Back to School

Summer is ending, the fall season is kicking into high gear, and whether or not you have kids it always feels like it’s time to get back to school. September, October, and November events are in the final days of their planning, and spring events only have a few months to ramp up before the holidays are upon us.

As we shake the sand out of our beach towels and put down the trashy page-turners, here are some keys for getting back in the classroom.

Know Your Crowd

Whatever your crowd’s tendencies, you need to acknowledge them and work with them, not against them. School events tend to have some of the hardest-partying crowds in the world of fundraising auctions. Parents of young children don’t get to spend a lot of time hanging out without their kids, so they treat their gala like a once-a-year chance to really cut loose. But they aren’t the only crowds that like to party hard, and we’ve seen plenty of other examples across organization types.

If your crowd leans in to having a good time, keep your program short, entertaining, and impactful. Create auction lots that celebrate and leverage your crowd’s tendencies. And be extremely strategic in the run of show and timing of your event as a whole. A heavy drinking crowd does not do well with a late-running auction.

Offer Something for Everybody

Auctions, by definition, are not egalitarian, but we can make them feel that way by offering auction lots, games, or even night-of experiences for everyone in the room. On our podcast, Michelle Holman of Greater Giving discussed a buy-in party for kids that had a price of $40 / kid and has underwriters to ensure that every kid in the grade got to attend. Other options include inexpensive or even free games, auction bingo, and the like.

Where Appropriate, Utilize Buy-In Lots

Buy-in parties, also known as sign-ups or count-me-ins, are an integral part of the fundraising auction world. They succeed at most every type of fundraising auction we do, but especially schools where there is built-in community. Buy-ins can be sold in the live or silent auctions, and run the gamut from fun and silly to incredibly sophisticated and gourmet. [Click here for some ideas on creative buy-in lots.]

You can have multiple buy-in parties in a single auction, as long as they offer a variety of experiences and target a variety of your crowd. In a school event, for example, it is advisable to have some buy-ins for the parents, and some for the students; to have some that are hard-partying, and others that are more mellow or even educational.

Create a Sense of Tradition

Audiences like having something familiar to look forward to every year. Whether it is a particular auction lot, experience, or even auctioneer! Foster traditions at your event and encourage your crowd to embrace them.

Auction Lot Idea: First in Line at Valet

We love to open an auction with a “warm-up” lot that has a low opening bid, but hopefully is extremely popular and sets the tone for the rest of the auction. These lots are fun, readily accessible, easy to describe, and usually offer some sort of instant gratification.

There are many variations on this theme, usually involving food or drink. We often sell opening lots of a round of “special” drinks served immediately to the winning bidder’s table, a “better dessert” for the winning bidder’s table, or special attention from the waitstaff and bartenders.

If your event has valet parking, you have an easy warm-up lot just waiting for you. At most events with valet parking, there is a line of people waiting for their cars at the end of night – especially larger events of 500 people or more. On more than one occasion we have offered the opportunity to have the winning bidder’s car moved to the front of the valet line as an auction lot.

The logistics are simple: as soon as a winner is determined, a staff person gets the winner’s valet ticket and has the winner’s car pulled around so it is waiting for them when they are ready to leave. All it requires is an agreement with the valet service provider to maintain a lone parking spot at the front for when the time comes to get the winning bidder’s car.

Market it in the auction catalog and slideshow, give it a description that sells the story. I’ve even seen some extra details added on, like a goodie bag to take home waiting on the front seat for you. The point is to keep it simple and make it fun. The results always align with what we’d hope for an introductory lot like this. Worst case scenario, we raise about $500 and do a great job of warming up the crowd. Best case scenario, two bidders go at it and we’re off to the four- or five-digit races on our first lot.

If you have other ideas for great warm-up lots, post them in the comments below, or drop us a line.

Register now for October 25 East Bay workshop

Registration is now open for our upcoming East Bay fundraising auction workshop: Raise More, Right Now: Advanced Fundraising Auction Strategies
This in-depth fundraising auction workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 25th at the Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial, in Lafayette, California. It is presented by Stellar Fundraising Auctions, Beth Sandefur Events, Greater Giving and The Lux Productions. 

