It is almost unimaginable to ponder how much has changed over the past 3 weeks. Our hearts and thoughts continue to go out to all of our educational and non-profit clients whose events have been impacted by our current inability to gather.
In response, I have received numerous client-inquiries surrounding possibilities for online/virtual fundraising. As a result, I have spent many hours researching, viewing, discussing and consolidating countless ideas, proposals, anecdotes, and videos of groups that are attempting to salvage, and in some cases even exceed, the fundraising that would have occurred at their now-cancelled or postponed events.
My goal with this email is to present my consolidated findings, show examples, provide resources, and assist you in your thinking about other alternatives to in-person fundraising as you consider your best immediate path forward in this challenging environment.
What is everyone else doing?
Based on our scheduled remaining 82 Spring events and anecdotal evidence from other professional benefit auctioneers, clients are taking some combination of the following 5 actions:
Cancel – This is the simplest of options, but in and of itself, will result in little or no money fundraised this year. If you choose this option, please get back to us with your 2021 date ASAP, as numerous clients are booking their 2021 dates uncharacteristically early following their cancellations this year.
Postpone – This is the most common option, and in my opinion, the best option for those who can wait for their fundraising to occur later in the year. My sense is that attendees will be very eager to attend events and spend money once this current health crisis is behind us. And with a big team of outstanding professional benefit auctioneers, KLM Auctions will have you covered.
Online-unsupported – This has been the choice for events which were cancelled just days before their event was scheduled to take place. This is where:
Most of the work for the event had already been completed
Mobile bidding software was purchased if it wasn’t already in place (see List of Vendors below)
Silent auction was put online
Some or all intended live auction lots were added to the online silent auction
A “donate now” option for pure donations was added
Attendees and those who weren’t planning to attend were emailed and encouraged to log on and shop/donate as they could
Due to time restrictions, not much else was done in the way of promotion
Preliminary results seem to show that this type of effort generated roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of what was expected to have been generated at the live event. I don’t recommend this route if you can avoid it.
Online-supported, aka Virtual-not real time – These events have shared similar characteristics with Online-unsupported events, but have benefitted from having more support in the forms of:
Phone calling efforts by organizers, staff, board members, and/or volunteers to reach out to attendees to educate and encourage them to participate in the online fundraising effort. I cannot overstate the importance of this
Videos and graphics to better inform participants and attempts to move them emotionally
Posted fundraising goals
Real-time results posted and immediate thank you’s back to donors to attempt to replicate some degree of the feedback that donors would get at a live event
Preliminary results show that online events with this kind of support fare significantly better than unsupported online events.
Here is one of the best examples of this that I’ve seen.
I went to business school with Upaya’s CEO, Kate Cochran, and we’ve been friends for 20 years. This event actually exceeded their pre-coronavirus fundraising goals—somewhat due to a few very large and unexpected donations that came in from a handful of sympathetic supporters—but nonetheless, this was a successful endeavor by all accounts.
You will also notice that Upaya leaned on their table hosts to “encourage” (read: apply social pressure) to the guests that would have been at their tables for the live event. This methodology has been very successful for other events where table captains are willing to step up to this responsibility.
Virtual—real time, aka Simulcast/Telecast – These events have shared similar characteristics with Online-supported/Virtual-not real time events, but take place in real time and, in essence, attempt to replicate as much of a “being there at the live event” feel as they can. The most successful of these events have included many or all of the elements listed in #4 above, and also:
Multiple screens going at once. For example, attendees who log on from home at 6pm on a Saturday night might be watching the live video feed on their laptop or tablet while following the numbers and bidding electronically on their phones
Someone at the helm who is very familiar with Zoom, WebEx, or YouTube Live and knows how to switch between live video feed, pre-recorded video, slides, and perhaps a thermometer or odometer that shows the fundraising total in real time
Live professional benefit auctioneer – this is not the time to try to save a few bucks by having a volunteer attempt to (a) keep your audience engaged and logged on, and (b) entice your audience to donate money in an unfamiliar (virtual) setting. I’ve seen some pretty bad example videos (which I won’t post out of respect to the organizations) of well-intentioned volunteers leading tedious and LONG virtual auction attempts. KLM Auctions can obviously help here.
Please keep reading for some examples of real-time virtual auctions.
List of Vendors Who Can Help You
KLM Auctions works with a number of outstanding vendors that can help you navigate your online and/or virtual auctions.
Auction Management Software and Online Bidding
There are many outstanding online auction bidding platforms. If you are already working with an Auction Management Software provider, your first step should be to ask them about their online bidding/virtual auction capabilities. If not, here are 3 of my favorites:
This video gives a quick overview of how Greater Giving can help.
Here are two examples of live, real-time, virtual auctions using Greater Giving’s software platform for online bidding:
Catlin Gabel School – Portland Recording of the live streaming event:
This video runs almost 2hrs but the speaking starts at about 1hr, 30mins.
Pay special attention to the paddle raise starting at about 1:45 when they split the screen and use Greater Giving’s display boards to show real-time dollars being raised.
While this school exceeded their financial goals, it is useful to note that 600 people logged on at the beginning of this event. After 25 minutes of fundraising, there were fewer than 100 people remaining online. Attention spans are even shorter online than with everyone in the same room. Remember, it is exponentially easier for people to simply log off than to physically get up and walk out of a live event.
