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How Important Is the Fundraising Auctioneer to the Success of Your Event?

I want you to think about the term “Fundraising Auction”.

A “Fundraising Auction” is an event where items of value are gathered, and then sold in a competitive bidding situation, either in a Silent Auction format, or in a Live Auction format by a Live Auctioneer. And since typically the best items are saved for the Live Auction, arguably it is the Live Auction that should generate a significant portion of the proceeds in any Fundraising Auction.

So why do so many non-profit groups consider the Fundraising Auctioneer to be the least valuable component in a Fundraising Auction?

The Hosting Facility gets paid.
The Printer gets paid.
The Caterer gets paid.
The Liquor Store gets paid.
The DJ gets paid.
The Florist gets paid.
But the Auctioneer … the individual who is expected to raise the lion’s share of the event’s proceeds… is expected to work for Free. And is usually under-appreciated for the professional services he/she provides.

I’m not trying to underscore the value of the invitations & programs, food, booze, music, and decorations. All are important in their own way. But each of these are “Expenses”. It is the Auctioneer who is going to bring “Revenue”… and thus, the “Profits”… into any event. Which is the ultimate objective of any Fundraising Auction.

Here is a real-life example of how under-appreciated the Auctioneer can be. In two comparable events we worked last year, during the dinner portion of the event one non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) at a table with the DJ, the Interns, the Volunteer Staff, and other event “Help”. The 2nd non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) directly next to the CEO of their organization, where we chatted about how important the pending revenue would be to their organization. Which group do you think valued the services of the Fundraising Auctioneer more?

Don’t ever under-estimate the value that a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can bring to your event. The Auctioneer adds value as a pre-event consultant. And the Auctioneer can change an event from a moderate to a huge success.

A Case Study Once I was scheduled to call an Auction for a major local non-profit group. They represented a very good cause and they had a strong and dedicated following. Their event was sold out, quality Live & Silent Auction items had been solicited, and the Special Pledge Appeal had been choreographed and was ready to go. The facility was first class, the appropriate caterer was booked, and the food was ready to cook.

But quite unexpectedly, some unseasonably inclement weather forced the event’s cancellation. Despite all of the committee’s hard work, cancelling the event was the proper decision considering the circumstances.

So the Event Committee scrambled to re-schedule the event for the following weekend.

They confirmed with the Hosting Facility.
They confirmed with the Caterer.
They confirmed with the Liquor Store.
They confirmed with the DJ.
They confirmed with the Florist.
Since they already had the Mailing List of those scheduled to attend, no new invitations had to be printed as all were contacted by email or telephone. So with everything in place, the group went ahead and re-scheduled the event for the following weekend.

But guess who they failed to confirm? You got it… the Professional Auctioneer. They thought so little of the Auctioneer’s contribution that they “assumed” that the Auctioneer would be available and at their beck and call.

But the Auctioneer already had another Fundraising Auction booked for that date with another non-profit group. It was only hour away from the re-scheduled event, and things could have been easily worked out. All Group #1 had to do was start their event one hour earlier, or one hour later, than the Group #2, and the Auctioneer could have helped both groups on the same day.

But because Group #1 failed to anticipate a possible Auctioneer conflict, because they failed to confirm with the Auctioneer before re-scheduling their event, their preferred Auctioneer had to bow out and they had to scramble to locate substitute “Volunteer” Auctioneer only days before their event.

And it cost them.

Learning Points

The Live Auction is usually where the profits are made at any Fundraising Auction.
A Professional Fundraising Auctioneer can be vital to the success of any Fundraising Auction.
The better Fundraising Auctioneers usually get booked quickly.
You need to recognize the important contributions that a good Auctioneer can make to your event.
Michael Ivankovich is a Bucks County Fundraising Auctioneer based in Doylestown PA, and serves the Great Philadelphia PA area. He has been a professionally licensed and bonded Auctioneer in Pennsylvania for nearly 20 years, has been named Pennsylvania’s Auctioneer of the Year, and has considerable experience in conducting Fundraising Auctions. Michael loves helping groups raise needed funds for good causes and one of his specialties is the “Special Pledge Appeal” or “Fund-A-Cause Appeal” which usually enables clients to double their revenue in a single evening.

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Auction Listings Are Vital to the Success of Fundraising Auctions

Fundraising Auction Tip: You should always provide potential bidders with a printed Auction Listing of both your Live and Silent Auction items at any Fundraising Auction. A printed Auction Listing is vital for several reasons:

An Auction Listing informs bidders of the order of sale, and what is coming up next. If you keep your bidders guessing, they will simply not bid.

If bidders are not 100% certain of what they are bidding on, they will not bid. A printed Auction Listing should answer any and all questions about what is being sold in order to encourage bidders to bid as much as possible.

