Episode 43: Creating Unforgettable Experiences: Expert Advice on Fundraising Events

Malou: Hello, everyone, and welcome to our panel. My name is Malou de Gracia, and I serve as an NXUnite team member at Nexus Marketing and your moderator for today's panel. Today's panel topic is creating unforgettable experiences -- expert advice on fundraising events. I'd like to first introduce Jeff Porter, who is the founder and CEO at Handbid. He's no stranger to fundraising events, having participated in them for over 25 years. He ran his first fundraiser in 2005 and has managed over 50 auction events and fundraisers for his own charities, not to mention hundreds more with Handbid. Thanks for joining us, Jeff.

Jeff: Thanks, Malou. Happy to be here.

Malou: Also with us is Lauren Batterby, who is the founder and CEO at Life Event Staffing. They provide specialized auction staff for fundraising and corporate events across North America, serving both the United States and Canada. With over 10 years of industry experience, Lauren's expertise lies in fundraising events and silent auction technology. So glad to have you, Lauren.

Lauren: Thanks, Malou. I'm happy to be in.

Malou: Also with us today is Scott Roseveare, who is the president and co-founder at RiskFreeItemShop.com. Understanding fundraising from the lens of a nonprofit executive and technology founder has given him unique insights into how to solve some of the key issues facing nonprofits in an ever-changing, tech-centric world. So great to have you, Scott.

Scott: Thanks, Malou. Great to be here.

Malou: And finally, with us is Tony Banks, who is the founder and CEO at Tony Banks Consulting. He's all about creating unforgettable experiences and has spent over 15 years developing effective events and stewardship strategies to drive engagement and income generation in the third sector and local government. Thanks for joining us, Tony.

Tony: Thanks, Malou. Great to see you, everyone.

Malou: All right. Now it's finally time to hear from our panelists. Jeff, I'll have you start us off with the first question. In your opinion, what are the key elements that distinguish a successful fundraising event from other types of events? And how can nonprofits ensure these elements are integrated into their event planning?

Jeff: Sure. In terms of how I interpreted the question -- a successful fundraising event versus a non-successful fundraising event -- I would say to make it successful, one, having a clear goal is essential. That goal needs to be realistic and it needs to be communicated, not just within the team, but also with the folks attending the event. In a lot of cases, what we tend to see is that the goals aren't specific enough and they're also not realistic. And sometimes "not realistic" can mean not nearly high enough -- way too conservative of a goal. It helps to be aggressive enough and stretch enough to get your donors to see that they need to maybe reach a little bit deeper in their pockets. So that's one element we see a lot. I think Tony will probably speak to this as well. The event needs to be engaging. It needs to be fun. The event needs to have interactive elements that are going to engage the audience and get them connected to it. Recognizing those in the room goes a long way -- not just the ones that are donating, but also the ones that are there volunteering and helping put the event on. And then once you're in there, explaining to people how their dollars are going to impact whatever program services you're applying them to is key. And also, what's at stake if you don't receive those donations -- that's equally important. And obviously I wouldn't be here running a tech company if I didn't mention that technology can be used effectively to drive better donor engagement and also make it much easier for people to donate at your event.

Malou: Fantastic. Thank you so much for starting us off. Scott, I'm going to bring the same question over to you. What makes fundraising events successful and how can nonprofits make sure these elements are part of their event planning?

Scott: It's a great question. When you look at consumer behaviors, people buy things practically -- on Amazon, whatever it is -- but they donate emotionally. They come from an emotional part. And when you look at a lot of these events, people focus sometimes on the logistics too much. They're not really telling the story. When I see successful events, it's about how you engage the audience from an emotional level. How do you pull their heartstrings, whether it's from invitations all the way to the event, whether it's showing a story from the need -- whatever that is, whatever your cause is. Obviously some are harder than others, but any human services especially -- where is this dollar going? How can it help this cause or this child or this family? What's that one-to-one nature where it's an emotional dollar going in and getting that kind of response back that you're making a difference, as opposed to just bidding on an item or donating into a general fund? I think that's one thing people can bring in -- that emotional connection aspect.

Malou: Wonderful. Thanks, Scott. Lauren, over to you. What makes a fundraising event successful and how can organizations integrate these elements into event planning?

