January 21, 2010

Your parents were right: making a good first impression is paramount. And when putting together an auction event, you should be mindful of how you greet your guests and the communication with them after, according to Jay Fiske, CEO and co-founder of MaestroSoft, Inc., in Bellevue, Wash.

Auctions can create a reliable revenue stream for your organization, Fiske explained at Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits in Charleston, S.C. It is important that you make the auction a pleasant experience for guests so they are eager to come next year.

Here are some tips:

• Warm greetings. Have someone greet guests at the door or at their cars. Direct them to the entrance and give any information necessary. You might want more than one person in case of a surge.
  
• First thing’s first. The first experience your guests will have is the registration and check-in. Make sure that there is an organized and speedy process. Put your most pleasant and effective staff members and volunteers manning those tables.
  
• Be prepared. Registration packets will make the process smoother. Include item descriptions and any bidding materials your guests will need. Try to make this registration pack as simple and neat as possible.
  
• More help, the better. Have “helpers” that will assist in moving any successful bid prizes to the cars of winners.
  
• Keep communication open. Fiske recommended allowing for an opt-in option for further communication. First thank guests for coming with personal communications. Then make sure you follow up with any information about upcoming auctions or other events. Create a feedback opportunity so you guests can tell you about the good time they had or areas for improvement.

If your Web site is just a clone of your print materials, you are missing the point, according to Jay Moonah, head of marketing at Web system company Wild Apricot.

Moonah explained that your Web site should be a living entity that reflects what is happening with your organization. You are making a huge mistake if your last event update was in 2007 or if your entire Web site is just a homepage. Your Web site should be versatile – the Internet is ever changing with the ebb and flow of information, and your site shouldn’t be stagnant.

Here are some of his tips:

• Fresh material. Moonah said the days of setting up a site and ignoring it are gone. “You would change it or refresh every six months when you do a big campaign, but it would be treated like a paper asset,” he said. Sites can become dated quickly -- make sure you take down old information and add new events whenever possible.
  
• Be a hub. Moonah explained that your staff and volunteers are overflowing wells of information and expertise on the issues that affect your organization. You should post information that relates to your cause and also point to other resources to become part of the online community. If you see a wonderful blog post or quality information from another site, don’t be afraid to share it with your supporters. People will come to you as a leader and those you promote will become community partners with you.
  
• Join in the fun. This isn’t the YellowPages, so your site should be more than just your name and address. “I think the expectation now that if you go to a Website it shouldn’t just look good, you should be able to do something. * You should be able to interact with the organization in some way,” said Moonah. Create layers to your site, allowing visitors to sign up for email updates or join in forum discussions or make a donation.