Once again, I’d like to welcome back Maureen Carruthers (pictured at left).  Maureen is a non-profit consultant, and the force behind the excellent blog “Low Hanging Fruit Communication” which covers many topics including social media for non-profits.

Maureen’s goal is to help nonprofit leaders reach their right people more quickly so their organizations have a greater impact,  She has over ten years experience working in and around nonprofit organizations, most recently as the Workforce Development Program Manager for the Dayton Tooling and Manufacturing Association, where she managed a robot competition based on theBattleBots television series. Previously, she managed the Orchestra Forum program for theInstitute for Cultural Policy and Practice and served as House Manager for the Delaware Theatre Company.

I have spent some time on Maureen’s blog, and I highly recommend you check her site out.  I learned a lot!  You can even sign up for Maureen’s free e-class and newsletter.

4 Poor Excuses for Avoiding Social Media

Gayle Thorsen (pictured at left) is back with another great article to share with us here at Step By Step Fundraising!  Over the past year, Gayle has been kind enough to share with us her recent articles from her blog ImpactMax.  Today she has one for us about time saving advice for those of us working in the non-profit field.

Gayle has been in the nonprofit communications world for more than 25 years, the last 12 as the communications head for two large foundations:The Minneapolis Foundation and The McKnight Foundation.

Take a few minutes to visit ImpactMax and read all the terrific articles Gayle has posted there. It will be time very well spent!  Thanks, Gayle!

Nonprofit video roars into 2011: Here are the trends

I just took a terrific, free, Common Knowledge webinar on the five big nonprofit communication trends for 2011. It was beyond great; it was inspirational! So thorough and well-grounded in strategy-first. I’m going to be sharing some of the major take-aways in my next couple of posts.

I’d like to welcome Gayle Thorsen (pictured at left) to the Step By Step Fundraising Blog.  Gayle has been kind enough to share with us one of her recent articles from her blog ImpactMax.  I first came across Gayle’s writing on a Blog Carnival hosted by Sandra Sims, the founder of SBSF.

Gayle has been in the nonprofit communications world for more than 25 years, the last 12 as the communications head for two large foundations: The Minneapolis Foundation and The McKnight Foundation.  She was the first community foundation vice president of communications appointed in the country, and helped pioneer issue framing, issue campaigns, and communications evaluation in the philanthropic sector. She’s now a nonprofit communications consultant in the Twin Cities area.

Her recent passion is helping organizations figure out how they can start using Web 2.0 tools to raise visibility and funds, ignite support for their efforts, empower their partners, and make the world a better place. All within a constrained budget. It’s possible, step by step.

Take a few minutes to visit ImpactMax and read all the terrific articles Gayle has posted there. It will be time very well spent!  Thanks, Gayle!

Cultivate new supporters fast: A five-week “on-boarding” plan for nonprofits

These supporters have taken a huge first step—they’ve responded in some way to your communications and showed an interest in your cause. Now it’s up to you to get them engaged as fast and effectively as you can. CK calls this “on-boarding.”

One way to do that is to set up a rapid cultivation process through email. The example given in the webinar was a from a wildlife protection organization, but this strategy is widely applicable to other nonprofits.

The process kicks in immediately when the supporter gives you his/her email address, and lasts 5 weeks—with two emails sent each week (on Tuesday and Thursday) for a total of 10. Each email is educational and inspiring, with clear yet different calls to action. The whole sequence is structured as a ladder of engagement that creates much more knowledgable supporters and greater potential for their financial support.

The content of this 10-email sequence is all important. This is not just a means to a donation, it’s the opportunity to open the door to a long-term relationship with people who feel as passionately about your cause as you do. If your emails aren’t interesting, substantive, and valuable to your supporters—they’re going to be viewed as a nuisance and people will unsubscribe or not open them at all. (You need to track opens and unsubscribes carefully throughout the five weeks to gauge how successful your email content is. If lots of people keep unsubscribing or not opening throughout the first few weeks, you may have a content problem.)