Bidders often need time to plan their bidding strategies, especially on multiple and/or larger value items. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.

Couples often need time to consult with each other about what they are willing to spend on something. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.

Potential bidders need to know the specifics, the benefits, and the restrictions on any item they are going to bid on, especially on travel and/or other higher value items. A printed Auction Listing should answer all of their questions, in writing.

After bidders see that they have lost an item to another bidder, a printed Auction Listing makes it easier for them to re-strategize on what else they can bid on.
Printed Auction Listings generally come in 3 forms:

Printed in the Event Program or Auction Catalog.

Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-inserted into the Event Program or Auction Catalog.

Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-delivered to all attendees, or left on each dinner table in the room.
Auction Listings cost practically nothing to produce and they can make the difference between the success and failure of a Live and Silent Auction. You should never conduct a Fundraising Auction without one.

A Case Study

Let me share a real-life experience with you. Once I was hired to conduct a Fundraising Auction for a nationally renowned organization. The event was held in a major hotel, in one of the country’s largest cities, with several hundred “black tie” participants attending. It was an extremely professional event, with the music, singing, lighting, speeches, and awards all perfectly timed and choreographed. Everything was done to perfection… exception the Fundraising Auction.

Although I had signed an agreement to serve as their Auctioneer nearly one year in advance of the event, no one bothered to contact me for any advice or help. Approximately one week prior to the Auction date, I contacted the group to see if they had replaced me with another Auctioneer. But they said that I was still their man.

Upon arriving at the event I asked for a copy of the Auction Listing. I was told that there were none. I’m not sure whether they felt that the Auction Listing wasn’t necessary, or whether someone forgot to have them printed. This was never made clear. When I asked what I was to use at the podium, I was told to copy the list of Live Auction items from a committee member’s computer. It took me about 30 minutes to copy three pages of hand-written notes in order to prepare for my role as their Auctioneer.

I knew that they had created a PowerPoint program showing the various Live Auction items. When I asked whether the PowerPoint slide order corresponded to the order of sale I had copied from the committee member’s computer, I was met with a blank stare. The committee member left to check the slide order, and returned to let me know that the slide order did not correspond my notes, and he provided me with the correct slide order… hand-written on a paper napkin. This forced me to re-arrange my three pages of hand-written notes before taking the podium.

There was a Live Auction Table with descriptions of the Live Auction items that were to be sold, but the table was not clearly marked, and it received significantly less attention than the Silent Auction Tables, which were clearly identified. Since the Live Auction Table was located adjacent to the “Raffle Table”, it appeared that most people thought it was part of the raffle and therefore paid very little attention to it.

According to the event program (which did not include an Auction Listing), I knew approximately when I was to begin the Live Auction. At the designated time the Master of Ceremonies announced the start of the Live Auction to the several hundred people in attendance, and introduced me as Auctioneer. As I approached the podium I realized that photographs of award winners were still being taken… directly in front of the podium where I was to stand… which required me to stand aside for several minutes until the photographers were done. Can we say “awkward moment”?

As the photographers cleared, I approached the podium and began my Live Auction introduction. Approximately one minute into my introduction, the “Raffle Committee” approached the podium and stopped my Live Auction Introduction in order to pull the 8 or 9 Raffle Winners. These drawings lasted about 5 minutes. Upon it’s conclusion I was allowed to resume the start of the Live Auction.

When standing at the podium two intense and extremely bright spotlights were pointed directly at the podium. The lights were so bright that I literally could not see the center 1/3 of the room. I could see the tables on the right, and on the left, but was totally blinded when looking straight ahead. It took perhaps five minutes before the spotlights were turned off.

While at the podium and describing Lot #1, I had to ask someone to start the Lot #1 PowerPoint Slide… because apparently no one was assigned that job.

So with only the Auctioneer’s verbal description, and a PowerPoint slide, it appeared that few people in the room had any idea about what we were selling… or when we were selling it… until it was announced by the Auctioneer. As a result, bidding was extremely light and the final results fell several thousands of dollars short of where they should have been
The learning experience is this:

The Live Auction is where you place your better items, and where the real money should be made at any Fundraising Auction. Let bidders know as far in advance as possible what you will be selling, and the order of sale, so they can get excited about the Auction, and plan their bidding strategy accordingly.

Auction Listings are absolutely vital to the success of both Live & Silent Auctions. In my opinion, revenues at this Auction fell thousands of dollars short of where they should have been, because no Auction Listing was provided to the guests.

If bidders are not perfectly clear on what is being sold, including both the item’s specifics, benefits, and restrictions, they will not bid.

