EP 83: New Year's Start, Stop, Keep for Fundraising Events

Positioning review: Minor adjustments made. Softened a few competitive comparisons to focus on outcomes and guest experience rather than direct competitor criticism. Reframed "cheaper software" references to focus on the value of investing wisely in technology. All Handbid mentions are naturally contextual and reflect firsthand experience.

Jeff: Welcome to Elevate Your Event, your favorite podcast for transforming fundraising events. Join us weekly for expert tips and creative ideas to make your next event a standout success. As we bid farewell to 2024, this special New Year's episode is all about lessons from standout events and resolutions to improve fundraising strategies for 2025. Discover how the right tools and ideas can transform your results. Let's dive in.

Jeff: Welcome back to the Elevate Your Event podcast. We talk about all the various ways you can make your next fundraising event better. And it's been a great year. It has been a great year. This is our New Year's episode.

Mark: All right. We're going to celebrate. It's not going to be with trivia because we tried that and the Handbid team failed miserably. If you haven't seen that episode, you should definitely go back and watch it. Because we're going to do it again next year and maybe we'll give out customer prizes.

Jeff: I will say this though, on that episode your questions were kind of hard. The one that surprised me -- Gimbels. I mean, I knew that, but that's kind of hard. The one that I felt like they should have known is the song that was sung at the end of the Elf movie. It's "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." The sleigh doesn't take off until Walter Hobbs actually starts singing. I mean, come on. You got to pay attention to these movies.

Mark: Anyways, we digress. It was quite a different Santa and sleigh. Then we watched Red One the other day. That is a nuclear-powered sleigh.

Jeff: I actually didn't like Red One personally.

Mark: You didn't?

Jeff: No. I thought it was a little weird. They're running out of ideas on Christmas.

Mark: It's pretty entertaining. A lot of our listeners, just a segue, are probably like, "We're running out of ideas for how to change up our event." So they're getting a little creative, stretching the envelope a little bit.

Jeff: So today we've got the Start, Stop, and Keep. We're going to each go through our start, stop, and keep. New Year's resolutions. But I was curious, what were your guys' favorite event of the year? Mine -- I went to a Young Life event this year. It was done inside of an airplane hangar at the Centennial Airport, and they had all these people who had supercars bring them. They found a bunch of people with McLarens and Lamborghinis and lined them all up. So they opened up the hangar and you had all these sweet cars you could go look at. And the raffle giveaway was a helicopter ride around the city. And my wife and I won the raffle.

Mark: Oh, my gosh. That's why you liked the event.

Jeff: Had nothing to do with the fundraiser. No, but the food was good, and they had a stand-up comedian, and it was just a nice event. Although at first he bombed. It's a tough crowd.

Mark: I'm thinking, like, an event where people are kind of spread out at tables and people are trying to talk and network. And then this guy is trying to get everybody's attention. And you're trying to read the room of what jokes are working. I think stand-up comedy is tough. Especially at an event. Because a lot of stand-up comedians use the audience as part of their jokes. And so do you really want your donors and guests made fun of?

Mikaela: It's hard because it's not like a corporate event where everyone has the same context. It's just too much of a diverse crowd to really hone in on.

Jeff: So it was a little rough, but he kind of recovered at the end and it worked out. They raised a ton of money. That was awesome. How about you?

Mikaela: I think mine was One Goat. That was a super fun one. I haven't been with Handbid for super long, so I'm kind of new to the whole fundraising event world. But it was just so fun to see our first responders get honored the way that One Goat did. And also it was so fun to see Handbid out in the wild for the first time. I really enjoyed the speakers there and the auction was super interactive. My favorite part was a father and son had a bidding war going against each other during the live auction, and it made it super fun.

Jeff: That's cool. That was your first Handbid event.

Mikaela: It was.

Mark: There was a bidding war on one item at the event I was at, and it was so cool. The guy who won it -- I want to say it was like $10,000 or something like that. And then he just said, put it back in. And so he donated the $10,000, and then they put the item back in and it went on a whole other bidding war.

