3 Ways to Add an Extra $10-25k to Your Fundraising Event

Non-profit organizations always want to raise more money. More money means they can do more for their cause. So whenever we work with non-profits, whether helping them structure their board or plan their fundraising for the year, we always give them a little bonus by giving them three tips to raise more money at their next fundraising event. These tips can help you raise an extra $10,000 - 25,000 with minimal additional effort and can be used at a fundraising event as early as next week.

#1 Golden Ticket Raffle

A Golden Ticket Raffle is a great way to raise extra money for your cause. For example, if you sell 100 tickets at $100 each, you've instantly raised $10,000 with little effort. You can sell the Golden Ticket Raffle in the following ways:

• Put the Golden Ticket Raffle at the top of your bidding software for sales before and during your event.
• Include a link to purchase tickets for the Golden Ticket in your registration process.
• Have volunteers walking around selling tickets at the start of the fundraising event (Use the bidder numbers to make it easy).
• Have your MC or auctioneer sell the remaining tickets on the microphone at the event.

The Golden Ticket Raffle is such a digestible price point that it is easy for people to get involved.

Underwrite Your Golden Ticket
Along with underwriting other aspects of your event, you can ask donors to sponsor your Golden Ticket Raffle to maximize the money it raises. You could easily offer it for $2,000 -5,000, but we have seen non-profits sponsor the Golden Ticket Raffle for $6,000.
Your Golden Ticket will become the 'Golden Ticket sponsored by ___' to give the donor extra recognition. It is also an excellent opportunity for your underwriter to donate to help your non-profit raise even more money for the cause. By giving $5,000, for example, they will be helping your organization raise an additional $10,000. It's an easy sell for donors who are invested in the cause.

Sell More Golden Ticket Prizes in Your Live Auction
If your Golden Ticket prize is a consignment item, you could quickly sell another prize as the first item on your live auction. This should not be listed as your first live auction item; it should be impromptu. While everyone is clapping for the Golden Ticket winner, the auctioneer should announce that they got word they can sell another one or two.

How Much Money Can You Raise Using a Golden Ticket
The math will depend on the prices you set for your sponsorship and how much the additional Golden Ticket prizes go for at the live auction. Here is the calculation based on the average we see non-profits raise through Golden Ticket.

• $100 tickets sold at $100 each = $10,000  
• Golden Ticket sponsorship = $3,000
• 2 more Golden Ticket prizes sold at a live auction for $4,000 each = $8,000

The gross dollars raised is $21,000. If you use HGA Fundraising's Golden Ticket consignment prizes, three would cost $6,000. So, you would raise an extra $15,000 net for your non-profit.

Tips for a Golden Ticket Raffle
You can maximize the amount you raise through your Golden Ticket Raffle by increasing the price of your tickets. We saw $250 Golden Tickets sell out before the auctioneer could promote them on the microphone. Depending on your donors, they may value the higher ticket price because it brings more prestige.

Don't try to raise more money by selling more tickets. 100 tickets are the sweet spot because you can sell many tickets with just a few people circulating the room. You would need considerably more manpower to sell more than 100 tickets. It can be done, but it would depend on the number of volunteers you have.
​
Your Golden Ticket prize doesn't have to be consignment items. For example, if you have a niche donated item like a beautiful piece of jewelry or a golf cart that you're not sure would perform well as an auction item, you can use it as a Golden Ticket prize. It is a great way to raise double the item's value instead of having an underperforming auction item.

#2 The Craze

The Craze is a great way to add an extra $5,000 to $10,000 net to your next fundraising event by leveraging your donors' vacation budgets. You offer an affordable vacation package, and your auctioneer will sell as many as possible. Not everybody can afford the $10,000 trips, so this will get donations from a broader range of donors.

Pick a popular destination with your target audience and mark up the consignment item by $1,000 to sell an affordable vacation. Don't combine it with airline tickets because that can't be easily duplicated. We have trips as consignment items for $1,595 that sell like hotcakes for $2,500.

The Craze is a great way to raise a large amount of money in a short period of time. Many donors would spend $2,500 on their hotel anyway, making it a straightforward sell. As a consignment item, you can sell it as many times as you want.
​
Make Sure Your Auctioneer Knows It's a CrazeYour auctioneer needs to understand what you are trying to do with the Craze. The last thing you want to happen is for the auctioneer to sell the Craze item as if it was a normal auction item. The goal of the Craze is to sell a lower price point item multiple times.
Be clear with your auctioneer and explain that you are selling this item for a specific price and want to sell as many as possible. Auctioneers who work with non-profits may have done a Craze before. On the other hand, if your auctioneer usually works in real estate or car sales, they may not have done a Craze before, so make sure they know what they need to do.

#3 The Vacation Station

The vacation station is like a supercharged silent auction. You can take a few vacation auction items, whether consignment or donation, and run a silent auction with a few key differences:

• Set a starting price for each item (this minimum bid should be 25% above cost).
• Set the bid increments.
• Set an instant win price.

For example, you could set a starting bid of $2,500 with $250 increments and an instant win price of $10,000. Psychologically, your donors will see the $2,500 as a bargain compared to the $10,000 instant win price.

When you have consignment items, you can also contact the second-highest bidder after the event and sell the prize a second time at their bid price. You could even do the same with a donated prize. Talk to the owner of the donated property and see if they would be willing to offer a second stay for the second-highest bidder so you can raise extra money. In most cases, the donor will happily help you raise more money for your cause.
For consignment items, whether vacation station or live auction items, you could market the item after the event to sell additional packages to attendees and people who couldn't attend the event.
 
HGA's Jason Ledlow and Trevor Nelson discuss 3 easy fundraising ideas to raise an additional $10-25k in depth in episode 105 of the HGAFundraising webinar series. Listen/watch below:  

Watch on YouTube

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify