Friends With Benefit Auctions

Friends With Benefit Auctions

By Keith McLane, KLM AuctionsBusinessNon-Profit
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Friends With Benefit Auctions episodes

  • Using an Amateur Auctioneer Might Make Your Audience ‘Wince’

    If you are thinking about hiring a professional auctioneer for your fundraising event, do it! The investment is well worth it, says Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Educational Foundation. “I fully subscribe to hiring a professional auctioneer.”

    Anyone who has attended fundraising events has probably witnessed the performance of an amateur, “volunteer” auctioneer - tapped from within the organization itself to sell items to the highest bidders in the audience. But Beveridge advises fellow nonprofit professionals: “Don’t hire the volunteer. It is not going to benefit your organization in the same way.”
    Likening auctioneering to the tricky task of delivering a best man or maid of honor speech, Beveridge says, “You know it’s coming, and you’re kind of ready to wince a little bit.”
    Beveridge continues: “As nonprofit professionals, we’re always trying to think of how to cut costs; how we can maximize these donations. It feels like it would be easy to get a volunteer to come run your auction.”
    As tempting as it sounds to conserve funds by pressing a volunteer into service, however, Beveridge has seen how essential professional experience is to the energy and success of an event. Professional auctioneers, like KLM Auctions founder Keith McLane, have the background and knowledge to read and lead a room. A well-intentioned but underskilled volunteer might cause a crowd to cringe and feel uncomfortable, demotivating them to donate.
    After considering five or six auctioneers for their event, Beveridge’s organization decided to go with “the best… somebody with credibility,” because at the end of the day, “It’s one of the most critical pieces of your event. You’re investing in the professional, because it matters so much.”
    - - -
    This clip is from Episode 1 of KLM Auctions’ new video podcast Friends with Benefit Auctions, featuring an expert conversation with Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Educational Foundation, Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA, and Rachel Schmidt, the Director of Marketing at English in Action. Watch the full discussion on KLM Auctions’ Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KLMAuctions
    Hosted by KLM Auctions Founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane, “Friends With Benefit Auctions” is a new video-podcast featuring conversations with experts in the nonprofit development, educational, fundraising, and live event spaces from around the country, talking all things auction, benefit fundraising and live charity events. This dynamic series explores insider tips, tricks, and juicy details regarding the exciting benefit auction and professional fundraising space, focusing on what it takes to make an event really pop.
    KLM Auctions is the nation’s premier provider of event-based fundraising advisory services and professional charity/benefit auctioneers. Get in touch with us about your next electric fundraising event here: https://www.klmauctions.com/contact-us
    #benefitauction #auction #auctioneer #fundraising #nonprofit #friendswithbenefitauctions #KLMauctions

    2 min
  • For fundraising auction items, profit margin matters.

    Success in auction-based fundraising is all about selecting the right auction items, but event organizers sometimes pick items that are "frankly, too expensive,” says Keith McLane, Founder and Lead Auctioneer at KLM Auctions.

    Rather than auctioning a single high-value consignment package for little or no profit, event organizers often find it more effective to sell a lower-cost consignment package well above its cost.
    “If we sell something that costs $5,000. . . for $5,500 at your event, it’s not the end of the world, but nobody’s excited about that,” says McLane.
    Rather than the organization keeping only $500 in this hypothetical, McLane says it’s often better to offer, for example, a package which costs the organization closer to $1000 which can realistically be sold for $2000 or more. This allows the organization to keep a greater percent of the sales price for themselves and net more than they would’ve had they sold a more expensive package closer to the asking price.
    Additionally, says McLane, the excitement and profitability of the right consignment items comes from the ability to sell them to multiple different winners. Such items ultimately bring in more net profit to the organization than a pricier, single-use item ever could. “If you take $26,000 out of your room but you get to keep $13,000, most of my clients would get pretty excited about that,” says McLane.
    This clip is from Episode 1 of KLM Auctions’ new video podcast Friends with Benefit Auctions, featuring an expert conversation with Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Education Foundation, Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA, and Rachel Schmidt, the Director of Marketing at English in Action. Watch the full interview:


    KLM Auctions’ Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KLMAuctions


    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0riOVM38ByDgHkgbNhTrGE?si=394cd9c8ebc84bbd


    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mission-mood-momentum-and-making-money-how-to-host/id1790346707?i=1000683873176

