Learn how nonprofits can use historical fundraising data to improve auction strategy, increase donor participation, and raise more at events with insights from auctioneer Misty Marquam.
/26-03-10/26-03-10%20blog%20Thumbnail.png)
In this week’s 501(c) Drop, BetterUnite CEO and co-founder Leya Simmons sat down with Misty Marquam, founder of Marquam Auction Agency, for a fast-moving, insight-packed conversation on one of the most underused fundraising advantages nonprofits have:
their own historical data.
From sponsorship renewals to paddle raise strategy to silent auction mistakes, Misty broke down how organizations can stop guessing and start using real numbers to build smarter, more profitable fundraising events.
Misty’s message was clear:
Stop relying on “we’ve always done it this way.” Start letting the data tell you what actually works.
Historical event data is not just a reporting tool. It is the roadmap for better strategy, stronger donor experiences, and higher revenue.
When Misty starts working with a nonprofit, she wants at least three years of event data before making recommendations.
Her first asks:
That data helps answer the real questions:
What kind of event is this?
What scale are we working with?
Are the goals realistic?
And are the current tactics actually pulling their weight?
A major theme throughout the webinar was this:
More auction packages, more activations, more drinks, more stuff does not automatically mean more money.
In fact, too many revenue streams can compete with each other and cannibalize giving.
Misty urged nonprofits to simplify and be intentional. Every fundraising element should have a purpose, and every purpose should be backed by results.
One of the most useful frameworks from the session was Misty’s breakdown of the five spending personalities you see at fundraising events:
Her advice:
Design your event so each of these personalities has one strong way to engage.
Not five overlapping ones. One good lane is better than three noisy ones.
Misty also called out sponsorship as one of the most important — and often most under-optimized — revenue streams.
A few standout points:
Her advice was to stop treating sponsor packages like rigid menus and start thinking of them more like a buffet: let sponsors choose benefits that actually matter to them.
Also, if the only time sponsors hear from you is when you want money again next year… yeah, that relationship needs work.
Misty did not mince words here.
Silent auctions should not feel like a garage sale with clipboards.
Her guidance:
One great line from Misty:
“Don’t put baby in the corner.”
In other words: if you worked hard on it, make it central, attractive, and worth interacting with.
She also shared that in her market, online silent auctions often outperform traditional paper bidding by 15–20% on the same packages.
Another huge takeaway:
Run of show can make or break fundraising results.
Misty shared that in her experience, once a live program hits about 57 minutes, people start mentally and physically checking out. That is when they start leaning back, grabbing their things, and heading for the door.
Her non-negotiables:
She also made a strong case for brunches, lunches, and breakfast events, which can perform well while costing less to produce.
If there was one tactical point Misty hammered home, it was this:
Do not treat the paddle raise like an afterthought.
For many events, the paddle raise is the single most important revenue moment of the night.
To strengthen it, she looks for:
One especially powerful stat she shared:
That is not fluff. That is fuel.
Leya and Misty also talked about the donor experience side of event tech.
The bottom line:
If guests are standing in line too long, struggling at check-in, or dealing with clunky payment processes, it hurts fundraising.
Using event software to:
…is not just about convenience. It directly affects donor behavior and event outcomes.
If Misty could tell every nonprofit leader one thing, it would be this:
Use the data.
Not your assumptions.
Not your habits.
Not the thing someone said worked five years ago.
Use the data.
Because when you know what actually drove revenue, what donors responded to, and what wasted time and money, you can build events that feel better, perform better, and raise more.
Transcript Recording:
Leya Simmons (00:01)
Hello, how are you all? Welcome today to our ⁓ 501c drop. My name is Leah Simmons. I am the CEO and co-founder of Better Unite and your every Tuesday host of the ⁓ 501c drop. And I gotta say, I was just telling her before this, this is kind of my longed for guest. She's my dream guest that I've wanted to have on our webinar for a long time. My friend Misty Markham of Markham.
agency is here with us today and we are going to talk about like two of my favorite topics combined events and data leveraging your historical data for a fundraising win. Misty, welcome.
Misty Marquam (00:44)
Thank you so much. It's great to be here. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to have this chat today.
Leya Simmons (00:50)
I am so happy that you're here and I am going to come over here and clicking around like we talked about doing tech and trying to present all at the same time is a terrible idea. I was so grateful to, what'd you say?
Misty Marquam (00:57)
you
The life of a founder.
The life of a founder.
Leya Simmons (01:05)
It's fun. It's so glamorous.
Let me tell ⁓ you. Let me cover a couple of housekeeping topics before Misty and I just like dive right in. If you have any questions, please throw those into the chat. I see some people are already talking in our chat. Yay. We would love to say hi. We will try to answer questions that are in there. If we don't have time for those, or if you're watching the recording later, please send any questions that you have to support at betterunite.com.
