• Ambassador
• Volunteer
• Buck-stopper
• Team Coach
• Role Model

You bet – the best Chairs have all those qualities.

But what each of those terms have in common is that none of them include the letter, nor allude to the self-promotional word, ‘I’ .

Why is that important?

We have found that the most respected and admired are those Chairs who express their sincere appreciative of the committee that supports their effort.  It is the event Chair who receives the accolades for a successful event yet rarely (never?) could she have done it without the hard work of her committee.

Annie Vranizan, Kristy Yamaguchi, Layne Gray & Joanna Rees

Vivanista has developed a new Fundraiser-In-A-Box: VivaStarDance.   Based on extensive  research of several organizations who have successfully completed fundraisers such as this, including Kristi Yamaguchi’s Dancing The Night Away, and Center for the Homeless in South Bend, Indiana, with their Dancing With Our Stars event which this year raised over $300,000. Kristi Yamaguchi, having been the winner of the 6th Season of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, is fortunate that several of the DWTS professional dancers participate in her fundraiser. But even without such star power, charitable organizations can create a powerhouse line-up of civic leaders who are willing to cut loose on the dance floor. Based on the feedback we have received coupled with our own experience in charitable fundraising, VivaStarDance can be a sure-winner for organizations across the country.

WHAT IS VIVAStarDance:VivaStarDance is a charitable fundraiser in which seven community leaders are partnered with professional dancers.  Each pair learns one two-minute long ballroom dance-style routine which they perform for attendees at a fun-filled evening fundraiser.

One month prior to the actual event, the public is encouraged to vote for their preferred participant on-line.  Each vote cast costs a nominal amount which is a direct donation to the charity. Hence, donations are generated far in advance of the actual event.

The event will include an Auction and a Fund-In-Need.  After the seven performances a winner is crowned.  All guests are then invited to the dance floor to strut their stuff.

HOW IT WORKS:

• Identify seven community leaders who are willing to give of their time and energy to learn a ballroom type dance and will generate advance buzz
• Identify appropriate local professional dancers who are willing to donate a portion or all their time to the endeavor which includes choreographing a dance, training their partner and performing for the audience
• Pre-event promotion encourages voting and ticket sales
• Tickets to the event include cocktails, dinner, the performances, and dancing

REVENUE:

• Ticket pricing (dependent on city):
  • Regular priced ticket: $75 – $250
  • VIP ticket: $250 – $1,000
  • Pre-event online voting: $25 – $50 per vote

• Auction Ideas:
  • Ballroom Dance Lessons
  • Tickets to a taping of ABC Show ‘Dancing With The Stars’
  • Fund-In-Need

• Additional revenue opportunities:
  • Raffle
  • Corporate Sponsors
  • Program Book

DETAILS:

• Audience:  Men and Women
• Volunteers: Moderate
  • Dance coordinators: 7 (one for each pair)
  • Ticket sales: 2
  • Promotion: 1
  • Finance: 1
  • Production: 2 – 4
  • Auction: 2 – 5
  • Partner/sponsor relations: 2
  • On-site: security: 2
  • On-site: Auction & Fund-In-Need spotters: 1 per 40 guests
  • On-site: Clean-up: 2 – 4

• Major Costs:  Venue, catering, marketing, costumes
• Level of effort:  Moderate
• Planning Cycle:  6 – 9 months

HOW VIVANISTA CAN HELP:

• Download for Free
  • Budget template
  • Committee formation tips
  • Timeline
  • Job descriptions
  • Solicitation letter to prospective donors
  • Graphic design
  • Event invitation
  • Final Report

• Premium Program: Vivanista manages the event logistics for a fee
  • All templates and guides as listed above in a ‘Chair Bible’ binder
  • Pre-event
  • Creative direction
  • Credit card processing, including ticket sales and pre-event voting
  • Marketing including graphic design, and social media marketing
  • Interface with volunteer committee
  • On-site: Oversee event volunteers
  • On-site: Manage logistics
  • Post-event: Final Report
  • Post-event: Revenue reconciliation
  • Cost: Depends on scope of work and timeframe.  Minimum of $5,000 + expenses.

