By: Erin Williams, Fundraising Auctioneer Philanthropy has become an increasingly important aspect of economic development, yet age differences and social characteristics often drive donor behavior. Generational differences in giving behavior are based on donors’ altruistic motivations and their concern for social, political, and economic stability. These differences manifest in donors’ attitudes toward giving, their [...]
By: Dan Campbell, Fundraising Auctioneer One of the most commonly used fundraising elements to a fundraising event is a silent auction. Similar to setting up a retail shop, your attendees can browse the items and decide which ones they want and make a bid on them. Of course, different from a retail transaction, you [...]
By: Dan Campbell One of the challenges of a live auction at a fundraising event is to get everyone’s attention so we can focus on fundraising. You have people socializing, moving about the room for restrooms, taking photos, and hitting the bar, so that traffic itself is a distraction. Your crowd will likely be [...]
By: Erin Williams, Fundraising Auctioneer As professional fundraisers, we hear all too often from nonprofit leaders, “My board doesn’t have an active role when it comes to the gala” or “My board doesn’t participate in fundraising.” The nonprofit’s financial stability is a primary responsibility of the board and fundraising is a huge part of [...]
Scott Jones, CFRE, CAI, BAS Senior Consultant & Auctioneer The purpose of reporting on your fundraising results is to fulfill the accountability and transparency requirements associated with the acquisition and utilization of donated funds and convey to your stakeholders that implementation is progressing, and that the organization knows what it is doing. Who are [...]
In The Complete Guide to Fundraising Management, Weinstein and Barden share there are five major fundraising principles. I believe we can apply these principles to special fundraising events. "People give to people to help people." The reason donors give is because they love what you do and who you do it for. They believe [...]
By Scott Jones, CFRE, CAI, BAS Senior Consultant, Raising Paddles Quite often I am asked to share with board members strategies on “How to begin the conversation.” Specifically, how do I ask guests to participate in the giving the day of your biggest fundraising event? It’s simple. We must help each board member to [...]
By Shannon Eason, Senior Partner, Fundraising Auctioneer You’ve probably received an email inviting you to one of our workshops. If you’re near Kansas City, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, or Tulsa you’ll want to put this on your calendar. Why? Ahhhhh..let us count the ways! 1. You’ll be treated like a guest and see how [...]
Gala season is under way and one of the most popular features of the evening is the live auction. Making sure your live auction results in the best year ever takes work and premeditation. However, following the next 10 steps is your secret to success! Introducing: THE BEST PRACTICES WORKSHEET-10 Best Practices for a Successful [...]
Do you like Parties? I sure do. Parties are fun, and the more the merrier! But what makes a party fun? I usually make sure my “fun” friends are invited. Of course, I will invite everyone in that circle to attend as well, based on my party planning. I might even ask my other guest to [...]
