Get attendees to (willingly) give you their contact information

Does your event face the challenge of getting attendees to give you their contact information? Do you have a lot of guests who sit at purchased tables who give you nothing more than their name and the name of the person whose table they are sitting at?

One creative solution we’ve seen to this challenge is to incentivize attendees to give their contact information by offering “free” entry into a raffle in exchange for their contact information. Use pre-printed slips that are handed out to every attendee, asking for name, email address and telephone number. Make all information mandatory in order to be eligible to win.

Then use a small prize from your silent auction, or solicit a small prize specifically for this raffle. One year an organization used a fine bottle of wine. The next year, they offered up a weekend getaway at a local resort (see the photo below). Their fish bowl of entry slips was full to the brim. And so was their contact database.

You can’t cultivate donors if you can’t get in touch with them. And donor cultivation is one of the three main reasons to hold an auction, right behind raising money and tied with messaging. So if you find yourself struggling to get contact information from your event’s attendees, give them good reason to give you their information. Then follow-up and give them even more good reasons to give you their support year-round.

Less is more in your silent auction

The tendency for many silent auction committees is to accept as many items as they can get and make the silent auction as big as possible. “Bigger is better” after all, right? Actually, no. The reality is that you can do less work and make the same amount of money, possibly even more.

Putting too many items in your silent auction could be costing you money at your event. It is most certainly taking an unnecessary toll on the staff and volunteers who work on your silent auction considering that it takes an average of three hours to solicit, inventory, write the description, create the display, set up, break down, and then redeem each and every silent auction item.

A massive silent auction can be a detriment to bidding, evidenced by the lack of activity on this huge table.

One indicator that you have too many items in your silent auction is if you have more items than bidding units (ie: couples) at your event. Most attendees have a budget for how much they intend to spend at your event before they arrive. If they show up and realize that there are three auction items for every couple they quickly start bargain hunting.

The maximum ratio for silent lots to bidding units is 0.75 to 1, three quarters as many silent lots as couples. That is a good number to aim for when paring down a massive silent auction. If you are just starting an event of 400 people or less, you’ll do well to aim for no more than 75 – 125 silent lots.

Less silent lots makes a committee become more selective, and means you wind up with a higher caliber of lot (or at least groupings of silent lots that are worth more money). It also increases competition among your bidders. Once a bidder realizes that every item is going to get a bid and sell they tend to focus on the key items they really want.

This all sounds nice in theory, but I’ve seen first-hand data to back it up; and at my son’s school, no less. It is one thing to make recommendations as a consultant who then doesn’t have to live with the results on a daily basis. But volunteering for my son’s school auction committee was a gut-check because the repercussions if my advice didn’t work were going to be huge on a personal and parental level.

In the first year we reduced the silent auction by 57% and revenue stayed level. Over the course of three years we cut the number of silent auction items by another 30% and saw the bid to fair market value ratio increase by 15%. They went from 825 to 281 items in their silent auction, but the money stayed the same because people were bidding higher on each individual item. Sure this is an extreme example, but it should empower you to reduce your 100 lot silent auction to 80 or even 70 auction items.

The results were in line with myriad other eventswe’ve done, and drove home the point: in the silent auction, less is more.Or actually, less is equal. So do right by your staff and volunteers, and start looking for ways to reduce your silent auction this year.

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.

Registration now open for January 28th workshop

Register now for our workshop Auction 101: The Top 10 Ways to Make Your Next Auction More Successful

Registration is now open for our upcoming workshop, Auction 101: The Top 10 Ways to Make Your Next Auction More Successful, taking place on January 28th at the David Brower Center in Berkeley. Click here to register now and reserve your space. Seats are limited and this workshop will fill up.

Presented in conjunction with Greater Giving, Beth Sandefur Events, and Sound Expressions, this highly interactive workshop will cover the top 10 approaches you can take to make your next auction more successful. Whether your event is in two weeks or twenty, learn proven strategies that will help you maximize the philanthropic potential of your crowd. Learn how to fine-tune your fund-a-need for maximum effect, enhance your existing auction lots, streamline your registration process, and more.

