Heading into the fall fundraising season, one trend had become readily apparent this summer. More than ever, the most popular fundraising auction lots sell relationships, not stuff.
We’ve long been advocates of selling “access” at charity auctions, and by that we mean “selling access to that which you cannot buy elsewhere.” Anyone can walk in to Michael Mina’s restaurant to have dinner. But a cooking class for two people where Chef Mina himself teaches you how to prepare a multi-course feast, followed a few weeks later by a dinner party at your house where you cook and Chef Mina is your sous chef is truly amazing (be sure to ask Ed about that one).
We used to include in our definition of access places you couldn’t normally gain entrance to. VIP access to a major sporting event, for example, used to sell fine on its own merits. But even those types of lots have lost their allure, if the buyer isn’t sure that they’ll be building a relationship while they attend it.
A celebrity golf event in Raleigh this past August provides a prime example of this. We had a lot that included VIP access to the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans over new year’s eve. It included airfare, hotel, and access to the Sugar Bowl, one of the major bowl games in NCAA football. We were never able to clarify exactly what we meant by “VIP Access,” so I simply compared attending the Sugar Bowl as Allstate’s guests to getting a tour of Spago’s kitchen with Wolfgang Puck.
When it came time to sell the lot, Dennis Haysbert, the official spokesman for Allstate, was on stage with me. He gave a brief overview of how incredible New Orleans is over new year’s eve, and how much fun the Sugar Bowl can be. We got the bidding going and as quickly as it started it was over: with only two bids. As I was selling it, Dennis stepped forward declaring that this simply could not be, and went on to explain in more detail/alter the lot on the fly.
Now Dennis himself was going to be your host, he would take you down to the field pre-game, then take you up to Allstate’s VIP Box to watch the game, and even join you on Bourbon Street after for a little partying. We started the bidding over, and this time it sold for more than twice what it had sold for before. Access to the Sugar Bowl was one thing, access to the Sugar Bowl with a chance to build a relationship with Dennis Haysbert is an entirely different beast.
The relationships you strive to sell don’t have to be A-list celebrities from Hollywood - but if you have said relationships, make the most out of them. The definition of celebrity varies as much from event to event a the organizations themselves.
The National Pain Foundation, for example, used to do a fundraising auction in San Francisco. Every year one of the biggest selling lots would be dinner with Dr. Eliott Krames and his wife in their home, prepared by them and paired with wines from their cellar. Dr. Krames founded the NPF, and for the myriad pharmaceutical executives and doctors in that room he was one of the biggest celebrities we could have found. No offense to Eliott when I say that if we took that lot elsewhere it wouldn’t have the same cache. Celebrity is a relative term.
When planning your fundraising auction, encourage your committee and board members to creatively think about all of the relationships they have. Is there anyone they know who people would love to get to know as well? Sometimes the biggest money-making lots are right under your nose - or on the tip of your iPhone, as it were.
2 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
November 3, 2009 @ 11:25 pm
Thank you! You often write very interesting articles. You improved my mood.
Comment by:
Floost
Floost
March 28, 2010 @ 9:32 am
[...] allure, if the buyer isn’t sure that they’ll be building a relationship while they attend it. “Sell Relationships Not Stuff at Your Fundraising Auction,” Reynolds & Buckley Fundraising Blog, [...]
Pingback by:
Exchange Networks » Blog Archive » Everything is For Sale