SUMMARY:

VivaStarDance is a fun community-oriented fundraiser that as potential to become a must-attend annual event and generate substantial revenue for your charity.

Email events@vivanista.com to find out more about how you can host your own VivaStarDance!

1. Cooking Class with a well-known chef
2. In-home chef for a dinner party
3. Eco-trip to the Galapagos sponsored by National Geographic
4. Tour of the jail with the sheriff and then a ride in his car
5. Free valet parking for your next event (up to a certain number of cars)
6. Preferred parking spot at a child’s High School
7. Photograph of child in major print advertisement
8. Front row seats at NY Fashion Show
9. Private winery tour by winemaker with vertical tasting of wines
10. Shoe of the Month Club

What about you: what’s your favorite Auction package?

Login and Comment below

With the economy suppressing charity fundraiser ticket sales, more and more organizations are looking to Live Auctions to help make up for lost revenue.  Many are huge successes, but here are a few tips to keep in mind when planning your own:

• If you have international travel packages, you will substantially increase the value by including airfare. If you have no participating airlines, ask your committee if they or their spouse are willing to donate miles. Remember that AMEX points can be turned into miles; if you get enough donors at, say, 100,000 miles or more each, you can put together some pretty great trips with even business or first class flights.

• Keep it as short as possible. If you figure 3 minutes per package, it only takes 10 packages to get to 30 minutes, which is a long time if it’s not the only activity at the event.

• Evening auctions are always more successful than those during the day. Why? You guessed it – more alcohol is consumed, and men get into the competitive spirit.

• Make sure your auction packages are unique, not available just anywhere. Examples of easy-to-create packages include:  In-home dinner parties: served by committee members with the meal cooked by a local celebrity chef.  Cellar Starter: Ask committee members to donate a special bottle of wine. You can even ask that the wines be within a particular varietal, year, or appellation.

• The flow of the auction is important to scrutinize.  Make sure the first package is exciting and has a high probability of being sold for more than the established value.  This further builds enthusiasm about the auction as a whole, and the buzz can roll over to a less-desirable package.

• On the big ticket packages, check whether donors are willing to double their donation. Even if you have to pay for the second item, it may be worthwhile if a bidding war propels the amount far above its value. A good Auctioneer can encourage bid bump-ups by offering top bidders the package.

• Get a professional Auctioneer, or at least someone who has successfully been an auctioneer before. They can easily make more than any fee they might charge (some will actually guarantee it).

• Try not to buy items that will be auctioned off. Many guests will know when something has been paid for (Pebble Beach Lodge stay, Abercrombie & Kent excursions).

• Start the minimum bids low – well below 50% of the value, it is more likely bidders will get excited by a low starting price and a bidding frenzy may ensue. Starting the minimum bid too high may preclude anyone from jumping in, and the Auctioneer uncomfortably may need to lower the minimum to instigate bidding.

• Consider having someone in the audience willing to start the bidding on an item, this is especially true with Funds-In-Need.

Volunteers from the charitable fundraising organization are the models, giving this fun event a festive community feel.  Guests can shop for their favorite fashion show items, providing an additional revenue opportunity.

HOW IT WORKS

• An e-commerce partner(s) provides the handbags and accessories and underwrites the fashion show production
• A champagne partner donates the champagne
• Models are selected and the fashion show is planned
• A pre-event launch party is set for a month prior to the event to thank Benefactors and encourage others to become Benefactors
• The Fashion Show includes runway seating
• Following the Fashion Show guests can purchase handbags and accessories from selected vendors

REVENUE

Ticket sales:

• Regular priced ticket: $75
• Benefactor ticket: $150

On-site sale of accessories:

• Vendor donated 20% of any purchases to the charitable organization

Raffle or Auction:

• A coveted high-end handbag
• A piece of jewelry

DETAILS

Audience: Women

Volunteers: Moderate

• Models: 10 – 15
• Tickets: 2
• Promotion: 1
• Finance: 1
• Production: 2 – 4
• Auction/Raffle: 2 – 5
• Partner relations: 2
• On-site volunteers: dependent on # of expected attendees
  • Security: 2
  • Check-out: 3
  • Restocking: 2
  • Clean-up: 4