This in-depth, highly interactive workshop will provide you with advanced strategies to raise more with what you already have. Learn how to get attendees to commit to supporting you before they arrive, new techniques for marketing your auction, new revenue enhancers that encourage spending, and more. Session topics will include:

• Storytelling for your mission
• Creating successful auction lots
• Revenue enhancers, beyond the raffle
• Strategies to refresh your silent auction
• New technologies to stretch your audio visual budget
• Marketing your auction

Hands-on mobile bidding session
Many organizations are looking for information about the most buzzed about trend in events: going mobile. This workshop session will include an overview of Greater Giving’s Mobile Bidding and Storefront functions. We’ll discuss how mobile bidding impacts your event and how you can incorporate raffle and other multi-item sales into your event using storefront.

Expert roundtables
The workshop ends with a 1-hour series of small group sessions with each member of our expert panel. We will break into groups by organization type, and spend an hour drilling down on the topics that matter to you most. Ask questions and get answers that are relevant to the needs of your specific event with experts in the field of fundraising auction planning, implementation and performance.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 - the Veteran's Memorial in Lafayette
9:00am – 3:00pm
Check-in begins at 8:30am
Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Click here to register.

Creating desirable packages for your live auction

Procuring enticing packages is one of the most challenging aspects of organizing a fundraising auction. Solicitation committees often get hung up on comparisons to other events and focus on the lots they see doing well at other fundraising auctions.

And while there is value in learning from one’s peers, we never encourage our clients to focus on specific auction lots. It can be frustrating, and it seldom yields results.

For example: I’ve sold “Breakfast with Bo Derek the morning after the auction” for over $20,000. This was wonderful for the event that had Bo as a supporter, but it is useless to the rest of you reading this right now (unless you are good friends with Bo as well).

Instead, we encourage our clients to focus on the types of lots that sell best and then work to find the most desirable packages in each of those types. There are three levels of desirability across all types of auction lots: Retail, Access, and Relationship:

• Retail is the ground floor of desirability in an auction lot. If your attendees can find a price for it online, they’ll bid accordingly. There are types of auction lots that do fine when sold as straight retail, such as trips. Generally speaking, however, it is the least desirable.

• Access denotes an experience bidders could not enjoy otherwise, something that is not available through retail channels. Lots that offer access engage your crowd to spend more, and make your auction more memorable. 

• Relationships are the hottest selling lots in any auction we do. “People support people” is one of the oldest adages in fundraising, and nowhere does this prove more true than onstage. Relationship lots offer access to a “celebrity,” and the definition of celebrity varies.

Creating attractive packages for the live auction is one of the most crucial elements of the pre-event planning we consult on, and one of the areas upon which we focus the majority of our consulting. As such, we’ll be discussing this and brainstorming desirable auction lots in person at our upcoming workshop: “Raise More, Right Now: Advanced Fundraising Auction Strategies.”

Stick to your timeline

There is a tendency to adjust the timeline of an event mid-event if things aren’t proceeding as planned. Usually it’s because people aren’t bidding on the silent auction with as much fervor as the silent auction chairs had envisioned. They want to keep the silent open for “an extra 15 minutes, to give people a chance to bid.”

Unless there has been a major incident that is preventing attendees from getting to your event on time, don’t alter your timeline. Especially if your timeline has been published in the catalog or elsewhere at the event. The timeline for the evening is the one element that you actually have control over; hopefully you established it strategically.

Altering your timeline can have serious repercussions across the rest of your event. It can throw off the timing for dinner, it delays the start of your live auction, and ultimately it costs you money. More than that, however, altering the timeline can aggravate your crowd.

I emceed a silent auction conducted via mobile bidding recently, hyping items and announcing closing times. The event chair opted to keep the silent open for an extra 15 minutes, to “give people a chance to bid from their seats at dinner.”

When I took the stage to announce that the silent auction would be open for an additional 15 minutes, people actually booed! Their expectations had been set, and they were ready to move on with the evening. They didn’t want to have to spend any more time protecting their bids, they were ready for the next phase of the evening.

This crowd recovered and didn’t hold this decision against me or the organization, thankfully. But all it really takes is for you to piss off one of your big bidders to negatively impact your event.

Strategically craft your timeline, publish it, and stick to it. Your crowd will be happier, and your event will be better for it.

Save the date: Sonoma and Marin fundraising auction workshop

We are bringing our popular workshop, The Top 10 Ways to Make your Next Auction More Successful, to charities serving Sonoma and Marin counties. Save the date for Wednesday, April 13th, 2016, at the Inn at Marin. 

"By far the most useful auction workshop I’ve attended because it offered concrete steps for how organizations can improve and because it was focused on sharing information rather than pushing products." 