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

Click here to register now; seats are limited!

January 28, 2015 – Berkeley, CA

9:00am - 3:00pm

Check-in begins at 8:30am

$50 registration fee includes continental breakfast and lunch

In addition, this workshop will include a hands-on mobile 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 workshop will conclude with a 1-hour, small group session with each member of our expert panel. We will break into groups by organization type and spend an hour focusing 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.

Held at the David Brower Center at 2150 Allston Way in Berkeley, this workshop is readily accessible by public transportation and boasts plenty of nearby parking lots.

Register now, and make your next auction an even bigger success!

Save the date for our upcoming workshop: Auction 101: The Top 10 Ways to Make Your Next Auction More Successful

Stellar Fundraising Auctions presents, in conjunction with Greater Giving, Beth Sandefur Events and Sound Expressions, Auction 101: The Top 10 Ways to Make Your Next Auction More Successful.   Auction 101 is 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, January 28th, 2015 at the David Brower Center in Berkeley.  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.

Save the date for Wednesday, January 28th, 2015, and stay tuned for more information on registration.

Identify the celebrity in your crowd

The best things to sell in a fundraising auction aren’t things at all, but experiences. Unique, one-of-a-kind packages that offer “insider’s access” always outsell any item that has a clear-cut retail value. And the truly most desirable type of access we can sell is access to a relationship.

Access to celebrity always sells well in a fundraising auction. But the definition of celebrity varies from event to event. Sure, it would be nice if everyone could get access to A-list Hollywood movie stars, but the truth is you probably don’t need it.

There are people in your community or event who have their own celebrity, who can be tapped to help make your auction more successful. You simply need to identify them, and find a way that they can help out.

For years I conducted both of the fundraising auctions for the National Pain Foundation. We did one event in San Francisco and one event in Philadelphia each year. At each auction every year the highest selling auction lot was dinner with Dr. Elliott Krames and his wife at their San Francisco home. The package consisted of a 3-course meal prepared by Mrs. Krames, paired with wines from Dr. Krames’ extensive cellar, all served in their lovely Victorian home.

And at this point you are thinking, “Who the heck is Dr. Elliott Krames?” along with everyone else who’s ever heard this story. Dr. Krames was the founder of the National Pain Foundation. At those events he was a celebrity. Outside of those events, he’s “just some doctor from San Francisco.” But in that room, he’s a best-seller.

Why is Greg onstage with a pirate and a woman with a crab for a crown? And why is the crowd bidding like mad on their auction lot? Chuck Huggins, CEO of Sees Candy for 54 years, was always a celebrity to those who knew him.

We see examples of this crowd-specific type of celebrity at a variety of events, crossing all types of organizations. At schools there is almost always the “principal for a day” auction lot, but we also see lots of buy-in parties leveraging the popularity of a few key parents. Other organizations utilize the celebrity of their leaders, be they the executive director or a well-known board member. Some people simply have a popular or well-liked home, that is its own sort of celebrity.

The key is to take a step back and look over your organization’s closest supporters with an objective eye. Ask yourself, “who could I sell in my auction?” (in the most loving of ways, of course). I guarantee that you have an extremely potential-filled auction lot within a degree of separation. All you have to do is identify the celebrity in your crowd and ask.

Use a chair to make your fund-a-need more successful

The fund-a-need is the single most important element of the majority of fundraising auctions we conduct. The fund-a-need usually makes as much as or more than the combined total of the rest of the auction lots. In many cases, the fund-a-need generates three to five times more than the rest of the auction as a whole.

Statistically speaking, more people participate in the fund-a-need than the rest of your auction combined.

An item this integral to the success of your event and your organization deserves its own committee chair.

Typically, the fund-a-need falls within the purview of the live auction chairs. However, these are the people who have been tasked with soliciting auction lots, creating packages out of them, writing up their descriptions and then marketing them. They have a lot on their plate, and often they simply want to know what the staff has decided to do the fund-a-need for, and where to put it in the auction.

