Live Auction
Strategy & Planning:
• Start the auction with your least important lot–a warm up lot.
• Place your most important lot about 2/3 of the way through or at the end. People will be waiting for this.
• Have a Fund-a-Cause "Cash Call"A cash call during a live auction can raise $30,000. Name it "Fund a Cause", "Fund a Dream", "Fund a Wish", etc. Invite the audience to bid on services or opportunities for your charity: a new hospital room, new equipment, etc. Remind guests that this is an opportunity to give without getting back.
Watch this video on the Ideal Cash Call:
Strategy:· Position the cash call in the middle of the live auction, before the most important lot.
• Show an emotional video (no more than 2 min.) about your charity before the cash call.
• Before the event, ensure there's one good bidder (a "sure thing") in the audience– someone you know plans to give money. Speak with this person before your event, and ask her or him to be the first to "fund a wish" if others aren't bidding. This will entice others to give
• Begin the bidding at 50-60 percent of the lot's value. Be sure to list the lot value in your display & programs.
• Timeline: Live Auction with Cash Call: 25 minutes
→ Cash Call (a.k.a. Fund a Cause): If you don’t do this in the right way it can cost you 10KOccurs 1/2 to 2/3 into the auction, not at the end b/c audience loses enthusiasm, or at the start because they’re not warmed up. Tie the "fund a cause" to concrete outcomes e.g. $10K gets x number of kids out of foster care, saving the State x number of dollars
→ A "Heartfelt Story"Immediately precedes "Cash Call". You need to have video for the full impact. A live person has a challenge of being fallible--too long-winded, boring, not good at triggering people's emotions.
• Music in the background during the auction gets louder between lots and revs up the crowd
• Create a Powerpoint presentation or slideshow of photos that corresponds to each lot so guests can “see” what they’re bidding on (i.e. photos of the winery, etc.) is fundamental. Ensure the order of the hotos is “in sync” with the order of the lots in the event program.
• ALWAYS hold the live auction BEFORE the fashion show. This ensures guests remain seated and builds momentum. The auctioneer should dedicate no more than 2-3 minutes to describing each lot to sustain guests’ attention.
• Hearing a name pronounced incorrectly is always painful, especially when it’s preventable. Rehearse the pronunciation of all names in all of the lots in case they are present at the event.
• Have volunteers assigned as spotters who “communicate” with the auctioneer. This helps everyone in this process.
• The value of a lot will raise significantly when the auctioneer reminds the guests that the wine country experiences are “once in a lifetime opportunities that are not open to the general public” and “cannot be duplicated” – this language is essential in describing the hospitality lots.
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