Mikaela: That's amazing. That is so cool.

Jeff: What was your favorite event?

Jeff: Well, my own. But you want to know why it was my favorite event this year? I actually sat at my table for the first time because we hired event planners. I would tell any person who's growing with their fundraising and their events getting bigger -- find somebody that can actually manage the logistics of the day-of so that you can actually talk to donors and guests. And so it was nice. We hired Adrian and her team to come in and run the event for us, and that was amazing.

Jeff: There was some pushback from our board. But I had to remind them that most of the people pushing back are none of the ones that are actually doing any of the work. They're the board members showing up asking for their name badge at the front door so they can find their table while the rest of us are running around trying to make the event work. So anyway, it was awesome and well worth the investment. I got to spend more time with special guests and donors.

Jeff: At one point, though, it was pretty funny. I felt so comfortable with the whole thing that I gave away my radio. This is why Mark couldn't find me on stage. So I gave away my radio, and the guy I gave it to ended up disappearing. He was one of our volunteers. And so I had to go chase down and find him and get my radio back because nobody could get a hold of me and they needed answers to questions. Maybe I went too far with that. That was a great event, though.

Mark: For those that don't know, we do a Kentucky Derby fundraiser. It's outdoors, which is in early May -- always a gamble in Colorado. It's paid off more than it's been a problem, but we have shoveled at the event before.

Jeff: The entertainment was great. The day was absolutely gorgeous, perfect. The emcee was amazing. We had a new emcee this year.

Mark: Was that you, Mark?

Jeff: It was Mark. And what was cool about it is that Mark knew how to improvise by singing.

Mark: When Jeff went missing, I just sang a song.

Jeff: I was up at the bidding window because of a controversial finish on the horse race. What they printed on the TV versus what came off on the internet were different. And so we weren't sure what the actual results were and we had to figure it out. Anyway, that was my favorite event. We've had plenty of memorable ones, and we'll probably have to do a podcast where we talk about all the fun things we saw. Like the one event I went to in the Bahamas where the government just turned the power off randomly at four because they decided it was too hot.

Mikaela: What? That's crazy.

Jeff: When our event was starting. So I was down there with the auctioneer and they're like, "Oh, by the way, there's a strong possibility between four and six the power is going to go out." Like, the prime time of our event. We're hearing about this now.

Mark: That is so stressful.

Jeff: The power did go out, but it went out at 10 p.m. while we were trying to close the auction out and finish everything. It was pretty funny. Anyway, we're not here to talk about that. We're here talking about the new year.

Mikaela: The new year. Fresh start. It's like endless possibilities.

Jeff: It's like starting a diet on a Monday. It's always that day where it's going to start fresh.

Mikaela: I actually do New Year's resolutions. But instead, I do a New Year's bucket list. I create a bucket list for that year -- it could be as simple as taking a pottery class or a knitting class, or it could be traveling to a different country.

Jeff: That's so Gen Z of you. My goal is to get more than six hours of sleep.

Mark: That's a good goal. I did away with goals a few years ago and started just doing a word for the year.

Jeff: What was your word for this year?

Mark: Thrive in 2025.

Jeff: I like that.

Mark: Relationships, business, all that stuff. We talk about it as a family right before the new year and try to figure out what's going to be our common family theme.

Jeff: Okay, so let's do this exercise. Most companies do the start, stop, keep. This is something that we also just completed at Handbid when we did our year-end review and early 2025 planning. We each have one for each category, and this is related to fundraising and events.

Mark: So my start is: start embracing technology for engagement. Even that event I went to -- their technology was not that great and there was a lot of paper bids. People were trying to keep track and whispering to each other on the side trying to figure things out. I think embracing technology for engagement would really benefit you if you're not already doing that.