Lauren: Thanks, Malou. I thought a lot about this one because there were so many points, and just like Jeff and Scott mentioned, I feel like we could go on and on. So I'm going to go the exact opposite. I think it's simplicity. You cannot build upon complexity, right? If you start with your key main points -- no matter what size of event or what size of nonprofit -- look at your key demographics of your target audience and then prioritize what you think are the most important features of that event. Narrow it down to the top five, maybe even less. Then work out the organizational side. How many people do you have on your team? How many hats is each individual wearing? They can't do 20 things fantastically, but they can each do three things fantastically. So really rein it in and think about it before you start anything. What are the top three fundraising parts? Who's going to be best at being able to delegate that? At the end of the day, going along the lines of simplicity, you don't want your guests to want for anything. You actually don't want them to leave their seat once they're in it. You can still keep them entertained. They can still keep giving. You can feed them, you can water them, you can do everything at their fingertips. And the simplest way to achieve that is the most seamless, stress-free, successful event -- and you will be remembered, and that will keep your recurring donors coming back next year.

Malou: Fantastic point, Lauren. All right. Tony, final thoughts on what makes fundraising events successful and how to include these elements in their planning.

Tony: Thanks, Malou. I completely agree with Lauren, Scott, and Jeff's points. When I was thinking about this question, there were three key things that stood out for me. The first was around acquisition. Working with a lot of charity clients at the moment, what I see is that event organizers and fundraisers don't necessarily see events as an acquisition tool. When I talk about that, I mean becoming less transactional. What we're seeing a lot of right now is people trying to get attendees to register, get them to donate on the night, and that is essentially the end of the journey. What we're going to see more success from in charity fundraising moving forward is where events serve as a way to create lifetime value from those supporters. It's actually a question around what we do with them after the event -- how we take them on a journey and get them to continue supporting the charity beyond the night of the event itself. So how can we continue to engage them beyond the event? The second thing I wanted to talk about was stewardship -- how we can engage them by creating incredible experiences. I really stress to everybody I work with that stewardship must be pre, during, and post event. Thinking about the acquisition element again -- how do we continue to get people to support us after the event they've attended? That's through excellent stewardship: engaging them with brilliant storytelling. Which was the final thing I wanted to say -- telling the story about your charity. As Scott mentioned, connecting them emotionally to your cause. Most importantly, telling people why they should donate, what's the impact of their donation on your charity, on your nonprofit, what difference is that going to make. By using effective storytelling, creating a great stewardship journey, you're going to acquire new donors who hopefully take a lifetime journey with your charity.

Malou: Wonderful. Thanks, Tony. All right, we're off to a great start. Lauren, I'll have you start us off with the next question. What valuable lessons have the past few years taught us about events, and how should nonprofits apply these lessons to future events?

Lauren: I think I'm going to start with the most obvious -- the fact that we can reach wider audiences remotely. I think every industry experienced that throughout the pandemic, and I now believe that it has really built people's confidence within technology. Across all areas, we've even been able to have calls like this. Organizations can get their board members on webinars. We don't need live meetings anymore for everything. So even when you're holding a live event, you can still engage your bidders from outside of the room. All these mobile bidding platforms are cloud-based. You can bid from your phone. You can watch your event live. These small chapters of each nonprofit can now reach the entire US or even worldwide if needed. I think we really need to start trusting technology even more and showing that you really can reach those much wider audiences. The use of technology across all industries to rein in those people, grasp the hearts of your audience, help spread the word, and do it easily and very cost-effectively at the same time.

Malou: Thanks, Lauren. Great. Tony, over to you. Any lessons learned about events and how to apply these to future events?

Tony: Thank you. I'd absolutely love to build on what Lauren was just talking about. For me, one of the big things we've learned over the last few years, particularly thinking about post-pandemic events, is accessibility and how important that is in running any charity event. Gone are the days of having to be there in person. Gone are the days where you can't attend an event because you're on the other side of the country. Events should be fully inclusive and accessible. And I think this is what we're starting to see now -- the ability through the use of clever technology, but also just the simple things that charities and nonprofits can do to include all audiences. We're not excluding people anymore, and we shouldn't be by any means. That is helping charities grow their audiences, reach new donors, and take them on journeys beyond the event itself. So accessibility was the absolute key thing that came out of the pandemic, and it's something we continue to develop and grow through useful tech, through innovation, and great tools that are available to us.

Malou: Thanks, Tony. All right, Jeff, same question over to you. What have we learned from recent years about events and how can we apply these to future ones?