And if for Misty, which likely they are, then we will make sure that she gets them and you get an answer. And I think that's about it. Misty, I am going to read a little bio of you and I, I know it's awesome. This is one of my favorite bios, honestly. Okay. Misty Markham, founder and principal auctioneer at Markham Auction Agency specializes in fundraising events, data-driven revenue strategy, and wait for it, equity.
Misty Marquam (01:44)
Gosh.
you
Leya Simmons (02:01)
Misty works tirelessly as organization's mission ambassador. She has but one goal for her partners, bring the fun while showing the money. All you have to do is you'll understand that sentence so much better in about five minutes after I finally let Misty talk. As a woman of color, Misty proudly advances diversity within the auction industry where less than 16 % of auctioneers are women and fewer than 5 %
are people of color or minorities. MAA, Markham Auction Agency, is the first and only fundraising auction agency in the nation comprised of minorities with emphasis on serving the underrepresented. Since 2006, this native Oregonian foodie, I can attest to that too, and mother of two is a worldwide college of auctioneering grad, a benefit auctioneer specialist, note, only 1 % of auctioneers worldwide attain this designation.
a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital fundraising ambassador, and a member of the National Auctioneers Association. Welcome Misty!
Misty Marquam (03:08)
Thank you so much. That's quite a long bio.
Leya Simmons (03:11)
It's a long,
but I wanted to read all of it because it first A encapsulates who I know you to be and B, it's not to me immediately obvious how much you are advancing diversity and equity in this space and how needed it is in this space as well. So thank you.
Misty Marquam (03:35)
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it.
Leya Simmons (03:38)
Okay, so here we are. We're talk about, we're kind of like right in and I should tell Misty thank you so much for joining me in the middle of fundraising season, which it definitely is. She was just telling me that she worked, how many events did you work this past weekend?
Misty Marquam (03:47)
It's on.
There were three last weekend that I did and then we had other events going on simultaneously. Yeah.
Leya Simmons (03:54)
for you last weekend.
all over the place. Yep.
And MISTI is based in the Portland area, but really all of the Pacific Northwest. Is that right?
Misty Marquam (04:05)
I mean, I go anywhere that I am licensed to go, you know, but knowing that I have two kids at home, I don't like to travel that much. You know how that can go. Yeah.
Leya Simmons (04:07)
That's
Yeah. I sure do.
And then you also have the Markham Mavens and other auctioneers that work with your group really all over the nation. Is that right?
Misty Marquam (04:23)
Yeah.
Yeah, we have auctioneers kind of stationed in a lot of the big regions, but primarily throughout the Pacific Northwest. you know, we're really, one of my big tenants is authentic representation on stages. like making sure that whoever the mission ambassador is, there's a real tie there. There's a connection. And the more authentic, the better. And so, yeah, we have... ⁓
nine that I work with other than myself and six right here in like Oregon, Washington area. So we do a lot of wonderful events for some incredible organizations doing really amazing work.
Leya Simmons (05:05)
I had the opportunity just last week to be with Misty in Portland. She did take me to an incredible sushi restaurant. You'll have to give it a shout out. Misty, what was it called? I don't remember. Masi. Very good. And so foodie check. And also be at the Elevate Fundraising Conference with Misty where everybody knew Misty. And it was...
Misty Marquam (05:15)
⁓ Masu sushi in Portland one of my faves
hometown advantage.
Leya Simmons (05:29)
There
you go. know. I love it though. It's so great. ⁓ And it's such a beautiful area. mean, Portland is an amazing city. It's so pretty. Yeah. So, okay. I did not see that. It did rain the whole time. So, I'll take your word for it. But the first time I saw you speak Misty.
Misty Marquam (05:34)
When it's not raining, it's...
Ha ha ha.
Leya Simmons (05:47)
I'm pretty sure, I'm actually not 100 % sure about this, but I'm pretty sure it was at a benefit auction specialist summit, and you were talking about data, and you were one of the first auctioneers that I heard really speak to that piece, which obviously with Better Unite and being a software company, we're pretty obsessed with over here. And I just found the numbers, and I don't even know, I feel like I remember you even maybe were.
Misty Marquam (06:06)
Yeah.
Leya Simmons (06:12)
standing at our booth and you were telling me that like 1.2 glasses of alcohol is where you want to like, that's the idea. was, was such, such like granular information. And I was just so blown away. And then when we were together, we were also together in Anchorage, Alaska last, I don't know, fall. And you were talking about systems and still referencing that data. So
Like I said, dream guest, I've wanted to have you on for a long time and share all of this knowledge with our audience. So ⁓ I think we just dive right in. Is that good with you? All right, let's do it. Okay, question one. When you have a discovery chat with a new nonprofit about their fundraising event, what are the first three metrics you ask for before you'll recommend anything? And I wanted to like, I should have prefaced this question. So instead I'm gonna put this at the end.
Misty Marquam (06:42)
Thank you. I'm excited. Let's do it. Let's do it.
