How to Host a Successful Charity Auction
Hosting a big charity auction is an exciting event! You may be ahead of the game when it comes to planning your location, the exciting theme, and various ideas for big-auction items to raise the most money possible. But how do you use those hot items to draw people to your event? The biggest secret to having a successful charity auction is to have exciting items and secure those items early for donors to think about and build anticipation for your event through marketing strategies.
What do the People Want?!
Before you start collecting your big-ticket items, you will want to contact big donors and see what packages they would be the most inclined to bid on. You could prompt them by asking what travel packages they would be interested in and what they would be willing to bid on. Another option is to send out a survey of what items they are interested in. If you are lucky, this could even give you a commitment to purchase before your event.
Make it Exciting
While people love gift baskets and collectibles, the experiences are where you will make your money. These activities are priceless and will bring a lot of attention to your charity auction. You can advertise sporting events, day trips, vacations, etc. Use flyers, social media posts, and email campaigns to show these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. This will build momentum and draw more of a crowd to your auction.
Advertise Your Auction Items
A MUST in charity auctions is giving sneak peeks. This will help donors to start thinking ahead of time about your items and why they need to be in attendance. This will also help them to mentally prepare to bid on larger amounts. Donors are more likely to spend more money if they have had time to budget and think it over. Someone who is put on the spot the day of may feel differently about spending thousands of dollars on the big-ticket items. By sending out sneak peeks through various marketing strategies, you are sure to put a thought in the back of your donor’s mind that will build excitement up until it is auction day.
Sell an Experience
Travel packages are guaranteed to create some interest. Donors may even get competitive to win the prize for themselves or their families. Most people who fit the profile of high net-value donors have a budget specifically for leisure travel. Wealthy 50+-year-olds are going to bring the cash to purchase these types of Experiences because they have the time and money set aside to do so. Bidding on a travel experience that they were already planning to take and giving that money to a good cause is going to be a win-win for them. Another way to make a couple extra thousand for your nonprofit is to sell the experience multiple times. You can conduct normal bidding, but then sell to the top two or three bidders.
- Published in Uncategorized
Challenging Yourself
Why is it important to set challenges for yourself? Because the only way to advance in your life, in your career, in your relationship, is to challenge yourself. Taking on a new challenge means that you are doing something you haven’t done before. It means taking your current skills and doing whatever it takes to escalate them to the next level. It means developing and applying new attitudes, behaviors, skills, and practices.
When you set a goal and take on a new challenge, you don’t have to sprint towards the finish line – you might walk at times, sprint at times, and stumble throughout the process. Set realistic expectations and decide how you are going to face failure.
Let’s take a look at a few ways you can choose to challenge yourself today.
- Focus on doing what matters to you and avoid doing things that matter less.
- Build new relationships.
- Strengthen and develop current relationships.
- Practice listening before speaking.
- Say no to things that do not build you up and support the lifestyle you are working towards.
What can you do to help accomplish the challenges you set for yourself?
- Be vocal about your goals and let others know what you’re challenging yourself to.
- Find a mentor or friend that will support you and be an accountability partner.
- Define your overall goal. Use the challenges listed above to help you reach a goal in your life – whether it be a career goal, relationship goal, or lifestyle goal.
- Set short-term wins. When reaching for a big, long-term goal you must focus on the day-to-day ways you can be successful in taking steps to your larger goal.
Challenging yourself is difficult. It means you are facing fears and exposing weaknesses but ultimately you will become a stronger, better version of yourself.
In what ways will you challenge yourself today?
- Published in Inspiring Spaces
How to Host a Charity Auction
What is a Charity Auction?
A charity auction is a fundraising event in which attendees bid to win auction items and packages. The highest bidder wins the item and the fundraising organization receives the proceeds. Mast Auctioneers is here to make your charity auction a highly engaging experience that will surely bring success to your fundraising efforts.
How to plan a Charity Auction
- Figure out your budget.
- Decide when and where your auction will take place. As you look at venues take into consideration how many people you will expect to show.
- Book an auctioneer. Mast Auctioneers has an award-winning team of auctioneers, ringmen, and auction professionals to provide you with superior service. Contact us today!
- Set a fundraising goal.
- Begin the procurement process with your team. (Read more about this below!)
- Start marketing your auction.
- Think about the details of your event including food, auction item display, the checkout process, item distribution, etc.
- Host your auction and watch the excitement and energy that Mast Auctioneers brings to your event!
- Follow up with auction attendees to thank them.
How to Procure Auction Items
1. Form a team
Procuring auction items is a huge task – don’t try to take it on by yourself! Form a procurement committee to share the workload of soliciting and tracking items.
2. Get started early
Getting high-quality items takes some time. Brainstorm a list of items, along with potential donors for each item. Personally reach out to them several months in advance.
3. Take your audience into consideration
Take some time to think about who will be attending your auction. What is the average age? How much are they comfortably able to bid on auction items? Do you know what their past engagement at an auction looks like?