Jeff: These are good answers. Just to build on what Tony and Lauren were saying -- if I go back prior to the pandemic, even all the way back to 2011 when we ran our first Handbid auction, we would always hear, "Well, this is who my bidder base is. They're an older crowd. They're not tech savvy. They're not able to do these things." What the pandemic taught everybody is that guests are actually capable of using technology to engage with your event, whether they're there in person or not. They're still able and willing to do it. We always saw that at events, but people were always convinced in the background that it wasn't true. The other thing we saw, in connection with what Tony said about an event becoming an entry point to a relationship with a donor -- you have to get information from that person when they walk in the door. What people started to learn was that guests are actually willing to give their information. We see this a lot of times with celebrities -- "Oh, they don't want to give their email." Actually, they do. They're a celebrity, but they actually do want a receipt and an email. There are a lot of times charities step in and say, "I don't think my guests are going to be comfortable providing their address or their credit card number." That's simply not true. And it backfires on those who say, "I'm going to pre-register all my guests with fake information because I think I'm going to speed up the check-in process," putting paddle numbers on tables only to find they have no way of reaching these people after the event because they don't have any accurate information. I would also say one of the key lessons learned is that you have to be willing to listen to what the folks you're paying to come in and help are telling you to do. I think people are a little more willing now to give up some of those sacred cows -- that's what we like to call them back in the commercial world. "We always did it this way and we want to continue to do it that way." When you start making changes, when you move from a physical event world to a hybrid or virtual event world, certain things are going to change. When you start implementing technology, maybe there is a better way to check in your guests. Maybe there is a better way to conduct your paddle raise. When you try to force some of the older methods into that, sometimes it backfires. It's not necessarily a limitation of the software -- it's just that the software might have been built around a different or arguably better method for doing that particular task.

Malou: Thanks, Jeff. All right. Scott, over to you. What would you like to add to lessons learned and how to apply them in future events?

Scott: What's left to say? But absolutely, technology is -- whether you like it or not -- nonprofits were forced to adopt it probably faster than they wanted to, as well as their donors. And like everyone said, it was actually received better than they thought. But what we've seen is that with people coming back in person, there is more success typically versus a virtual-only event. Let's just be honest. I think a lot of people have just thrown out the virtual component, which I think is a big mistake. Adding the hybrid part matters. But what we've also seen is the opportunity to take a next step -- have seasonal fundraisers. If you think about it, why don't people have more than one gala fundraiser a year? It's expensive. It's like planning a wedding. So why not do something that's almost free and hold a Mother's Day fundraiser or back-to-school fundraiser? Whatever it is, you can really add consistency as opposed to a one-and-done. Using virtual platforms -- a strong platform like Handbid that can do these virtual events kind of between your big events -- can be a huge win, especially as you're trying to attract the younger audience.

Malou: All right, here's our next question. Tony, I'll have you start us off. How can nonprofits make their fundraising events more exciting, engaging, memorable, and ultimately more profitable?

Tony: I can speak for hours on this one. I really could. I promise I won't -- I'll try to be brief. This is what it's all about, right? Standing out from the crowd. That's one of the key things here. There are hundreds, thousands of charities all over the world, many doing the same things as your cause. It can become quite competitive to stand out from that crowded marketplace. So what can we do to make our events more unique, unforgettable, and create these amazing experiences for our guests and our donors? There's a whole host of things you can do, but let me share some examples. Thinking about unique ways to get people to donate -- again, using technology, using social media, some of the things available to us, not necessarily always at a huge cost. There's a brilliant charity here in the UK called Blue Cross. They're an animal charity. Their beneficiaries are dogs, cats, and animals. They actually put tap-to-donate contactless devices on their volunteer dogs. So when the donors came along to their events, they were able to tap and engage directly with the beneficiaries of the charity. Just a brilliant, unique way to engage your donors and get them to donate. Another example -- Stand Up to Cancer, a huge charity here in the UK, does some amazing work. They did a brilliant scheme with donation rewards on social media. Something really simple -- they engaged people by asking them to donate five, ten pounds, whatever it was. And by doing that, they gave a reward. Often that reward was something that didn't cost them any money whatsoever. It was comical, it was engaging, and it got people to donate with a value exchange. The other thing I wanted to mention: when I talked about impactful stories, creating ways to immerse people and tell your charity's story is so key and really helps you stand out from that crowded marketplace. There's a great example from the WWF -- they ran a campaign to raise funds for their seagrass conservation project and actually ran a very small in-person event where they took some of their highest-value donors scuba diving in Wales in the UK to actually see that seagrass in person, in real life. It was an event so unique that it led to hundreds of thousands of pounds being donated to that campaign, because the charity was immersing and telling stories in the most real way possible. Then the other thing I talk to a lot of my clients about is the five senses theory. When I'm running an event, whether virtual or in person, how do we try to engage all of the five senses? Quite often, a lot of nonprofits that run events will engage one or two of the senses. They'll concentrate predominantly on how things look or how things sound. But the best events are those that engage all of the senses. How do things smell at your event? What can people touch at your event? Taste, hear, and see -- engaging all of those senses is a really unique perspective on how we can create incredible, unforgettable events.

