Tom’s Tips for a Better Gala

Date, Location, Benefit Auctioneer

Make sure the date does not conflict with other events in the area. If you want an auctioneer that you know will raise the most money for your 501C3, have several dates in mind for your event Then contact your auctioneer. Many Benefit Auctioneer Specialist book well in advance of 6 months out of event dates. Your location should be large enough and close enough for all who are attending.

Saturday’s are the busiest dates for events. Try booking on a Thursday. Many successful events take place on Thursday’s.

Three biggest complaints

1. Long check in line (Use Greater giving, 501 Auctions for best processing in). Have drinks served to guests while waiting

2. Long drink line (More bartenders are better. No more than 4-5 min wait)

3. Long check out line (Close silent auction before live auction. Have items taken to checkout)    

4. If silent auction is by electronic device, automatically stop at a designated time. IE 8:00pm

Know who is in your audience

Know who is in your audience and what they care about. What they would like to bid on. Look at audience development. (Keep close tracking on who in your audience spends the most).

Pre-promote those live auction items. IE: Web site and emails.

Call those who bought trips last year and ask them what they would like this year.

Cocktail Party and sit down dinners

Seating is extremely important in that the major donors must be the closest to the auctioneer and stage.

6-7:30 Silent auction. Allow 15 minutes for the transition into the dining room.

Pre- set salad and possible desert. Last plate down, start “Fund a Need”, then Heads or Tails followed by live auction. “Fund a Need” may come after live auction Or right when everybody is seated and eating salad do the live auction.

Always serve the major donors first

Stop all services during the Special Appeal and Live auction

Food station Gala

2-hour cocktail party, silent auction and eating IE: 6-8pm

Have everyone seated, then Welcome, thank you, why we are here. Then introduce the auctioneer.

Stand up cocktail parties

It’s better to have everyone seated. Produces less talking people will pay closer attention to speaker and auctioneer.

Buffet

Try and stay away from buffets, if at all possible. People feel more respected when being served. It also keeps people in their chairs.

If the buffet or food islands are your only choice, please have plenty of tables for guests. 8 or 10 top tables best. Limit flower arrangements to 18 inches high.

Placement of food with silent auction items must be done strategically. Place in PODS. 3-4pods

1. Silent auction items as you enter the room

2. A few appetizers

3. Mission statement item with appetizers near that

4. The Bar with plenty of bartenders  

I need one compelling story..  

One, if not the biggest fund raiser of the evening is the Fund a Need/ Special Appeal.

Start the appeal immediately after the speaker & pitch.

An opportunity for your audience to give directly to the mission.

Brief and inspiring remarks that will make a difference.

Best method is a personal story 1.5 -2 minutes.

1. Explain the situation

2. Show the struggle

3. What success looks like. Have the person stay with the auctioneer!!

I have moved to advising my clients to place the Fund a Need, (Special Appeal, Raise your Paddle) just before the live auction. Breaking into the live auction slows down the momentum. Then you have to rev up the auction once again. At the end, there may not be much money left for the special Appeal. Energy may have fallen as well. Allow about 10 minutes for the special appeal.

Never use electronic bidding for Special appeal. Never use fill out cards for special appeal. Always use the number on the back of the program or a bidder paddle. As guests raise their numbers it excites others to give as well.

Silent auction items

People should not be seated during silent auction times. Seated people do not bid on items. On the other hand, people should be seated during the live auction. Know your guests and what they want. Match silent auction items to your guests. Call your top bidders, past bidders and of course sponsors and ask them what they would like to bid on at your next event. Go back and study past galas and what sold well and at high bid amounts.

All of the following items must be tracked each year for best results going into the next years:

• Time line

• Auction items and price achieved

• Revenue generated over the past 2-3 years

• Number of people attended and how must they spent or donated

• Ticket prices

School Auction

Look at including items like, head of school for the day, your own parking space, baking a cake or cookies at a teacher’s home Or she may do that in class.

Opening bid @ 30% of value, 50% if it is a high tech item IE: Ipod, TV etc

25-30 silent auction items per 100 people.  Any more and you will exhaust your audience.  Avoid Bidder fatigue.

Closing of silent auction tables: Close sections one at a time IE: section 1 closes in 5 min, section 2, 5 min later.  All of this will help to drive the silent auction items to higher prices. It will also help with runners helping at checkout.

Close silent auction tables before live auction. Incremental money raised by keeping the silent auction open during live auction is insignificant. Faster check out as well as items will be taken to check out area.