Leya Simmons (07:01)
But I love this question for our audience because I don't know that a lot of people that are planning events really know what to ask of their auctioneer. And maybe some auctioneers don't really know the right questions to ask. So if you could arm everybody listening today with like, these are the things that we need to know, even if your auctioneer doesn't know to ask them, what would those things be?
Misty Marquam (07:16)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, the big nuggets are I'd like to see at least three years of data, total gross event revenue, dollar amounts made by each and every revenue stream itemized. I want to know how many guests there are and what percentage of them either gave bid or bought something. Right. So we don't want a thousand guests where only a hundred of them are doing something. Right. So I also want to know, like,
Leya Simmons (07:43)
Right.
Misty Marquam (07:50)
outline for me your revenue goals for the night. And I want to make sure, especially from stage, that those things are realistic, like the live auction, the paddle raise, raffle revenue, other revenue streams, like at the cocktail hour. I want to make sure they have some of those too. So those are like the big three, I think. There's a lot more I could dig into, but that's what I want to at least have a conversation.
Leya Simmons (08:06)
Thank
Okay, so when you're talking about that kind of last three years of fundraising data and then those really specific pieces, what does that do for you? Like when you do know that, what does that change for you in your approach? Hmm.
Misty Marquam (08:19)
Mm-hmm.
gosh, it changes the game for me. Because it makes
me see what kind of an event this is. Do we have offerings for every personality type that we often see at fundraising events? So not everybody is a true philanthropist, for example, and they may not give it the paddle raise, but let's engage them in other places. That's one. Two, it's like, what scale of an event is this?
Right, that helps me lead a conversation a little better knowing if it's a hundred thousand dollar event versus a million dollar event versus a five million dollar event. Right, that all will change the game a bit. And then also just to kind of make sure like, is this reasonable? What you're hoping for and asking me to do, is this even possible in the world of reality? You know, yeah. ⁓
Leya Simmons (09:00)
That's it.
what you're looking for, what you're asking them to do.
Yeah. Well, I, yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me.
Having, having been on the other side of that equation, a lot of sense to me. Okay. So what is then the most common, like, we think this worked assumption that you, that, that you'll find that somebody would say to you, and then you look at the data and you're like, that is not right. What, what, what, what do you have a common scenario in that?
Misty Marquam (09:33)
Mm-hmm.
gosh,
my favorite thing to kind of debunk is, well, we've always done it this way. You know, and I look at the data and I'm like, well, does the data suggest you continue doing it this way? You know, that's one, I think another one, a huge common misconception. And then you look at the data afterwards is like, let's get our party donors hammered and hope that that's going to make them do incredible philanthropy. No.
Leya Simmons (09:51)
That's great.
Misty Marquam (10:08)
You know, typically when you see that at an event, the data will reflect less giving that year because people are distracted and distracting others. They're not now paying attention to your messaging and your great video and you know, all the strategy that we implemented. It's lost on these folks. And yeah, now it's just, I mean, we might as well just go to a rave at that point. It's not, it's no longer a fundraiser, right? And then I think probably
Leya Simmons (10:14)
Really?
It's just party.
Right.
Misty Marquam (10:38)
like high level, like bigger is better. Let's have a bigger auction, a bigger silent auction, you know, more people, more revenue streams, all the things, more drinks. And I'm here to tell you kind of excessive anything at a fundraising event is typically not going to help your cause. Yeah.
Leya Simmons (10:55)
Interesting. That
one's unexpected to me. wouldn't have thought of that.
Misty Marquam (10:59)
Yeah, well,
mean, think about this, right? So let's say you have three activities and they're all $50 apiece. What do you think that does to the sales of the other activities and revenue streams, right? So a lot of these things will now compete with each other and they're cannibalizing the revenue that you would have made from just one with fewer labor hours, fewer planning hours, like all the things. So like you're spending less money to make more money. Why would you do it any differently than that? You know?
Leya Simmons (11:05)
Right.
Do you find that if they, know, for those like ⁓ activations or whatever people might call them at events, if they do kind of call it down to just a single one, then people are doing less of that mental math of like, okay, well I've already given here, so I won't give over here.
Misty Marquam (11:45)
I see it more as there's like, typically I'm gonna reference this, we call it the big five. There's five different kind of spending personalities that you'll see at typical events, right? So what I'm looking for is do we have an offering for each one of those five different types that we'll see? So one is the philanthropist. They're like your lead gift at the $10,000 level at the paddle raise, right?
Leya Simmons (11:53)
Okay, archetype.
Misty Marquam (12:10)
One is a competitive person and they're usually like standing on a chair with their bid card at the live auction. You know, they like being seen. They like that. Then you've got like the shoppers like my people are the shoppers, right? So we like a good old silent auction where we might find a deal. You know, then you've got gamblers. These people like games of chance raffles, you know, low buy in for big reward. And then there's the demographic of
Leya Simmons (12:15)
Right.
Verdeal.
Hmm.