Malou: That's wonderful. Thanks for sharing, Tony. Right, Lauren, on to you. Any insights on how to create exciting, engaging, and profitable fundraising events?

Lauren: I'm going to give a real-life example, especially on the engaging part. I have an 18-month-old toddler, and I went to a holiday market. It wasn't an annual sit-down dinner -- it was an annual holiday market. Fantastic way of bringing local people together to promote shop local, that kind of thing. Nice open environment to have children in, until I walked into the silent auction area. Of course, it's for the school, so it's full of toys. My 18-month-old grabbed a doll's foot and would not let go. She screamed bloody murder. I had to pick her up, rather embarrassingly, walk out of the room. This was a paper auction. I'd managed to write my name down, very scribbled with one child in my arm, on one sheet of paper, and absolutely nothing else in the room because I had to leave. I was unable to go back in there with the screaming child who wouldn't leave the doll alone. So I was actually unable to bid on anything else within this very small, confined space with all these items laid out and the pieces of paper. My argument here is that I was unable to partake because I was hindered by my child at a school event -- of all the times that shouldn't have been a problem, I wasn't able to give. I was able to go buy some raffle tickets because that was at a side table and we were safe out there, but for the actual silent auction -- I know silent auctions, I enjoy them, and what a great way for me to be giving. It was all toys geared towards children. I'm new to this area as well, so there were some great experiences for families. I missed out on all of these things because I wasn't able to engage with the silent auction. However, if there had been technology involved, something I could have taken away with me -- the silent auction was open all afternoon. I was only at the holiday market for about an hour before the screaming child made me leave. I really doubt I was the only mother there alone with a child who had to leave because of nap time, diaper changes, things like this. That is what I mean about prioritizing and thinking about the demographic of your target audience. The people who were there were just like me, and I felt unable to give. It doesn't make me think less of the school or the people that were there or the type of event that it was, but it just wasn't thought through. So I will feed back to the school because I feel like they lost out on certain occasions for such a silly thing as a child's tantrum.

Malou: Thanks for sharing, Lauren. Scott, over to you. Any tips for creating unique, engaging, and profitable fundraising events?

Scott: Those are great points. One thing I would add -- and it may not be popular to say -- is that understanding your audience is so key. A lot of nonprofits do the same thing every year, but people are changing while the events aren't. Understanding who your donor is at a deep level using AI -- whether it's iWave, Wealth Engine, or Boodle, which we use -- you can look at not only historical behavior habits, but predictively. What is their wealth rating? How much can they afford? That can really help you understand what kind of event to put on. What are the demographics? Is this a millennial versus a boomer event? It should look very different based on your audience. What are they interested in? How do they want to be communicated with? These are things you can't just guess very well. Using AI -- which is a scary term to a lot of people -- the first ones to embrace donor intelligence and these kinds of predictive tools and then adapt their fundraisers around that? People are going to come into the event and actually go, "Wow, I feel like I belong here. I can't believe they have these items that are relevant to me and I can afford them." The fun of it -- "I can actually afford those levels" -- because AI has informed how much to ask and when. Just getting smarter is what's going to be the back end to create more exciting, engaging events. We've seen it time and time again.

Malou: Thanks, Scott. All right, Jeff, we want to hear from you as well. What would you like to add?

