The goal for an auction is to raise money, plain and simple. However, at many auctions, the catalog of items for bid may number far less than the number of attendees at the event. Hosting a Raise the Paddle Special Appeal will encourage every attendee to give a little extra at the event.

A Special Appeal is an opportunity during the auction for the auctioneer to take a moment to bring the focus of the evening back on the charity. A quick reflection on the reason for the evening will inspire and motivate attendees to dig deep in their pockets and make a difference for the charity.

Here are some reasons to host a Special Appeal in your auction:

• It’s a great way to involve every attendee at your event and turn them into donors
• It helps provide funding for a new project, such as a low-cost spay/ neuter clinic, repairing a building or adding a new school playground.
• Encourages event attendees to Sponsor various levels of your operation, from $50 for a shelter cat’s spay surgery to $500 for new band instruments in schools (adjust values for your local prices)
• Encourage extra giving to meet a matching challenge grant or donation
• Create a 100% tax deductible opportunity for giving during this special event!

The best time to host the Special Appeal is before you are half way through your auction, before your attendees start to lose interest and head back to the buffet tables. Using the Bell Curve strategy, you’ll still be ramping up to the premiere items on your roster. Place the Special Appeal just after a highly successful item that brought in several high dollar bids with great excitement. You want your audience to think high dollar amounts when pledging their support to your charity.

If you place the Special Appeal after the highest dollar items, people may not be as generous with the high dollar gifts because they’ve already won a high ticket item and are factoring that into the equation. But, by placing the Special Appeal before those highest ticket items, the donors will still feel drawn to bid competitively on those items, even after pledging a high amount in the Special Appeal.

Your auctioneer (or a great public speaker from your group) will announce that there are plenty of wonderful items available for bid in just a few moments, but right now, we’re going to pause for a moment to reflect on the charity’s mission. It will take a minute to settle the crowd, and then the auctioneer/ speaker will spend 2 to 4 minutes highlighting some of the achievements for the group.

The purpose is to show success, tug at heartstrings, create excitement for these achievements, and inspire participation to fund the appeal! People want to support and be part of a winning team. This energetic and emotional Special Appeal process will also draw people into bidding who have not yet raised their paddles.

This is the time to switch gears from people bidding against each other, to encourage them to bid together for the greater good. Start with the highest bid you believe you can get from the crowd. Do not sell yourself short on this. Your goal is to get several paddles excitedly in the air to fund this great appeal. Then, work your way down at set increments so that everyone in the room is able to pledge a donation at the level where they feel most comfortable. Your regular auction workers will be noting the bids and including them in the regular check-out process, denoting that for the Special Appeal, no goods or services were exchanged and that portion is 100% tax deductible as allowed by law. If you are aiming for several high dollar pledges in the Special Appeal, you should spend some time prior to the auction targeting your donors who could pledge a high amount to lay the groundwork for the appeal.

Remember that even at an auction, the key to receiving gifts is by asking. Too many times, groups believe people will simply open their wallets without being prompted. By using the Special Appeal in your next auction, your charity can bring in the highest amounts ever, simply by asking at the appropriate time. Keep your auction lively, energetic and fun, and the bidders will see to it that your profits will reflect their enthusiasm for the group and for the auction.

About the Author: Danielle Hamilton is the editor of HumaneFundraising.com and moderator of a Yahoo group dedicated to helping animal rescue groups raise money for animals.

Auctions are a lively fundraiser option, either as a stand alone event or as part of a larger dinner event. There is a specific strategy used for placing items for bid in auctions that will help bring in the most money for your charity. Use the Bell Curve strategy to your advantage in your next live auction.

Once you’ve gathered your auction items, review them according to their value and begin to prepare your catalog. If you are working with a professional auctioneer, s/he will help you create the catalog, placing the items in an order that will bring about the greatest income for your charity. However, if you do not have the benefit of a professional, you are not entirely on your own. Using the Bell Curve Strategy will help you place your items in the best order to raise the most money.

