When you are throwing an annual gala fundraiser for a non-profit, it’s important that the organization’s mission stays front and center. People need to know who you are, what you do, and what part their support plays in the big picture. But you still want your event to be fun so that people remember they […]

How you start the evening will have a direct effect on the rest of the night.  Consider that your guests have just been herded into the ballroom even though they were having a great time socializing with friends in the reception/silent auction area.  They arrive at their tables and lo and behold there’s a new […]

It may seem obvious that you should set goals for your fundraising auction, but some organizations have trouble determining appropriate goals based on their audience and the number of lots. I once worked with an organization holding an inaugural gala. I was brought into the process just two weeks prior to the event and focused […]

Fund-A-Need, Raise the Paddle, Cash Call, Adopt a Family are all names for the same process of simply asking the attendees for cash during a fund-raising auction. Recently one of our clients credited us here at Reynolds & Buckley with inventing this process.  I wish I could take the credit!  Rather I absconded with the […]

At a recent planning meeting where we were discussing repeat auction lots for an event, it came out that one of the donors felt seriously slighted because their lot was never redeemed. A buyer had paid top-dollar for the lot at the auction, and had yet to cash it in with the expiration date looming. […]

Reynolds & Buckley will be conducting a workshop entitled Fundraising Auctions in Hard Times on Tuesday, February 24th at the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County. Company founder and nationally recognized fundraising expert David Reynolds will be on hand to discuss the challenges facing anyone conducting a fundraising auction today, along with associates Greg Quiroga and […]

Colleen and I have spent the last few days in the wine country.  We have had meetings in Napa, Mendocino and Sonoma.  It has given us a chance to talk to several vintners.  They are all complaining about wine sales generally but the bright spot is that direct sales and their wine club sales are […]

One of the events I had the privlege of working with last year was Web 2.0 Summit, put on by O’Reilly Media and techweb in the first week of November.  2008 marked the fifth Web 2.0 Summit, and the first time that they opted to do any sort of fundraising in conjunction with the conference. […]

One of our consulting services most utilized by clients is helping put the live auction lots in order. We always strive to create a natural flow to a live auction that readily engages the audience and builds to the ultimate climax, the fund a need. Our ability to do this is based on our knowledge […]

It is important to make the most of the money you have in the room at an event, but doing so is not always as straightforward as it might seem. Every event has a ceiling, a maximum dollar amount that is appropriate for any single bid or fund a need pledge. This ceiling has as […]