-Deb M., Aurora Theater

In conjunction with Greater Giving, Beth Sandefur Events and Sound Expressions, Stellar Fundraising Auctions presents Auction 101: The Top 10 Ways to Make Your Next Auction More Successful.   This interactive workshop is designed to give your auction team useful tools to help with your next fundraising event.

The workshop will take place from 9am – 3pm on Wednesday, April 13th, 2016 at the Inn at Marin in Novato. Online registration will be available through Greater Giving soon.

Whether your event is in two weeks or twenty, this highly interactive workshop will provide you with proven strategies that will help you maximize the philanthropic potential of your crowd.

Session topics will include:

Fine tuning your fund-a-need pitch

Finding hidden lessons in your auction data

Brainstorming ways to enhance your auction lots

Messaging: sell the cause, not the party

Streamlining check-in and check-out

Making your auction sound great

We will also offer a hands-on session for organizations looking for information about the most buzzed about trend in events: going mobile. This workshop session will include an overview of Greater Giving’s Mobile Bidding and Storefront functions. We’ll discuss how mobile bidding impacts your event and how you can incorporate raffle and other multi-item sales into your event using Storefront.

The day will conclude with expert roundtables: we'll break into groups by organization type, and then each of our experts will rotate through each group, focusing on the topics that matter to you most. This is the chance for you to ask questions and get answers that are relevant to the needs of your specific event with experts in the field of fundraising auction planning, implementation and performance.

"Really good overall workshop...I left with some good information and takeaways and people that I will follow up with to try and create the best auction possible."

Save the date for Wednesday, April 13th, 2016, and stay tuned for more information on registration.

Don't over-combine sports packages

One commonly held misconception in the world of fundraising is that more means more. The tendency is to add to an auction lot until it is bursting at the seams with value. And while it does make sense to round out packages, there is a point at which adding more to a package does not result in a higher sale price.

Nowhere do we see this proven more consistently than with sports packages. All too often an organization will take all of their various sports donations and put them into one mega-package, only to see it sell for the same as just one of their experiences would have on its own.

For example, one year a client had a behind-the-scenes experience with the San Francisco Giants for four people that sold for $3,400. The next year they decided to add 49’ers tickets, Sharks tickets, Oakland A’s tickets, and Stanford Football tickets to the same Giants package. The combined mega-package sold for…$3,600.

Would these people overpay to see the Oakland A's? Don't bet your auction on it.

Sports fans are often rabid – the word “fan” is derived from “fanatic” after all – but about their team or their favorite sport. Just because someone is a baseball fan doesn’t mean they are necessarily a football fan or a basketball fan and so on. Combining a bunch of experiences that they aren’t necessarily interested in into one auction lot doesn’t change their perception of value.

Put another way, if a buyer is willing to spend $3,000 on a Giants experience, adding a bunch of other games for teams they don’t care about isn’t going to magically increase their maximum bid. And it certainly isn’t going to maximize the potential of your donations.

Furthermore, the hope that the different sports fans will bid each other up doesn’t yield results, either. Each fan has their own perception of value for the single component they are interested in – which is always less than the value of the package as a whole.

If you have a bunch of different sports experiences donated to your auction, do you and your donors a favor and keep them separate. You’ll make more money, make your donors happier, and you might even get some valuable data on your bidders’ sports preferences.  

Top 10 most exciting auction lots of 2014

Last year’s compendium of the 10 charity auction lots that stood out the most was so well-received, that this year’s list goes to 11. These weren’t always the lots that sold for the most money, but they were the most unique, the most exciting and the best examples of their category.

The goal of sharing these isn’t to get you to go out and contact Joe Lacob or Stuart Brioza to do see if they’ll do a lot for you: the goal is to get you thinking about creative lots you could create with a celebrity in your community.

So without further ado, here are my top 10 11 most exciting charity auction lots of 2014, presented in no particular order:

Join Elizabeth Banks Behind the Scenes of Pitch Perfect 2

Two guests get V.I.P. access to the set of Pitch Perfect 2 in Baton Rouge, LA. with A.C.T. alumna Elizabeth Banks. You'll spend the day on the set, experience behind-the-scenes filming, meet cast members, and have lunch on set.

Spending a day onset at the filming of Pitch Perfect 2 was one of the most exciting auction lots of 2014.

A.C.T. Alumna Elizabeth Banks has turned her time at A.C.T. into an incredibly successful career. She starred on 30 Rock, Zack & Miri, and the Hunger Games. Elizabeth has also expanded her career, producing the acapella hit Pitch Perfect. She now is producing and directing the follow-up: Pitch Perfect 2.

