Category: Promotion & Procurement

Make the ask for a donation

Silent Auction Donation Request Letter Advice and Templates

We’ve discussed earlier on this blog how to get donated silent auction items without cold calling. In short, you should leverage your charity auction committee’s existing connections before cold-calling businesses for donated auction items. But sometimes personal connections are not enough, and you need to build new connections to generous businesses through donation request letters. In this […]

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Get sponsors for fundraising event

7 Do’s and Don’ts for Getting Sponsors for Your Fundraising Event

In this post, you’ll learn the do’s and don’ts of getting sponsors for your fundraiser. DO: Ask Your Organizational Contacts and Personal Connections to Sponsor Your Event There’s no better place to start your list of target sponsors than with businesses that have previously contributed to your nonprofit. On the flip side, any businesses to which your […]

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Make the ask for a donation

Donation Request Letters: Are You Making These 3 Critical Mistakes?

Charity auction organizers know the importance of connecting with generous businesses to find silent auction items. However, it’s cumbersome to write hundreds of online donation request letters (not to mention the cold-calling) hoping enough generous business owners say “yes.” How do you make your charity auction stand out when requesting donations? In this post, we cover the […]

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living room captains

Living Room Captains: The Key to Your Virtual Gala’s Success

The most important thing for a virtual gala fundraiser is not the scripting, the video, the hosts or the auction items. The most important thing is getting people to tune in, ready to open their wallets. In this post, I’m going to show you how to achieve just that using “living room captains.” What Is a Living […]

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Silent auction basket

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

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 […]

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Facebook app

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

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 […]

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bullseye

Charity Galas: Target the Right Attendees to Maximize Donations

When planning your benefit event, remember these words: “You are not your audience.” Translation: planning things that appeal to you may not result in the biggest donations. Rather, you must understand what your most important supporters value and deliver it to them. In this post, we explore how to segment your audience and then target your actions […]

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Hand shake

5 Steps to Land Generous Sponsors for Your Fundraiser (Step-by-Step Guide)

Wouldn’t you love to tell donors that every dollar raised at your fundraising event will go directly to fund your school, church, or charity? This means having every dollar spent on the event covered by a sponsorship or in-kind donation. This is possible, regardless of the size of your organization or gala. Many of your supporters can’t […]

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Bidding at Auction

How to Get Donated Items for Your Silent Auction (Without Cold Calling)!

Your mother warned you, “Never talk to strangers!” But to get donated silent auction items, that is what you are asked to do. Anyone who has tried cold calling for auction items, however, knows that it rarely works. Why? You are asking a total stranger for something of value, to be given to someone they don’t know, […]

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raffle tickets

24 Awesome Prize Ideas for Your Silent Auction or Raffle

Raffles are a great way to raise money for your school, church, or charity. Participants feel good about their contribution and love the opportunity to win a big prize. You need to find raffle items that both excite your audience and generate a large net donation. Raffles can have multiple winners at different price levels so you’ll […]

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