Experiential travel has always been a top seller in charity auctions and raffles. It is also one of the most difficult items for auction committees to get donated and fulfill.
Developing a quality travel experience for your auction can quickly spiral into a nightmare of logistics, and unfulfilled promises and in the end – a complete waste of time. What’s worse, you could end up with unhappy winning bidders.
We’re all familiar with the scenario: A well-meaning board member offers their vacation condo, only to have it be sold, go through extensive renovations or get used for some other purpose before the winning bidder can fulfill their trip.
Even without the help of a generous board member, it can takes months to cobble together the right airfare, lodging and experiential components that will fit together to create a cohesive vacation package. After it sells and the event is over, it can take many more hours as you are forced to become a travel agent, concierge and customer service representative to help winning bidders fulfill their package.
We talk to thousands of auction chairs from across the U.S. and Canada, many of whom find themselves buried in additional work involving their travel-related auction items.
No Consignment Policy? No problem!
A “No Consignment Policy” doesn’t mean you can’t leverage a Winspire Experiences at your event! A strategic sponsorship opportunity is for an individual or business to underwrite the cost of a Winspire Experience for your live auction
Here are three reasons why…
- You get 100% of the proceeds. This may seem like a no-brainer, but when you’re talking about unique travel packages that will bring in thousands of dollars and can sell multiple times (often with no limit!), the money can add up quick.
- Amplified donor impact. When donors underwrite an auction package, they get to see the direct impact of their monetary contribution multiplied well beyond what they paid for it originally. For example, let’s say an individual donor underwrites the $2,500 cost of a package that sells three times for $4,000/each during the live auction. The impact of the donor’s original $2,500 investment tripled to generate $7,000 in Nonprofit revenue!
- Donor recognition. It’s a fact: many big donors love getting recognized in front of their peers, and there is usually a lot of fanfare surrounding the live auction items – especially when you have an engaging auctioneer. Anyone who donates a once-in-a-lifetime trip is going to get their two minutes of fame – and then some – for their generosity.
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If you want to learn more about how you can include a priceless Experience in your next charity auction event, see how Winspire works or you can request a free event consultation to speak with one of our professional fundraising specialists.
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