Estimated Profit: $20,000+

• Ticket sales: 200 attendees at $75/each = $15,000
• Accessories sales: 100 items sold at $250 x 20% donation = $5,000
• Corporate Sponsors: 5 at $1,000 minimum = $5,000

Major Costs: Venue, catering, marketing

Level of effort: Moderate

Planning Cycle: 6 – 9 months

HOW VIVANISTA CAN HELP

Download for Free

• Budget template
• Committee formation tips
• Timeline
• Job descriptions
• Solicitation letter to corporate sponsors
• Graphic design
• Event invitation
• Final Report

Premium Program: Vivanista provides event management for fee

• All templates and guides as listed above in a ‘Chair Bible’ binder
• Pre-event
  • Creative direction
  • Credit card processing set-up
  • Develop partnership(s) with vendors
  • Help with selection of models
  • Marketing including graphic design, and social media marketing
  • Interface with volunteer committee
  • On-site event
    • Oversee event volunteers
    • Manage logistics
    • Coordinate disposition of inventory at the end of the event
  • Post-event
    • Final Report
    • Revenue reconciliation
  • Cost: Depends on scope of work and timeframe.  Minimum of $5,000 + expenses.

SUMMARY

Bags, Baubles & Bubbly is a fun community-oriented fundraiser that has potential to become a must-attend annual event and generate substantial revenue.

VivaSwap is a fashionable fundraiser that allows women to donate their gently-worn designer gowns and dresses to be resold to benefit charity.

Instead of buying an expensive gown or cocktail dress, VivaSwap attendees can pick up beautiful items that deserve to be worn again.  Buyers are encouraged to donate the money they saved to their favorite charity.

Looking great and doing good?  What’s not to love?

HOW IT WORKS

• Gowns and dresses are collected the weeks and months prior to the event
• A venue is selected which should include enough space for a large communal dressing room
• A Preview Shopping Party occurs the eve before the shopping day for VIP ticketholders and dress donors
• The next day anyone can shop for a nominally-priced ticket
• Items that do not sell
  • Can be given away to an applicable charity such as Princess Project
  • Can be archived for the next event

REVENUE

Ticket sales:

• Regular priced ticket: $20
• VIP Preview ticket: $100
• If someone donates a gown worth more than $1,000 they receive 2 tickets to the VIP Preview

Sale of dresses:

• Recommend no more than 10% of original purchase price
• Dependent on condition but less than 10% if it has been worn

Additional revenue opportunities:

• Raffle:
  • A local or national celebrity may donate a special dress
  • A local boutique or department store may give a shopping spree
  • A salon could provide a make-over for the winner’s next big event
  • Boutique selling jewelry and/or accessories
    • Easy to accessories on the spot with a percentage being donated
  • Designer donations
    • Fashion designers may wish to donate a selection of their clothes to build awareness

DETAILS

Audience: Women

Volunteers: Minimal

• Inventory outreach and collection: 3 – 4
• VIP Event planning: 1 – 2
• Promotion: 1
• On-site volunteers: dependent on # of expected attendees
  • Security: 2
  • Check-out: 3
  • Restocking: 2
  • Clean-up: 4

Estimated Profit: $5,000+

• Clothing sales: 50 items sold at $100 = $5,000
• Ticket sales: 100 attendees at $20/each = $2,000
• Accessories sales: 50 items sold at $50 x 20% donation = $250

Major Costs: Venue, catering, display merchandising

Level of effort: Moderate

Planning Cycle: 3 – 6 months

Resources:

• Racks & hangers: www.displaywarehouse.com

HOW VIVANISTA CAN HELP

Download for Free

• Budget template
• Committee formation tips
• Timeline
• Solicitation letter to prospective donors
• Invitation letter to boutiques to sell accessories
• Event invitation
• Final Report

Premium Program: Vivanista provides event management for a fee

• Pre-event
  • Creative direction
  • Credit card processing set-up
  • Database design for inventory control
  • Ordering of merchandising components i.e. racks, etc.
  • Marketing including graphic design, and social media marketing
  • Interface with volunteer committee
  • On-site event
    • Oversee event volunteers
    • Manage logistics
    • Coordinate disposition of inventory at the end of the event
  • Post-event
    • Final Report
    • Revenue reconciliation
  • Cost: Depends on scope of work and timeframe.  Minimum of $5,000 + expenses.