The first half of your auction catalog should include the items that are tangible. These are the pieces of artwork, paintings, sculptures, electronics, a signed memorabilia item, and the many themed baskets. These are items that the bidders can instantly see the value of, and where they will practice their bidding. Start with the smaller valued items, and allow the bidders to work their way up to the higher ticket items in this portion of your catalog. This is the first portion of the bell, as you steadily start to climb to the top of the bell where your highest valued items will be placed. Your premiere items will be placed towards the top of the bell curve.

As you reach the highest ticket items in your catalog, you may wish to include a special ‘raise the paddle‘ portion of the evening where the bidders are asked to make a donation to your charity. Higher dollar amounts are being tossed around at this point, so asking someone to pledge $100 or more at this point in the evening will sound like a wonderful idea to many bidders, and will help engage them in the excitement of the bidding. You’ll want to be sure that this takes place between 1/3 and 1/2 of the way through the catalog of auction items, as you are more guaranteed that your audience is still with you, and getting quite used to the bidding feel and the higher dollar amounts. It’s also best to put this segment in after a particularly successful auction item has been bid on and won.

After your ‘raise the paddle’ segment, you will be heading to the top of the bell curve where your premiere items are, and they you will start to work your way down to the smaller amounts at the end of your catalog. You will now place your intangible items, such as personal chef sessions, special experiences, tickets to a theater production or sports package, trips, hotel stays, bed and breakfast stays and lunch with local celebrities. These are items that have great value, but cannot easily be seen and touched at the event, thereby making it harder for a bidder to initially identify with its value. These particular items will not do as well at the beginning of the evening until the higher bids have been called out for the tangible items. Once that barrier is broken, then the higher dollar amounts are still in the minds of the bidders, and will easily be placed on the intangible items such as trips and experiences as they do have an excitement to them, but it takes some time to associate a high value to them.

Be sure not to place similar items one after another in the catalog, such as having two dinners in a row, or two trips in a row. But, also be mindful not to bounce around the monetary values too much. You want to aim for the steady, graceful arc in the rise and fall of the bell which will allow bidders to gently increase their bids toward the middle of the catalog and then slowly decrease their bids afterwards. This is not a steep slope to the top of a mountain! You want to leave plenty of wonderful, high valued items after the premiere items for everyone to bid on, particularly those who did not win one of the highest valued items.

By using this strategy, your items will bring in higher bids than if you were to place the items in the catalog at random. Starting with the tangible items such as themed baskets helps gather the attention of the bidders and gives them practice in bidding as they aim for the premiere items, and then segue into the experience items on your catalog. The excitement is maintained throughout the auction, and the items are instantly given more exposure and intrinsic value through the Bell Curve placement.

About the Author: Danielle Hamilton is the editor of HumaneFundraising.com and moderator of a Yahoo group dedicated to helping animal rescue groups raise money for animals.

Looking for a great food-based fundraiser that spans different hours of the day? One that will also work wonderfully as a Vegetarian meal without being obvious? Try a Belgian Waffle Fundraiser for a delicious fundraising success!

While pancake breakfasts are always a wonderful fundraiser that can raise some great dough, another clever cooking event is a Belgian Waffle Fundraiser! This event can be hosted as a morning breakfast, a brunch, or as a dessert fundraiser after another event, such as a concert or art show. You’ve just created another time where you could host this event!

Menu
Belgian waffles with assorted syrups and toppings (whipped topping, berries in syrup, flavored syrups)
Fresh fruit
Sausage links or bacon strips (omit if you’re hosting a vegetarian meal)
Juice and Coffee

How It’s Done
The key here is to sell tickets in advance! You’ll need the capital ahead of time to purchase food ingredients, rent a room, and get needed items such as plates, napkins, and silverware. Also, if the ticket holders don’t show up the day of your event, no worries since they’ve already given to your group. Allow carry out orders to bring in more people without everyone needing to sit down at the same time.

