Success is in the details. Here are some simple steps: Hire a professional fundraiser to ensure your most important hour of the year is in good hands. Use a high-quality public address system so your attendees can hear your mission and impact. Plan your room layout to guide guests where you want them. Use large, bold bidder numbers for easy visibility. Keep centerpieces and decorations low to ensure everyone can see the speakers and auctioneer. Stick to an effective timeline. Call Kevin to discuss creating a timeline that meets your event goals.

We recommend a bell shape curve for the live auction item order. The first roughly 20% of the live auction should be items with broad appeal that will engage the attendees and generate active bidding. These items should not be the highest value items; these first items are designed to build momentum. The middle 60% of the live auction should be the highest value and profit items. The final 20% of the live auction should be any items that you are concerned about how they will sell or be received by your attendees. The goal is that we have built excellent momentum and generated a lot of revenue in the middle of the live auction and that momentum will continue and carry any items that may be concerning. If the last couple of items do not do as well, then our momentum is not hurt and our revenue is already made.

Momentum and timing during a live event are very important. Every minute your guests are in attendance is an opportunity to engage with them, deliver your message, and generate revenue. We tell clients about layering in up to 7 different revenue streams throughout the evening, with each revenue stream having a specific place in the program. Specifically, the live auction should begin as guests are finishing dinner and have dessert in front of them following an impactful mission moment. Kevin often jokes that you want to start the live auction at the “top of the alcohol curve and the beginning of the sugar rush.” Call us for ideas on how to layer multiple streams of revenue in your event and how to work with the venue and food service provider to make sure each revenue stream is maximized.

We work very closely with several mobile bidding providers and in most situations think that mobile bidding is the right choice for silent auction bidding and managing checkout for several reasons. However, the success of the Fund-a-Need is driven by very different psychology from the silent auction and, while mobile giving can be used in many elements of the event, it is not the best way to conduct the Fund-a-Need. Reach out to us to discuss the best ways to integrate mobile bidding into your event to maximize all possible revenue streams.