Jeff: 100% agree. Over the years, we've tried to explain to people that user engagement drives bidding and participation. And when you try to take that away or minimize that, you get less revenue out of it. When you use paper bid sheets, there's not a lot of engagement. You walk up to it, you bid, you walk away. And that's it. You're unengaged until you walk back.

Jeff: One time we were almost in a bake-off with another mobile bidding company. And the prospect said, "Well, the other company said they're going to implement their technology but nobody's going to notice." And I said, "Oh, you're going to notice, and your guests are going to notice, and they're going to love it." How do you implement technology that nobody notices? You're making a bid on their phone now, or on a tablet. You want it to be easy, but having technology that nobody notices is really a no-engagement feature. And you don't get a lot of revenue out of that approach because everybody is unengaged.

Mark: Your guests get annoyed because people are running around the ballroom while people are sitting down eating, being like, "Mr. Labriola, you've been outbid on this item. Would you like to bid again?"

Mikaela: I think there's good noticing and bad noticing. When you don't notice something because it was such a great experience and so smooth -- you subconsciously noticed it. Because when you think back on that, it's like, "Wow, that was really great."

Mikaela: I think the more accessible you make the bidding or the fundraising or donating, you're going to raise so much more money. Accessibility is everything, especially as donors get younger. It's going to be so important to ensure that we can be accessible and have easy access to it all.

Jeff: All right. Well, what's your start?

Mikaela: My start is utilizing mobile bidding software or fundraising software to its full potential.

Mark: Sounds like something a salesperson at a mobile bidding company would say.

Mikaela: Well, that's my job. But I think what sets Handbid apart is the coaching that we offer to our clients. I think it's such a beautiful thing when you're willing to walk alongside your clients and not just point them in the direction of the right software, but guide them and take them on the journey through the software and through the features. Because you don't know what you don't know.

Jeff: And map it back to their event. Here's how the software is going to empower certain outcomes that you want.

Mikaela: Totally.

Jeff: We have a commercial client that just ran an event recently and they're migrating from paper. They're on board -- we white-label the solution for them. And just to hear them talk over the weekend, some of the other guys get it now. They were at this event and they saw an older gentleman bidding on his phone. And they were like, "There's no way older people are going to use their phones." And here's this guy bidding on his phone. Technology is the way to go.

Jeff: What's your start? My start is kind of a segue from yours: start listening to your mobile bidding company when they give you advice they say is critical. I'm continually surprised that there are organizations we work with that come from a particular model of their event and they want to maintain as much of that as possible, but they also have their own opinions on how certain things should work. Those opinions worked well when they were doing paper or had a different system, but they want to continue to employ that approach.

Jeff: A lot of it typically has to do with check-in. People are like, "I just want to take a paddle number and put it on the table." So everybody who is pre-registered for my event -- and pre-registered only meaning I know who they are, but I don't have any details. I don't have their email, phone, or credit card. I just know that it's Mark Labriola the Second who's coming. So they give him Paddle 112 and put it on his table. Well, Mark skips check-in, goes right to his table. We have no way of getting ahold of Mark. And then Mark holds up Paddle 112 at the event, and all of a sudden, we know Mark bid on this, but what's his email address? What's his phone number? How do we reach him?

Jeff: There are little things like that where they're like, "We're just trying to speed up check-in." Okay, let me show you five other ways to speed up check-in, but also get the critical information you need. Because events are the entry point to a relationship with your donors, and when you don't know who they are, how are you going to have that relationship?

Jeff: For many people, you'll put up a form on your website and ask them for their email and phone to donate, but you won't do it at the event. A lot of those cases, when we're having those conversations and there's disagreement, it's typically because they're trying to solve a problem that mobile bidding software is going to solve in a different way. So my advice is: start understanding why. When your mobile bidding company says this is a best practice, understand why.

Jeff: When people say, "Jeff, I've been doing this event for 15 years," I say great -- so you have 15 events under your belt. We have 15 events under our belt halfway through January. We've seen thousands, and we've changed our opinions over the years too. Not every process or model works for every event, and we understand that. Sometimes we say, "Hey, the type of event you're running, here's some changes or modifications that could work for you." But "our guests are different" -- your guests are not different. Your guests are probably just like every other guest. So start listening and understanding when your mobile bidding company is giving you advice and why they're giving you that advice.

