How to attract large Financial Sponsors

When explaining the “Reality of Charity Fundraising”, I try to use an image that most can imagine.  One of the most frequent questions I get from our clients is this:  “How do we get major Financial Sponsors?” 

As with most things involved in charity fundraising, we first have to get around sediment and understand reality since there are many “Charity Myths.”  The charity myth involved here is that major financial sponsors do so because they love the charity’s mission.  That’s partially true because some may love your charity or it’s mission but the vast majority are attracted by what I am about to explain here.

To begin explaining, I like to provide something “Visual” which most people are familiar with.  Imagine a ball of small fishing out in the ocean.  You may have seen one on TV, when the school of fish feel like they are going to be attacked by predators, they begin to swim in a tight ball.  That “Tight Ball” of fish represents the guests at your event.

The ball attracts large, predatory fish such as barracuda’s, Tuna, Dolphin and then Sharks which feed on them all.  The predatory fish ranging in all sizes from smallest to largest (sharks) all feed on the ball.  They quickly dart through it with their mouths open gobbling up as many as they can.  These “Predator Fish” represent Financial Sponsors of all sizes ($1,000.00 Sponsors , $2,500.00 Sponsors, $5,000.00 and finally the $10,000.00 plus Sponsor – The GREAT WHITE Shark). 

With your guest’s numbers being high, the sponsors are attracted to them in hopes to advertise to them.  Remember, all your guests are in one place at one time, what better way to advertise to a businesses target market.  Like ball of fish being fed on by the larger fish, the one thing that will and does attract larger financial sponsors is simply “Advertisement capabilities.” 

Ask yourself this – does it matter that the Financial Sponsor loves your charity if they are writing you a check for $5,000.00 check?  I would hope you would say absolutely not.  The donated $5,000.00 can be used to fulfill your charities mission.

As a real life example, I told one of our many clients that potential major financial sponsors will not care about where their money is going to or what it will be used for.  He later said and I quote "George, when you told me that I felt so angry I wanted to punch you in the nose.  But after we landed over $100,000.00 in sponsorships, do you know how many asked me where the money was going?  Not one.  You are right and I would have never believed it."  This same client one evening received a $5,000.00 sponsor and posted a their logo on Facebook announcing it.  The very next morning, the sponsors competition called asking about what they gave to our client and in response, said "Come over and pick up a check for $5,000.00" all based on competition and advertisement.

Just this morning, I was speaking with Tony Lebron, our client from the New York Law Enforcement Assistance Program.  Tony said he is living proof that it works.  He posted a photo of him picking up a Sponsor's check on Facebook and in the comments, another person asked to sponsor too.  It just works!!!  Tony is living proof.    

So with that in mind, prior to beginning to seek large financial Sponsors, you must prepare a “Sponsorship Package” which includes advertisement/marketing of the sponsor.  The higher they sponsor, the more advertisement/ marketing they receive.  Think of the many different ways you can provide marketing of the Sponsor both outside of your event and inside then put it together in package at different levels.

If you would like to learn more about how to attract major financial sponsors or how to build sponsorship packages, contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com, we would love to help you.

Houdini was a magician, not an Auctioneer !!!

Over the past several months, we have broken records for our business, helping more charities than ever.  We are helping more charities plan, manage & host events than we ever have.  But with this, especially as we transgress our great country, we are faced with several issues which plague charities.  Most of the problems arise from not being educated and still believing in the various myths that still exist.

Charities, or I should say the people who make up the charity and actually planning their next fundraiser, tend to live in a “Fantasy Land.”  It’s not their fault, you must understand but trying to educate them so that they not only better understand the “Reality of Charity Fundraising” is harder than trying climb Mount Everest backward in a "Speedo and flip flops." 

Charities don’t want to believe that the items donated to them are not going to bring full value (aka Retail Value).  The refuse to believe it – in fact, while I am often am talking to them about their fundraising, they stare blankly back at me with a dazed look on their face.  The reality is that they never go back and look to track what the items they had at their event, actually did or how they performed.

Sadly, charities (I am truly talking about the people) don’t think when seeking donated items, what kind of items they should be going after.  And, here is where you want to rip my head off, don’t truly care about the business who donated the item, they only care about how much money they could possibly make from the sale of it.  How do I know?  Because I use to be the “Donation King.”  I had it down to a science.  But then when I really figured it out…that is when I became a Donation God!!! 

