Most nonprofits spend months curating the perfect live auction lineup — and then assume their guests will figure it out when they get to the event.

Claire Murad of Murad Auctions joins Trevor to make the case that this is leaving serious money on the table. With 26 years in the auction space, Claire breaks down what she calls the 6-touch rule: your guests need to see your live auction items at least six times before they sit down for the live auction. Anything less and the light bulb doesn't go off in time.

In this episode: why 75% of your event revenue is riding on a marketing problem most orgs ignore, the exact timeline for teasing items (two weeks out — not earlier, not later), why text messages outperform emails and what time of day to actually hit send, how to make your pre-event messaging short and on-theme instead of stuffed with restrictions, and the creative night-of tactics Claire has seen work — from Vanna White-style placard walkers in cocktail hour to 10-foot lit display boards to custom bid paddles with QR codes linking to the auction catalog.

Plus: why your auctioneer should be working the cocktail hour, not warming up backstage.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:36 Successful Auction Promotion

05:30 Timing for Teaser Campaigns

06:55 Keeping Messages Brief and Engaging

07:35 Creative Promotional Ideas During Your Event

09:00 Using Visual Displays and On-Site Promotion

12:13 Educating Bidders Early

13:30 Using Social Media and Digital Tools

14:29 Where to Find More Resources and Connect

Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know https://hgafundraising.com/ask-your-questions/

🔗 *CONNECT WITH US* 🔗

Marketing Your Live Auction Blog: https://muradauctions.com/how-to-promote-your-live-auction-for-maximum-revenue/

Live Auction eBook: https://muradauctions.com/auction-resources/live-auction-theme-playbook/

Book Murad Auctions for Your Event: https://muradauctions.com

Schedule a Meeting with Claire: https://calendly.com/clairemurad

Connect with Claire on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-murad-strategic-growth-for-nonprofit-fundraising-events/

Connect with Trevor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-nelson-b8922a167/

Follow Hey Nonprofits! on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/hey-non-profits-raise-more-money/

💙 *ABOUT HGA FUNDRAISING* 💙

This episode was brought to you by HGA Fundraising. The team at HGA helps event fundraisers create auction success with the most profitable (and mission focused) auction items in the space. Trips and experiences that excite donors, ignite bidding, and help your organization RAISE MORE MONEY.

To learn more about HGA Fundraising click here: https://hgafundraising.com/trips-and-experiences/

Sign up to receive the HGA Fundraising newsletter to receive fundraising insights from the brightest minds in the space: https://hgafundraising.com/subscribe-to-newsletter/

Feeling stuck with your fundraising? No matter where you are at in your journey, HGA offers FREE coaching for fundraisers:

https://hgafundraising.com/nonprofit-coaching/

Most nonprofits have a storytelling problem they don't know they have. They've been so close to the mission for so long they can't see what's actually moving about it anymore.

Lucas Hunt, president of Hunt Auctioneers, former literary agent, and one of the more thoughtful voices in the fundraising auctioneer world, joins Trevor to break down why the people running your organization are usually the worst people to tell its story, why donors should be treated as producers of the story rather than consumers of it, and how to build what he calls a "theater of giving" at your next event.

In this episode: the "curse of knowledge" that's flattening your mission moments, why the recipient of services is almost always a more powerful narrator than the executive director, how to create emotional proximity in a room full of distracted donors, and Lucas's closing reminder for anyone burned out on fundraising, get out of the way of the river of goodness that's already there.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:37 Introduction to Lucas Hunt

06:55 Art of Story Telling in Fundraising

09:14 Impact of Information Overload on Storytelling

15:58 Creating Emotional Proximity at Events

17:57 Power of Storytelling

22:40 Producer vs. Consumer Mindset

27:23 Faith in Good Work

32:04 Power of Collective Action

Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know https://hgafundraising.com/ask-your-questions/

🔗 *CONNECT WITH US* 🔗

Book Lucas for an event: https://www.huntauctioneers.com

Connect with Lucas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-hunt-6a6a768/

Connect with Trevor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-nelson-b8922a167/

Follow Hey Nonprofits! on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/hey-non-profits-raise-more-money/

💙 *ABOUT HGA FUNDRAISING* 💙

This episode was brought to you by HGA Fundraising. The team at HGA helps event fundraisers create auction success with the most profitable (and mission focused) auction items in the space. Trips and experiences that excite donors, ignite bidding, and help your organization RAISE MORE MONEY.

To learn more about HGA Fundraising click here: https://hgafundraising.com/trips-and-experiences/

Sign up to receive the HGA Fundraising newsletter to receive fundraising insights from the brightest minds in the space: https://hgafundraising.com/subscribe-to-newsletter/

Feeling stuck with your fundraising? No matter where you are at in your journey, HGA offers FREE coaching for fundraisers:

https://hgafundraising.com/nonprofit-coaching/

Brittany Pilcher, Director of Development at Quest Inc., joins Trevor to walk through exactly how her team added a Golden Ticket Raffle to WineQuest , a $500,000 two-night gala in Orlando and sold out 100 tickets in 72 hours.

Brittany doesn't sugarcoat the hesitation. She talks through why she almost didn't do it, the moment she decided to pull the trigger three weeks out, and how the raffle pulled in nearly $8,000 of pure incremental revenue without adding meaningful work to her team. More importantly: she breaks down what she'd do differently next year, including running two ticket tiers and considering corporate underwriting to cover the cost upfront.

In this episode: why the $100 price point is the sweet spot, when to announce the winner in your program (and when not to), how to get your board and committee actually sharing the raffle, and the part most organizations miss, the 100 new names in your database that you can steward long after the event.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:00 Introduction to the Golden Ticket

02:18 Hesitations and Strategies for Ticket Sales

06:01 Psychology of Ticket Sales and Winner Announcement

08:49 Impact of the Golden Ticket on Fundraising

10:49 Quest Inc.: Mission and Community Engagement

Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know https://hgafundraising.com/ask-your-questions/

🔗 *CONNECT WITH US* 🔗

Add the Golden Ticket to Your Event: https://hgafundraising.com/golden-ticket/

Connect with Brittany on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanylara/

Connect with Trevor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-nelson-b8922a167/

Follow Hey Nonprofits! on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/hey-non-profits-raise-more-money/

💙 *ABOUT HGA FUNDRAISING* 💙

This episode was brought to you by HGA Fundraising. The team at HGA helps event fundraisers create auction success with the most profitable (and mission focused) auction items in the space. Trips and experiences that excite donors, ignite bidding, and help your organization RAISE MORE MONEY.

To learn more about HGA Fundraising click here: https://hgafundraising.com/trips-and-experiences/

Sign up to receive the HGA Fundraising newsletter to receive fundraising insights from the brightest minds in the space: https://hgafundraising.com/subscribe-to-newsletter/

Feeling stuck with your fundraising? No matter where you are at in your journey, HGA offers FREE coaching for fundraisers:

https://hgafundraising.com/nonprofit-coaching/