To give you an example of how this might work, here’s the sequence of emails sent by the wildlife protection organization:

Week 1 Tuesday, welcome &  link to their organizational blog; Thursday, about seals with a link to their seals blog

Week 2 Tuesday, more education about threats to seals and a link to a petition to sign; Thursday, info about whales and a whale quiz

Week 3 Tuesday, info about orangutans and a video about them; Thursday, info about elephants and an audio about them

Week 4 Tuesday, more about elephants and a petition to sign; Thursday, a chance to pick their favorite endangered species and take a survey

Week 5 Tuesday, about bears and a donation appeal (the first, you notice); Thursday, more about bears, and another donation appeal

Again, you need to craft really great emails! This campaign triggered a pretty steady 21% open rate throughout the 5 weeks, which is a good sign that people remained engaged with the content. Compared with new supporters who were just mailed regularly scheduled communications, new supporters exposed to the rapid cultivation process took more actions and made first donations quicker.

And a word to the wise—once you’ve quickly engaged your new supporters, you have to keep them engaged! Be sure to immediately acknowledge their donations with a communication that tells them what their money is going to help you achieve. This 5-week process is only the beginning.You certainly won’t want to continue emailing them twice a weeks, but your long-term engagement strategy should be as thoughtful and effective as your short-term cultivation strategy.

This is a great way to increase your rate of conversion from supporter to activist to donor. Kudos to Common Knowledge for sharing it!

Recently, I read a very insightful article titled Fearing What They’ll Say on Facebook on a terrific site called Kivi’s Nonprofit Communication Blog.

In her article, blogger Kivi Leroux Miller wrote about the challenges non-profit organizations face in determining what is appropriate for employees and other representatives to share on the non-profit’s Facebook page or other social media outlets.

This is an issue that I have been thinking about ever since this form of communication has become so wide-spread. I am very cautious by nature and tend to err on the side of not saying anything rather than blurting out something I can’t take back. Therefore, there is a big part of me that is intimidated by the spontaneous nature of Facebook.

That said, Kivi brought up some very interesting considerations in her article.  For example, she wrote about how important it is for the administration of the non-profit to be clear with the staff and volunteers when defining the difference between public and private commenting.   This is a very fine and tricky line.

An Example of What Not to Do

Kivi’s article primarily focused on non-profit’s side of the equation. But recently, I came across a Facebook  conversation that was a perfect example of what concerns me from the other side of the equation- that is, the client’s side.

In this example, the director of the program I read about opened up a discussion about a new pricing structure for entrance fees to his facility. He had a very specific rationale for why he set the prices as he did. However, the policy did not make sense to a few of his clients.

A number of them began to question his decision online. Frankly, I was surprised by how openly defiant they seemed. I thought that some of the commenters were downright disrespectful. Unfortunately, the director didn’t handle this attack very well, and he became frustrated and defensive in his written responses. He even resorted to sarcasm toward a couple of the clients.

This isn’t a huge facility, but there are several hundred people who “like” this page. Therefore, every single one of these people could read the entire ugly exchange- both sides. I wonder how the average reader feels about the organization now, after seeing how this issue was handled so poorly. I can’t imagine it’s very positive.

Now, I am fully aware that this is just an isolated incident. It is probably more reflective of this particular director than of any inherent problem with a non-profit’s involvement with social media. However, this is a trap that is easy to fall into.

Facebook Presents New Challenges

Before the advent of Facebook, the clients might still have been frustrated by the pricing structure, but the opportunity for them to collectively air their grievances didn’t exist in a such a convenient and public forum.

While a director of a non-profit has always had to have the ability to answer client concerns smoothly and professionally, Facebook presents a new wrinkle. Since the whole point of social media is to be quick and informal, it’s very easy to just sit down at the computer and fire off a response to whatever is posted, without thinking about the consequences.

Oftentimes on Facebook, these conversations pick up speed and emotion as each new comment pops up. If the director isn’t careful with how a subject is moderated, it can quickly get out of control, as it did in the example I just mentioned above. And by then, it’s too late. Everybody has seen the outburst.

As a result, I think a non-profit has to be very careful in both the discussions it opens up, as well as how it responds to questions, or even criticisms, online.

