Serving as Charity Auction Chair is stressful enough. Let’s ensure you’ve got at least some basic tools to make planning the charity auction easier.
I often equate running a benefit auction to running a small business. Many small businesses will have gross incomes of less than $100,000 so you can see how many non profit auctions rival the income of a small business. If you are chairing an auction, you have to think like you are running a business and you have got to have the right tools run the operation. Here are two tools to help make planning the auction easier.
1. Free conference calls
No Cost Conference
Your Fundraising Auction Committee needs to touch base. Regularly! So use this free service to chat it up. It has successfully managed my teleclasses when I have hundreds of people on the line, so I know it will work for your 5, 10, or 15 person committee.
One of the great capabilities is the control the moderator has. When everyone starts speaking at the same time (which is easy to do on a conference call), you, as moderator, have the capability to mute everyone, using either your computer or your phone. As each committee chair needs to give her status report, simply unmute her line, let her speak, and then allow questions one-by-one.
2. Free phone number
Google Voice
If you’re managing multiple vendors (caterer, venue, auctioneer, event manager), this service is great for ensuring you don’t play phone tag. When someone dials your number, it rings ALL your phones (cell, work, home).
If that makes you feel a little too accessible, program the number to ring to a particular phone. Perhaps a call from your procurement chair rings all three phones, but a call from the production company only rings your work and cell.
Or take it one step further. Have messages go straight to voicemail on your computer, where they will then be transcribed for you.
With these tools, staying in touch with your auction team has never been so convenient.