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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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Virtual Phone Systems Help Home Based Businesses Compete With the Big Guys

Virtual phone systems, also known as virtual PBXs, are a sound solution to help facilitate any home based business. Home based businesses today have many of the same communication needs as their larger counterparts. Customers and vendors need to be routed to the right person within a company; and when a business is home based, this is usually one person-the owner. Like any other company, a home based business needs to be competitive, with such communication tools as voice mail for messaging and toll-free numbers for customer convenience.Even though the communication needs may be similar for most companies, the unique circumstances of home offices often make finding the right type of phone system difficult. Home offices are usually too small for elaborate systems with lots of equipment and hardware. For many home based businesses, a virtual PBX is a viable alternatives.Virtual phone systems manage communications at an off-site location without the need for additional land lines or new hardware. This process is generally cheaper than traditional systems. Moreover, because the maintenance of virtual phone systems is done off-site, there is never any interruption to the home business. A virtual PBX does not require extensive training to learn how to use either. Finally, all of the customary features of traditional systems are available with the virtual systems as well.When home based businesses use virtual phone systems, in-coming callers will not be able to discern any noticeable difference. The system will be easy to use and will project the same professional image as a traditional phone system. With a virtual PBX, businesses will be able to create a unique message for in-coming callers, as well as an extensive menu of options from which callers may choose. If a home based business has more than one employee, the virtual phone system will be able to route calls to the appropriate person based on the callers’ menu choices.Call forwarding is another important feature of virtual phone systems. In-coming calls can be routed to the appropriate people wherever they happen to be-at work, on the road, or at home. Routing can be changed simply by logging into the system-a user can choose to receive calls at the home office in the morning, and then by mobile phone in the afternoon, all with a few simple commands. This feature makes virtual PBX systems truly portable, an important advantage for any home based business owner.Besides voice communications, virtual phone systems can also manage both in-coming and out-going faxes. In-coming faxes are received as email; out-going faxes are handled like any other fax sent from a computer. Customers will not notice any difference when faxing to the home based business. Even more, all faxing will now be paperless saving valuable space, money and resources.Virtual phone systems can substantially reduce a company’s communication costs. Installation and set-up expenses are substantially minimized. Existing hardware usually does not need to be replaced. With the customized menu options, there is no need for a person to be on duty simply to answer the phone. Digitized faxing eliminates the need for fax machines and paper.Beyond cost savings, virtual phone systems make good business sense for reasons of productivity. Because faxes are digitized, they can be saved more efficiently on a computer and then printed out only when needed. Users can have in-coming calls routed by the auto attendant to wherever they are during the day, resulting in fewer missed calls and greater responsiveness to customers’ needs. The menus can be customized to provide customers with important information without a live person answering the phone. When a live contact is needed, the menus help the customer to get the necessary support more quickly. This will have a significant impact on customer satisfaction.

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Strategic Planning in Small Business – Is There Such Thing?

“The vast majority of small business owners do not plan”, I think that we can regard this statement as a ruling. But why is it so? As far as my knowledge reach, the reason for this derives from two different aspects: First, the lack of time that every small business owner face, which exists mainly because of the centrality of the small business owner in the day-to-day management tasks that are crucial for the maintenance of the small business. Second, the skills, or lack of skills, to establish a profound strategic planning process that will evolve into strategic plan that will lay out the small business goals and objectives and the necessary resources needed to achieve those objectives. Such skills are not as common even when we are dealing with large business top managers, but contrary to small business owners large business top managers do have the access to professionals in the field of strategic planning and the necessary resources to hire them, and this is what makes the whole difference.

After saying all this, several questions needed to be answer: do all small business owners sentenced to lag behind their corporate colleagues regarding strategic planning? Is there something that the small business owner can do in order to narrow the gap? And if there is, what will be the benefits to the small business owner?

Small business owners will never have the necessary resources needed to close the gap with large businesses regarding strategic planning process and implementation. But frankly I don’t think that they should put neither their time nor their money in the elusive quest to narrow this gap. What small business owners can and should do is to understand that a small business is not a large business regarding its abilities and needs with the only exception that it’s employ fewer employees. If this understanding become a common knowledge to the small business owner, it is rather obvious that he or she should adopt different approach regarding strategic planning.

The idea that strategic planning at small business should not come in a rigid form, that dictate a step by step formula what the small business should do and how it’s need to act at every possible situation, opens a whole new set of alternatives to engage at some sort of strategic planning from which the owner and its business will be the main beneficiaries. The benefits to the small business from engaging in any sort of strategic planning could be as follow: The understanding of the small business owner how he sees the objectives of its small business as for today and what he plans to the future. Defining the resources needed to achieve those objectives and plans. Insight what are and will be the risks while trying to implement its present and future plans.

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