In fact, I think it would be wise to create a written policy and tape it to the wall right by the computer. It can serve as a reminder, or a speed bump, when the pace of Facebook comments reaches dangerous levels.

This policy could look something like this:

• Do not ask for people’s opinions on any money-related issue.
• Do not ask for people’s opinions on any policy issue that has been even slightly controversial within your staff.
• Do not ever use sarcasm in a Facebook posting.
• Do not ask for open-ended suggestions, like an online suggestion box.
• Do not ask any questions that you should be asking within the privacy of a board meeting.

Perhaps if the director I wrote about had such a written policy in the general vacinity of his computer, he wouldn’t have gone off like he did.

I know that some people will think I want to kill the spirit of social media. Perhaps I do. However, after having spent over twenty years working in the non-profit world, I don’t think it’s wise to publicly solicit information that is much better directed toward board members, or at least a formal advisory committee. And, I absolutely do not think it’s wise to engage the public with frustration and sarcasm.

Now, I do think it’s fine to ask for public opinion on much less consequential issues, but even these should be vetted ahead of time in order to avoid any possible controversies.

We in the non-profit world need to be very protective of our public image. We are dependant on the kindness and generosity of the public. We need to make sure that our mission is not compromised by ill-advised comments on Facebook.

What Do You Think?

Does your non-profit have a policy on what gets posted on Facebook?  Do you think my cautious nature is fundamentally at odds with the modern progression toward total openness and transparency?  Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.  I’d love to read them!

Photo by: daveynin

Greetings!  Once again, I am proud to bring you an article by a guest author who has lots of experience working for the benefit of non-profit organizations.  John Haydon (pictured at left) is the man behind JohnHaydon.com and InboundZombie, which is the site for his social media consulting business.  John specializes in helping non-profits “increase awareness, amplify engagement, and get more donations online.”  I think those are goals that most non-profits would aim for!

John has also written an e-book, called “The Complete Facebook Guide For Small Nonprofits”, which is free to download, if you “Like”  his Facebook page.

I discovered John’s blog while doing research on how to use Facebook more effectively for non-profits.  His name and e-book popped up first on the Google results page, so I know this guy has some juice!  Once I started reading his blog, I was highly entertained by his unique take on many issues we all deal with in the non-profit world.  Below I have posted a sample piece of his, called “Your Donor is Not a Tomato Plant”.   I think it’s a great way to think about so-called “donor cultivation”.

I hope you enjoy this article and I encourage you to check out John’s site when you get the chance.  I’m sure you will learn something and have a good time doing it!  Thanks, John!

Your Donor is Not a Tomato Plant, by John Haydon

Nonprofits have created a false dichotomy between organization and donor – an unintentional “us vs. them” mentality.

I’m not sure where this comes from, but donors are still mostly seen as a “target market” who receive “messaging” in order for them to give more money. And it’s the non-profit’s job to spam send those messages.

Donors are not tomatoes to be “cultivated”

Another thing we hear a lot is that we have to “cultivate” donors, as if they are tomato plants who have nothing better to do than make ketchup.

You are not a farmer. Your donors are not tomato plants. And I know you know this!

In reality, you and your donor are equal parts in something much greater.

Check out this graph that John at Agents of Good created to visualize a donor-centric approach to fundraising:

You’ll notice that John clarifies the relationship between donor and org in a way everyone can understand.

And if you flip this chart around to the donor’s perspective, you’d get this chart (ignore my ahhtwork):

Nirvana is when you and your donor are one

The point here is to remember (because you already know) that your donor and you feel the same way about your cause. They want the same ownership you do. They want the same level of involvement. They want the same impact.

The next time you have a staff meeting, bring John’s diagram and ask the following questions:

• Does the content on our website honestly speak to our supporters?
• What opportunities are we unknowingly withholding that we can hand over to our supporters?
• Do supporters know – without a doubt – how their contribution impacts the cause?
• What other ways can your supporters fight alongside your org?

Last week’s post on Fundraising on Facebook from Ethan Austin has attracted some attention.  It was listed in the Top 10 Technology and Social Media Resources for Nonprofits from Connecting Up Australia.  Check out the other 9 resources included on that list.

