“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Wayne Gretzsky
We don’t have to tell you how hard the past year has been on the nonprofit and fundraising industries, and we feel the pain our clients have experienced keenly. We strongly believe that organizations should be leaning on their donors during these especially trying times, and that is the time is right for a virtual fundraiser!
In fact, we think any nonprofit who opts to postpone their annual fundraiser instead of hosting a virtual one is missing an essential opportunity to strengthen their relationships with their donors and gain crucial support for their mission.
And we’re not the only ones who think so! Recently, we listened to a compelling episode of The Auction Advocate, a podcast produced by our professional association, the National Auctioneers Association, and we wanted to share some of the insights we gleaned from it.
The interview was with two of our colleagues in the Benefit Auctions industry and they discussed their experiences with producing virtual fundraisers over the course of 2020 and into 2021. The two talented women, Misty Marquam and Christine de Castro, have been very generous about sharing their lessons learned through trial and error, and we jumped at the chance to hear what they had to say.
All three women, including the interviewer, Erin Shipps, referenced insightful and useful data about nonprofits and virtual fundraisers, and we found their analysis to be right on the money.
We were thrilled when they hit on one of the most important aspects of planning a virtual fundraiser: Marketing!!! As Christine said, “it’s like planning a really awesome party and then forgetting to send out the invites!” Unlike the traditional annual gala, the virtual gala needs a lot more promotion from your organization, and that’s largely because it’s new and different. People aren’t expecting it and so they aren’t keeping an eye out for it. It is crucial to get the word out, often and early, that you’re creating this opportunity for your donors to support you.
Another topic they briefly touched on is one we pioneered during our LA Challenge 2020 to benefit St. Vincent Meals on Wheels: encouraging donors to purchase gift certificates from small business to donate to the fundraiser! In normal times, your procurement teams would be visiting or calling local businesses to ask for a donation, but these are not normal times. By asking donors to purchase the gift certificates, you’re asking them to support their neighbors while also supporting your organization, and we’ve found that most donors absolutely love the idea!
The best part about getting your donors involved in item procurement is that it helps to engage them into the process of planning your fundraiser, which in turn makes them far more likely to actually view your virtual fundraiser when it airs. It might even inspire them to promote your event to their networks, because they’ve now invested in it… and now you’ve got some free, word-of-mouth marketing, which is the best kind!
We’ve included the link to the podcast below, and we encourage you to give it a listen, whether you’re on the fence about having a virtual fundraiser, or you’ve already had one and want to do another. We agree with Misty & Christine that you can’t afford not to have one.
Reach out to us today if you have any questions about whether virtual is right for you (spoiler alert: it is!), and how we can help!
You can listen to the podcast here: The Auction Advocate