Misty Marquam (12:37)
typically our volunteers, our staff, and what I call onlookers, people that are kind of interested in your org, but they're not yet ready to necessarily play at a high level. So I'm looking for, do we have something to offer all five of those types of people at your event? And then let's weed it down to that and not have any of those things compete with each other.
Leya Simmons (12:59)
Okay, that is really interesting. So what do you say when an organization comes to you and asks you, or what kind of guidance would you give organizations around their sponsors? I mean, are the sponsors always philanthropists?
Misty Marquam (13:17)
No, mean sponsors are, know, sponsors are everybody and they're motivated by different reasons. And so, you know, like you and I know sponsorship is relational. So what do you know about that sponsor? What do you know motivates them and let's try to give them more of that so that they're happier, right? So I wanna talk about sponsorship for a minute because...
It is often the single most important revenue source at events, hands down. Nationwide, I did a little research, because you know, I like the data. Nationwide, 31 % of total event revenue comes from sponsorships. And in our region, it's like over 50 % typically, like for bigger good events that have been doing it a long time and they know what they're doing, right? 63 % of US businesses sponsor at least one nonprofit.
Leya Simmons (13:44)
For sure.
your numbers.
I totally believe.
wow.
Misty Marquam (14:07)
with 41 % of them giving over $10,000 every single year. like, you know, untapped revenue stream, right? 72 % of corporate sponsors renew partnerships annually if they've seen a positive brand effect as a key driver, right? So again, know the sponsors, know what motivates them and start offering them benefits that they want, right? So not every sponsor wants 10 tickets to your event, for example.
Leya Simmons (14:16)
Yeah.
Wow.
Interesting.
Misty Marquam (14:37)
In fact, sometimes that makes them feel stressed out trying to find nine other people that come with me to your event. So I would start using historical data immediately to determine like which one of your sponsors to continue targeting, what types of benefits to offer them that they might really respond to, and at what level of investment to even ask for. Because I think over a long period of time, you're going to want to see growth.
right, not stagnation. So I would be looking at also a strategic plan slash pitch to keep growing investment in my sponsorships. It's also the data is a great place to reengage donors that you used to have, know, sponsors, excuse me, lapsed sponsors that you maybe had three or five years ago or pre pandemic, but they haven't come back yet. Why not? You know, let's figure that out. And I would say to
Leya Simmons (15:06)
Sure. Right.
Yeah, there you go.
Misty Marquam (15:32)
all the indicators in the market right now are pointing towards revamping your sponsor packets and how you engage sponsors and what you should be offering them as benefits. ⁓ I think if yours has not been updated in like the last year or two, it's time. Yeah.
Leya Simmons (15:49)
Yeah, yeah.
That is, I think that's fascinating. like with those numbers at 71%, I can tell you, I was just reading yesterday that, what is it? Only, let's see, 86 % of first time donors to nonprofits, this is from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, 86 % of first time donors to nonprofits.
Misty Marquam (16:08)
Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (16:11)
will not donate again. So it's only 14 % that will come back. And you're telling me that 71 % of sponsors donating very large amounts of money will come back year over year. So that just says like, let's go do the work. Keep your ear to the ground. Data doesn't lie. Okay.
Misty Marquam (16:21)
Yeah.
Let's spend more time on that, right? That which is revenue producing. Yeah, totally agreed. Never does.
Leya Simmons (16:32)
Let's, if a nonprofit only uses like, you know, a couple of spreadsheets thrown together here, uh, you know, lapsed legacy CRM that's like gathering cobwebs in the background and then like, you know, just their, their gut feeling. And I talked to this guy who knew a person who said a thing was what, I know that you and I have both been part of those conversations. And what's the simplest way to like, for you to kind of nudge them into using data.
Misty Marquam (17:00)
my gosh. Well, A, you can't really have a plan to move forward if you don't know where you've been, right? It's like we need to know our history. So I think software is probably the easiest way to, mean, hello, better unite. You do this all day long. I mean, I'm preaching to the choir here, but no, ⁓ I think learning about what
Leya Simmons (17:07)
what happens. ⁓
⁓ We do. Well, just to me, everybody listening likes to hear it.
Misty Marquam (17:28)
solutions are out there knowing what you need and making sure that whatever you're choosing fulfills those needs right and then select one and actually use it because The other thing I see all the time is well We have one but we don't know how to use it and so forth Therefore they don't right and then you don't have that data at your fingertips You can't pull that easy report that takes you 10 seconds You're gonna have to go crunch a bunch of numbers and hope that your data is clean So that you get good results
Leya Simmons (17:30)
Mm-hmm.
And I gotta say, that's also a place, sorry Misty, but like, this is where the, you know, having an event solution also, and of course this is Better Unite, but this is other event solutions as well, that, you know, have that data in them that, you know, like, provide for you some form of reporting that you can access prior to the event and post event, and then.
Misty Marquam (17:58)
Right? So.
Yo!
