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The stakes are high when it comes to fundraising at a benefit auction. For many nonprofit organizations, it is often the biggest revenue producing event of the year. And with so many variables involved, it's easy to lose track of all the details. This chapter of Greater Giving's Fundraising Excellence series will cover not only the action items involved in planning and executing a benefit event and auction, but the strategy behind those action items.
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Similar to a remodeling a home, investing in quality “materials and labor” is critical to the success of your benefit fundraiser. This chapter will cover how investment in high-quality venues and professionals will solve problems, help you deliver a first-class event with less stress, and save you money in the long term.
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Procurement for your auction may seem daunting, but if you have a strategy, a reasonable timeline, and put a repeatable process in place, your procurement committee will find that obtaining items for your benefit auction is not a chore, but a rewarding and fun experience that will deliver needed revenue and build important connections for your organization.
This chapter of Greater Giving's Fundraising Excellence series will cover procurement strategy and best practices, plus tricks and tips designed to ease the process and produce lucrative results.
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Nonprofits and schools are feeling the pain of slashed budgets due to diminished government funding, reduced individual and corporate donations, and are increasing their reliance on volunteers to maintain vital services. Four out of five charities use volunteers, according to the Urban Institute, yet they often struggle to retain them due to poor volunteer management practices.
This chapter of Greater Giving's Fundraising Excellence series outlines a four-step process to recruit and motivate long-term volunteers by leveraging volunteer management best practices.
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Marketing is as fundamental to a nonprofit as its mission. A sound marketing strategy and well-thought-out, ingenious marketing tactics will help an organization retain existing donors and recruit new ones, driving increased revenue. In addition, marketing strategy will help a nonprofit to focus its efforts, prioritize investments, even hire staff and recruit volunteers.
This white paper describes how to develop a marketing strategy and put that strategy to work to become a more efficient and effective organization, with a devoted giving community.
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Adopting consistent, high-quality donor communications will help you to efficiently recruit new donors and retain existing donors. As a general rule, the simpler and more straightforward you keep your communications, the better the donor experience. Once you acquire a donor, the better you make the experience, the longer a donor will stay with your organization.
This white paper will cover best practices for providing a satisfying Website experience for site visitors and creating pleasant Website giving experiences that promote retention and repeat giving.
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Using social media to drive awareness and fundraising is an exciting prospect for today’s nonprofit organizations, yet it can also be intimidating if you don’t understand social media and networking fundamentals. This white paper will demonstrate the importance of social networking for nonprofits, give you guidance on how to get started and provide a glossary of terms to help you understand this online universe. We’ve also included a list of online resources and how-to’s.
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Planning, managing, and delivering a benefit auction event is challenging under any circumstances. School auctions have the additional challenges of an all-volunteer workforce, tight time constraints, and in many cases an event team that has high turnover and very little experience in planning events.
This white paper outlines the best practice for planning and executing a school auction. While many of the concepts described in this paper are also standard for a nonprofit auction, we’ll also cover the unique challenges school auction planners face, and how to overcome those challenges.
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A-thons may be less complex to plan and execute than a gala fundraiser, but they have the added complexity of relying on participants to generate revenue. The a-Thon Timeline provides a high-level timeline for planning and executing an a-thon.
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From twelve months prior, up to event day, the Auction Planner offers a detailed time line for planning an auction fundraiser.
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Are you looking to bring your event to the next level? Learn how to grow revenue and improve the flow of your event with Greater Giving's Best Practices Guide for Benefit Events. Topics covered include developing a planning calendar, investing in your event, and organizing live and silent auctions to maximize fundraising. There are also specifics on the logistics of registration, data entry, check-out/cashiering and item pickup.
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This white paper provides details on managing a school auction, including committee assignments and responsibilities, item packaging tips, and items and packages that sell well at school auctions.