Are you ready for a dose of reality?  Are you sure?  Before I go into it, let me tell you a little story.  I was helping a charity at an event which they had donated some very high end art.  In fact, they brought in the artist from out of the country – six (6) in total – all from South America.  The artists insisted that it had to be displayed in a very high trafficked area with amazing visibility of the artwork.  Understand that the event was very high end and the place, high end as well.  But…I know the reality of the reality.  I asked the artist if there were “Reserves” on the art which they said there were none.  I explained to the Artist what may happen and they obviously disagreed with me.  The pieces ranged (retail mind you) from $7,000.00 to $15,000.00 Retail – original art.  Because they wanted the art to be prominent, I ensured that everyone could see it and it was the centerpoint.  This same art took up the majority of the Live Auction.  Again, I asked them if they would be upset if it did not receive high bids, they laughed and shook their heads as if I was telling a joke.  Well during the live auction as I began to sell the art, the room fell silent (can you hear the crickets?).  The highest bid for the art was $350.00 for a $15,000.00 piece of art.  Then at the end of the evening, one of the buyers tried to back out of the bid so that he could buy items from us (our No Risk Auction Items – Mike Tyson autographed Boxing Trunks and a Sugar Ray Leonard/Roberto Duran dual signed Boxing Glove).  The artists were devastated but came over to me after the event and thanked me for educating them while asking if they should ever do it again – I told them no.

I could provide you with example such as when a donor was present at an event and the item which his business (which he was the owner of) donated an item worth $900.00 and it sold for $45.00 – he walked out immediately after seeing it sell for that amount furious.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I am sorry if you think differently, but Auctioneers are not Magicians.  We auctioneers cannot turn water into wine or make money fly magically out of people’s pockets.  Not one auctioneer in the world can.  You have to provide people with items or experiences that they would want.  Unfortunately, in the example above with the Artists, our Decor items sold higher than their original art – I find that sad.

Furthermore, charities must market the items which they have and will be available to bid on.  Facebook and email newsletters are perfect for this.  But putting people in a room and expecting them to bid on stuff just because…doesn’t happen. 

Another myth – this one will probably sting so gear up – people do not bid on items at your charity fundraiser because they are helping your charity.  This is 100% false.  What is true is this – they bid on items that are attractive, that they want.  The items that get the most bids are Hard to find items, things they have never seen before or Travel Experiences.  If this weren’t true, why do people get buyers remorse and try to return the items the following day?  Charities tend to think people walk in the door blind folded with a stack of $100 bills in their pockets and just throw it up in the air…wherever it lands is what they are going to buy and say “Well it’s for charity” – That is totally false and those days are over.

Be smart about what you are doing, be strategic when seeking donations and then market your donations as much as humanly possible.  Use Facebook religiously to market your event and the items available.

Something else very important – why is it acceptable to pay a venue for food & drinks, a florist for floral arrangements but not to use consigned items and travel on your live and silent auction?  I’ll leave you with that thought.

If you would like to learn how seek and get incredible donated items while ensuring the donors are happy by the result and how to also absolutely ensure that those items bring an amazing amount of money - or if you would like to learn more about how to host a successful charity fundraising event and how to plan your fundraising platforms such as the Live & Silent Auction effectively, contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com, we would love to help you exceed your fundraising goals.

#1 Source of Charity Auction Items

Charity Fundraising 101: Why selecting the right Venue is extremely important to your fundraising success.

https://youtu.be/o6UqgVHReeM

Titanic Fundraising: Sinking Fundraising Efforts

When Donated Items Attack!!!

I have seen it all when it comes to donated items.  Sometimes, I sit back and scratch my head wondering why in the world charities would even ask for some of the craziest donations.  But, as a fundraiser, I totally understand their mentality.  Volunteers going after donations always have the best of intentions and always think “WOW, this is going to help us raise of ton of money!!!”

I hope you’re reading this and honestly listening to my advice.  So, let me give you a very real life scenario.  You ask a business to donate and they tell you it’s retail.  Volunteers think that’s the price it’s going to bring at their event.  But the reality is, it’s only going to bring 1/3 of the value.  This is “Reality of Fundraising” ladies and gentlemen.

No one attends a charity event looking to purchase a “Tax Preparation” or “Life Coaching Sessions.”  They will always do bad.  Items which are not “Exciting” will always crash and burn.  What is the most important issue to understand is, what will that tell the Donor?  I have seen Donor’s get up and leave the event because they were angered how little their item went for. 

Another issue is, I have seen many times charities listing the retail value of an item both with the item and prior to it in their inventory.  Charities are under the false impression that because the item or items retail for a price, that that is what it will or should bring in the Auction – FALSE.  If you list the retail price with the item, you are telling the possible donors to not bid anywhere near that – EVERYONE IS LOOKING FOR A DEAL. 

Also, understand that when businesses donate an item to you, they are more times than not giving you items that are not selling in their stores.  Be smart about what you’re going after, just because it’s donated doesn’t mean it’s good.  The last thing you want to have is an auction that looks like a “Yard Sale” or “Flea Market.”  Keep in mind how the donor will feel if the item brings very little or doesn’t sell. 

There are definite ways to ensure that you and your charity receives “Top Dollar” and more for donated items.  If you would like to learn how, contact us today at www.BWUnlimited.com.

BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American Charity Fundraising leader in a “One Stop Shop” convenient setting.  BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising can help you plan, manage and host your next charity fundraising event so that your event is the best it can possibly be.  There are many mistakes novice fundraisers make while planning their fundraisers, BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising will direct you around all the pitfalls to a very successful event.  Contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com.