SUMMARY

VivaSwap is a low-overhead fundraiser that has potential to become an annual event that is fun and effective.



Vivanista has teamed up with VolunteerMatch to share best practices and provide access to thousands of volunteer opportunities for our members. We are proud to be contributing to VolunteerMatch’s Blog Engaging Volunteers for Social Change Organizations. Check out the first post ‘What have your sustainers done for you lately?

A Nonprofit itself, VolunteerMatch pairs volunteers, other nonprofits and companies together. They are an online facilitator that brings “good people and good causes” together by harnessing “the power of community, relationships and partnerships.” As we all know, finding the right person for the right volunteer project is not an easy task! You can now easily search for Volunteer opportunities directly from Vivanista. We have added a VolunteerMatch search box to the right hand Column for your quick and easy access to new opportunities.

Founded in 1995 as Impact Online, they merged soon thereafter with founders from Volunteer America. The VolunteerMatch.org site launched in 1998.

Since then, VolunteerMatch has referred almost 5 Million volunteers to over 70,000 participating organizations. That’s a lot of volunteer hours! At any given time, they have tens of thousands of volunteer opportunities available to help worthy charities achieve their missions, and it may not be surprising that most of the members of VolunteerMatch’s community – like Vivanista’s – are women.

One of the most interesting things about VolunteerMatch is that their big website powered by a massive database is really just about what problems speak to people on a personal level. Want to help with oil spill clean-up?

They have an opportunity for you. Looking to teach art in a children’s classroom? They’ve got that too.

Robert Rosenthal, Director of Communications at VolunteerMatch gives us a behind the scenes look at the organization.

In your experience, what qualities must volunteers have to remain committed to a cause?

Honestly, I think the best volunteers are ones that recognize all the benefits that they themselves are receiving from their service. Volunteers gain in so many ways — socially, professionally, and emotionally. Long term volunteers truly value the volunteering they do, in part because they know how it’s helping them. Ironic, of course, because nonprofits are also benefiting in truly important ways.

You mentioned your audience is mostly women. Why do you think that is?

I think our technology, which empowers choice most of all, is attractive for many women who are looking to get involved in solving the problems they see in their own local communities. The ability to quickly find and select from a broad network of opportunities is a huge change from past paradigms, when volunteers were often exposed to opportunities through existing social networks, schools, churches and clubs. I think women have really taken advantage of the new technology in ways that men — who often still rely on social networks for recommendations — have not.

Finding the right fit for volunteering is a personal experience for many people. You mentioned it often takes private research to make these matches. How do you describe the connection people need to make in order to engage with a new organization and/or cause?

You’ll know a good fit when you feel it. Ultimately, it’s not about mission or skills, it’s about people. Unfortunately, you won’t know if there’s a good fit until you get involved. But you can set the stage for a strong foundation by understanding your own capacity in terms of interests, time, and location. And you can use your powers of observation to look for signs of possible success or flags of warning in opportunity listings and how an organizations talks about itself.

Vivanista’s readers would love to hear about how VolunteerMatch got started and how you help volunteers and organizations find each other.

Jay Backstrand left a full-time position at Sun Microsystems to turn his dream of an Internet-based nonprofit into a reality. Backstrand’s first taste of Web/community synergy came in 1996 when he was a key organizer of NetDay, a community service initiative sponsored by Sun, which mobilized 25,000 volunteers to connect nearly 3,000 California schools to the Internet in a single day.

Backstrand’s co-founder was grad school friend Craig Jacoby, who also gave up his job with San Francisco law firm Cooley Godward to join the project. Both were passionate about the idea and had been working from home mornings, nights and weekends—until 1998 when they decided to change careers and become full-time entrepreneurs.

In 1999, Greg Baldwin, a friend from Backstrand’s undergrad days at Brown University, who had worked for the Leo Burnett advertising agency before founding his own technology startup, joined the team to hotwire the site. So did fellow Brown alum Andrew Smiles, who had directed Community Impact!, a college access program for Washington, D.C. high school students, and who came on board to head the fundraising efforts.

