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 [...]
By Dan Campbell, Senior Partner, Fundraising Auctioneer One of the most common questions we hear from those we consult with is ‘how many fundraising elements should we include in our program?” What is too many? Which ones are best for our event? It is not surprising that we see some events that are jam packed [...]
By Scott Jones, Senior Partner, CFRE, CAI, BAS Part I: The Homework All too often, I find myself in conversation with fundraising managers concerning the uncomfortable position of having board members ask their connections for monetary support. We all agree that all fund development is founded on board support and participation. Why is it [...]
By: Erin Williams, Fundraising Auctioneer and Consultant Our team is seeing a trend towards weekday fundraising events. While there are pros and cons to everything, we think there is a very strong argument for why this may be something to consider. Let’s weigh a few out together now! I supported an event in Chicago [...]
One of the first questions we have when we start consulting with an organization is, “Which should we do first, the live auction or the Fund A Need?” That’s like saying, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Ask any auctioneer and you’ll probably get a different answer on which to do first. [...]
By: Erin Williams, Fundraising Auctioneer & Consultant A client we support in St. Louis had been at the same venue for many years but they had outgrown the space and made the decision to move to a larger venue this year. Change can be scary, especially when your input cost increases. So we decided [...]
By Scott Jones, CFRE, Senior Partner Raising Paddles You might not be aware of this, but tennis and golf are some of the most popular sports in the United States. It also happens they can be some of the best fundraising opportunities for nonprofits. That’s because tournament fundraisers are a great way to appeal to what [...]
By: Dan Campbell, Fundraising Auctioneer You are a special events coordinator…. or at least that is one of your MANY hats, and you are looking at a gala timeline that appears to last through next Tuesday……will our audience embrace what we have planned? Today’s audience is less patient with long programs, and we seem [...]
By: Erin Williams, Fundraising Auctioneer Last month we announced a new Client Success Manager, Olivia Newbill. She will be a great support and resource to all of our clients. We are excited to have her on the Raising Paddles team! This means I've transitioned to a full-time Fundraising Auctioneer and Consultant. I am thrilled [...]