Make one person the chair of the fund-a-need, and enable them to focus on all of the small details that will help make the appeal more successful. The fund-a-need chair can:

• Work directly with staff to determine and define the fund-a-need;
• Identify ways to quantify the need so that it maps to every pledging level;
• Write the description for the catalog;
• Coordinate the testimonial for the night-of the event, including either the creation of a video or working to identify appropriate speakers; and
• Identify and solicit lead donors for each level of the fund-a-need.

With or without a fund-a-need chair, each of these steps is integral to the ongoing success of your fund-a-need. Putting one person in charge of all of them ensures consistency across the myriad tasks' timeline to help make it successful. Creating a fund-a-need chair also elevates the importance of the fund-a-need among those planning your event and auction.

A successful fund-a-need takes work, it seldom “just happens.” Getting other committee members to recognize that will change the perspective of the fund-a-need within your community, all of which will help make it more successful

It is the single biggest moment of your event, work to make it so.

Auction sponsorship to drive bids: "Bidder Bucks"

There are many ways to offer event sponsors benefits in exchange for their sponsorship and participation. Almost every sponsorship solicitation packet I see offers a similar list: logo placement in the program, an ad onscreen during dinner, and prominent table placement the night of the event.

Give a sponsor prominent placement in your bidder's eyes and try to drive up bids at the same time.

One idea to give a sponsor lots of marketing traction at your event, and hopefully drive up prices on either live or silent auction items, is to get a sponsor for “Bidder Bucks” (see photo). Bidder Bucks are essentially a currency that you hand out the night of the event that are good only in the live or silent auction.

Every couple receives their allocated Bidder Bucks, and can use them as part of their bid on an auction item. The Bucks are non-transferable, and only good the night of the event. In the example at right, every attendee got $40 in bidder bucks that were good only in the silent auction that night.

Ironically, this particular sponsor wanted to remain anonymous, so they missed out on the branding opportunity. But you can see the branding potential here, especially if the bucks are of a high enough value.

The value of the Bidder Bucks is determined by dividing the sponsorship by the number of auction items. $2,000 in a 50-lot silent auction would result in $40 Bidder Bucks. $10,000 in a 20-lot live auction would give everyone an additional $500 to spend in the live auction and so on. The value of the Bidder Bucks has to be high enough to be meaningful to people, otherwise it lacks impact. $10 Bidder Bucks aren’t going to change people’s behavior.

This type of sponsorship works best in an environment where people are value-minded, people are of potentially limited capabilities, or participation in the auction has been lackluster. Bidder Bucks are ready-made for school events, for example, or a fledgling event in the sub-$200,000 range.

The goal is to use the sponsorship as a lever to get people to spend more than they would have. Once someone bids on an auction lot they are committed and far more likely to bid again. And when people start with “free money” the natural tendency is to spend it…and then some.

How the Napa quake will impact your charity event

Charity events nationwide are lubricated with the generosity of vintners and winemakers. Whether we’re talking about a single bottle or a wine country experience, wineries often provide the foundation upon which successful fundraising events are built. So it is natural to wonder what is going to happen to your fundraising event in the wake of the 6.0 earthquake that struck Napa and Sonoma counties on Sunday, August 24th.

We should start by doing an honest assessment of the damage to the Napa Valley. The vast majority of Napa came out relatively unscathed. Most wineries had little to no damage, including wineries whose storage facilities were at the epicenter of the quake.

“We lost a total of about six bottles,” said Stuart Bryan of Pride Mountain Vineyards, even though their storage facility is less than a quarter mile from the epicenter. “We palletize all of our boxes of wine, and then shrink-wrap each pallet. Everything was fine.

“But if the building had collapsed,” continued Stuart, “we’d have lost everything.”

A small minority of wineries got hit exceptionally hard, and they have been getting the most news coverage. Trefethen Family Vineyards, for example, has been one of the unfortunate poster children for damage done by this quake. Their historic Eshcol Winery building, built in 1886, buckled during the quake and its fate is being decided by structural engineers.

Trefethen is visible from highway 29, and the sight of their three-story winery buckled and leaning is a moving one. But if there is good news it is the fact that Trefethen was between bottling their last vintage and harvesting this one: their winery was essentially empty. They may be looking at a loss of their building, but their wine remained intact.