Dry waffle batter can be purchased in bulk from warehouse stores such as Costco or Sam’s Club. Obviously, you’ll need several waffle irons which can be borrowed from friends and neighbors. Giv people the chance to use that wedding gift they rarely pull out of the cabinets! Coordinate this collection well in advance so you’ll know how many you have and how much food can be cooking at one time. Be sure to take accurate count ahead of time as to whose you can borrow. Label them prior to the day of the event to make sure everyone gets their own waffle irons back!

Frozen berries, ice cream and whipped topping can also be purchased from warehouse stores. Try to get berries donated from local farmers and ice cream and whipped topping donated from local grocery stores. The more you can get donated, the less you’ll have to purchase. These in-kind donations are also easier for many stores to handle than donating money to your cause.

You can also purchase flavored syrups, or make your own! Dayle’s Growlies for Groups has an excellent recipe for a homemade maple syrup that you can make for 100 servings. Adjust flavorings to get creative with the syrups and add fruits as needed.

Total costs for items should average around $3 per person. You can sell tickets for $5 to $7 since the event will be an all you can eat event. If you’ll be adding meats or home fries (hash browns) or dessert items for a dinner version, aim for the $7 to $9 ticket range. Many groups use language denoting “suggested minimum donations of $5 per person” which means most people will give more. Children under 5 can eat for free since they usually don’t eat much.

Best Locations
Church fellowship halls, school cafeterias/ auditoriums, VFW hall or other civic organization locations, hotel ballrooms, community events center and other larger spaces that can easily hold 200+ people. You’ll definitely want an area where you can access a kitchen if possible. One option that is frequently used for pancake breakfasts is to host the event at a restaurant that is normally closed during breakfast, since the location is already inspected and ready to serve food and accommodate guests!

Permits
Be sure to check with your local health department officials to make sure you get any and all necessary food handlers’ permits for your volunteers, inspections for your facilities, and guidelines for safe food handling.

Using Professionals
There are several companies that can do a pancake or Belgian waffle fundraiser for your charity! The cooking will be done for you by professionals who know how to flip the flapjacks and create enthusiasm for a crowd! All you have to do is provide the location, sell the tickets, create the media buzz, and provide a few volunteers to assist with clean up. Check out Dad’s Belgian Waffles at
www.dadsbelgianwaffles.com (serving MN and IA). If you’re in the Lincoln, Nebraska area, contact Waffleman Doug at www.wafflemandoug.com to host a Belgian Waffle Fundraiser in that area.
And, for a great pancake fundraiser, contact The Pancake Man at www.pancakeman.net who serves Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas! They bring the expertise and experience, and help with the fundraiser. This is a great opportunity for a group to learn how to do this from a pro and then do it on their own next year!

Add Ons
The add-on fundraiser of selling advertising space on placemats that will help bring in another $1,000 at your Belgian waffle or pancake breakfast. Another add-on option is to get sponsors for the event, such as pledges for a walkathon. This works better if you’re doing the cooking yourselves, since you’ll be challenging your group to cook as many as possible. If you break past a certain number, your sponsors will give you an extra donation. This type of sponsorship is used with car washes so it may take some tweaking to make it work well for a cooking event!

urn your Belgian Waffle Fundraiser into a Breakfast with Santa! This will offer children the opportunity to have a special meal with their favorite guest, talk to him for a few minutes, and take lots of photos. Name tags for all children allow Santa to greet his guests by name! And, parents will be able to hear the special toy requests that only Santa is told about by their child! You may want to charge more for this special event.
Add on a silent auction event, raffle, or other mini fundraiser that can bring in some more money while taking your event to the next level.

* If you need to purchase Belgian Waffle dry mix and you can’t find it locally, here’s one company that has it: BES Incorporated

About the Author: Danielle Hamilton is the editor of HumaneFundraising.com and moderator of a Yahoo group dedicated to helping animal rescue groups raise money for animals.

Next ask your volunteers to suggest locations in town where they may have a connection to the management. Business owners are more likely to allow a fundraiser if they know the person asking is a regular customer.