Leya Simmons (18:20)
And again, here's our better unite thing, but this is why we're big fans of the single source of truth. That's the system of record where everything is going in as fluidly as we can get it so that we're able to get all that stuff. Sorry, I'm on your soapbox and I'm trying to get off to let you get back on it, but.
Misty Marquam (18:31)
Cleaner data. No, I love it. Clean
data is huge. Knowing where your data is is huge. Making sure it's accurate and up to date also huge. But then you can like get all that reporting. You can see over time like what's trending. How's my market responding to our messaging, our revenue streams, our strategy? Are we growing? Right? And without reporting like that, you just don't know. It's all
Leya Simmons (18:43)
huge.
Yeah.
Misty Marquam (18:59)
Like we really like this or we think and I'm here to say like I'm sure it was great and I'm I'm Glad you loved it and who cares what we think Let's let data inform what we think right like not just our feeling about it
Leya Simmons (19:14)
⁓
100%. But what like, so, I mean, I know that, you know, as somebody that works in software and talks to people about software all the time, I get this pushback that, you know, well, it's just too overwhelming, or I don't, you know, like, like you just described, it's here, it's there, we don't know how to get it all together. It's like, not really worth how, you know, when you have that, how do you kind of let help them, you know, get there without feeling completely overwhelmed? I'm not very good at that.
Misty Marquam (19:24)
Yeah.
my gosh. Well,
I mean, there's some pros you can talk to that know a lot of different software, right? That's one way to go. You can also just schedule demos with some of the software that you, you know, people in your market are using or that you've seen and you liked, but like learn about what they can actually do for you because once you have one, will never, mean, to be totally honest, you know, like when I talk to prospective organizations looking for event help,
Leya Simmons (19:47)
Consultants. Yep.
Misty Marquam (20:09)
in any way, if they're using spreadsheets, I'm likely going to be a no, because that's a bad guest experience, right? It's at the guest level, you know, I mean, not to mention at top level executive leadership level, but like, let's follow all the way down to at the event, and your guests are standing in line for way too long, because you're using a spreadsheet, right? That will impact fundraising at the event. So do I want to do that event? Probably not, because
Leya Simmons (20:15)
Really? Yeah.
Misty Marquam (20:39)
If they're unwilling to innovate their approach and really be data informed about how we go about it, we're probably not in alignment anyway.
Leya Simmons (20:47)
I, that's great to hear. it's, I totally hear you too with just what I'm honestly hearing you say Misty is don't be afraid. Like, you know, just like, even if it feels scary, what to be afraid of.
Misty Marquam (20:56)
Gosh, be afraid without them. That's when you should be afraid.
Yes.
Leya Simmons (21:05)
Awesome. Okay. When you look at last year's, so we're talking about sponsors, you look at last year's sponsor list, what indicators inform you who is most likely to renew versus who will churn?
Misty Marquam (21:09)
Mm-hmm.
That's a great question. And my first question is usually, did your sponsor even attend the event? Was their table empty? Did they surrender it? Did they fill it with a bunch of people that loved the free open bar but didn't really participate? Is this even a sponsor benefit that they want and use? That's number one. If they did go.
Leya Simmons (21:33)
Yeah.
Misty Marquam (21:42)
How was their experience? Did they learn something? Did they fall in love with your organization? Did they, you know, experience something that really made them feel your mission and action? Or better yet, did you honor their sponsorship and their investment in a way that like made them so happy, right? That's huge. When sponsors don't feel the love, right? That's a huge thing. And then probably, and most importantly,
Leya Simmons (22:00)
Feel special.
Misty Marquam (22:09)
Did any of the people that did attend, did they become a volunteer for your organization? Did they learn more about it? Did they experience your mission in a meaningful way or have some sort of personal tie to your organization? That's usually when we know for sure. It's a love ⁓ relationship now. We're not just dumping that. Yeah.
Leya Simmons (22:27)
Yeah. Yeah.
So you want to know as well, what I'm hearing in that is that you want to know what happened after the event with these folks as well. Yeah.
Misty Marquam (22:36)
Yes, yes.
Well, mean, sponsorship is relational. It should not just be like, hey, would you like to sponsor us this year? You know, that should not be the only time every year that our sponsors hear from us.
Leya Simmons (22:49)
100%. Absolutely. we're, you know, we hear, we talk a lot about ⁓ kind of momentum and momentum based fundraising and that you've got this wonderful, like you Misty have created this incredible environment in the room. Everybody's left feeling really good about, you know, how they participated and what they gave and what they're doing for your organization. And then like for them to not hear from you again for another 11, know, 10, 11 months is a missed opportunity. I mean, even if it's not just brood, it's also
Misty Marquam (22:57)
Mm-hmm.
Yep. Well, right.
mean, think of it like in any relationship, you know, like if you only text somebody once a year when you need them, are you a good friend? Right. You know, so I kind of feel like we need to be good friends to our sponsors if we want them to be good friends to us.
Leya Simmons (23:18)
they can do other things.
