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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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A Legitimate Home Based Business Opportunity Will Fail Without Desire!

Desire is the cornerstone of business. A legitimate home based business opportunity will certainly fail without desire. Desire, however, isn’t enough. Many people embark on the quest to start a legitimate home based business opportunity strictly for the money it can generate. While some of those people will succeed, the vast majority won’t. Desire for money simply isn’t enough to sustain the rigors of building a legitimate online business opportunity. With that desire needs to be an emotional connection.The emotional connection can be anything. Most people desiring to start a home based business do so because they want to be home. They want to spend more time with their families, live closer to relatives, avoid traffic, etc. A plethora of reasons exist to operating a business from home; many of them are desired by many people! It makes sense. The purpose of this article is not to convince you to start a home based business; I’m assuming you have made that step if you are reading it. The purpose is to put into perspective what you need to have in place prior to undertaking such a wonderful adventure.Once you knock down the emotional reason for wanting to succeed in a legitimate home based business opportunity, you will have won half the battle. The desire for money is so superficial. Money doesn’t do anything except allow us to have more options and choose what we want to do. If you dig deep enough, you can truly uncover what it is you want. It isn’t money, although money is generally the way to get you there. Money is simply the vehicle that allows us to get to where we want to go in life. “The most important things in life are not things.”In order to succeed online, or in any business venture, you need to have a strong desire. You will be tested. You will succeed and fail on so many levels. The deciding factor is what you will do in the face of those successes and failures. The most successful people in business are generally ones who come from some pretty dismal circumstances. If you were, or are, facing foreclosure, bankruptcy, or some other horrible financial situation, your motivation factor is going to be very high. You will do without question that which you need to do to succeed because the alternative is so bad. If someone put a gun to your head and said go run a mile, or I will kill you. You would go and run a mile. It’s not about whether a person can or can’t do something; it’s simply about the level of their ‘desire’ or motivation. The road ahead with a legitimate home based business opportunity may be difficult, but it is well worth it in the end.To sum it up, desire is worthless without a strong backing for that desire. Everyone wants to be rich. Everyone desires fancy things, fast cars, tons of freedom and time to travel. Two questions must be asked.1. What is the true motivator for me? (emotional – family, time freedom, helping others, etc)
2. Exactly what am I willing to sacrifice to make it happen.Once you have answered those two questions, the rest is simply about taking action and you are well on your way!

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Why Entrepreneurs Need Small Business Credit Cards

Small business credit cards are a special type of credit cards that are meant for use by small business (as opposed to the normal credit cards or personal credit cards which are meant for the use of an individual). Some people wonder why they should go for a small business credit card when they already have one or more personal credit cards.

This is a very valid question indeed. By logic, if something like small business credit cards exists in market as a separate entity altogether, there must be a special need for it. It must have some features which are useful to small businesses in particular. Though there are a lot of similarities between personal and small business credit cards (of course there would be similarities since both of them are credit cards after all), there are a few differences too. These differences are mainly in terms of the flexible credit limit, lower APR offers and attractive terms and conditions which are better for small business credit cards.

Besides all the benefits which are quoted for credit cards and the additional attractive offers, there is another important reason for going for a small business credit card. The reason is business expense accounting. A lot of small businesses face this is as a major challenge. One needs to keep track of each and every business expense and log the information somewhere for the purpose of business expense accounting. Business expense accounting is needed not only for tax purpose but also for financial strategy evaluation and budget tracking. Generally speaking, two main problems quoted for small business expense accounting are business expense segregation and expense classification.

By using your small business credit card for all your small business outgo, you can very easily separate your business expenses from your personal expenses. This will thus solve your business expense separation problem. What you receive on your small business credit card bill is your business expense directly. Moreover, this report is something which your tax consultant will love too.

The second problem is also solved automatically. Most small business credit cards also group together the business expenses under proper heads. Some credit cards even provide credit card statement as data feeds which can be directly fed into accounting software. Just imagine how much hassle you are saved from with this business accounting feature. Wonderful, isn’t it?

The other great thing about small business credit cards is the help they offer in terms of managing the expense peaks. Though such variations are part of almost every business, they are even more critical for small businesses. So when that need for immediate purchase arises, you wouldn’t need to worry if you had the backing of a small business credit card. Also, generally small business have to pay first and receive later i.e. make payments for purchases before receiving payments for services/goods, so small business credit card also acts as an intermediary who fills in the time gap at little or no additional cost.

The credit card membership benefits are at its best when it comes to small business credit cards. There are discounted ticket offers, car rental offers, gift offers and many other good offers for small business credit card holders. Just check all such benefits that might be available on your small business credit card and ensure that you use them whenever and wherever required.

The small business credit cards are ranked higher by the credit card suppliers too. So everything associated with a small business credit card, including the customer service, is better than the personal credit cards.

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