Kick off your campaign with your entire fundraising team to raise awareness and support of your fundraiser. Release an announcement to the press detailing the monetary goal, what the money will be used for, and showing a few locations where your coin jars will be located. Donors like to give to causes they feel comfortable with, they like to know how the money will be used, and like to see how easy it is to give at their favorite shopping locations. Create a slogan for your campaign to brand it with your group’s logo and make your collection containers easily identifiable. A few examples are “Change the World” or “Change their luck with just a buck” which play with the word ‘change’ nicely.

The best places to position your collection jars are at any location that deals with cash and has an employee nearby to keep a watchful eye over the coins. Starbucks, donut shops, fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s or Chik Fil A, lunch time restaurants such as steakhouses or buffets, grocery store check out lines, convenience stores, banks, card shops, hair salons, and other places that deal with coins on a regular basis are ideal. If your fundraising group has a connection at any business location, even one that doesn’t deal with coins regularly, feel free to place a jar there to show support on a wide basis around town.

Here are a few tips to get your coin collection campaign off to a great start.

1- Set a goal! Decide on a dollar amount of certain number of coins that you want to reach. This will help push your participants to reaching a goal, instead of just dropping in one or two coins. Make the goal meaningful to your group, such as the number of clients served by your group, the number of miles around your county, the weight of animals saved, or another factoid that makes the goal purposeful and meaningful. Set a goal for the length of time you will collect the coins. If this is designed as an ongoing campaign, be sure to give regular updates to the public on your group’s success towards reaching your final goal.

2- Make it easy for businesses to support you. Ask for permission from the manager to leave a jar or coin collection bank near the cash register. Leave a business card with them, and attach your phone number and the name of only two or three people who are authorized to pick up money. Plan to collect money at least once a week, and ask the store to call if the jar looks too full and tempting.

3- Use the right coin holder for the location. A large Big Belly bank or a Vortx swirling coin collector would work better in a larger tabletop area than on a small cash register counter. Honor boxes with candy next to the coin collection box would work great in restaurants or banks. If your group works with animals, place a bank shaped like a dog or cat at each location. If your group is raising money for kids, include photos and brochures of your services. This coin collection campaign can also be used as a public awareness campaign.

4- Take security seriously. Keep the jar in plain sight, and close to the cash register where an employee can see it. Using double stick tape or velcro will help keep the container in place and out of the hands of pranksters. Security coils for acrylic donation boxes are also easily installed. Don’t allow the jars to overfill. Pick up regularly, only using the designated volunteers at each location. Leave a few coins and one or two dollar bills (or a $5 bill) inside the bank to “seed” the pot and show how people are donating larger sums.

5- Monitor the routes and chart your success. Keep track of which volunteer collects at which locations and on what days. Chart the success of various banks at the locations to see which ones are doing better, and determine which ones might need to be moved.

Wrap up your campaign with one last announcement to your fundraising team and the media detailing your great success. Thank the town for their participation in your campaign, and note how the money raised will create a great change in your community. With their spare change, your community members are able to help your fundraising group change the world.

About the Author: Danielle Hamilton is the editor of HumaneFundraising.com and moderator of a Yahoo group dedicated to helping animal rescue groups raise money for animals.

Related Resources:

Plasticfab.com Boxes

Staples® Coin Box

The Vortx^® Spiral Wishing Well

This tried and true fundraiser is a whimsical take on the traditional Jail N Bail idea, but with some modern twists designed especially for the business executives and creme de la creme of your community.

At the Luxury Lock-up, area business and community leaders who ‘turn themselves in’ will be treated to an hour of good food and beverages, soft music, massages and other stress relieving amenities, while making phone calls to family, friends and business associates to get pledges for your organization.