4. Create a wishlist
After taking a deep dive into your audience, brainstorm a list of items that you would like to auction off. Shoot for some items that seem out-of-reach! Share your vision and tasks to keep track of your item progress with your team.
How to Market a Charity Auction
You’ve worked hard to plan your charity auction, but now you need to get the word out to get people to come!
- Share on your social media – A LOT! As soon as you are sure of the where and when, share save-the-dates so that people can mark their calendar. Share featured items that will be auctioned off to get your followers interested in attending.
- Lay out your auction goal on your organization’s blog. Describe what the auction events will look like, things to look forward to, and the goals that you have for your auction.
- Send out invitations through email and snail-mail.
There’s a lot on the line with charity auctions. Organizations depend on auctions to generate large portions of their annual budgets. If they don’t go well, they have a chance of missing their annual budget.
We have auctioneers specifically trained in the nonprofit space. Our founder, Joseph Mast, has raised over $100M+ for charitable organizations.
We would love the chance to partner with you to achieve your fiscal and organizational goals.
Contact us today and let’s get started!
- Published in Charity Auction
Turn New Guests Into Big Bidders!
Ways to Make Charity Auction Attendees Feel Appreciated
Donors are the reason you have a successful charity auction or not, so it is important to show appreciation to your givers. Make all your guests feel welcome, important, and noticed. Warmly meet and greet each attendee and afterward, thank them for attending and for their support.
Call Your Guests Prior to the Event
Tell your guests that you are looking forward to meeting/seeing them at the event. Share all the important information about the event and ask if they have any questions. Show your guests how excited you are and be very energetic – it will help build their anticipation!
Assign People to Meet and Greet
If possible, make a point to walk around and greet all new attendees to make an individual connection and share more about your organization and mission. Get help from your board members, staff, and volunteers to engage with each attendee. Have your team make your event attendees feel special and appreciated.
Create a VIP Area at the Event
- VIP Cocktail Hour – Open the doors an hour early for an exclusive reception. Give your VIPs the chance to meet special guests and network in a smaller group.
- VIP Tables – Seat your VIPs close to the front, decorate their tables more lavishly, and dismiss them first for food and dessert.
- VIP Attention-Getters – Make your VIPs stand out with corsages, different colored wristbands, or nametags.
Follow Up After the Event
Wondering how to create repeat donors? Nothing says “Wow!” like a prompt thank you phone call. The day after the auction, set the receipts and written thank you notes to the side. Instead, pick up the phone and dial those numbers. Recruit your board members to help and provide them with a script. Let your donors know how grateful you are for their support and how thrilled you are that they attended your event.
Contact Mast Auctioneers today to learn more about how your organization can succeed with a charity auction! Visit https://mastauctioneers.com/contact-us/
- Published in Charity Auction
Facing Conflict As A Leader
As a leader, you are guaranteed to face conflict. You must be able to address conflict in a healthy, productive manner. Yes – you could try to avoid conflict (bad idea), but you won’t be able to escape it. The fact of the matter is conflict in the workplace is unavoidable. Having the ability to recognize conflict, understand the nature of it, and being able to bring a quick, solid resolution to conflict will serve you well as a leader. If you can’t, that might just be your downfall.
So how should you effectively deal with conflict when it arises? The following tips will help to more effectively handle conflicts in the workplace:
Define Acceptable Behavior
Be clear. Don’t assume people know what you expect of them. Be clear of what behaviors around your workplace will and won’t be tolerated. Thoroughly define job descriptions and what outcomes you expect. Have a well-articulated chain of command that uses effective communication.
Hit Conflict Head-On
You won’t be able to prevent all conflicts. But the secret to conflict resolution is conflict prevention when possible. Seek out areas of potential conflict and proactively intervene. You will likely prevent some conflicts from ever coming up. When conflict does arise, minimize the severity by dealing with it quickly.
Plan Before You Meet
Before you head into a meeting addressing the conflict at hand, prepare. We all know that conversations that deal with conflict can be tense – which could cause you to say things you don’t really mean. You want to avoid blurting out words in anger by clarifying what you truly want out of the meeting – before the meeting begins. If you want a certain behavior to stop, write that down before the meeting. If you want a peaceful working relationship, write that down before the meeting. If you are seeking to understand what the other person is thinking, write that down before the meeting.
Understand the Other Side
Take time to hear out the other person at the table. While hearing them out – actually listen. You want to understand the other person’s motivations and views before providing your own. Part of your goal should be to help the other person succeed and achieve their goals. How can you both work together to resolve the conflict at hand? By establishing mutual purpose and mutual respect, you help the other person understand your motives and also help them understand that you appreciate them for what they bring to the table.
The question is not if you will face conflict as a leader, but more so how you are going to handle conflict when it does arise. A resolution can be found when there is a sincere desire to do so. Be clear about your expectations, face conflict head-on, be proactive, and seek to understand before being understood.
- Published in Uncategorized