The same cannot be said for The Hess Collection. Situated on Mount Veeder, Hess sustained some of the most graphic, and costly damage in the quake. “Mount Veeder is the mountain closest to the epicenter,” says Samuel J. Peters, the Executive Director of the Mount Veeder Appellation Council, “but that’s not the reason it took such a hit. All of the other mountains in Napa have volcanic soil, and their terrain is much firmer. Mount Veeder was seafloor, and didn’t fare well.”

Hess, specifically, lost over $4 million in wine when their pressure-sealed, full-of-wine storage tanks were crushed like so many empty aluminum cans  sending a flood of wine out onto their wine tasting patio. A few rows of their barrels also collapsed, making for stunning photos and video – and sending the erroneous message that Napa had been shut down.

The majority of Napa is open for business. As of this writing there are 58 red-tagged businesses. Hess isn’t one of them – in fact, Hess has been actively campaigning to get people to come to Napa, and making the most of the situation with humor and aplomb. Their Labor Day Weekend Tasting Menu included a selection between the "Summer Shakes," "Triumphant Tremor" or the "Falling Rock Collection."

So how does this all impact you and your charity event?

I don’t know for sure, and it is going to be up to you to find out. You’re going to have to do some legwork, strengthening your vintner relationships, and checking in with your contacts to see where they are at.

Reach Out

If you have existing relationships with wine producers in Napa, or Sonoma for that matter, who donate to your event you need to reach out to them to see how they fared. Do a quick search online to discover what you can first, in case they are one of the wineries that took a major hit. Odds are they came through mostly unscathed. Either way, they will appreciate you reaching out.

Calibrate your Own Expectations

If a winery that you depend on did take a significant hit in the quake, offer them a year off from participating in your event. If they need a break, they will appreciate it – and if they don’t need a break, they will appreciate the thought.

Make No Assumptions

Even if one of your vintner partners did take a significant hit, reach out to them and find out how best you can work together on your upcoming event. They may need the time off, but they may need the marketing your event provides even more. Have conversations with people: it is the best way to build and strengthen relationships.

Vintners and winemakers are, as a whole, one of the most generous groups of business people in the United States. They consistently use their powers for the greater good, contributing to fundraising events all over the nation. The damage caused by this one earthquake isn’t going to change that commitment overnight. In fact, it will probably only make it stronger.

An Unredeemed Lot is an Excellent Donation

At a recent planning meeting where we were discussing repeat auction lots for an event, it came out that one of the donors felt seriously slighted because their lot was never redeemed. A buyer had paid top-dollar for the lot at the auction, and had yet to cash it in with the expiration date looming. The donor felt slighted, and was inclined not to make the donation again.

Over the past decade, we've consistently seen an average of 45% of auction lots purchased at fundraising auctions go unredeemed. This isn’t a function of the desirability of the lots being offered at fundraising events, but a reflection of the nature of supporting causes through auction purchases. People who make a purchase at a fundraising auction do so first and foremost because they believe in the cause; the desirability of the lot simply justifies getting caught up in the heat of the moment and (hopefully) overpaying.

Buyers assume that 100% of the money is going to the organization putting on the auction: if they don’t redeem the lot they will have still made a good donation to the cause. Most buyers also support more than just one cause, and often have shoeboxes full of certificates they keep meaning to redeem. Buyers aren’t trying to slight donors, they simply lead busy lives and have scheduling conflicts.

It is understandable that some who donate lots to an auction most often do so because they really were looking forward to making their event happen. There are a lot of possible solutions, such as putting the donor in direct contact with the buyer to coordinate the event, but they are all fraught with potential for disaster.

The simple solutions is to assure donors that their donation is loved: by you and the people who bought it. Their donation helped raise significant amounts of money for a cause they believe in. If the buyers haven’t taken them up on their generosity yet, it is not a reflection of how wonderful their lot is. It’s just more proof that we all lead insanely busy lives, and sometimes making time to show up and buy the lot is a major accomplishment, let alone making the lot happen.