At its core, VolunteerMatch is a national database of nonprofit organizations and their current volunteer openings. To recruit volunteers, organizations first register with VolunteerMatch by providing basic information about their organization’s mission, management and tax-exempt status. Once approved, they have 24-hour, password-protected access to their account to publish volunteer opportunities on the network, providing details about purpose, time commitment, skills requirements and logistics. A built-in email system allows interested volunteers to respond to opportunities by notifying the non-profit organization’s contact person. This basic package of free services is available to all nonprofit members, and can be upgraded to various levels of fee-based subscriptions, which include enhanced listings and more extensive administrative tools.

People who want to volunteer can simply log on to the site and enter their zip code plus a keyword for their preferences, such as causes they care about, kinds of work they want to do and time availability. In seconds they receive a personalized list of volunteer opportunities that match their search criteria. They’re put directly in touch by email with the nonprofit they choose, enabling them to make the initial connection leading to a volunteer relationship. All of these services are free for volunteers. Besides its recruitment service, the site provides additional content such as advice for first-time referrals and space for experienced volunteers and nonprofit representatives to share their inspiring stories. Recently added enhancements to the site include user-generated reviews and recommendations for specific volunteer programs, search maps to help volunteers find where nonprofits are located and RSS subscriptions to track volunteer opportunities by cause or by organization.

How do you see VolunteerMatch growing over the next 10 years?

We’re going to continue to innovate and take advantage of new technologies to make it even easier for people to connect with organizations. Obvious future directions include social media as filtering through networks begins to replace search as the dominant paradigm. And we are already preparing to move away from a purely Web site-based system to one where most of our services are distributed over a wide number of platforms.

If you have a few minutes watch this inspiring video called Change the World: Volunteer

Fast forward to Halloween 2009.

Here we find one of our favorite bubbly young philanthropists who skips from the left coast to the right with frequent-flyer ease and then down south to her favorite chic little village; we’ll call her Skipper.  Asked by a Boarding School chum and Wall Street wunderkind (let’s rename him Ken) to chair a Halloween costume Gala in the Big Apple for the who’s who of junior society, how could Skipper say No?  This Charity Maven starter-kit would give Skipper the tools and contacts to launch her own event business while handing her the reigns to put her stamp on a must-attend Gala. One new idea she knew she’d institute – sell tickets at the door to garner even more revenue for the charity.

Phase two of our Cinderella story finds Skipper in a bit of a dilemma.  Seems Ken wants her to include his Victoria Secret modelesque girlfriend (Barbie?) as the Co-Chair.  Skipper acquiesced – her best bud, Ken, was on the Board of the charity and on his way to hedge fund stardom.  Besides, what could possibly go wrong?

Putting long days, numerous nights and too many weekends in to planning the Gala Skipper found her destined-to-be-a-trophy-wife Co-Chair pretty much worthless.  Well, except for spending her days readying for evenings out on the town on the arm of Ken.   Despite referring to herself as the event Chair – forgetting about Skipper altogether, the Press found Barbie irresistible, cleavage and all, and the buzz about the event grew.

So Skipper came up with a plan to keep Barbie out of her hair: give her the responsibility to manage virtually nothing…just the tasks Skipper had already implemented.  Knowing the Barbster wasn’t the brightest light in the room – nor was she particularly motivated – Skipper knew she couldn’t screw anything up.  One of the simplest assignments Skipper dreamt up was to let her manage the venue, which was already contracted.  An amazing coup, Skipper had negotiated for the hottest velvet-roped Club in the West Village.

The big night arrived and Skipper showed up early.  Her first indication that something was awry was the stacked cases of Cristal champagne she eyed in the corner.

And then she got the news.  Her event had been moved to their sister Club next door.  They had needed to make room for a rapper’s private masquerade bash.  Enraged, Skip was then told that Barbie had been informed of the change weeks prior and never got back to them so they assumed everything was good to go.

As you probably guessed, the term ‘Sister Club’ was a bit of a stretch.  It was the Club Owner’s brilliant concept of an overflow Club for those who were not worthy to get in the hyper-cool one next door.

