Everyone wants to raise money for something….usually themselves. For the many great charities we get involved in, one of the biggest questions is how to have fun getting other people to give.
AUCTIONS come to mind. There is the LIVE kind with the auctioneer, which if they’re good, will entertain everyone with their mild ribbings to get everyone to up the ante and not be outbid. While I don’t consider myself a professional in this capacity, I can step up to the plate as emcee and offer my silly banter. I can better serve this event with the lighting, sound system, and music if it should turn into a dance or background music is desired. I will probably donate some entertainment for a future party too if I’ve made my car payment that month.
There is also the SILENT auction which is a nice and less publicly competitive way (at least out loud) to get people to buy. This too can use some types of entertainment to keep people in a lively mood.
A fun additional component to this is the AUCTION PUZZLE. A large, empty board with the spots where the pieces go drawn in. When people buy a piece for the puzzle, their name gets written up on the board and perhaps alongside it somewhere so they can be recognized as their name gets covered up by the piece.
Pieces can have differing monetary amounts, but in the end, when all the pieces are bought, it completes a picture of what they were raising money for. The cost of the item in the picture is divided among all the pieces. Everyone wants to complete the puzzle and be a part of it and with different monetary amounts, more people can. How cool is that?!
Oh, by the way, I can make you one of those puzzles like the one I did in the picture. SO much fun.
