Personalize your paddle raise

The paddle raise is the most important component of most fundraising auctions, often raising more than the rest of the auction combined. The way it is introduced is crucial to engaging the crowd and ensuring success.

A good paddle raise pitch tells stories that connect your audience to your mission on a personal level. It doesn't have to be long, it doesn't have to be overly dramatic, it just needs to be honest and engaging. Like this video of Trent Yaconelli, associate executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of St Helena and Calistoga, at their BIG Night gala.

One way the election will impact your fall auction: communications

Last week we explored the upcoming presidential election’s impact on fall fundraising auctions, and concluded that the popularly held beliefs are misconceptions (see our blog post on the topic for an in-depth analysis). But there is one area where the fall election cycle is going to impact fall events: direct mail, mailing houses, and the sheer volume of communication people will receive.

The first week of November is consistently one of the top three busiest weeks of the year for mail. If you are planning on sending an invitation or direct mail to your attendees between October 1st and November 4th, make sure that your mail house is not going to be inundated with political work. One event planner we work with only contracts mailing houses that don’t do any political work; she wants to ensure her clients are top priority.

Non-profit communication always faces stiff competition for recipients’ attention, and during an election year that competition is much fiercer. It is no longer limited solely to direct mail, either. Since the 2010 election, political campaigns have come to rely more upon email, social media and other electronic outlets. For events in November, this means that your two-week prior touch-base with attendees to confirm their attendance and get them a copy of your auction catalog is going to be competing with a lot of other noise.

Your most ardent supporters will know who you are and open your emails to them – but their guests might be another story. Relationships rule development, so leverage all of the connections you have. Utilize your network of supporters: have table captains reach out to their guests directly on your behalf to market your auction (see our blog post on the subject). And start now: I am a big fan of expectation management through clear communication. If you get your supporters committed to making your event a success in advance, they will help continue that tradition every year.

Tip your teacher

For the past several years, I have auctioneered for a school that utilizes a ‘teacher tip contest’ in a way that’s fun, honors the school’s hardworking teachers, and generates good revenue for the fundraiser as well.  Here’s how it works:

During the reception the teachers take turns as ‘bartenders.’  At this K-5th school, the K-1, 2nd-3rd grade, and 4th-5th grade teachers each take 20-minute group shifts at the bar. They chat with parents as they serve them beer and wine, while the parents fill the teachers’ tip jars, either with cash or “tip slips,” on which parents can simply write their paddle number and a tip amount.  Friendly competition between the grade levels is encouraged.

During the live auction, usually at the beginning of the Fund a Need, the totals and winners of the tip contest are announced.  The teachers then ‘donate their tips’ to the school; and in a nice touch, the total of all teacher tips (this year it was over $4000) serves as the highest bid level for the Fund a Need.  “Who can match your teachers’ generous $4,218 donation this evening?” 

Note:  Just as with classroom art projects, there is often much more interest/action on the part of the newer parents (in this case the K-1 parents) than those of the oldest, one-foot-out-the-door students (here, the 4th-5th grade parents).  If there are more grade levels than time shifts, it’s usually best to put extra teachers together at the higher grade levels to give them a fighting chance in the competition. 

Also, revenue enhancers like this require a learning curve and buy in from the community over time.  Especially the first time out, it’s good to explain this contest clearly, and repeatedly, to the crowd.  Once they do buy in, though, it can make for a fun way to unite a school’s parents by grade level, honor its teachers, and raise money at the same time.

Save the date: two Bay Area fundraising auction workshops in October

Stellar Fundraising Auctions, in conjunction with Beth Sandefur Events, Greater Giving and Lux Productions is producing back-to-back fundraising auction workshops in the East Bay and San Francisco this October. Raise More, Right Now: Advanced Fundraising Auction Strategies is an in-depth fundraising auction workshop focused on maximizing your event’s existing potential.

Mark your calendars now for either Tuesday, October 25th at the Veteran's Memorial in Lafayette, or Wednesday, October 26th at the Log Cabin at the Presidio in San Francisco. The cost of either workshop will be $50, which includes a continental breakfast and lunch.

Session topics will include:

• Selling your story 
• Creating successful auction lots
• Revenue enhancers
• Silent auction
• New technologies that stretch your audio visual budget
• Marketing your auction
• Mobile bidding

Registration and more information coming soon. 

How will the election impact your fundraising auction?

Arguably, 2016 is the most contentious presidential election in my lifetime. The emotional impact is extremely high, and very few people in my network are unaffected by it.

Charitable giving infographic created by Beth Sandefur.

The majority of the spring fundraising season was complete before either party had finalized its candidate. We didn’t see events suffer negative impacts that we could attribute to directly the presidential campaign. But now that the candidates are set, the conventions are over and the fur is starting to fly, how will the election impact events in the fall?

The commonly held “wisdom” is that charitable fundraising falters in an election year, for a variety of reasons. The predominant theories being that donors give to campaigns instead of charities, or donors are scared away by uncertainty or fear. A recently released study by Blackbaud sheds interesting light on both of these theories.

The report is based on data from the 2012 election, and focused on 143 national 501(c)(3) organizations. Blackbaud found that donors who contributed to political campaigns also increased their 2012 charitable contributions 0.9% compared to the previous year. Donors who were engaged in the political process increased their donations to charities.

Donors who did not make a political contribution in 2012, however, gave 2.1% less to charitable causes than in 2011. Donors who were not engaged in the political process decreased their donations to charities.

Charitable fundraising as a whole was up 1.7% in 2012, but mainly because contributions to religious organizations was up 6.1% and contributions to education was up 1.6%. If you take those two categories out of the mix, charitable giving as a whole was down 1.7%. Individuals donated an estimated $258.51 billion to charitable organizations in 2014 (results for 2015 have not yet been reported). So a 1.7% swing at that level could wipe out numerous organizations.  Unless you were a school or a church, your category of charity saw a decline in charitable giving during the last presidential election.

Blackbaud doesn’t offer any deeper insight into their numbers, but we can draw a few conclusions. Obviously, unless you are a religious organization or a school, you are going to have to work harder to make the same amount of money as you did last year.

If your support base is energized by this election, it is a good sign for your event. People who are engaged in the process are more likely to engage with your cause. I would theorize that this is because people who engage in the political process believe in it and believe that they can make a difference in the process; and then that “actionable optimism” carries over to their charitable beliefs. 

According to the statistics, the potential problem for charities is the donors who are not contributing to politics at all this year – because they’ll be contributing less to charity as well. There is a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt surrounding this election, and it is easy to imagine people cocooning until Thanksgiving. If your donor base buries their collective head in the sand, you and your clients will wind up paying the price. But only if you can’t effectively communicate you and your clients’ needs.

It always comes back to messaging, communication, and conversations: Establish why you are asking for money and empower people to help change the world by supporting your cause. You always have to compete with a lot of external noise to get the attention of your donors. This year that noise is much louder than usual, and you’ll have to work harder than usual to make your case.

Cultivation is a conversation, not a one-off ask that happens only at your event. Engage your donors. If you are worried about the election, discuss it with them. Work with your biggest supporters to formulate strategies specifically for your donor base. Engage, engage, engage. This year and every year.

Statistically speaking, the election is bound to have little impact on your event. But from a practical standpoint, it is best to assume the election will impact your donors, and then work hard to make sure it doesn’t.