How to Tailor Your Auction Experience to Your Audience
Events and campaigns are successful when they’re designed with a specific audience in mind. To better tailor your fundraising to an audience, your nonprofit should focus on a personalized event experience. After all, keeping things personalized is an effective way of showing contributors that their opinions matter to your organization.
Great charity event planning and production is a matter of being intentional. Taking the time to learn about what motivates your audience will allow you to improve your event engagement translating to better results and revenue for your organization.
When planning a personalized event, implement event types that strengthen long-term relationships with your desired supporters and are flexible to meet their needs! Auctions are a perfect example of engaging events that can be easily tailored to suit unique audiences to maximize results.
How can your organization use auctions to better reach desired supporters?
Event Formats and Ticketing Strategies
As you start to plan your auction, there are many forms that your nonprofit could choose from, so think about which format your audience would be more inclined to participate in. Consider the following types of events and the benefits that each of them could bring to your audience.
Live Auction: During live auctions, an auctioneer runs the bidding by introducing each item and guiding bid amounts. Guests place bids by calling out an amount or raising bid paddles. These auctions can be particularly successful because they are fast-paced and create a sense of urgency that keeps donors engaged.
Silent Auction: A silent auction is a classic fundraising event. Using paper bid sheets or mobile bidding software, bidders compete to win their favorite items and packages. Silent auctions can be adapted for all types of audiences, and are extremely engaging for guests, giving them an activity to participate in over the course of a broader event like a gala.
Virtual Auction: Not having an in-person fundraiser? Virtual auctions are a great way to maximize the reach of your campaign. A virtual auction brings all of the elements of an in-person auction to an online format. These are the same as any in-person auction, but your nonprofit leverages fundraising software to host the auction, to incite giving, and to create community online.
Auction incorporated into another event: Auctions don’t have to be their own standalone fundraisers. They can seamlessly be added to other virtual charity events like galas, walks/runs/rides, golf tournaments, or large-scale online events. They provide another source of donations to help your nonprofit reach its goal beyond ticket sales alone.
To find which auction type would best perform for your target audience, take the time to ask them which experience they would prefer. Gathering feedback directly from your supporters not only helps you create the best event to meet their needs but also allows them to feel like they are a part of the planning process and that their voice matters to your organization.
Here are a few ways you can leverage advice and donor knowledge in choosing your event:
If your audience prefers an in-person event and you wish to target major donors, consider hosting a live auction. These help you reach big spenders while also leaving room for competition to drive the prices up!
If your audience is made up of non-major donors or will run alongside another event or activity, consider hosting a silent auction. This provides a multitude of items to bid on, and some are more affordable to a money-conscious donor.
If your donor base is spread across the country, consider hosting a virtual auction. This allows every donor, no matter where they are located, to get involved with your fundraising event!
Once you have chosen your auction type, you can continue to provide personalized experiences within your auction through event ticketing. Tiered ticket packages make it easier to direct certain audiences toward different experiences. Some ticketing packages include:
VIP packages
Free online participation
Virtual at-home experience packages
With your auction type and ticket packages chosen, it’s time to dive into gathering items and promoting your event.
Item Procurement
Auction items serve as the main draw for any auction, so it’s important to put thought into what you procure and what will be the most exciting for your target audience. Consider these tips when you are procuring auction items:
Get to know your audience. Dive into your donor database to help understand your target audience’s giving behaviors. What was their past auction engagement? What is their income, age, or connection to your mission? This information will propel your procurement efforts in the right direction to get items your supporters will bid on.
Put together a procurement team. Securing auction items is an important part of your event. You will want to put together a team to divide and conquer procurement outreach, bringing in the best items for your event. Make sure this team is responsible, enthusiastic, and ready to brief others about your event to maximize the items you can receive.
Offer a range of different value items. Not everyone is able to afford or willing to bid on your auction’s big-ticket items. To ensure that most donors can participate, have a variety of different valued items.
Tap into your networks to get auction items. Leverage the connections that your cause has built over the years to get even more auction items. You can also consider sending out auction solicitation packets to local businesses and past supporters to request auction donations.
These steps provide a great starting point for your auction item procurement efforts. With incredible items procured, you will be ready to host the most impactful auction for your targeted audience.
