As in life, when planning a fundraising event, it truly is the little things that matter. Here are three small ways to make a big impact on your guests that could turn into big bucks for your organization.
Provide reading glasses.
All too often guests forget to bring their reading glasses to gala events and then struggle to read the auction tent cards. A great idea I saw was putting baskets of reading glasses by the silent auction items and at registration. Guests who had forgotten their glasses were relieved to be able look at the items and their descriptions with clarity—which increased interest in the items and revenue raised.
Create a phone charging station.
Guests rarely think to charge their cell phones before attending an evening event, but it’s important to do so if they will be using their smartphone to bid. Charging stations are a great fix! Set up a table (maybe near a bar) with iPhone and Android phone chargers plugged into a power strip. This will allow guests to give their phones some life while socializing and placing their bids.
Offer plate clips for holding drinking glasses.
Sometimes guests feel as though they need three hands to carry their plate and their cocktail glass while holding their BidPal device. Wine glass plate clips are an innovative idea that I saw at a Tres Bonne Annee event. The plate clip secures to the edge of the plate to hold a glass of wine, freeing up a hand for bidding.
At your next event, don’t be afraid to think outside the box and really wow your guests with extra little touches. Enhancing your guests’ experience and making them feel like you have thought of it all can help generate more money for your organization.
Cameron Mahoney, BidPal Consultant
When using BidPal payment processing, we recommend two volunteers per terminal. One volunteer can verify guest information and swipe credit cards while the second volunteer types in the bidder number and hands over the BidPal device or a “How to Smartphone” card. If you are not using payment processing through BidPal, be sure to have at least one registration line for every 100 guests.
Principal for a Day
Be sure your event emcee and/or auctioneer is well-versed in BidPal before your event begins so that they can influence the audience as effectively as possible. Then incorporate the following helpful announcements into the emcee’s script:
Many event chairs believe auction booklets are critical to the success of their event. But consider this: where do those booklets end up? Most guests throw them away, leave them on their table, or set them down for their all-important adult beverage and never use them. What a waste.
Apply this same concept to your silent auction. Recently, I saw an organization use the online gift registries of several major U.S. retailers to request items for their silent auction. While you may think registries at Crate & Barrel, Macy’s, Pottery Barn, and Target are only for the bride and groom, if you look closely you see they are promoted as gift registries, not just bridal registries.
Dress volunteers in apparel that coordinates with your theme. Keep with the ambiance of your event and use apparel to help your volunteers stand out. Hawaiian leis would be great for a beach inspired event. Volunteers wearing Santa hats work great for holiday themed night. Fun green hats add a festive feeling to your St. Patrick’s Day event and they can be spotted easily throughout the venue space.
By using BidPal’s cellular solution at your golf outing, you can watch your silent auction proceeds rise all day long. You won’t have to wait until dinner to get people bidding.
Auctions at golf outings historically under perform and for good reason—golfers typically can’t bid while they’re on the course. That is about to change. BidPal’s cellular solution allows golfers to bid on their smartphones from the golf course, and allows you to capitalize on what used to be down time.
However, that’s no reason to be any less creative with some intriguing and attention-grabbing package names. You don’t need to give all the details in the name. You have much more room to elaborate and provide important restrictions and information in the package description.