Jeff: Shameless plug -- Scott and I are partners and he's absolutely right on this one. Knowing your audience and being able to make decisions based on that is important. It's really helpful beyond just "who are the rich people in the room," because sometimes that's helpful and sometimes it's not. But what are their interests? What kind of items do you put up for bid based on the types of things they're interested in bidding on? A lot of times we'll look at the back end of that. And again, this is really hard to do when you're on paper bid sheets. But if you're using technology, just look at what people are bidding on. I walked into an auction and everybody was bidding on wine and trips. I can tell you the age range of the people in the room. The trips to the zoo and the children's museum had no bids. That's where you start to get an idea of what kind of audience this is. Had you known that in advance, maybe you restructure some of the items that aren't going to appeal to an older audience, or vice versa. Maybe it's a younger audience that can't afford a two-week Rhine River cruise, or probably doesn't want to go on that cruise when they're 30 because everybody else on the cruise is going to be 75. It's understanding and applying a lot of that. And Lauren, you're right -- there's a big thread going on in the chat about paper bid sheets versus mobile and what happens. Paper is not making it easy for people to connect with you and engage. When you look at why people use or don't use technology -- a lot of people say, "I don't want to use it because I don't want to pay for it." But it has to be looked at as an investment, not an expense. There are only a few things at your event that you're going to spend money on that have the opportunity to generate more revenue. It's definitely going to be mobile bidding software, and maybe an open bar. And a live auctioneer, of course. But it's not going to be your caterer and your food. You can't treat it as just another line item on your budget without understanding what the revenue lift would be. To Lauren's point, she had a kid in one hand who's screaming and she's trying to write bids down with the other hand. Hopefully it was legible. Who knows? Remember those days when we'd be staring at a bid sheet? Scott probably does. "Is that a three? I can't tell. It might be an eight." All of those things play into the challenges of not using technology. And the last thing I would say -- we just did a podcast on this -- we were brainstorming where you can take events. How do you make them more interesting? How do you appeal to a younger audience? To Scott's point, people are changing. Maybe the demographic of your donor base is changing and you're keeping the event the same. It's time to change it up. The ideas that Tony gave, or the ideas that we put in that podcast episode, really start to drive more interactive experiences for people, get them connected, get them doing things besides just sitting in a ballroom at a table with a plate of dinner watching plates get passed. A lot for you guys to think about.

Malou: Thanks, Jeff. All right. Scott, here's our next question. What advice do you have for those ready to elevate their fundraising events but concerned about the cost?

Scott: Of course, especially as things get more expensive, this is more relevant than ever. Tony mentioned a couple of questions ago about creating events as an acquisition tool. That's an important topic. I think cost isn't really the right word. What people want is the best way to net more profitability. If someone says, "Give me a million dollars and you can get ten million back" -- that'd be awesome. The cost is higher, but what you get is more. If you look at paper versus technology -- paper bidding has worked for a long time. It's not like it doesn't work, but we've mentioned some of the issues with it. Embracing technology matters because when you have 50 items and all these people bidding on the same thing, you only capture the one who won, really. The person who won. But when you bring in technology like Handbid, now you can actually look at everyone who didn't win, and now they're in your funnel to acquire them as not one-time potential donors at one event. Now they can be lifetime donors consistently. Using technology to gather that data, which will then compound the data for AI and whatever else you're using, makes each event more customized and personalized, and now you have more people to draw from. For me, it comes down to technology, smart hybrid virtual events, and you can acquire more people and get more information. Because information is what's going to drive success going forward.

Malou: Absolutely. Thanks, Scott. All right, Jeff. Any advice for those looking to enhance their fundraising events but have concerns over budget?

Jeff: Understand what is a cost center and what is not. Investment in technology that helps you with fundraising -- those are profit centers, not cost centers. A couple of tips we give folks: as you're thinking about how to change up your event, look at the venue. Maybe there's an alternative. Maybe it's time to move out of the hotel and the ballroom and go somewhere else. Maybe somewhere that's not traditional. We had a client recently who moved their event to an office building -- the foyer of this office building was absolutely gorgeous and fit the event they wanted to do. And it was obviously cheaper than event venues. On the catering side, think about food trucks. We're seeing food trucks now at weddings. If your catering bill is large -- and I'm not here to pick on any caterers because they're awesome -- but when you think about the tables and the staff and everything else that goes along with it, that's something you could possibly consider. Move to stations from plated dinners. All these little things can definitely make a difference in what you're spending. We used to work with a client that had a very expensive golf event. They've since changed it up. The swag bags they were giving out were so expensive. The profit per golfer at their event was significantly less. As stuff gets more expensive, they had to make an adjustment. They were terrified people would stop coming to their golf tournament because they weren't getting all this amazing stuff. Surprisingly, people still came. Those are the areas where I'd say definitely consider what you're spending. And then obviously, since I run a mobile bidding company, I would try to spend more effort figuring out how to use the technology to drive more fundraising opportunities and revenue opportunities in your event, more so than just focusing on cost.

Malou: Thanks, Jeff. Right. Tony, any tips for those ready to elevate their fundraising events but concerned about the cost?