Elizabeth is offering two people behind the scenes access to the set of Pitch Perfect 2. Make your way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. You’ll have roundtrip airfare for the both of you. A luxurious hotel in which to spend 2N & 3D. But the real treat: You’ll be Elizabeth’s personal guests. Get to spend a day on set, meet cast members, experience behind-the-scenes filming. You’ll even be in the background of one of the 2 main a-capella groups songs! A-ca-awesome!

Warriors fans who can play basketball, this one’s for you!

Have a fantasy to play with the Warriors? Not that good? Well how about a game of Horse with Klay Thompson at the Warriors Practice Facility in downtown Oakland?

Just the two of you, one on one. And we’ll be happy to pinch you to show you’re not dreaming. To remember your great day, take home a signed Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson Splash Brothers jersey.

The Ultimate Sonoma Coast Food & Wine Experience for Eight

Up to four couples will experience the ultimate, personal wine and food experience at one of the most beautiful vineyards on the planet. Arrive at Peay Vineyards as early as you'd like to swim in the pond or to bike the hilly coastal ridges.

As the sun sets, Andy Peay from Peay Vineyards will take you on a walk of the vineyard followed by cheese, oysters and a wine tasting on the porch. In the meantime, Stuart Brioza, owner and chef of quite possibly the hottest SF restaurant and James Beard Award winning, State Bird Provisions, will be in the kitchen preparing your dinner. If weather permits, the big sky full of stars will be your dining room.

Each course will be paired with wines from Peay Vineyards’ cellar. That evening you will stay at the Peay's newly constructed barn house built from remnants of the old tractor barn that rested on that spot for the previous 100 years. The next morning you can take the coastal route home, perhaps picking up some oysters at Hog Island on the way. Oh, and don't forget to take home your magnum of the not-yet released 2012 Peay Vineyards Estate Chardonnay tonight.

Speedracer: Formula 3 Racing School

This package includes two days of progressive instruction from classroom to racetrack, culminating in open lapping of the world-famous Sonoma Raceway in cars capable of incredible performance. After an exhilarating day of driving, retire to your suite at the fabulous Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, where you will be pampered for two nights with a 60-minute spa treatment for two people and dinner at Santé restaurant for two.

There are driving schools, and then there is Lola Simraceway & their RACING SCHOOL. These are the cars that Formula 3 drivers train on: 300 HorsePower, 273 torque, 0 to 60 in 2.7 seconds, Top speeds of 181 Miles Per Hour and capable of pulling over 3 Gs.

This is serious racing, in cars designed to hug the track like nothing you’ve ever seen before. You’ll get two days of progressive instruction: start in the classroom on driving simulators. Work your way to Sonoma Raceway’s track and the REAL DEAL. Get a chance to take on Sonoma Raceway’s corners and elevation changes in a car that will scare you, long before you scare it. Plus: 2N & 3D at the Sonoma Mission Inn and dinner for 2 at Sante Restaurant.

Dip, Duck, Dive, Dodge!

Back because YOU demanded it: Buy-in Dodgeball. Dodgeball! Eight Teams Enter, One Team Leaves!! Buy-In Tournament for 8 teams of 10 players each Friday, May 2nd, 2014: Make your way to The Burlingamer.

There will be chow.

There will be a keg.

Best of all: there will be DODGEBALL! Compete in a Round-Robin tournament. Filled with spills, chills, shagging, suicide plays, block attacks, body deflections and laughs. Come in your best dodgeball costume. Or simply come prepared to kick ass and take names. And earn the title: Burlingame Dodgeball Champions

…We’ll Have A Barrel of Dunn!

This is the chance of a lifetime…to make and own a barrel of Dunn Vineyards sourced wine…that’s approximately 23 cases of wine! Join Mike Dunn as your consulting winemaker for an extraordinary winemaking experience and produce your own Dunn Vineyards sourced 2014 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon in a Treuil French Oak barrel with commemorative “Taste of Howell Mountain” plaque.

You can get your hands dirty and learn how to do it, or drop in just for the blending, or sit back and let Mother Nature and Mike Dunn work their magic and VOILA, you have approximately 23 cases of your own unique Dunn Vineyards sourced 2014 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon! A truly one-of-a-kind addition to your cellar! Note: Wine is not for resale

Hunger Games Survival School

Unleash your inner Katniss Everdeen at Pura Vida’s Hunger Games Survival School. You and five friends will learn from your experienced survival guide, Joe Moerschbaecher as he teaches you the survival skills necessary to survive the Hunger Games.