Ask your ‘jailbirds’ to bring along their cell phone and their rolodex files so they can make their calls with ease. Or, you can partner with a cell phone company to donate phones to be used that day. Inform the jailbirds in advance their ‘bail amount’ so they can get pledges from friends and coworkers prior to the day of the event. Those who turn in their pledges and money in advance can sit back and enjoy the pampering and networking while those who didn’t raise bail in advance will have to spend some time on the phones.

The event can be held at a local spa or a hotel ballroom or conference center that can accomodate the number of people invited. Ask local spas, nail salons and independent massage therapists if they can provide some free services for the day, in exchange for some great advertising. Many of the services provided can be done in just a few minutes, such as a shoulder rub, neck massage with heated therapy bags and scalp massage. If you want to get down and dirty, a foot soak in some nice warm water can help relieve tensions. Many executives may shy away from a manicure, but remind them that looking good is all about the presentation of being well manicured… and the first three letters of ‘manicure’ are MAN. Many of these execs will appreciate the pampering, and will in turn recommend the spa to their friends and families, as well as purchase gift certificates for their employees and family members.

You can also ask local restaurants and caterers to provide appetizers and drinks for the executives. By asking several restaurants to provide a small portion, it avoids putting a strain on one restaurant having to do it all. This method also gives the execs a great overview of several restaurants’ best samplers. This will also showcase some of the catering available by the many restaurants and caterers in your area. All of the donations will be listed in a brochure for the execs to take home with them.

Your group can arrange to have some light classical music being played live by a local community string orchestra or quartet, or play music via a CD sound system. Light classical creates a great mood, but some natural sounds such as light rain, ocean waves, and rainforest sounds would create a wonderful atmosphere as well. And, be sure to arrange for an area ahead of time to have some aromatherapy oils in use, but not too close to the food so the smells don’t compete or overpower each other. Relaxing scents such as lavender and chamomile, and invigorating scents like peppermint and citrus can be on hand.

The potential profit for this event depends on the number of executives you arrest and the amount you set for their bail. Due to the nature of this fundraiser, you should be able to get many of the items free, including the spa services, the conference room and the refreshments. If you arrest 50 executives and charge them each $500 for their bail, you can bring in $25,000. Arresting 25 executives and setting bail at $250 would net you $6,250. The bail amounts can easily be achieved by asking friends and coworkers for a pledge of $5 or $10 to your charity. Some individuals may go well over their bail/ fundraising goal if they truly believe in the cause.

This event is a great way for your group to raise money while giving some local business executives the chance to network and to “do some good” while relaxing in a pleasing atmosphere. And, your group gets the opportunity to present some local spas and restaurants favorably to the executives. Everyone wins!

About the Author: Danielle Hamilton is the editor of HumaneFundraising.com and moderator of a Yahoo group dedicated to helping animal rescue groups raise money for animals.

How can we show our supporters our heartfelt thanks without using their donated money to do it? The best suggestion is to take the lead of your donor community and incorporate some inexpensive ideas to show your appreciation.

We can fully understand why some donors may get upset that a small (even miniscule) portion of their donated money is going back to thanking them. This is a subject that many groups wrestle with… the fine line between building a good relationship with donors and spending the money improperly.

Some of the bigger fundraising groups, like Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, don’t give out ‘things’ in return for a donation. Others, like The Humane Society of the US or The Nature Conservancy, give you calendars, mailing labels, umbrellas…. which means that a small portion of your donation goes to buying your gifts.

There are a number of ways that you can ‘thank’ the bigger spenders without using up all the money they’ve given you in their gifts! Here are a few examples:

Make Thank You Gifts Available But Optional

If you send out a donation request letter, include a spot under the amounts for people to check if they don’t want to receive your token gift item, such as a t-shirt or calendar. Many people will check that spot encouraging you to use your money on just the cause. This also puts the donors in charge of where their money goes.

It makes it harder to predict how many items you’ll have to buy in advance (how many bumper stickers, calendars, static clings, shirts) so I’d recommend getting something that you’d plan to sell later on, and are offering it to your donors first as a thank-you. This can also apply to those lovely mailed thank-you acknowledgements. Leave a line to allow the donors to put in their e-mail address to receive an electronic copy of their donation receipt in a pdf file from your group in lieu of a mailed thank you card.