Tony: Some great points already. For me, one key thing here is thinking about your events portfolio across an annual cycle and trying to balance that portfolio out. We talked a little bit about creating hybrid event experiences today. Hybrid can be quite costly, right? Because you're running an in-person experience alongside a virtual experience. A lot of people are put off by that expense because it does genuinely cost a lot more money. What I talk to my clients about is seeing a hybrid portfolio as a portfolio across a year. Run a number of virtual event experiences alongside different events throughout the year, based on your audience and the insight you have, and complement them with some in-person event activity too. Not everything has to be hybrid and cost the world -- you can run a balanced portfolio with some virtual and some in-person activity. The other thing I'd say is that not everything has to have the huge wow factor. Not everything has to utilize incredibly expensive technology or the most incredible venues. Sometimes, as Lauren mentioned earlier, simplicity is key. There's a brilliant example from the British Red Cross when the Ukraine crisis escalated -- they engaged their donors through a very cheap and effective event where they hosted virtual webinars on a weekly basis to their highest-value donors, people that had donated 100K-plus to their cause. The briefings were held virtually on a weekly basis from the front line. They had members of the Red Cross team providing these briefings from Ukraine, engaging the donors around where their actual money was going toward that emergency appeal. Incredibly cost-effective way to engage donors through a very easy event to host that didn't cost the world, but the return on investment was phenomenal. And just finally, connecting with your audience -- I've spoken about accessibility, inclusion, sustainability, some of these key topics we're trying to crack and address. By focusing on some of that, keeping things simple, and focusing on how to include more people in our events and reach new audiences, you're going to create more profitable events. Essentially, focus on some of those simple techniques to create more unforgettable experiences, and you're going to see a much more profitable event at a low budget. You don't have to have the huge wow factor. Focus on things that get the experience right, like accessibility and inclusion. Make sure the right people in the room are able to experience it the way they want to experience it. Those are the things I would focus on.

Malou: Wonderful. Thanks, Tony. All right, Lauren, what would you advise those ready to improve their events while being mindful of expenses?

Lauren: Tony said it -- return on investment. Absolutely. And we're going back to this level of prioritizing again. At the end of the day, your venue -- you've done it there every year. But what's wrong with change for something cheaper? Is the venue really the biggest priority of your event? Then coming down to your band. You could be paying thousands on a band. Did they bring in the bids? What did they do? They provide entertainment -- I'm not trying to take away from entertainment -- but do you need a ten-piece? Can you use a singer? Can you use a duo instead? And I'm going to give our lovely George Franco a shout-out now, because he is also right -- your auctioneer. Who should be the face of your event? Who is that MC? A lot of auctioneers double up as entertainers and comedians anyway. They're fantastic at what they do, building up the hype within the room. You don't need to pay someone else for that as well -- you've got it in the package with your auctioneer. We have so many real-time examples of someone using a board member or a very funny supporter, but they are not trained auctioneers. They are not experienced in what they are doing. We've seen events go from raising $20,000 with an everyday person doing their auction to $200,000 when they actually hire an auctioneer that knows what they are doing. These people put a lot of time and effort into what they do. They're doing multiple events per week. How can you take away from them that they won't do a better job? So again, return on investment in what you are putting forward in the first place. Obviously, I'm a staffing company, so professional staff that know what they are doing -- you've got all these wonderful volunteers that want to help you. Keep them in the area where they feel most comfortable. It's sometimes not behind a laptop or with an iPad in their face. They end up like a deer in headlights as soon as they can't quite manage something within the software. That could be something so simple. By that point, you've got a backlog of guests that may be standing out either in the boiling heat or the freezing cold that just want to get inside. They just want to be at their seat. They're here because they want to give. Anything we can do to supplement this streamlined process of getting people in -- you as the organizer, again, talking about wearing multiple hats -- where's your skill set? You should be there greeting your donors, making sure they know why they're here, that they are feeling welcome. If I was standing in a long line and nobody even mentioned it or acknowledged it -- but if someone came over and said, "Do apologize, give us five more minutes, we're just sorting this out," of course I respond, "Oh, yes, no problem at all." Keeping everyone happy, acknowledging if there is a situation, but keeping the crowd calm. Again, the simpler way to give. Don't overcomplicate things, especially your check-in, and don't put too much strain on your own staff. Hire professionals. Let everyone do what they know they can do best, and there is your return on investment for your event overall.

Malou: Wonderful. Thanks, Lauren. All right, I see that we already have a few questions from our audience, so we're officially opening our Q&A portion. We'll start off with a question from Michelle. She said: "We're planning three major events. The one in January is 800-plus people, but tends to be more community building than making a lot of money. How many silent auction items, or other ideas for engagement? They are a chatty crowd and tend to be older." Jeff, I know you answered this, but did you want to share to the rest of the audience as well?