This tour focuses primarily on the non-violent survival skills including fire and shelter building, knot tying, snares, off trail travel, and navigation. After the skills are taught, tributes will be paired in groups of two to practice the skills on their own, and be evaluated for their power rankings in these survival areas. During this school, tributes will visit two areas where major filming was done, as well as gain insight into the filming process.

This package is for six adventurous participants, ages 12 and up. Hello, World!

Two Stars and Beyond — Dinner for Four at Two- and Three-Starred Michelin Restaurants

Tourists flock to the Bay Area year-round to see the natural and architectural wonders of San Francisco along the 49-Mile Scenic Drive, cruise the cliffs along Highway One, and meander along the byways of Napa and Sonoma, but this road trip is tailor-made just for locals.

Take your time traversing our spectacular region, with spectacular culinary destinations from South Park to the South Bay, Napa Valley to North Beach on the itinerary. Your party of four will experience simply out-of-this-world wine-paired chef’s menus at Bay Area restaurants boasting two and three Michelin stars, including:

• Atelier Crenn — Chef Dominique Crenn
• Benu — Chef Corey Lee
• Coi — Chef Daniel Patterson
• The French Laundry — Chef Thomas Keller
• Manresa — Chef David Kinch
• The Restaurant at Meadowood — Chef Christopher Kostow
• Quince — Chef Michael Tusk
• Saison — Chef Joshua Skenes

Get out your calendars — you’ll want to start picking out your special dates now because this is destination dining at its most Michelin-starred magnificent!

2014 Kentucky Derby/Kentucky Oaks Package for Six

Sip mint juleps with the stars, join in a rousing chorus of “My Old Kentucky Home,” and become part of the most exciting horse race in the world. With this experience for six guests, you’ll see it all from your premium third floor Clubhouse seats for both The Kentucky Derby (May 3, 2014) and The Kentucky Oaks (May 2, 2014).

During your stay, the group will be treated to a private, behind-the-scenes tour of the Churchill Downs barns and stables, and a tour of a nearby thoroughbred farm and training facility. Dinner one night will be at the storied 610 Magnolia, where Chef Edward Lee draws on fresh local ingredients to create contemporary southern cuisine. Transportation to and from Churchill Downs on race days, as well as to and from other activities, is included in this package, as are personal concierge services to help with restaurant reservations, shopping, and other activities during the stay.

Your concierge will even help with the creation of the perfect Kentucky Derby hat!

Take home six bottles of 2010 Post Parade Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Created by three friends from the Bluegrass State and made by Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, this debut vintage of Post Parade Cabernet Sauvignon combines grapes from Soda Canyon and Oakville for deep fruit and classic structure. Accommodations for three couples for three nights at the Marriott Courtyard Louisville Downtown Hotel are included. Airfare and transportation other than noted is not included.

Master the Masters!

There are golf tournaments, there are majors, and then there is The Masters. Of the four majors, three are open to the public, and the Masters is one of the most difficult tickets to get in all of sport. Two people journey to Augusta, Georgia to take in the splendor, pageantry and history of the Masters 2015 with veteran Masters attendee and school dad, Bryan O. You and a friend will be hosted and fed for four nights in a large, shared southern home.

Ready to play? Enjoy a round of golf for two on Friday, April 10 at Augusta Country Club (not to be confused with Augusta National).

Then, the main event: two badges for the final two days of the tournament at Augusta National. Saturday is moving day, your chance to see who can make the move up the scoreboard to put themselves in position to win. Sunday, the grand finale. The day the Masters is won (and often lost). Never been? Don't worry! Your host will be your personal guide to the course. Fore!

A Feast for Friends — Dinner for Eight with Staffan Terje and Stuart Brioza Together in Your Home

Chef Staffan Terje of long-time San Francisco favorite Perbacco and Chef Stuart Brioza of James Beard award-winning State Bird Provisions will bring their modern, original culinary sensibilities to the plate as they collaborate on a five-course feast for eight guests. The chefs will select five special, seasonal ingredients around which to build the evening’s menu.

Each course will feature one of these ingredients, and the two chefs will prepare dishes highlighting the chosen ingredient and reflecting their respective approaches in the kitchen. The chefs will present their dishes side-by-side, and each course will be paired with the California-grown, European-style wines of Failla.

Chef Terje and Chef Brioza’s unique and delicious dishes are sure to have your guests talking about Old World traditions and New World inventions as if they are natural companions and old friends — much like these talented chef-proprietors themselves!

All food and wine costs are included. Date to be mutually agreed upon.