Milwaukee, WI. The school has been widely touted as a national model for inner city education. (You can read newspaper articles about the school's approach and philosophy. Most students attend ... Read On >
sponsors / underwriters
How to personalize a benefit auction catalog so guests take it home and use it
I suspect many auction planners consider their auction catalog to be a necessary evil. It might be viewed as a "must do" because allowing advertising in the piece is one of the few sponsorship benefits a company or individual receives for investing in the fundraiser. Others see it as a vehicle for sharing information about the nonprofit, describing the auction items, or even as a place to hold less interesting content, such as benefit auction rules or checkout procedures. But catalogs (or ... Read On >
How a binder can make auction donors feel special
I've been racking up the airline miles working auctions nonstop for the last few weeks. Wisconsin, California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and other states have been on my itinerary ... sometimes more than once. The constant go-go-go- has been exhausting, but the advantage of all that travel are the new ideas I pick up along the way. Today's tip is a nice touch from a classy Iowa gala I worked recently. If your benefit auction includes a live auction, somebody is ... Read On >
VIDEO: Benefit Auction Gift Ideas for Guests
It's a rare bird who wouldn't like to leave a party with a treat, and that includes your auction guests. But gifts don't have to take the form of a traditional gift bags filled with your nonprofit literature, either. (I'd rather they not.) In this video, I share several benefit auction gift ideas I've seen at events, starting with the more traditional and mundane (think edible goodies) to the more exquisite and rare. Gifts are best when they support your mission, a ... Read On >
Great example of an event sponsorship with Porsche
As I type this, I've spoken with three clients in the last 24 hours about designing or beefing up their event sponsorships. In two cases, we talked about rarely considered benefits they could use to entice new sponsors. In another case, we talked about how to design a complete event sponsorship program. With these discussions in my head, I can't help but recall the savvy partnership I witnessed between my nonprofit hospice client and the car manufacturer Porsche just two weeks ago. Major ... Read On >