Here’s a roundup of other recent articles focused on the latest online fundraising trends:

NonProfit Email Marketing: Is Your Organization Ready for an Email Monthly Giving Campaign? from Pamela Grow. This post includes an interview with the director of monthly giving for Best Friends Animal Society.

Social Media & Grantmaking VI: A Member’s Perspective On Twitter from Northern California Grantmakers blog. How the Quixote Foundation is using Twitter.

Social Media Case Study: Facebook plus integrated marketing helps raise $950,000 from Marketing Experiments

Join the Online Fundraising Technology Conversation by Philip King, Fundraising Success Magazine

The Keys to Fundraising on foursquare by Allyson Kapin, posted on Network for Good. This latest social media site focuses on location. Maybe this will get your attention: “I recently did an advocacy, awareness and fundraising campaign called #100X100 using foursquare that raised $25,000 in 24 hours and prompted more than 800 supporters to call their Congressmen,” said Rosenberg.

Case study: Online tools help increase offline (and online) giving by Andy Robinson, from Mal Warwick’s July Newsletter.  Connecting online and offline is important!

3 Surefire Ways to Use Twitter To Promote Your Organization by Julie Stofer, another great article on Network for Good.

Finally, here’s a good reminder from John Haydon to connect with supporters via social media on their terms not yours.

We used to tell our members at GiveForward that there are three Ps to successful online fundraising: personalization, promotion, and persistence.  Recently, however, we came to the conclusion that it was time to update this basic strategy for the 21st century.  We now tell our members that if they want to be successful they need to follow the three Ps and an F.

The F, of course, stands for Facebook.  Over the last few years, we’ve seen that almost every medical fundraiser that has raised more than $10,000 on GiveForward has does so because of Facebook – it is simply the most effective tool for getting the word out about a fundraiser and getting it to spread quickly.

If you are fundraising here are four of the best strategies on how to use Facebook to help you reach your goal.

1. Create a Facebook Group.

Creating a Facebook group will allow you to get the word out about your fundraiser and keep your friends and family informed with news and updates.  As the group organizer you can send messages to all group members and use it as your platform to ask for donations.  Make sure to invite a few of your friends to become group admins and encourage their friends to invite their friends as well.  The larger the group, the greater the potential for donations.

* Bonus Tip: one way to grow your Facebook group really quickly is to create your group on Facebook with the message “For every person that joins this group, $1 will be donated to help [YOUR FRIEND] fight cancer [OR FILL IN THE BLANK WITH ANY ILLNESS]“.

In order to make this strategy work, you will need to find a donor (or a group of donors) ahead of time willing to donate $500, $1000 or however much you want to cap it at.  While this strategy takes a little bit of extra planning, we’ve seen it work incredibly well for our users in the past. Here is an example from a fundraiser that used this technique to create a Facebook group of nearly 4,000 members.

Setting up your group is the cornerstone to your Facebook fundraising strategy. Once you have your group set up, here are three additional Facebook strategies that have worked really well for previous fundraisers.

2. Do a Matching Donation Drive

The way a matching donation drive works is you issue a challenge to your network to raise X amount of money in a short time period with the promise that if the goal is reached, a generous donor will match the total raised.

For example, you might send out a Facebook message to your group that says “If we can raise $2000 in the next 36 hours, a generous donor will match it with another $2000.”

If you can secure a matching donor ahead of time, this is a great strategy to try.  We’ve seen fundraisers raise $2000, $5000, and even $10,000 in the course of 36 hours using this idea.

3. Ask For a Specific Amount on a Certain Date

Another tactic that has worked really well for our past users is to pick a date and ask people to each give a specific dollar amount on that date.  You may ask your Facebook group to donate $15 on the 15th of January.   Asking for a certain amount of money on a certain date helps because it creates a deadline and an extra sense of urgency for your donors.

For example, Erica Flament, raised over $10,000 to help with her friend’s daughter Maddie’s cancer treatments.  One of the more creative fundraising strategies Erica came up with was to hold a birthday fundraiser for Maddie that raised over $1500 in a single day.  Here’s how she did it.