Jeff: There's not a great formula. Everybody probably has one they like to share about how many items you need for how many bidders. When you're describing this event, it sounds like you've got a fairly large audience, but they may not be fully engaged because the centerpiece of this isn't an auction or a fundraiser. Maybe you estimate that 100 or 200 of these 800 might be interested. I think you just need to place some bets and see. Maybe put out 25 or 30 items and see how they go. The fact that it's a chatty crowd tells me that technology is going to be important, because they're not going to be the type willing to leave conversations to walk over to bid sheets to place bids. I get it, they might be older, but at the same time, these same older folks are ordering their coffee on their Starbucks app and depositing their checks on their banking app. So they shouldn't have a problem placing their bids on their bidding app.

Malou: Thanks, Jeff. Scott, anything you want to add to that?

Scott: Being in the business, it's definitely an art versus a science. There are rules of thumb -- we typically like to see about 25 items for 100 people, which can be more or less. For these larger events, I think Jeff was right on -- start with maybe 25 to 50 items but make sure they're different kinds at different price points. I think people make the mistake of only relying on donated items, which can be stuff out of their garage or gift baskets, and then it's a $10,000 trip to the Hamptons. There's really not much variety, and it can be underwhelming. You end up bidding on a handmade corkscrew or something. Adding consignment items -- obviously that's something we do -- really adds a different level of engagement, makes it more fun. Just variety and different price points, different kinds of experiences -- like driving in an IndyCar, those kinds of things that people can get excited about.

Malou: Thanks, Scott. Lauren, anything you want to add?

Lauren: Just building upon the types of silent auction items. We also know that it's really difficult to get donations, and something out of one of your donor's garages isn't necessarily going to be high-value in the first place. Going back to community building and the whole shop-local idea, would it be an option to approach some of your local shops, restaurants, the independents that may also be struggling? They might not be in a position to give, but if you could say, "If I give you $20, you give me a $50 voucher," maybe you're covering some costs for them at the same time. Again, return on investment -- you're hoping you're going to get at least 50 percent more on that voucher for the people that are giving. And you're also going to promote these local communities as well, that will then in turn hopefully promote you back. If you can really get local resources on board with you as a small nonprofit, I think that's an ideal way forward. Then you're just building up this support over the years. Just an idea on a way to collect these smaller items. And what Scott said -- depending on the demographic you have, some of these big wow items sell so well. It's ideal to throw a few in because it also builds the reputation of the nonprofit. "Wow, how did they get those items? They must have some fantastic supporters." I've also heard, especially along the lines of the F1 experiences and safaris, the same buyers will go back and buy the same thing the year after. A real range is never a bad thing. But supporting local for the smaller ones, I would hugely advise.

Malou: Great insight, Lauren. Tony, anything else you want to add?

Tony: I can't talk about running a silent auction quite like Jeff, Lauren, or Scott can. But what I can speak about is engagement, which was part of that question. For me, this just goes back to the why. It doesn't matter how many auction items you've got or how big your auction is -- why should people donate? Why should people bid for those auction items? That goes back to my earlier points around storytelling. That storytelling can begin before people even arrive at your event through your pre-event communications. People shouldn't come to an event where there's an auction not being prepared to donate, not being prepared to want to offer some support to the charity or the nonprofit they're attending the event for. Warming people up is essential -- telling them why it's so important, what's the impact of their donation going to be. You can do that pre-event, you can absolutely do it on the night of the event, and you can continue it as long as you like after the event as well. Focus on the why. It's very simple, but telling people why they should be supporting your charity is key.

Malou: That's wonderful. Thanks, Tony. All right, we're going to go ahead and answer the question from Genevieve. She said: "Half of our planning committee wants to go back to paper bidding sheets and half wants to stay with online bidding. Is anyone going back to paper? Do you have any insights?" I'm going to open this up to everyone.