Oregon Episcopal School – Portland Recording of the live streaming event:
The auctioneer and MC starts speaking about the 27 minute mark.
Of the two videos, this is more formal, they set up one section for each live package closing about every 3 mins. In the video, they keep a quick pace as the packages start to close. This group did a paddle raise but did not show the display boards.
Here are a few Greater Giving resources that can also help:
Greater Giving understands the challenges facing nonprofits and schools as they consider moving their fundraisers to virtual events. They don’t want price to be a hurdle, and as such, they’ve just approved an additional discount for current Greater Giving clients. Adding Online Bidding is now only $800 annually through April 30th (regularly $1,600) if you mention that Keith at KLM Auctions sent you. And no payment is due until after your first virtual event in 2020. This is currently the best value in the marketplace.
GiveSmart Michael Lenzi Sr. Account Executive Email
Here is an example of an event that was live streamed on 3/14/2020 using GiveSmart’s online bidding technology: Corpus Christi “Live Online” Auction
Fast forward to 45:55 to see how they both hyped up the bidding and then transitioned to their video which would normally precede a donation appeal during a physical event
Fast forward to 1:13:45 to see how they executed their donation appeal by showing the display screen in real time as donors were making contributions via their computer/mobile devices
If you would like more information or to talk to one of their team members to brainstorm ideas related to running a virtual/online event, you can click here. Please mention that KLM Auctions sent you.
Specializing in Greater Giving and Bidding for Good benefit auction management systems.
KLM Auctions has worked extensively with both Beth and Ashley on numerous events and both are terrifically knowledgeable and outstanding to work with.
Keith’s Takeaways
So the good news is that we’re seeing some impressive results coming in from carefully planned events where the organizers put in the work necessary to succeed. The best well-executed online and virtual events are seeing results at 75%, 100%, and occasionally even >100% of previously-expected live event results.
So should your organization take this step?
Online and virtual auctions seem to work best where organizations:
Need the money now (doesn’t work to postpone live event to Summer or Fall)
Have dedicated staff or volunteers who are committed to this (with respect to both time and conviction)
Have strong relationships with dedicated donors who will participate (may be more difficult for events that sell mostly sponsored tables where attendees aren’t as familiar with your organization)
Have donors who, on average, aren’t afraid of new technology/methodologies
I also feel if you want to move forward with this, you’ll have more luck doing it sooner rather than later. Right now, many online and virtual events seem to be benefitting from some version of an “Us vs. Coronavirus” or “One for the Gipper” donor mentality. How long this will last, and whether or not it is sustainable, especially in such a rapidly changing environment, is unknown. My gut feeling is that success with online fundraising and virtual events will become more challenging as employment levels fall, the stock market continues to decline, and more people get sick.
If you want to move forward with an online or virtual event, KLM Auctions can help.
There are a few things that successful online & virtual events seem to have in common:
Your presentation must be tight. Shorter and with less nonsense than you can get away with in a live, in-person event. You can’t be boring because it is so easy for people to simply log off! This is where a professional benefit auctioneer can really earn their stripes.
You need to think about how to get people to participate/tune in:
At any time during a set time window (1 day? 3 days? 5 days?) for an Online-supported/Virtual-not real time online auction
At a specific time for a Virtual—real time/Simulcast/Telecast online auction
Which methodology do you think will be easier for your organization to attract viewership? Do you want to give your audience 3-5 days to participate slowly at their own pace? Or do you want to force everyone to tune in at once? The answer here depends on your organization. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer here, and I am happy to discuss further with you and help you figure this out for your organization if you’d like.
Continue to focus on the Mission and the Message. This is always important, and none less so than with online or virtual appeals.
This is not an endeavor for the complacent or understaffed! Going virtual will take a lot of work/time/effort. Specifically:
I can’t overemphasize the importance of WORKING THE PHONES. Reaching out by phone to:
(Third choice and at a bare minimum) Each of your known significant bidders
(Second choice and all but mandatory) ALL of your attendees who were planning to attend your live gala before it was called off, or better yet
(First choice!) ALL of your gala attendees plus as many of your supporters and benefactors who weren’t able to attend your gala but can now participate online or virtually
…will make the difference between a successful online or virtual gala and a flop.
As a reminder, the purpose of these calls to potential online/virtual bidders is to:
Carry forward the sense of community that you would have had at your live event
Educate them on why your organization still needs the money and how they can still help
Make them feel special and confirm that they are still essential contributors to your mission which is still so important.
And most importantly, LINE UP PRE-COMMITTED BIDS/DONATIONS! The best live/in-person events have 1/3 of their money pre-committed before the event. For a virtual/online event, you should try to get 1/2 of your money pre-committed. I know—that’s a lot! I told you this was going to take some work!
All of this said, I also feel strongly that we will emerge from this coronavirus detour stronger than ever, and perhaps sooner than we thought, with our cherished guests feeling super-charged to return to social interaction and to spend/donate even larger sums of money at increasingly fun and engaging gatherings. I look forward to that day!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, thoughts, or ideas.
Stay safe, and I look forward to our continued success together.
Professional Auctioneers
Let's maximize your fundraising efforts
At KLM Auctions, we specialize in conducting live and virtual fundraising auctions that help our clients maximize their fundraising efforts. With our experienced auctioneers and proven strategies, we are dedicated to delivering successful results for every event.
