My 2023 benefit action season has just about ended. In two weeks my phone will ring and emails will come in with clients preparing for their events that will be happening in a month. Others will be contacting me to conduct their auctions in 2024. This morning, I had a videoconference call with a client where the auction committee decided to keep its attendance for the event at 520 attendees and not increase it to 600. Benefit auctions and galas are still the best opportunity to not only raise money in a very short amount of time, but also have one-on-one time with supporters and potential donors. Open your vision to get bigger. Give yourselves the opportunity to spread your mission to new guests. Do not fear that you cannot fill seats and tables, rather seek the quality supporters with the means and interests to back your mission. Every benefit auction should be striving to raise money over goal. Honestly, that should be attainable. When you know your audience and give them what they want, they will give more than they had planned to give that night. No matter where you are in your fundraising efforts, you can always raise more. I tell clients to always believe they are a million dollar event. They may not be there at the moment but one day we’ll look back and see how far we’ve come in a short amount of time to become a million dollar plus event. Think about what your organization or learning institution can do with a million dollars from your auction event. Won’t that be something special!
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