To celebrate Maddie’s 6th birthday, Erica sent out a request to friends and family on Facebook asking that they each give $6 to Maddie’s GiveForward fundraising page to help Maddie beat cancer.  Through the amazing power of Facebook, word spread and over 85 people ended up donating on Maddie’s birthday.  Many of the donations were for $6 but many more were for $16, $26, $56 and even $106.

One thing that was helpful for Erica was that she was persistent.  She didn’t just send one Facebook message and hope that everyone would remember to donate.  She sent a couple reminder emails as the date approached and asked that people share it with their friends.

Holding a fundraiser on Maddie’s birthday was a really creative way to get people to give, buy you don’t necessarily need a birthday for this strategy to work.  You can pick any date on the calendar and then ask for donations for the amount of money that corresponds with that date.

For example, you could send a message to your friends and your Facebook group that says: “Let’s help raise $1000 for Joe on the 10th of the month.  If you can afford it, please donate $10 to Joe’s fundraising page here [insert your URL here] and please tell your friends as well.  If we get 100 people to donate, we will reach our goal!”

4. Hold a 24-hour Facebook awareness campaign

One additional Facebook strategy you can use is to do a 24-hour Facebook awareness campaign

Here’s how it works —  with a 24-Hour Facebook awareness campaign you don’t actually ask people to donate money.  Rather, you simply ask that everyone “donate” their Facebook status message for 24 hours by changing it to “Please Help [NAME OF YOUR FRIEND]” then a link to your online fundraising page.

The idea is that even if your friends can’t afford to donate money, they will be happy to “donate” their status message.  With hundreds or even thousands of people all with the same status message many friends, family and strangers around the world will see it and will be inclined to donate.

When a friend or loved one gets sick and is facing huge medical bills, the quickest and easiest way to raise money for them is through an online fundraising website.

Sites like GiveForward, Fundbunch and GoFundMe allow individuals to create customized pages where friends and family from across the world can contribute to help a loved one pay for their medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses associated with getting sick.

When combined with the viral power of social media tools like Facebook, these types of fundraising pages can raise upwards of $10,000, $20,000, or even $80,000 in a matter of weeks. Before getting started, however with any of these websites, it’s critically important to come up with an organized fundraising plan.

Through my work at GiveForward, I’ve seen many people raise funds online and have gathered some ideas about what works and what doesn’t. Since many people raising money for their loved one’s medical expenses are fundraising for the first time, I’ve outlined a step-by-step plan that will make it super-easy for you to reach your goal. If you are about to start a fundraising page for a friend or loved one, please take the next 20 minutes to read through the plan — I promise, it will make a HUGE difference in the overall success of your fundraiser.

Step 1: Build a Fundraising Team to Help Spread the Word

If you are thinking of raising money for a loved one, before you get started ask a few of your mutual friends if they would be want to help in the efforts to spread the word. With the assistance of a few friends all sending emails and Facebook messages out to their different networks your team will be able to reach out to 4-5 times as many potential donors as you could by yourself.

As the team leader or team captain, you will, of course, still be responsible for drafting the emails and coordinating the efforts, but your team members will be able to help you in spreading the word to a wider group of people.

Note — If you cannot get a group of friends to help with the efforts, don’t worry about it. Creating a team of friends is definitely helpful, but is not absolutely necessary to be successful.

Step 2: Kick Off Your Online Fundraiser With a Donation From Yourself

If you can afford to do so, the first thing you are going to want to do is set the tone for your fundraiser by donating yourself. Donate as much as you can afford, as this will show people how important this effort is to you and will set the tone for the rest of the fundraiser — if you set the bar high by donating a large amount, others will do the same.

Step 3: Get the Ball Rolling With Big Donations From Your Inner Circle.

After you donate yourself, the next step is to notify a handful of your closest friends and family (your inner circle) and ask them to make large donations (e.g. $100-$500 each) to get the ball rolling. Getting off to a good start is the single greatest thing you can do to make sure you reach your goal.

