Let's talk about the traditional charity auction.
Yes, we must 🥴
In the words of Jon McCoy, CFRE, it just might be one of the dustiest tools in the fundraising playbook - and it's rife to be disrupted.
And whether you've organized or attended one, I think we can all say we've seen some stuff 😳
Storytime 📖
Years ago I was at a local gala whose ballroom walls were wrapped in 8-foot tables + elusive bid sheets. As the final seconds of the silent auction counted down, two women in all their bedazzled goodness began arguing about who won the final bid on an item. At one point, one woman took the bid sheet and held it over her head away from the other. (Funny detail: the item in question was a botox package)
This is not the way.
Where was the mission at the center?
Why are guests fighting over bargains?
Thankfully, someone else didn't just see the problem; they engineered a solution.
Cue We Are For Good core value #7: Disrupt. Adapt. Grow. Repeat.
And that someone just happened to be one of nonprofit's greatest friends, Seth Godin 🌔
This week, Seth came back on the podcast to talk about innovation + how his new solution - Goodbids - is flipping the script by creating the positive auction that's digital + generative + effective + fun.
"Unless you've got drunk billionaires in a room, each of whom is trying to show higher status than the other, your auctions not going to work very well. And it's not going to work very well, because as soon as you say the word 'auction,' you trigger something. And the trigger is, you should get a bargain. You don't overpay at an auction. But the charity doesn't want that - the charity wants people who eagerly pay a lot, not because they're overpaying, but because they're contributing."
🔉Repeating: not because they're overpaying, but because they're contributing.
Aww yes. Bargain botox is not the way. Collective uplift is.
So Seth + his brilliant team (👋hi Anne Marie Cruz + Jennifer Myers Chua) built a framework + benefits that are shockingly simple:
✅ Understand that EVERY bid is a non-refundable, valued donation to the charity
✅ Highest bidder gets a reward
✅ Every bidder gets joy of supporting a good cause
✅ Charities get more contributions
✅ More donors = more engagements + stewardship + stories + community - oh my!
The platform launches later this month, and I hope you'll check it out. No, this is not a paid ad and we're getting no kickback from it - we just believe in it. And believe that upgrading + humanizing the way we connect to our mission is the way it ought to be.
Seth shared that nonprofit "needs to upgrade our guts."
This is the time for disruption - for trying something new - for being brave - for centering our Why back into our heartbeat. Maybe time to sunset the bid sheets and try something new?
Ok, I'm ready. Drop your auction horror stories (or even positive stories!) 👇 Let's elevate this experience together. #impactuprising
Thanks for your friendship + belief, Seth 🫶
Youtube Creator/Muddy Ruttzz Outdoor Adventure
3wThat sidecar would be a great place for the dog to ride. 😀