Jeff: We covered some of this already in the back and forth. But hands down, you will make less money on paper bid sheets than you will using technology. Now, obviously, you could restrict how much money you make using technology by trying to do auctions the same way you would on paper. But this is where we go back and tell you that when you use technology, you also need to embrace the ways that technology enables you to increase your revenue. What tends to work well is starting your auction days in advance of your event. And this is kind of counterintuitive to some, but it can help to consider lowering your starting bids and definitely lowering your bid increments over what you're comfortable with. If you go back to the days of paper, you might have an item that starts at $400, maybe it's worth $800, and you're going to put a $50 bid increment on it because people are not going to get up out of their chair at a gala and walk out of the ballroom all the way over to a bid sheet to increase their bid by $5 and walk back. But if they're sitting there on their phone and they can increase their bid by five dollars, they will. What you do with smaller bid increments is invite more people to get involved. At some point -- and I'm not a psychologist so I don't know exactly what that point is for everybody -- but people's mindset shifts from "how much money am I spending" to "I just want to win this item." They get competitive. We hear it all the time at the end of the night: "Oh my God, I can't believe I spent that much money, but I had to win. I was not going to let bidder 123 beat me." And that happens because all they see is another five bucks, or another ten dollars, or another fifteen dollars -- not another hundred. When you think about all of those different things that paper enforces on you -- the time in which you're doing it, the place in which you're doing it, and the way you set it up in terms of starting bids and bid increments -- you will generate less revenue. I don't think there's any doubt about that anymore.

Scott: I saw the same things happening, so many options. Don't underestimate the competitive aspect, especially when you have people that know each other, board members and whatnot. They want to win. It becomes a game regardless of age. You like to compete. Like Jeff said, on a paper sheet you have to get out of your chair, go there, walk around, write your name. Imagine how many bids can happen in that amount of time with technology. You have hyper engagement -- the number of bids can be ten times more versus paper on one item. Definitely, it's fun -- just have fun with it. And that competition Jeff is describing -- you're encouraging that even more because some people get intimidated if there's a physical presence between two competing bidders. When I know you're bidding against me, maybe I don't want you to know I'm bidding against you. So I'm the one that doesn't want to show up at the bid sheet. Or maybe there's somebody doing the whole guard-the-bid-sheet thing.

Jeff: I've seen that. And the nice thing about mobile bidding is it makes it fair. I've had attendees at my old events steal bid sheets and then bring them back at the end of the night. I mean, you laugh, but that has happened. You look down and wonder, "How did this item only have three bids on it when everything else has 30 or 40?" Because they took it and it's been two hours.

Malou: All the fun. Thanks for sharing, Jeff and Scott. Right, unbelievably, the hour is going by so quickly. We're going to wrap up this portion of the panel so we can stick to our schedule. All right, I've had such a wonderful time hearing from our panelists today, and I'm hoping to get one final piece of insight from them all in this speed round. Tony, I'll have you start us off. What do you see as the future of fundraising events and how can nonprofits get ahead today?

Tony: I'll keep it really quick. I think the future is around AI -- how we can utilize it effectively to support the work that event professionals do, complementing our events fundraising by utilizing AI, not necessarily AI taking over everything that we do.

Malou: Thanks, Tony. All right. Jeff, thoughts on the future and how to get ahead today?

Jeff: I'd take the same answer as Tony. I'd say data-driven strategy, which is not the case today. So it is AI. It's also accurate information you're collecting from donors using technology. And it's also analyzing -- maybe AI helps here -- but analyzing past results to drive future decisions.

Malou: Wonderful. Thanks, Jeff. Scott, what would you like to add? What do you see as the future of fundraising events and how to get ahead today?

Scott: I've already talked about AI, but Tony and Jeff brought up great points. Millennials and Gen Z -- those two generations comprise 50 percent of America. They're enormous generations. And that is the future. It's the now, even. They're highly philanthropic. Eighty percent of them give to something, whether it's buying a shirt that supports animals, or whatever it is. Using AI and whatever tools are available, hire younger people to understand what they want, how they want to be engaged with, and how they donate -- which is very different. That's the future. Try to figure it out now before it's too late.

Malou: Fantastic. Thanks, Scott. All right. Lauren, final thoughts on the future of fundraising events and how can nonprofits get ahead today?

Lauren: I wouldn't have said this a week ago, but after my experience this last weekend and the discussion that's been going on in our chat, I still think there is more in the future for silent auction technology and hiring professional staff. And you can achieve that by speaking to any of us here on this panel. We can put you in touch with the right people. Because surprisingly enough, we do know what we're talking about -- and it's based on experience, not just arrogance.

Malou: Wonderful. Thanks, Lauren. All right, and with that, we have reached the end of our panel. I want to give a big thank you to our panelists for sharing their insights today. And I also want to give a big thank you to our audience. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed yourself and learned something that will benefit the work that you do on a daily basis. We do have a packed few months of panels ahead of us, and I hope that you will join us for them. Keep an eye out on the NXUnite website and the NXUnite LinkedIn page to make sure you don't miss any of these. All right, I think that is it for me. Once again, thank you all for joining us, and have a nice rest of your day. Bye, everyone. Thank you.