The reason this is important is because of the law of monkey see, monkey do. (Yes, we know, it’s a very scientific name). Simply stated, when people visit your fundraising page, the first things they do after reading the description is check out the donor list to see who has given and what the average donation size is. Then, they donate a similar amount. If they see that their friends or colleagues are donating between $100 and $500 then they will likely donate between $100 and $500 as well.

On the other hand, if they check out your donor list and see that most people are donating between $10-$20, then they’ll probably donate between $10-$20 too. Seeding your fundraiser page with large donations from friends and family at the outset is probably the most important thing you can do to ensure a successful fundraiser, so we really want to stress how important this step is.

Once your friends and family in your innermost circle have donated, rinse and repeat by reaching out to your next closest group of friends (e.g. 5-10 college friends or high school friends). Do this until a large number of your close friends and family have donated. Then, and only then should you move on to step 4.

The fundraising team for Nicole Hobson, who needed funds for medical costs related to breast cancer treatment, got big donations from their inner circle first. By the time extended friends and family saw the fundraiser, the family had already raised close to $3000. This made the newcomers who were seeing it for the first time much more inclined to donate, as they could see that the fundraiser already had a lot of momentum. In total, the family raised over $25,000 in just one week.

Step 4. Reach out on Facebook

Almost all online fundraisers that raise $10,000+ do so because of Facebook. This is probably the second most important tip we can give you. Facebook is an amazing tool and just helps spread the word more quickly.

To spread the word on Facebook, you will want to set up a group for your friend or loved one. Invite all your friends to join the group and be sure to ask them to ask their friends to join the group as well. Ask some of your close friends to become administrators of the group and have them invite everyone they know to join the group and donate as well

Once you have the group set up you can use it to send people updates about your friend or loved one’s health status or simply include news about what is going on in their life. You can use these updates as an opportunity to ask for contributions by including a link to your online fundraising page in of all the messages.

Here is an example of Facebook group that worked really well for a fundraisier raising money for a child with Leukemia: The Miss Madison Facebook Fan Club

Step 5: Be Persistent

Once you have built a large enough Facebook group (and/or email list), continue to ask people to donate. The key is to be persistent! Not everyone will donate the first time you ask, but if you keep asking, most people will eventually come around.

Also, it’s important to remember that sending requests for donations is a two-way street. You want people to be eager to receive your email or Facebook message, not to delete it or dump it in the trash right when they get it.

A great way to keep your donor base engaged is to start your emails or Facebook messages with a “thank you” and then give updates about your friend’s health, progress, etc. whenever you are asking for donations. Another way to keep people engaged is to start off your emails with updates about the progress of the fundraiser (e.g. “WooHoo! We just hit 20% of our fundraising goal today! Thanks so much!!! You guys rock!!)

Step 6. Finish Your Fundraiser with a Bang.

To help maximize the amount of money you raise for your cause, you’ll want to make sure you reach out to all your procrastinating amigos and family members in the final days before your fundraiser ends. Here’s what we suggest you do to finish your fundraiser with a surge of donations:

(1) Three to four days before your fundraiser ends, send a mass email or a Facebook message to all your contacts, encouraging them to make one last push before the deadline.

(2) To spice it up a bit, if your fundraiser is ending on January 13, ask them to donate $13 on that day or if it is ending on February 5th, ask for $5 on the 5th. People will usually give more than the amount you ask for, so don’t worry if your fundraiser ends on the 2nd or 3rd of the month. If you want, however, you can ask for $20 instead of $2 or $30 instead of $3, or alternatively ask for donations ending in the number (e.g. $2, $12, $22, $52, $102)

(3) Lastly, make sure to send a friendly reminder email on the morning of the last day to remind them to donate.

Final thoughts

Okay, that’s it! One last note, before you get started – typically, the very first thing most people want to do after they create their online fundraising page is send out a mass email to all their friends and family. I know this seems like it would make the most sense, but it is actually the last thing you want to do.

Avoid the temptation to use this “shotgun” approach! Instead, stick to this step-by-step plan and I promise that you will raise WAY more money.

Also see Raising Money for Individuals with Health Conditions for offline fundraising ideas.