Promotional Strategies
Now’s the time to spread the word!
Creating excitement about your event and auction items will be a sure way to boost event engagement and attendance. Promotion is a crucial part of any good nonprofit event planning process. However, when marketing your event, you should tailor communication to your audience to ensure they receive the message and follow through with registering.
To have a strong marketing strategy, you will need to:
Select an event name
Create an event-specific hashtag
Develop a social media plan
Promote your event online
Send save-the-dates (email and paper) with clear registration instructions
Highlight your highest-value auction items
Advertise your event in the local press and news outlets
Your marketing strategy is where you can bring your plans to life and create the momentum needed to draw in those big crowds! Promote across multiple channels to help broaden the reach of your event, such as:
Website: Your online promotional strategy starts with a well-designed website that effectively describes your mission and showcases your event. Optimize your landing pages and forms to appeal to users and entice them to register for your event.
Email: Email is a tried-and-true marketing method that has the power to supercharge your fundraising. In your event’s promotional emails, include links to register as well as an event description and value drivers. To increase open and click-through rates, tap into supporter emotions by communicating their potential impact on your cause if they attend your event.
Social media: Your social platforms allow you to connect and interact with younger donors directly. Determine which platforms your supporters are active on. Then, use social media to share your event, along with impact stories that encourage additional contributions to your campaign.
Digital ads: Digital ads, such as Google Ads, can help promote your auction event to a brand-new online audience searching for terms related to your event. By creating targeted ads for search terms like “auction events near me” or “auction events in [your city’s name],” you can reach a broader audience of potential attendees. Plus, if your organization is eligible for the Google Ad Grants program, you can access $10,000 in free monthly spending. Eligibility requirements include holding valid 501(c)(3) status, having a functioning, top-quality website, and complying with program policies.
Direct mail: Send event invites directly to supporters using direct mail. Include eye-catching images on your mailed materials and a QR code to your online registration page for easy sign-up.
Ambassador Fundraising: Turn your supporters into fundraisers for your cause with this form of peer-to-peer fundraising. Leverage their connections as a way to promote your event. They will become the face of your cause and add a personal touch to help drive support to your fundraising event.
With these steps in place, your nonprofit is sure to have a successful multi-channel promotional plan for your next auction. These strategies ensure that you increase your event’s reach and target channels that your supporters are active on.
Post Auction Follow-Up
It may seem early to think about what you’ll do when your auction ends, but establishing your post-event follow-up process is a crucial step in auction planning. After all, your follow-up strategy is where you solidify connections made during your auction and secure future support.
A few follow-up strategies to consider are:
Thank-you emails. After your auction, send out thank-you emails to all of your guests. Personalize these messages by addressing each attendee by name, applauding them on any auctions they won, and emphasizing how their contributions will help your nonprofit.
Mailed cards. Physical thank-you cards will arrive later than emails, but they are likely to be much more meaningful to your guests. Direct mailing thank-you cards can be especially effective for virtual and hybrid auctions as you can ship your cards with the items your guests won.
Phone calls. For guests who spent a substantial amount at your auction, go the extra mile and give them a personal phone call to thank them directly. This is especially important for major donor prospects, who may show off their spending capacity at your auction.
Just like with every other step of your auction planning, consider what follow-up strategies are appropriate for your audience. Specifically, consider how much you expect guests to give at your auction. For a high-end event with major donors, your follow-up strategy will be far more personalized and involved than it would be for a small school auction.
Tailoring your events to your target audience ensures that you can best meet their goals while increasing event engagement. Hosting an auction in particular is a great way to add customization and personalization to your event.
With these objectives in mind, your nonprofit will be able to procure exceptional items and market your event with ease. Your nonprofit is now ready to supercharge its next auction, and maximize engagement from your target audience!
About the Author: Kelly Velasquez-Hague, Director of Content Marketing at OneCause
Kelly Velasquez-Hague brings over 20 years of fundraising, nonprofit management, and sales/marketing experience to her role at OneCause. As a member of the OneCause sales and marketing team, Kelly manages all of the company’s content strategy and execution. She is passionate about empowering great missions and loves that her current role allows her to continue to help nonprofits reach new donors and raise more funds for their cause.
