How About a Date Night? For an Entire Year!

A very popular and successful live auction item that we recommend our clients offer at their fundraising events is the “Date Night for A Year” package.  

This live auction package is easy to build. It can consist of dining certificates to both high-end and mid-level restaurants, baby-sitting services, limousine/Uber services, golf (putt-putt, too!), movies, opera, theater, florists, spa services and the like.  

But when you begin procuring these items, you want to do it strategically. Discuss the concept with your committee, identifying the things that THEY would like to have in a package like this, then assign them the task of getting the donations based on their network and the businesses they patronize. 

Once they’ve collected the most desirable items, some of our clients then turn this package into a sort of “catch-all” basket, a place to put some of the other certificates that they cannot necessarily bundle with other items. Just make sure they are relevant to the theme.  

Here’s a nugget for you - When detailing this package in the program or on a live auction item display, list the items with the highest valued certificates/experiences first. This will provide the hook to keep your guests reading more. Then when the bidding begins, and they glance at the listing, they will see those high-valued items at the top and bid again! 

There will inadvertently be certificates that will come in after your program has gone to the printer.  Instead of fretting about it, allow your auction professional to enhance the Date Night package when they sell the item. These “surprise” additions will often re-energize the bidding! 

Make every minute a revenue generating minute!