Today’s link roundup includes advice regarding a variety of internet strategies for nonprofits:

Integrating Your Web Site and Database for Greater Donor Engagement by Robin Fisk, FundraisingSuccess

Are you new to blogging? Read this simple primer. by Sandra Sims, Cause Blogger

Online Outreach on a Budget – the January Nonprofit Blog Carnival, issueLab’s Footnotes

15 Nonprofit Social Media Stocking Stuffers and Resolutions by Pamela Grow, Pamela’s Grantwriting Blog

Posterous.com: Email Blogging for NonProfits by Rebecca, Wild Apricot Blog

Ensuring Your E-Newsletters are Read – Not Dead – On Arrival by Kivi Leroux Miller, Network for Good

Extreme Website Makeover: From Ick to Slick! by Katya, Non-Profit Marketing Blog

Social media applications like blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook can be useful tools to help you publicize, gain attendees and supporters for fundraisers such as benefit auctions. Not only are these tools free to use, but they enable you to relay short, constant reminders about your  fundraiser.

Creating “something to write” can be overwhelming for some people, so here are 12 auction-related ideas on what you (or your public relations volunteer) can post on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, or other social networking sites to promote your benefit auction.

1. Announce donations: When an auction donation arrives, announce the item, thank the donor, and provide a link back to the donor’s website. Be sure to include a photo, if possible.

2. Ask for a donation to round out a package: “We need a florist to donate a bouquet to complete our Mother’s Day package at our Fabulous Fundraising Auction for Children.”

3. Testimonials: Auction fundraisers should be mission-focused. Keep your supporters updated with successes. For instance, “Peggy is off the streets, thanks to our non-profit,” or “Jeremy credits St. Stephens’s art teacher in giving him the confidence to pursue art in college.”

4. Event Preparations: Share a photo of the decor committee drawing backdrops for the auction, or the Gala Chairs meeting to send out invitations. This shows that others are involved in auction planning and preparing to attend the event.

5. Special announcements: Share news. “In just three weeks, we’ve surpassed 50 raffle ticket sales.”  Or, “Only 200 seats left before our school auction sells-out!”

6. Apply gentle pressure to past auction donors: A post such as, “We sold a lovely 2-night stay at the Fairmont last year, and are hoping they’ll donate again,” might work. Include a link to the hotel, and then contact the hotel so they see how you are treating them kindly – even before they donate.

7. Answer questions: Make the questions up, if you need to. “A new family to our school asked what was appropriate to wear to the benefit auction. Here’s our answer, and we included three photos of past guests.”

8. Create a list: You can create a list on almost anything. “Top 5 Reasons to Attend our Auction Fundraiser.”  “Three Ways You Can Volunteer That Will Take Less Than 2 Hours per Week.”

9. Seek specific volunteers: “Any math lovers out there? We need an auction clerk, and your primary job is recording numbers during the live auction. Any takers?”

10. Link to relevant websites: “In 55 days, our charity auction will be raising money for cancer research.  Here’s a link to fascinating article written by XYZ about the need for a cure.”

11.  Support your supporters: When you notice that one of your supporters (e.g. a school parent, a Board member, an auction donor) is mentioned in the paper, link to it and promote it. “Parent Joe Smith just got promoted and here’s the link. Way to go, Joe! We look forward to congratulating you in person at the gala next Saturday.”

12.  Call to action: Get your audience to act (or think about acting).  Something like, “Early-bird pricing on gala tickets ends tomorrow,” or “Get your gala dress at Lord & Taylor this weekend. The store has special occasion dresses on sale.”
These auction tips will get you started.  You’ll have fresh content in no time!

About the author: Sherry Truhlar of Red Apple Auctions LLC works with auction chairs and committees who want to plan their most successful charity auction yet.  In addition to offering the auctioneer “fast talk,” she works with clients nationally to teach them the tricks of auction procurement, audience development and marketing.  Many of the area’s most prestigious events are her returning clients, including the Washington Performing Arts Society, Larry King Cardiac Foundation, Camillus House, and the Washington Nationals Baseball Foundation.

Sherry regularly provides advice and tips for charity auctions on her blog at www.RedAppleAuctions.com/blog.  (c) 2010 Red Apple Auctions LLC. Reprinted with Permission.