“Buy Me Now” is a price placed at the bottom right of the silent auction sheet. Should be 150% of retail or higher

Best/ worst items to put in a live auction

Best-Experiences that you can’t get anywhere else. VIP sports packages. Trips with air fare and dinner along with show tickets. VIP 4-5 course dinners with wine pairing at a special location with a celebrity, coach, professional ball player. Movie star. Cocktails and dinner aboard a beautiful yacht.

Take a great auction item and build it to be much bigger.

IE: 3 night stay at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Then add a private plane ride to the resort and back to home location along with limo ride . All meals included and all donated.

Worst- Art, unless it is an art auction. Jewelry, business services, medical services. Because they are such personal items and very personal choices.

Know the price point of your audience. If your audience will only bid on $1,000- $2,000 live auction items, don’t put a $5,000-$10,000 item in the live auction. On the other hand if you have guests that will bid on $10,000 plus items, by all means have those items available for them.

How many live auction items:

How much money do you want to raise?  It must be customized for your benefit.

10 is average.  It takes about 2.5 -3 minutes for each item.

Consignment items will need to start @ 20% above reserve. Some 501C3’s will start higher than 20% and will settle for no less than 30-40%above reserve.

Have a bottle of Champaign or wine given to highest bidder (Champaign, wine should be donated). Typically, live auction items yield 75% of retail while silent auction items yield 50% of retail value

Consignment Items: Consignment items are a great way to take your event to the next level and also offer your guests wonderful packages. Many of these packages would not be obtainable by the auction committee or any other means. I have auctioned off numerous consignment items over the last years from many consignment companies. The one company that has been the best all round is WinSpire.  http://www.winspireme.com/  949-616-3539. They can guide you on what’s doing well in the area. With any consignment item, I take the reserve price (what you pay for it) and add 20%. That will be the lowest amount I will sell it for. (We have a 2.5-3% credit card swipe and we need to make money on the item. The great news is that we can sell the item multiple times. IE: Total reserve + 20% =$3700. I sold the item for $6,000 5 times. That’s over $11,500 for that Not for Profit in 3-4 minutes.

When to start your live Auction:

Do your live auction before your Key note speakers. No boring speeches before the live auction. Start the live auction right after the last dinner plate goes down.

And before the desert !!! Unless the desert is already plated.

 Fund Raising Components:

1. Sponsorships

2. Live auction

3. Special appeal

4. Ticket sales (profit)

5. Silent auction

6. Raffle

7. Revenue enhancers (wine pull, Heads or Tails)

A good Sound system is extremely important

There should always be music playing, (live or DJ) unless someone is talking. This truly adds to the atmosphere.

In house hotel systems with overhead speakers are great for public speaking, but not for a live auction. To much low level noise.

Invest in a great sound system that everyone can hear.

*Hand held, wireless microphone is a must for the auctioneer

Benefit Auction software

to streamline processing in/out and keeping up with all items sold etc. IE: Greater Giving, 501 Auctions

Heads or Tails, 50/50 is a great game to put in your benefit Gala.

$25-50 per ticket and limit it to one item (bracelet, beads, blinky ring)  per person. Heads or tails should be played before or after the live auction. Before, it gets everyone’s attention for the live auction. If done after the live auction it will keep all guests at the event until after the live auction. Possible more donations.  50/50 $$ best way to go.

Budget

Gather core committee people

Get lists and budgets from last year.  May be used as a guide.       

1. Expenses    2. Revenue

Expenses- Write down everything that you have to pay for IE:  Venue, food, beverages, sound system, video equipment, auctioneer, promotions, mailing costs etc

Revenue- Sponsors, Tickets sales, Table sales, Contributions, Silent auction items, Live auction items, Fund a Need (special appeal) Raffle or drawing, Heads or Tails, Wine auction.

10 Reason’s that will make your event work

1.    Promote Live auction items before and during the Event

2.    Don’t have boring “run of the mill” items in silent and live auction

3.    Have live auction items that can be sold multiple times

4.    Plenty of spotters along with two clerk’s

5.    Make sure you have a great live auction and Fund A Need

6.    Hire the right Auctioneer

7.    Make the silent auction appealing and exciting, spacing as well. 2X4

8.    You must ask people to give

9.    Don’t let the event drag on

10. You must concentrate strongly on the live auction items and Special appeal

Let’s work together to make your next Fund Raising Gala the best ever!!