    - - -
    Hosted by KLM Auctions Founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane, “Friends With Benefit Auctions” is a new video-podcast featuring conversations with experts in the nonprofit development, educational, fundraising, and live event spaces from around the country, talking all things auction, benefit fundraising and live charity events. This dynamic series explores insider tips, tricks, and juicy details regarding the exciting benefit auction and professional fundraising space, and what it takes to make an event really pop.
    KLM Auctions is the nation’s premier provider of event-based fundraising advisory services and professional charity/benefit auctioneers. Get in touch with us about your next electric fundraising event here: https://www.klmauctions.com/contact-us
    #consignment #consignmentitems #benefitauction #auctioneer #fundraising #nonprofit #friendswithbenefitauctions #KLMauctions

    1 min
  • The ‘Six Ways’ to Fundraise at Live Events

    There are primarily six ways that foundations and non-profit organizations can raise money through their live event, according to Keith McLane, owner and lead auctioneer at KLM Auctions.

    Before an event, Ticket Sales and Sponsorships are the primary ways groups first fundraise, especially by selling tickets for schools and educational groups, and by garnering sponsorships for other non-educational groups.

    At the event itself, many groups choose to incorporate live auctions, silent auctions, and a fund-a-need (sometimes called the “appeal” or the “flat out ask for cash”).

    “And then of course, the sixth thing is game and raffle ideas - what we call revenue enhancers,” says McLane.

    By incorporating some combination of ticket sales, sponsorships, live and silent auctions, fund-a-needs, and revenue enhancers into their event, organizations can build a live event program that is both profitable for the group and fun and engaging for the audience.

    McLane makes his comments in the “Friends with Benefit Auctions” video-podcast. Watch the full first episode of “Friends With Benefit Auctions” with guests Taylor Beveridge, Kristi Maryman, and Rachel Schmidt on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KLMAuctions

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0riOVM38ByDgHkgbNhTrGE?si=394cd9c8ebc84bbd

    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mission-mood-momentum-and-making-money-how-to-host/id1790346707?i=1000683873176


    - - -


    Hosted by KLM Auctions Founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane, “Friends With Benefit Auctions” is a new video-podcast featuring conversations with experts in the nonprofit development, educational, fundraising, and live event spaces from around the country, talking all things auction, benefit fundraising and live charity events. This dynamic series explores insider tips, tricks, and juicy details regarding the exciting benefit auction and professional fundraising space, and what it takes to make an event really pop.


    KLM Auctions is the nation’s premier provider of event-based fundraising advisory services and professional charity/benefit auctioneers. Get in touch with us about your next electric fundraising event here: https://www.klmauctions.com/contact-us

    —

    KLM Auctions is the nation’s premier provider of event-based fundraising advisory services and professional charity/benefit auctioneers. In the new video podcast “Friends with Benefit Auctions”, Keith McLane sits down with experts in the nonprofit development, educational, fundraising, and live event spaces to explore insider tips, tricks, and all the juicy details regarding the exciting benefit auction and professional fundraising space, uncovering what it takes to make an event really pop.


    Get in touch with us about your next electric fundraising event here: https://www.klmauctions.com/contact-us


    #benefitauctions #fundraising #development #nonprofitdevelopment #liveevents #raisingmoney #fundaneed #auction #KLMauctions #friendswithbenefitauctions

    1 min
  • Fundraising excitement begins at the door with an ‘entry ask’

    Asking guests for $100 as soon as they arrive at a charity fundraising event can help build excitement and momentum ahead of the live auction, says Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Education Foundation.


    Beveridge calls this practice an “entry ask,” a feature implemented by Carlsbad Education Foundation as a way to give more guests the chance “to win something big.”


    Because high-profile live auction items can sometimes sell for $10,000 to $15,000 or more, they attract only a sub-set of bidders, limiting the number of guests excited about the prospect of winning big items.


    Enter the Entry Ask Opportunity Drawing, in which event guests pay $100 at check-in for the opportunity to win high-profile items, like a three-carat diamond or an evening on a yacht.


    Beveridge says the entry-ask winner is drawn by the auctioneer during the main program, which builds excitement in the room, because now anyone who donated a modest $100 can enjoy “that fanfare you get when some of these auction items go.”


    Beveridge joins two other seasoned fundraising professionals, Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA, and Rachel Schmidt, the Director of Marketing at English in Action, on the first episode of KLM Auctions’ "Friends With Benefit Auctions” podcast, in which they discuss different approaches to creating a successful fundraising event.

