Turning a ‘Friendraiser’ into a Fundraiser

Almost every week, I get a call from an organization that wants to do a live auction but has never done one before. As you would imagine, they always have lots of concerns, the number one being, “We’re really not sure if a live auction is even a good idea because we don’t know how our crowd will respond.”

To which I ask two questions, “First, do you have good things to sell at an auction?” If you have good items, you’re halfway there.

“Second, do you have people coming to your event with the capacity to buy?”

Keep in mind that not everybody at a live auction has to be a multimillionaire with money to burn. In fact, at every live event auction we’ve ever done, I estimate that only between 5 and 15 percent of people in the audience ever make a single bid. The reality is that to make a successful charity benefit auction event, you don’t need everyone to be uber-wealthy, but you will need to have some people with strong financial capacity - probably only between 5 and 15 percent of the audience. It may be completely fine if the rest of the audience is made up of donors who may only donate $50 or $100, or if the people in the room are conducive to a fun environment or contribute to that strong community feeling. With that being said, it’s important to note that the purpose of a fundraiser isn’t to be a party - if it is, you may have a “friendraiser” on your hands.

So what is the difference between a ‘friendraiser’ and a ‘fundraiser’? It starts with audience expectations. If your audience shows up, you start asking for money, and they act bewildered as if they never anticipated that they would have to contribute more than the price of admission, that is a clear signal that you aren’t running a fundraiser. A lot of organizations try to hide, or they’re embarrassed by, the fact that they are going to be asking people for money. Instead of being upfront with people, they try the ambush approach, which means they use high-pressure tactics to get people to give once they are already sitting in their audience.

Even if that strategy worked, which it doesn’t, the risk is that you’ll be burning a lot of bridges with prospective donors. What could have been a fun evening turns into a sea of regrets and people feeling used, unappreciated, or exploited. Those feelings will never go away, so don’t expect any of those people to show up at your event next year. 

Everyone who attends your event needs to know, well beforehand, that the ticket was truly just the price of admission and that the real giving will take place once everyone is assembled.

How is that message communicated? It needs to come from the event’s organizers, especially the board members. Success starts from the top of every organization. If you don’t have board members completely engaged and willing to write a big check, you cannot expect casual donors to step up either. Once you have secured both, and know that they will be ready and willing to donate, then you’ve turned your ‘friendraiser’ into a true fundraiser.