But worse was that none of the guests, including the multitude of friends who took her up on the new pay-at-the-door idea, knew of the venue change.  And everyone – both the Gala revelers and the rapper’s flock, took the costume attire very seriously.

There were zebras followed by gorillas followed by men in armor, followed by a growing line of partiers.

Perusing the merrymakers – all being served flutes of Cristal by scantily clad ‘Cigarette Girls’, Skipper began pulling out guests who she could identify and announcing to no one in particular how the hip people were attending the Gala next door.

Finally, as she fumed back into her event, there stood Ken and Barbie, calm and collected, posing gleefully for the paparazzi; he dressed as Inspector Jacques Clouseau and she as his wayward wife, Simone.

VivaMoral to the Story:

1. Ensure you’re compatible with your co-chair.
2. Have a final meeting with your committee and go through a Run-of-Show.
3. Know that something will always go wrong and that you’ll laugh about it someday!

All Socialites without Borders (SWB) stories have been modified to protect the innocent and, by default, the guilty.  If you’ve got a tale to tell, we’d love to hear from you and we promise not to tattle who it came from – not your name or the name of the event.  Our lips are sealed!  But what we will do is send you a Vivanista tote as a token of our undying appreciation! 

Email swb@vivanista.com.

Although these were not actual auction items, approximately 40% of the participants made donation to the Police Foundation. They got to accompany task force units, observe counterterrorism teams and visit precinct stations. Who wouldn’t want to see those!

Vivanista has some excellent resources in its Philanthropy Library. I think the template letter for a corporate donation is one such gem. It is definitely a template that will serve auction chairs well as they begin work on procurement for benefit auctions.

(Note: there are three template letters in the library and all are good, but the corporate letter tackles one of the areas which auction committees often find challenging – asking businesses for support.)

Why is it good?

The template lays out what you are to accomplish. Each paragraph has a purpose.

Paragraph 1: introduce the event and then make “the ask”

“The ask” is the part where many volunteers struggle because they feel uncomfortable making the request. But let’s remember that the ask is the entire purpose of the communication. Because of this, it resides early in the letter. It should also be stated in such a way as to share the exact reason you are raising money this year. Here’s how I might use that call to action for a school.

“School Sample has six campuses, eight schools, and is spread across five towns. With so many children, you might think the marching band would be essential for students … but instead, the music program is fighting to keep its budget.”

Paragraph 2: explain why the event is important, including facts of past events

It is important to quickly set the stage for a potential donor reading your letter. You need to be able to succinctly and factually highlight the benefit auction. My advice to organizations with new events or with a short history of events is to tap into your successes as an organization. Potential donors will give if they feel their donations are contributing to success.

I also think this is the place to include a personal story. Many non-profits have a client testimonial or a success story that illustrates the work of the organization. When

writing to potential donors, share that story. True stories have the ability to tell the value of your services and demonstrate the need. You might try something like this.

“Jane Smith enjoys a well-paying editing job at Booz Allen, makes a monthly mortgage payment, and has just enrolled her son in private school. But five years ago, she walked through our doors with a broken nose and bruises on her body. Her 11-year old son stood next to her. After providing her with medical care, we put her through job search training, tweaked her resume, and developed her interview skills. She was offered three jobs. That’s the power of Charity ABC.”

Paragraph 3: detail how they can get involved

I love the idea of a second sheet that highlights sponsor benefits, but if you don’t have several levels of sponsors, simply list the sponsor benefits in the paragraph. Start with your top-level sponsorship and list the perks sponsors receive.

Paragraph 4: summarize and thank them for their time

The closing also includes this advice, “If you know the corporate sponsor, write a brief, personal note on the letter.” I can’t say enough about how meaningful a handwritten note can be when reading business correspondence. Pay attention next time you open the mail and I bet you take time to read handwritten notes! Draw sponsors in by writing a personal note on your sponsor letters.

Finally, let me comment about the details. The template is shown on letterhead. That’s an important point. Even if your non-profit doesn’t have letterhead, use the template that comes with many software packages and put all your contact information in letterhead format. It will help support your organization’s reputation as professional and well-managed.

Visit Sherry’s Red Apple Auctions blog for advice and photos on charity auctions.

This article has been published with permission from Red Apple Auctions LLC.