Mark: All right. Stop. I'm going to plea with everyone out there. I've been to a few events this year where there was just too much content. Too many different things going on to where it distracted from the event itself. They were trying to tell too many stories and have too many people come up on stage. Especially when you invite someone to an event and you just want it to be entertaining and fun, and then let's move on to the bidding -- and all of a sudden there's a 30 to 45 minute presentation on stage and you're just kind of like, "Oh man, look at the time."

Mark: So I would say, really think about the flow. Streamline your event and really think about the fact that a lot of people who are there were probably invited by other people and they don't have the same level of depth of knowledge or interest about the charity.

Jeff: You've got to stop assuming that everybody attending the event has the same level of interest and depth of knowledge about the charity as the host. You have to summarize it a little bit.

Mikaela: Summarize -- I think that's the key. Give them bite-size chunks. The attention span of people these days is pretty short.

Jeff: We have all three generations represented here -- Gen X, Millennial, Gen Z.

Mikaela: Gen Alpha is next.

Mikaela: My stop: I think a lot of times in the fundraising world, people only connect with their donors at the fundraising events. I think that's something fundraisers need to stop doing. They need to get that email information, get that phone number so they can stay in contact throughout the year. Put them on the mailing list, let them know what's going on in the organization, just to keep that familiarity going throughout the year. The fewer touches you're going to have with these people throughout the year, the more that's going to reduce your donations and just that relationship.

Jeff: So to summarize yours: stop waiting another year before you reach back out to the people that attended your event?

Mikaela: Yes.

Jeff: That's good advice.

Mark: Keep pursuing them. I love that one.

Jeff: My stop: stop thinking all auction software will produce the same results. The different software packages out there really differentiate themselves on the service, the amount of experience and coaching that they have. You want to be working with software products and companies that actually know what it's like to be you.

Jeff: Think about that the next time you're looking at a mobile bidding solution. Who wrote it? And when you get on support and you're trying to get a question answered, does the person on the other end even know what a silent auction is? Have they ever seen a check-in? Do they understand how checkout should work? Most of the time, it's not simply "how do I do this in the software" -- most of them have documentation that'll tell you that. It's more along the lines of "how do I best do this in the software."

Jeff: My sister went to an event recently that used a lower-cost solution, and they specifically picked it to save money. But it didn't produce the same results. She didn't even bid. She needed some code to get in and didn't understand that, and no one understood how it worked. Then it was confusing, and she didn't even know where the items were. Then they did a paddle raise and she raised her paddle, and when she went up they didn't even know how to enter paddle donations. She doesn't even think she got a receipt. She's going to have to check whether she actually donated because they didn't know how to put her credit card in either.

Jeff: Was it worth the $500 they saved? How many bids and donations did they lose due to the fact that the user experience wasn't there? You might think you're saving $500 or $600, but you might be costing yourself $5,000 or $6,000 or more.

Mikaela: That's something I don't think people think about at all. We need to talk about that more. Especially in the nonprofit world, every dollar counts.

Jeff: You think you're saving on the front end, but you're really losing on the back end. Technology platforms like Handbid are profit centers, not cost centers. There's an investment and there's a return on that investment. You have to understand what that potential return is. We're not just the caterer or the venue or the valet or the DJ.

Mark: Catering is very similar, too. You go cheap on the catering, you could make your guests sick.

Mikaela: My mom's a caterer. She would definitely agree. Her price is her price, but she makes good food and your guests aren't going to get sick.

Jeff: But with catering, you're not saying, "I'm going to pick this caterer over that one because this caterer is going to generate more revenue." Maybe the alcohol might work, but the rest of it doesn't. With mobile bidding, you need certain features that make your staff's life easier and create a great guest experience. But you also need to expect a return. When you look at these software applications and you only look at them from the back end -- does it automate or give me a feature or a process that my staff wants, versus what's going to generate more revenue for me -- I think you're looking at it the wrong way.

