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.

How to Succeed in a “Home Based Business” and Still Be a Mom

Stay at home moms (and dads) are often looking for ways to earn some extra money. The one thing keeping a lot of parents back is that they want to be at home with their children. An online home based business is the perfect business. This type of business allows you to stay home and be with your family. It gives you the freedom to work at a time that is convenient for you. All you need is a computer and an internet connection.Most people are afraid to start their own business. People are afraid to fail, but if you never try you can’t succeed. With the right amount of training and a great marketing system, an online home based business can give you back your freedom; both financially and mentally. It feels good to be your own boss and run your own company. A home based business doesn’t tie you down; it gives you freedom to do what you want, when you want and where you want. An online home based business can be managed anywhere around the world, as long as you have an internet connection.With the right kind of online home based business, you can also raise money for schools, charities or your place of worship. You can live a healthier lifestyle with a green home based business. Teach your children how to be eco-conscious. Show them by example. It is not just the food that they eat, but it is also the home they live in. You can start by changing your cleaning supplies to a more eco-friendly one. Just like your children started with baby steps before they walked, so can you by taking baby steps and slowly change your cleaning products. If everyone started to make small changes just think of the impact it would have on our planet.When you begin to look for an online home based business, do your homework so that you can be successful. Check out the product and make sure that it is one that you like or love. Does the product appeal to everyone or just one type of person? Can the business be easily duplicated? Does the home based business have a great support system and an amazing marketing system already in place? What about their management team? These are just a few questions you need to ask and find the answers.

What Is Travel Marketing?

Like other niche industries, the travel industry is an entity of its own. Consequently, the ideal marketing solutions for this industry are travel-specific and dedicated to this large and very dynamic field. Marketing to the travel industry involves its various sub-categories like hotels, tour operators, airlines, etc.Yet like most marketing done today, travel marketing is intensely data-driven-it has to be in order to be cost-effective and ultimately successful.

It’s All about the Numbers
A careful examination of data reflects a minutia of details that are important to businesses working in the travel industry. Depending on the data you examine, it might tell you whether it’s profitable to market your boutique hotel to families or what time of year it’s best to market your airline ticket specials. Marketing, of course, is an investment so it’s important that the investment pays you back. Choosing a travel marketing specialist with reliable data is, of course, the ideal way to begin your strategic marketing plan.

Data for Business Optimization
How can data help specific travel-related businesses market better to increase business? Agencies that capture data find it so important that their entire business models are completely based upon it. Moreover, it has fallen to their expertise with managing this data to update it. When businesses contract with a travel marketing firm they have access to the data sets they need to make the smartest decisions about their marketing campaign-and ultimately about their money. Of course, it isn’t always easy to understand the numbers or the trends within those numbers so companies have also come to rely upon the optimization specialists in their preferred travel marketing agency who understand how to transform data into an actionable marketing plan.

Translating the Numbers
How can data help you if you are a car rental company or a hotel chain? In other words, what can a travel marketing agency do for you? Whatever the business-hotel, car rental, cruise ship, airline, or some other tourism-based endeavor-a travel marketing agency can help the business expand its customer base, tailor its operations to its most successful offerings, and inevitably make more money. It does this through various measures depending on the business in question.

In the case of hotels, for instance, a travel marketing firm can drive bookings through the hotel’s website, increase brand awareness with data-backed results, reach likely customers, and even find ways to engage frequent flyers. Similarly, travel marketing agencies can increase bookings for cruise and airlines by recommending timely offers. Moreover, it may increase profit for these businesses by identifying ancillary revenue opportunities.

Working with the Experts
While a company’s own marketing executives have definitive know-how and a level of business-specific expertise that is immensely important for any company, the travel marketing agency has a broad level of travel-specific expertise that regularly looks at the big travel picture-a perspective that can be essential for a travel-related business. Working with a renowned agency is a decided way to expand and improve business through carefully wrought marketing solutions that are based on reliable data. Chances are if you are a business that relies on tourism or travel, this data and these experts could dramatically help you too.