Category: Plan Your Gala

What’s Love Got to Do with It? A Nonprofit’s Journey Toward LIVE Online Virtual Fundraising Events (Guest Post)

Shelly St John April 14, 2020

The Coronavirus crushed the Nonprofit and Education live fundraising event industry overnight. Thousands of organizations across the globe were forced to cancel or postpone their events, in many instances, these events were their largest means of fundraising of the entire year. These event shutdowns amplified business closures from venues to auctioneers, caterers, set design, AV, and entertainment […]

Plan Your Gala, Running the Auction

I Just Hosted Two Virtual Live Galas. Here’s What I Learned (Guest Post)

Chad Carvey April 9, 2020

As school fundraisers wrestle with the idea of a virtual live gala (VLG), I thought it would be helpful to share my experience as a benefit auctioneer who just hosted two of them. Spoiler Alert: VLG’s rock! “FIRST SCHOOL” (March 13, 2020) On March 13, 2020—in response to the safety measures in place to slow the spread […]

Committee Decisions

Enlist the Right Hosts for an Effective Virtual Fundraising Gala (Guest Post)

Layne, The Auctionista April 6, 2020

Your live fundraising gala may be cancelled. Do you have access to a studio space, a professional audio-visual team and the ability to recreate your event for the whole internet to experience? How will you take advantage of the moment? Virtual events provide an opportunity to increase awareness, garner new audiences and raise much needed funds. Your […]

Committee Decisions, Plan Your Gala

Virtual Galas: How to Host an Online Fundraising Event

Alex McDonald March 24, 2020

Thousands of nonprofits are hosting virtual galas, leveraging modern technology to engage their donor base and raise vital funds. In our virtual gala guide, you’ll learn about: Virtual gala programming Web-sharing technology Online auctions & fund-a-needs Much more Considering a virtual gala? Read on, or watch our recent Webinar. What Is a Virtual Gala? A virtual gala […]

Plan Your Gala, Promotion & Procurement

Silent Auction Baskets: How to Bundle Your Items (Step-by-Step Guide)

Alex McDonald March 4, 2020

Do you have a bunch of smaller silent auction items that don’t really “pop” on their own? In this post, you’ll learn how to bundle your silent auction items into baskets so the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We’ll cover: Choosing items to bundle Setting the minimum bid Presenting the bundle Let’s dive […]

Plan Your Gala, Promotion & Procurement

How to Promote Your Fundraiser on Facebook (Step-by-Step Guide)

Alex McDonald February 19, 2020

In decades past, perhaps you’ve sold tickets to your big gala through direct mailers and ticket tables. Over the last 20 years, you’ve incorporated email into your marketing campaigns. Now, there is a new dominant marketing channel that you cannot ignore for your fundraising event: Facebook In this post, you will learn the basics of Facebook event […]

Committee Decisions, Plan Your Gala

7 Creative Food Options for Your Dinner Gala

Alex McDonald February 14, 2020

So you’ve decided to avoid serving rubber chicken and dry potatoes at this year’s gala. Great! But now what should you put on the menu? You have to weigh broad appeal, cost, and friendliness to dietary requirements, not to mention match the ambiance of your event. Let’s explore seven alternative food options that will have your guests […]

Plan Your Gala, Running the Auction

Silent Auctions: How Many Items Should You Include for Bidding?

Alex McDonald January 28, 2020

If you are holding a silent auction for a fundraiser, you may be having a difficult time determining how many items you should put up for bid. Too few and you risk not raising enough money, but too many and you stifle competitive bidding and spread the same amount of money across more items. What is the […]

Plan Your Gala, Running the Auction

14 “Musts” for Effective Silent Auction Displays

Jay Fiske January 17, 2020

Most benefit auctions consist of several Silent Auctions and one Live Auction. Silent Auction setup is vital to the success of any auction, because this is the part of the evening that people experience first. For planning purposes, here are some guidelines to follow when doing advance planning for your Silent Auction: 1. Close your Silent Auction […]

Committee Decisions, Plan Your Gala

Benefit Auctions: Outsource These 5 Positions

Jay Fiske January 10, 2020

While it is not necessary to hire outside help for your event, you may find it well worthwhile to consider at least some professional assistance to help make it run smoothly. Experience is a great insurance policy. Hiring benefit auction experts to help train volunteers and to ‘‘run the show’’ the night of the event will allow […]