    Watch the full episode and discussion on:


    KLM Auctions’ Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KLMAuctions


    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0riOVM38ByDgHkgbNhTrGE?si=394cd9c8ebc84bbd


    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mission-mood-momentum-and-making-money-how-to-host/id1790346707?i=1000683873176


    - - -


    Hosted by KLM Auctions Founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane, “Friends With Benefit Auctions” is a new video-podcast featuring conversations with experts in the nonprofit development, educational, fundraising, and live event spaces from around the country, talking all things auction, benefit fundraising and live charity events. This dynamic series explores insider tips, tricks, and juicy details regarding the exciting benefit auction and professional fundraising space, and what it takes to make an event really pop.


    KLM Auctions is the nation’s premier provider of event-based fundraising advisory services and professional charity/benefit auctioneers.

    Get in touch with us about your next electric fundraising event here: https://www.klmauctions.com/contact-us


    #benefitauction #auctioneer #fundraising #raffle #liveevents #nonprofit #charityevent #friendswithbenefitauctions #KLMauctions

    1 min
  • Mission, Mood, Momentum, and Making Money: How to Host a Benefit Fundraising Event

    These days, at large fundraising gala events, people expect a live auction to be a key feature of the evening. “It’s a spectacle, and people are excited to see it,” says Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Educational Foundation in San Diego.

    Beveridge joins two other seasoned fundraising professionals, Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA, and Rachel Schmidt, the Director of Marketing at English in Action, on the first episode of KLM Auctions’ "Friends With Benefit Auctions” podcast, in which they discuss different approaches to creating a successful fundraising event.

    Though there are a number of ways groups and organizations can raise money for their cause, many realize that taking the Benefit Auction route, with live event-based fundraising, is, as Schmidt describes, a “major revenue driver.” Taylor notes that Carlsbad Educational Foundation incorporates an ‘entry ask’ - a way for multiple people to win big items at only $100, and have found it to be a crowd-pleasing aspect of an event, while Rachel talked about the ‘last paddle battle’ game as a fun and valuable addition to live and silent auction portions.


    When it comes to the Auction portions of the evening itself, the fundraisers say the person chosen to be the auctioneer can make or break an event and contribute significantly to the energy, profitability, and success of an evening. “It’s one of the most critical pieces of the event,” says Beveridge. She likens the position, and hiring a volunteer to do it, to a best man or maid of honor speech at a wedding: “you know it’s coming, and you’re kind of ready to wince a little bit.” But finding a professional who is adaptable, adept at reading and leading a room, and helpful in discussing the event’s needs before event night “Matters so much”. With the auctioneer position being a “key revenue generator for the event… we don't want to leave it up to chance”, says Maryman.

    Almost all organizations incorporate stories highlighting the mission as a critical part of the evening, invoking what Maryman calls a “misty hopeful” mood among the audience - encouraging people to empathize with the organization’s cause and become inspired to donate. Through their fund-a-need, Schmidt and her team like to strike a balance between a lively event and serious, impactful storytelling, "demonstrating a need, but in an optimistic, hopeful, cheerful way.” As a school and educational organization, Taylor notes that the timing of the programming is key, and that they aim to build to the “misty hopeful moment” after the live action and before the paddle-raise.

    The three guests also discuss consignment packages as one highly valuable piece of the item package puzzle. Picking consignment is “all about picking the right packages,” says Keith. The right items that can be sold at significantly more than their cost and in multiples are ultimately worth it in the long run.

    Hosted by KLM Auctions Founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane, “Friends With Benefit Auctions” is a dynamic new video-podcast featuring conversations with experts in the nonprofit development, educational, fundraising, and live event spaces from around the country, talking all things auction, benefit fundraising and live charity events. This dynamic series will explore insider tips, tricks, and juicy details regarding the exciting benefit auction and professional fundraising space, and explore what it takes to make an event really pop.


    KLM Auctions is the nation’s premier provider of event-based fundraising advisory services and professional charity/benefit auctioneers. Over the past 30 years, the KLM team has helped hundreds of clients create and conduct over 2,000 successful events which have generated hundreds of millions of dollars for deserving charitable organizations of all kinds and sizes. Get in touch with us about your next electric fundraising event here: https://www.klmauctions.com/contact-us

    31 min

About Friends With Benefit Auctions

From the publisher's feed

Hosted by KLM Auctions Founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane, 'Friends With Benefit Auctions' features conversations with experts in the nonprofit development, educational, and live event spaces from around the country, talking all things auctions, benefit fundraising, and live charity events.