That is a very good analogy. Yeah.
Yeah.
You are just living up to my dream, guest. So hard. I love it. Okay. So when you're so talking, going back to the, you know, other activations or other things that folks are doing at their event to raise money, ⁓ additional revenue streams with the raffle, the wine pool, the game, silent auction. What metric you mentioned this earlier too, like, what are you looking at? What metrics are going to tell you, is this worth the staff's time?
Misty Marquam (23:38)
You're killing me. I love it.
Okay.
yes.
⁓ Well first, how many labor hours are you spending on that one revenue stream? Let's use a silent auction as a great example. I had a client, they had a $4,000 gross revenue from their silent auction. I'm not even gonna tell you how many packages they had because it's not a good precedence. And.
when they calculated how many labor hours it took to procure it, package it, schlep it to the site, schlep it, deliver, do all the things, they paid to have a silent auction, in essence. So like total labor hours, including all of your volunteers, the day of execution of it after the event or the revenue stream is over, what do you have to do to close it out, deliver the things, whatever.
Leya Simmons (24:39)
⁓ yeah.
Misty Marquam (24:54)
Did you actually net any money? And if so, is it worth the labor hours that you and your org spent doing it? Number one, I want to know about dollar amount earned relative to all the other revenue streams. like, let's say this thing made $15,000, but your events at 1.5 million, is it worth it at this event? So like, I like to kind of see the percentage of the pie that these revenue streams are making up.
Leya Simmons (25:21)
Ooh, that's a good visual.
Misty Marquam (25:22)
Right?
And then also I want to hear about what did your donors experience about that revenue stream? Is it something that they love? They have total fun. Maybe you're immersing them in your mission a little more. Okay. Maybe if it doesn't make a bunch of money, but it satisfies these other things, yes, it may be worth it. Right? So I think if the donors love it and they like ask for it, or if it's like serious mission immersion, then that can be a yes, even when the revenue doesn't point.
Leya Simmons (25:42)
sure.
Misty Marquam (25:52)
in that direction, right? And then lastly, does it fulfill one of those big five, the big five personality types, right? So you want the philanthropists, the competitive bidders, the shoppers, the gamblers, and the looky-loos, the onlookers or the staff, you know, or volunteers. We want something for each of those things. So I'm looking at that too, right? Does it satisfy one of those things without having multiple that satisfy one that are now competing with each other?
Leya Simmons (25:58)
⁓ yeah.
Well, so speaking about the silent auction, what what do you consider? Do you have a ratio? I'm sorry, I'm throwing this at you off the cuff. But you do? Okay, what's the ratio? Tell me.
Misty Marquam (26:29)
Yes, I do.
So usually for me, it's approximately one package per every five or six people in attendance, which I know that sounds super low. But really what our goal is, is we're trying to create a seller's market where everything sells for the highest value versus a buyer's market where everything sells at the lowest value. Right. So in order to do that, scarcity is one of the tactics kind of in my toolbox to get that done.
Leya Simmons (26:40)
What is that, Uh-huh.
Misty Marquam (26:58)
You don't want to overwhelm people with anything, you know, especially in the cocktail hour. Like I think of that as the appetizer and then the, you know, the paddle rays in the live auction could be your entree.
Leya Simmons (27:12)
That's another analogy, your foodie analogy. Me too. I do, I mean, sometimes I just look at these like gigantic silent auctions when I'm at events and it just like, pains my heart and I just feel the blood, sweat and tears of how much effort.
Misty Marquam (27:15)
Well, you know, I like to eat.
Yep.
I know.
every volunteer
that put that on. Yes.
Leya Simmons (27:34)
Yeah, and we have tried, I can tell you from the software side to make it as easy as possible. we've got item donation forms. We've got, you this like, don't, no longer have to have clipboards and pins everywhere and all, you know, but it is still not easy and it is still hard and it feels overwhelming to me too. I, I, hear that.
Misty Marquam (27:44)
right.
No.
absolutely.
And then really when you look at the whole fundraising pie, right? That sliver that a silent auction or an online auction might bring, you know, you just really have to do the data analysis. Was it worth the labor hours to put it on? Yeah.
Leya Simmons (27:56)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Are you, do you, are you seeing any changes in that? Are you seeing fewer silent? I mean, is this kind of starting to, cause I've been hearing this guidance for a while, but I do still see these, you know, gone to recently or, ⁓ events with like very, very big silent auctions that had also a lot of the same kind of stuff. Like that's the other one that I see.
Misty Marquam (28:16)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
We see, well, in my market now, silent auctions are definitely on the decline. of the silent auctions we see, not all, but most, they're now in an online environment so that ⁓ we can target people who are not coming to the event as well, right?
Leya Simmons (28:35)
Over.
I mean, I think that's
a great, it's also a very good hook when you want people to put their credit card on file to make check-in move faster. Like having a silent auction can get that, make that, get that done, but it doesn't have to be huge.