Jeff: We get this a lot. "I really like this feature this other one has because my staff likes it." Well, that tool you're picking may generate less revenue because your guests aren't going to get engaged with it. Do you care? My staff's happy with that one. Great. So you spent a little less or maybe the same, and you made your staff happy, but your guests aren't generating any more revenue for you. So stop assuming all software produces the same results when you're looking at price as the only difference.

Mark: All right. Keep. I'm going to say you need to keep networking and building your relationships. It's really a central component of building a high-net-worth network -- getting out there and meeting people and sharing your cause and your mission. Keep doing that and then think about how you can level that up this next year. How many touches can you have?

Mikaela: That's a great keep. Mine is keep learning and adapting. I think the more you're going to learn, the more successful you're going to become. That's not just in your personal life, but in your organization and everything that's entrusted to you. And learn what's working. If the catering's not working, adapt. Find a new vendor. If your check-in lines are super long, adapt, figure it out, learn how you can do better. I just think that's super important.

Jeff: Adapting is the critical part. This is an industry that traditionally has not liked to change. Change has always been forced on it. Different types of technology disruptions or disruptions in society like COVID pushed particular nonprofits to make changes. But I think it's also gotten a lot of our clients accustomed to that now. They're more willing -- "I bit the bullet, I dove off the deep end, I started using technology in 2020 because I had to." But now they're comfortable with it. So now they can start making those minor tweaks again.

Mikaela: We have a Handbid value: adapt or die.

Jeff: Adapt or die. All right, wrap it up. My keep is: keep investing in technology and innovation, or partner with those that do. Some people like to make changes in disproportionate steps -- a big leap to mobile bidding, then stop and wait five years before making another change. The world is not like that anymore. It's changing too fast, your guests are changing too fast, and the generations are changing too fast.

Jeff: Just even the lingo. Trying to communicate with my kids -- "bussing" and "riz" and "no cap" and "lit." These are your donors of the future. These people grew up on iPhones. The next generation is going to grow up on AI. They're talking about a generation that will never learn to type because they'll just talk.

Jeff: It is going to be quite different. So you've got to think about these things as you consider how to engage and connect with your audience. You can hang on to the ones that are mostly attending your events. There's no problem with that. But in the future, you may not even have many physical events. It may be more virtual. You just don't know. You've got to continue to try these things out and invest in them.

Jeff: Some people treated COVID like a temporary storm -- "We just have to get through it, now we're back to what we were doing before." That's not a good idea. Things have changed. After this pandemic, the world is different. The generations that have been forced to change are all different. You've got to keep investing in the technology and the innovation. It's not even to stay ahead -- it's to keep up.

Mark: Let's quickly summarize. Go through your quick three.

Mark: We're going to start embracing technology for engagement. We want to engage the people at our events. We want to stop overwhelming people with too much content, too many board members coming up to speak, and too many things nobody cares about. And we want to keep networking and building relationships to further grow our mission and organization.

Mikaela: Mine was start utilizing your mobile bidding software to its full potential, including coaching like Handbid offers. Stop only connecting with your donors at your fundraising event -- stop waiting to connect until the next event. And keep learning and adapting.

Jeff: Mine are: start listening to your mobile bidding company when they give you what they consider to be critical advice. Stop thinking that all auction software will produce the same results. And keep investing in technology and innovation. Keep up.

Mark: Happy New Year, everybody. This has been an amazing podcast.

Jeff: Have an amazing holiday and happy New Year to all of our listeners. Until next time, happy fundraising.

Jeff: If you enjoyed our show, please take a moment to leave us a review. You can find us on Apple, Google, and Spotify. Don't forget to subscribe for more great content. And if you're a fan of video, check us out on YouTube. Until next time, happy fundraising.