Thank You Reception

You can also host a small behind-the-scenes reception for just the BIG donors to help make them feel a part of organization. This private tour for your top donors should be ‘classy’ in that it has some hors d’oeuvres, some donated wine, the tour guides are the board members or the president, and a private Q&A session afterwards.

This is one of those special touches just for the big donors, a behind-the-scenes look at where their money goes. This would work for most organizations, from animal shelters to theatre groups, and from cancer funding groups to domestic violence awareness centers.

Special invitations to a donors’ picnic, a special reception at the home of the group’s president or a special cocktail hour before the formal ball or auction only for the high donors are other variations.

Honorary Naming Privileges & Plaques

Of course, you can always name something in honor of a large donor, or place their name on a brick or engraved plate in your walls, or on a leaf in your family tree mural. This costs very little (except for engraving), and leaves a permanent thank-you visible for everyone to see.

There are so many things you can name in their honor, from a tree, a memorial garden, a bench, have a picket fence engraved with donors’ names on each picket, special kitten rooms, surgery rooms, nurseries for at-risk mothers and their babies, name some rescued animals after them or give the donor carte blanche to name the rescued animals. One church asked their members to sponsor the building of their new fellowship hall. This gave them the opportunity to ‘buy’ a toilet, urinal, stove, sink, tables, chairs and over 100 other items for their church. Just about everything bought was able to have a ‘label’ on it of some sorts, thanking the donors.

Sponsorship Programs

The previous comment can go further through an annual sponsorship of cages/ kennels for an animal rescue, sponsorship of a project, or a child in a program. This can be done by families, businesses, co-workers, etc. Some people give these sponsorships on behalf of their office-mates as a Christmas present. Others give it to Great-Grandma Betty since she doesn’t need another tchotchke in her home which is already filled with a lifetime of memories.

Electronic Thank-You’s

Creating something special for your donors… a special booklet, newsletters, screensavers, desktop wallpaper… Anything electronic in nature will reduce the amount of money needed to produce it. A slideshow, screensaver, wallpaper on your computer’s desktop or other electronic ‘gift’ can be created specifically for your group, without incurring a high cost in production.

Business Partnerships

Secure special ‘memberships’ or ‘offers’ for your annual donors. Contact local businesses and services and ask them to offer your donors a special discount as a thank-you for their support. This will help both the business AND show the donor your appreciation. This discount card can be made inexpensively on your own computers and laminated with self-stick laminating paper.

Personal Phone Calls

The highest donors should get a prompt phone call and thank you card from the board president (or other highly respected member) to show that the donation was received, it was truly appreciated, and that it required the highest level of acknowledgement. I’ve heard horror stories where the front staff forgot to give the special donation to the president, or it was lost in transit or on the president’s desk, and a $100,000 donation was not acknowledged! GASP!

Set up a routine where all donations that come in are recorded in one journal, then list how they are responded to and by whom. Have people initial their actions in the journal/ database. There should be a record of how a check gets from the mail to the bank and what thank-you was sent and when. “THANK BEFORE YOU BANK!” as Kim Klein, a fundraising guru, always recommends.

Special Touches

Sometimes it’s not the expense of the thank-you that donors want to remember, but the special touch that you give with it such as a personalized card or the special note inside a card that really makes it personal.

Specially created cards by members of your organization are just small touches to say we’re thinking about you and appreciate your generous support of our efforts. Perhaps take a photo, and have the mat of the frame be ‘painted’ by the animals in a rescue, or painted by children in an after school art program for a special touch.

A personalized message and hand signed by the president also makes the thank you more personal.

I hope this gives you some ideas to help you brainstorm ways to thank your donors without breaking the bank!

About the Author: Danielle Hamilton is the editor of HumaneFundraising.com and moderator of a Yahoo group dedicated to helping animal rescue groups raise money for animals.