Misty Marquam (28:49)
Yeah... Well... Yeah...
And the data also shows for us at least, when we put the same package in an online environment, silent auction versus a traditional paper bidding silent auction, we're making 15, 20 % more on the same packages in an online environment. And usually that's due to it being open longer and being marketed to more people than just the few who are at your event that night.
Leya Simmons (29:19)
I am
embarrassed that I do not have that stat myself. I should. That's a very good stat. Thank you. I love it. So I'm also curious, like I promise you, this is coming up. If it's not already in the chat, it will be in there in a minute. How long do you think a silent auction should be open prior to the event? And for how long do you think it should be held open after the event?
Misty Marquam (29:23)
I can share you with you later little offline nugget.
Okay.
Yeah. So
you're talking about an online auction, right? It's an online silent auction. Yeah. Okay. So I'm only going to speak for my market because I don't have the feedback from donors everywhere else. But the Pacific Northwest region, kind of the West Coast, they do not want to hear about an online auction for more than seven days. They start to get really irritable when it's day eight, day nine, day 10. They're just like, be over already.
Leya Simmons (29:46)
Online, yes, where you're letting other people bid and yes.
Misty Marquam (30:08)
Right. So I think somewhere between five and seven days is kind of like that sweet spot before we get annoying, but it's enough time to give people time to check it. You know, your silent auction is not number one priority for your donor receiving the marketing email about it. Right. So you got to give them a few days to ease into it and you've got to continue marketing. But yeah, five to seven days. Is that a good.
Leya Simmons (30:33)
That actually lines
up exactly with the data that we see, which is that we have, we see that if it's open at a minimum three days, but at a maximum five days prior to the event and open at most 24 hours post event, but open some amount after the event, then that will see it's, I don't have the exact number in front of me, but I want to say it's like a 17 % spike in overall.
Misty Marquam (30:38)
Fancy that.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Leya Simmons (30:59)
how the auction is doing relative to other auctions that were just one
Misty Marquam (30:59)
Yeah.
I love using
the event as promotion for the online auction, right? I love making announcements about it, pitching it from stage, QR codes everywhere, so it makes it super easy for people to bid right from their chair, right? I think it's a great way to get more from the same things that you already have. And then you don't have to schlep everything to and from. You don't have to make sure that, you know, the packaging is
Leya Simmons (31:07)
Yeah.
Nah.
Misty Marquam (31:28)
perfect to go home with the right person tonight. You can take care of that standalone, not as part of the event, making it much easier night of.
Leya Simmons (31:37)
I was at an event or I was talking to somebody about their event. I think I went to this event last year. I think it was last year. Might have been the year before. I think she was the executive director, did this really cool thing where she organized like a silent auction item pickup the next day at like four in the afternoon. They got a local coffee shop to like.
Misty Marquam (31:56)
Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (31:58)
you know, donate a coffee for everybody that came by and the support of the event. And I just thought it was this lovely donor touch that I had never really, you know, I've heard of a lot of delivery services, but having this like almost social gathering to come get your silent auction items at a local place seemed like, yeah, I know, right. Okay. Sorry. Back into the, so from your perspective, an auctioneer's perspective, what is, if there's just one data back change, what makes the room spend more?
Misty Marquam (32:03)
That's great.
Mm-hmm. It's a great idea. Great idea. Uh-huh.
I can't give you just one. Can I give you multiple? In no particular order because my mind's like, this, this, this, this. So I think timing, timing, sequencing, and your run of show content is huge. You have to tailor it for fundraising outcomes, right? Not that rave we talked about earlier, but like a fundraising event. ⁓
Leya Simmons (32:27)
Okay. No for dinner.
Misty Marquam (32:49)
And based on what we know from reviewing so many events worth of data, we understand this. So like, I'll use a great example. Welcome everybody. You know, you're starting your live program and it's 10 minutes of recognizing all the VIPs and the sponsors and thank you and thank you. That bores people out of their gourds. see less. They start to sit back. You see that, that body language that says, I'm no longer interested in this. Is that a great way to start a program?
Leya Simmons (33:19)
That's it.
Misty Marquam (33:19)
No, not a fundraising is your goal, right? Same thing with like,
⁓ like starting kicking off with an award and then having your fundraising be the last thing in your, please, let's look at the data on that because yeah, you're, or a long keynote before fundraising, like you want the entree again in the middle, right? It's dinner, that may be dessert or.
Leya Simmons (33:31)
You're definitely going to lose some folks.
Misty Marquam (33:44)
⁓ appetizer, but the entree is the fundraising, right? So I think just making sure that we know that fundraising is what our goal is. That's one big thing. ⁓ I will also say you cannot underestimate the power of a fantastic video imagery like on your PowerPoints, video walls with just, mean, I would just say lean into technology because people remember the things that they hear much better when they also see it, right?
Leya Simmons (33:48)
Mm-hmm.
