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 […]

San Francisco entrepreneur Trevor Traina recently launched If Only, a for-profit luxury lifestyle firm that sells access to high-end experiences with celebrities for ultra-premium prices. Traina, a veteran of many a fundraising gala, “…noticed that people seem more intrigued by experiences than things” and set out to build a service that cuts out the middleman […]

A fundraising auction requires myriad volunteers, vendors and staff, all working on their individual pieces to create a greater whole. Every individual working on an event always has their own personal agenda. Successful events manage to get every individual to buy in to a larger goal, and bend their personal agendas towards the “greater good.” […]

When people ask me about my job, I tell them that I work for fundraising auction consultants, handling client support and scheduling the consulting time for two auctioneers. And, I get to work from home, along the banks of the Russian River. Sound easy? Sometimes, but sometimes not. Founder Colleen Buckley calls us “wranglers”; she […]

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 […]

I want to expand on Greg’s gift bag blog and offer another perspective. One of the cornerstones of our approach to creating a successful fundraising auction is Laser Beam Your Message. If you meet or speak with any of us at R & B, you know it is the first gospel we preach. Quite simply, […]

Many events become stuck in a rut producing diminishing returns with each year’s Gala.  Same venue, same auction lots, same food, etc. What this does is suck any excitement out of your attendees.  Perhaps you can change your attendees thinking from “they do this every year” to “I wonder what they’re going to do this […]

Lots of events work hard to find creative ways to provide meaningful engagement to their sponsors. Full-page ads in the catalog, banners hung around the room during the event, even brand placement on pre-event collateral are all benefits offered to event sponsors at various levels. Similarly, many events spend a lot of time trying to […]