Like everywhere else, Sonoma charities are feeling the double pinch of an increase in demand at exactly the same time sources of funding are drying up.  Sonoma is being particularly hard hit because there are several major fundraising events that have taken a break in 2009.  Most of the cancellation or postponements were implemented before the economy tanked.

Sonoma Paradiso, the biggest fundraiser in the county simply posted a message on their website, with no indication of future plans.

The Hospices of Sonoma website says that they are rebranding as the Pinot Society Wine Auction with the plan of holding their first auction in early 2010.

The Sonoma County Showcase auction was merged with the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction in 2008.

The Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction announced earlier this year that, in a break from past practises, they would ask their beneficiaries to apply for grants AFTER the auction.

In combination these events raised several million dollars for charity, particularly childrens’  charities, every year.  It is just happenstance that it all hit at once, but the combination of circumstances and the tough economy means harder times.

If there is any lesson to be learned, it is that it is always better to own your own event.  Raising money through an umbrella organization may leave you open to unexpected twists and turns.

After viewing one of the “Kitchen Sink Dramas” that ruled in the West End after WWII, Noel Coward was asked what he thought of an actor’s performance that was famed for it’s spontaneity and improvisation.  “The only improvisation I like”, Coward replied, “comes with three weeks of rehearsal.”

I was reminded of this recently.  I was just starting the Fund-A-Need pitch when the popular and charismatic Director of the Organization walked by the stage.  I called him up, and asked for his input.  After a few seconds it became apparent that he did not know the where the F-A-N money was going.   OUCH!  I backtracked and gave my original pitch.  I don’t think that it cost the organization any money but the director feels bad, I feel bad and the reputation of the organization was ever so slightly tarnished.

It was my fault.  I had forgotten the golden rule.  On stage everything matters.  What would be insignificant in casual conversation becomes heightened when said on stage.

Everything needs to be rehearsed or at least planned.  At one event I watched a local anchorman start to tell a joke, realize that it was inappropriate, try to back track, dig a deeper hole for himself, and eventually end up revealing some things  that I am sure he would rather have remained private.

A microphone without a script is a dangerous tool.  The classic was a big donor who was being honored by an organization.  On taking the stage to receive his plaque, the donor, who had obviously fully appreciated the free Martini Bar, proceeded to tell everyone that he hated the organization and only gave the money to placate his wife, who, unfortunately could not be there that evening.

One of rules at Reynolds & Buckley is that we avoid “gunslinger” events, where we just come in and do the auction without the prior consulting and planning.  I hope this portion of our service is of use to our clients, but I know for a fact that it is essential to us.  If we do not assimilate your message and goals, a process that takes time, and then practice repeating them in our own words, we will not be able to communicate them clearly and believably to your audience.

A great improv group creates spontaneity through playing theater games.  As a group you learn each others strengths and weaknesses.  You have the time to develop characters and skills that the group learns to depend on.

In other words improvisation can improve with three weeks of rehearsal.

At more than one recent event, I have been handed a catalog with inflated values on the live auction packages. There is an inherent danger in this, as it stretches the boundaries of trust with bidders. The desire to establish a high value for the auction packages one works incredibly hard to obtain is understandable, but extremely high lot values can have a chilling effect on an auction. Especially in this economic climate.

A fundraising auction is in many ways an exercise in building and maintaining trust. Attendees come because they trust they will have a good time. They give you money because they trust you honestly need it and that you’ll do good work with it. You have to trust that your crowd will show up and support you at the level you need.

The latter is probably harder to do, but it is also the most important. It takes a big leap of faith to put yourself out there, to put all of the effort into making the event happen, and to trust that your crowd is going to come support you at the level you need. The moment you start inflating the values of your live auction lots, however, you violate that trust. It seldom pays off.

When the values of a live auction are inflated, a couple of things can happen. At best, people feel priced-out of the auction, and start paying less attention. This is bad because we need everyone to feel like the auction is somewhat inclusive, at least until we do the fund a need.

The worst thing that can happen if you inflate the values is that the audience turns on you, because they think you are being greedy. A few summers back I did an event that was lucky enough to have one of San Francisco’s most wealthy and highly-regarded philanthropists in the crowd. The people putting the event on wanted everyone in the room to rise up to said philanthropist’s level, and insisted on inflating all of my opening bids.

Our opening lot was a winemaker’s dinner for 12 people at a then soon-to-open Winery. At the client’s insistence, we changed the opening bid from $2,000 to $4,000 - thereby also changing the implied value of the lot from $4,000 to $8,000. Ridiculous. And I wasn’t the only person who thought as much.

One of the tables was filled with a bunch of bidders I see at many wine auctions in California and beyond. This crowd comes to spend money at an auction. I could see the looks on their faces immediately change when I announced the opening bid, as they all got pissed off and put their paddles down. That same table of people had spent over $30,000 at an event only two weeks before. That day, they didn’t bid once, not once. They turned on the event and sat on their paddles from the opening bid.

It affects my credibility as your auctioneer, as well. If I’m telling a crowd that the lots are worth X and everyone knows they’re worth less than that, people start to doubt what I say. And when people start to doubt what I say, they start to spend less, ultimately having the exact opposite effect of the original intent. There are many keys to getting people to spend more at a fundraising auction. Simply saying the stuff is worth more than it is isn’t one of them.

Due to current budgeting considerations more events are turning to the “buffet line” to cut costs.  Some events are even using scattered food stations and high boy tables.  Both are seemingly cost effective, but raise timing and technical issues.

First, the “grazing” method.  Guests roam freely from food station to food station and then search for some space on those small high-boy’s or stand in a group and practice their juggling skills.  Your invited guests will be carrying a drink, a plate and hopefully their program and bidder paddle. “Tasty food, wonderful wine…hey, where’s my program?”  The best fix for this is open table seating so at least they can sit, eat and bid!

Buffets on the other hand usually come with assigned tables.  Which helps if you choose to call the tables up to the buffet by number, as opposed to opening the buffet and standing back! The big issue with buffets are, the first people through the line are done with their dinner but those at the end are still holding empty plates.  Those who have finished will only sit so long before their up and roaming around again which means you have to sit them down again before you can start the program.

So what do you do?  You start the program when the majority of your guests are through the line.  If any of the folks in line are interested in one of the first lots then they will either bid from the line (it’s true) or send their significant other back to the table to join in the bidding.  It may seem a little curt for those in line, but for the majority who are done and waiting around it will be greatly appreciated.

And here’s a little technique that made a difference for a 500 person buffet.  I had the silent auction tables set so they paralleled the buffet lines.  “Boy, am I hungry….ooohhh a dine around town package!”

So if you’re going to go the buffet route think about where your people are going to make camp. Take into consideration the only money you’re saving on a buffet is the cost of the wait staff.  Which could in the long run be costing you bids!

Five simple questions to ask when interviewing a potential auctioneer.

1. How many charity auctions do you do a year?
2. How many years have you been doing this?
3. What is the range of auctions you do in financial terms, the size of the crowd and the types of organizations with which you work?
4. What is your longest run for doing an auction?
5. How many of this year’s auctions are repeats?

The answer to these five questions should reveal the essential facts about an auctioneer.  The first three questions deal with overall experience.  One of the challenges doing this work is that there are no rehearsal opportunities.  You learn in front of an audience.

It is really the last two questions that are most important.  There are several specific skills and characteristics that are either useful or essential for an auctioneer: a passion for a cause, a sense of humor and a facility with numbers are good examples.  But on top of those there is an indefinable quality that makes all the difference; THE ABILITY TO CONNECT WITH AN AUDIENCE.

The best metric of this quality is being invited back over a course of years.