When you have a committee of volunteers, especially volunteers having full time jobs and/or very busy schedules, the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can help to keep the committee on track.

And once you retain the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer… use the services that you are paying for.

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EDM: A Journey Towards Successful Conversions With Email Marketing

Email marketing has become an integral part of targeting prospective clients and building a bond with them online. In fact, e Marketer reports that 97% of small businesses use email marketing to connect with customers.

Electronic Direct Marketing (E.D.M) envisages the marketer marketing his products & services by sending emails targeted to a specific list of consumers. It is a type of advertisement campaign wherein the marketer targets the desired group of individuals depending on the product being offered in order to maximize the conversions.

Email marketing was initially tagged as spam and too salesy. However, the rising importance of online marketing and advertising has helped annul that perception. Companies these days are investing more in EDM’s and the response rate has also been on a rise like never before.

In the current scenario, EDM has become an integral part of business marketing strategy. Since it can be targeted to desired customer group, majority of small businesses are turning to this form of marketing to get in touch with their customers and offer their products & services to them. An EDM campaign is measurable, this is another major advantage which helps the marketer to understand the minute details of his customer base.

Email marketing can be turned into a success by considering some factors;

• Subject line:

To begin with, one must provide an eye catching and accurate subject line to the mail. Mails with a vague subject line would hardly be read. Certain words like free, buy now, subscribe now etc need to be parted with, if you do not want to find your mail ending up in the recipient’s junk box.

• Content:

It is the most important aspect of any email. If the content of the newsletter is not appealing, the recipient would snap out of it within no time. Good content is niche to keep him glued to the mail.

• Call to Action:

Call to Action is the next step in bridging the gap between the business and the client. It is the action which you want the recipient to perform after going through your email. If the ‘call to action’ process is complex, it will reduce the chances of successful conversions. Hence easy navigation is the key to simplify the process.

Further, the success rate also depends on other endogenous factors like the format of the email. If the format of the newsletter is complex and difficult to navigate, it reduces the possibility of a conversion. Bringing in personal touch by addressing the consumer by name also largely contributes in the success of an EDM. Providing relevant links leading to relevant pages, the timing of the mail being shot, the target audiences for the EDM etc. contribute towards the success of an EDM campaign, and in turn have significant impact on sales.

Advantages

Email marketing helps you understand what type of consumer is interested in your product, what kind of product interests him. This analysis helps alter the business strategy favorably. Some of the advantages are as follows:

1. Highly targeted:

Direct mailing can be used to target specific set of individuals by developing lists of email ids matching your product segment. It is possible to reach any market segment or buyer profile most appropriate for your business.

2. Measurable:

One of the greatest advantages of EDM is the accuracy with which it can be measured. The marketer can gauge the performance of an EDM campaign precisely by monitoring and analyzing certain metrics like open rate, bounce rate etc, which are explained further in the article.

3. Cost effective:

EDM is much cheaper as compared to conventional means of marketing, and since it can be targeted to desired group of individuals, it helps utilize the budget optimally.

4. Personal Reach:

Mail merging techniques can easily help add a personal touch to the email by addressing the potential customers by name. This has a significant impact on the reader than when addressed in general.

5. Better conversion rates:

The response rate to personalized mails is usually higher than other mediums of marketing. With the response rate being high it leads to better and quicker conversions. Not only is direct mailing cost effective but it also yields a high conversion rate.

Disadvantages

Unsolicited mails:

One of the main drawbacks of e-mail marketing is that some companies use it to send unsolicited bulk email known as spam. Since the volume of spam is huge, it sometimes leads the recipient to ignore a genuine mail from spam. Though email providers are doing their best to prevent spam, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between a genuine mail and a spam.

Hoax Email ids & delivery problems:

An EDM campaign will be ineffective if the opt in email ids are not genuine. Delivery is another major issue causing hindrance. According to a report, only 56% of mails get delivered in the US. To prevent this, dead weight mail ids must be cleared frequently.

Spam Filters:

Spam filters installed by email providers in order to avoid spam messages also act as an obstacle to legitimate email marketers.

Now to understand the exact impact of EDM on the conversions, branding & advertisement; tracking and analysis of every campaign needs to be done. Certain metrics listed below need to be regularly monitored to gauge the performance.

• Firstly, in order to know how many people have actually opened the mail, one must take a look at the open rate. Open rate gives you the percentage of people opening the mail.

• Secondly, you need to monitor call-to-action, ie the percentage of people responding to your call-to-action, to obtain the conversion rate.

• Further you also need to keep a check on the bounce rate, which provides a list of emails that fail to get delivered. Such dead weight mail addresses need to be cleared frequently in order to ensure an effective EDM campaign.