Misty Marquam (34:13)
I think if I remember correctly, 70 to 80 % of the people in the world are more visually dominant than auditory anyway. So if we're not giving them things to see, right, and with kind of experience in that visual way, that's not gonna work for your best outcome either.
Leya Simmons (34:27)
Right.
I mean, I regularly cry at those videos. I regularly cry.
Misty Marquam (34:34)
Me too, but I don't regularly
cry with speeches, right? But I almost always cry with a really well done video, right? Because you see that B-roll, you see all that imagery, it makes a huge difference. ⁓ would, yeah, I would also say, you know, back to that seller's market, create a seller's market strategically, not a buyer's market. Because then everything goes for less and you have to work so much harder in volume to make the same amount of money.
Leya Simmons (34:40)
No, never. once. 100%.
It's like immersive in some way.
Hmm.
Misty Marquam (35:04)
And then finally, would say diversify what you're offering people and the price points that you're offering. So like don't have five $50 activities, right? Have a hundred dollar and a $50 and a 20, right? So that there's some diversity there. ⁓ And again, something to satisfy each one of those big five personalities. I know I talk about it all the time, but you cannot neglect how important that is because there are some people like,
Leya Simmons (35:25)
No.
Misty Marquam (35:31)
for example, the gambling personality, are so not likely to participate in your live auction or your paddle raise or in any other place except for a game of chance or like a raffle, right? So you do want...
Leya Simmons (35:44)
Interesting. I would have thought they
would participate in the live auction. That feels like gambling, but I guess it's not.
Misty Marquam (35:49)
Yeah, but it's
it's a high dollar buy in versus a low dollar buy in, which is what they're wanting. Yeah. Yeah.
Leya Simmons (35:54)
Okay. Gotcha. Interesting. Okay. So the
drum beat is five personalities. Let's make sure we got something for each one in all of the aspects. Okay. What then? Oh, well, we already kind of talked about this. The biggest mistakes you see with silent auctions. Although I don't know that you really did. Did we say one specific one?
Misty Marquam (36:04)
Yep. Yep.
⁓ there's so many mistakes.
No, well, I think one is not putting them online. You know, just doing a traditional paper bid. Let me have the caveat be, it depends who your demographic in the room is. Like if it's a bunch of my mom's, my mom and her friends, they're not going to bid with their phone. I'm going to give them a piece of paper and you know, I want that to be put out there. But for everybody else, the online.
Leya Simmons (36:19)
There, there, there.
Misty Marquam (36:41)
What you get from an online auction versus what you get from a traditional silent auction is so different that you might as well just go ahead and put it online. ⁓ The other is that more is better mentality. You don't want that. You want to create the seller's market so that everything is selling for top dollar. And then refine procurement too. Don't just offer any old thing. here's a pair of Nike ladies pants size medium.
Leya Simmons (36:49)
you
Misty Marquam (37:10)
That is, it's not a garage sale, right? So like make each thing be sexy that appeals to more people and shows in your historical data has been selling around retail value or even better, higher than retail value. Those are yes. Everything that's selling at like 30, 50 % of value, that's a no. Don't continue doing that. And then I think just layout, like traditional paper bidding, silent auction, too crowded.
Leya Simmons (37:11)
Yeah, that's real specific.
Yeah, don't do it again next year, for sure.
interesting.
Yeah.
Misty Marquam (37:38)
Right, people,
Americans especially, we want to be able to extend our elbows on both sides of us. Otherwise, they won't bid. They will not bid. If they feel crowded right then, nope. ⁓ You want to think of your silent auction like a retail window, you're browsing, right? So you want to like merchandise it, make it look pretty, light it up, curate it, use elevation, use, you know, just diversity of how you display things. I always say to like,
Leya Simmons (37:43)
Yeah.
and yeah, I love that.
Misty Marquam (38:09)
Black tablecloths are for funerals, right? Don't put your silent auction on a dead black. It just sucks the light and the energy out of it. I would use like bright colors, your brand colors, your event colors, whatever, but like get some color in your silent auction. That's a huge one as well. I would say no signage or little signage or too little of, you know, small of signage. No volunteers there, you know, soliciting folks or helping them place their bids.
Leya Simmons (38:16)
You're right. I haven't thought about that.
Misty Marquam (38:38)
No strategic communications, no marketing, right? No announcements from your auctioneer. These are all things that'll just help boost sales, right? If you do them right. And stop putting baby in the corner. Can I just say that? Do not go put it in the far wall, in the dark, by itself, nothing. I mean, baby wants to come to the rave. Like bring baby to the middle of the room. Make everybody have to walk around baby and interact with baby. Otherwise,
Leya Simmons (38:57)
Yes it is.
You worked hard on, baby.
Misty Marquam (39:07)
Nobody's going to on purpose go visit baby, know, baby's the greater.
Leya Simmons (39:11)
Right. Baby's
a greeter. Ooh, I like that. I am just like sitting here going through all of these silent auctions that I've gone to and I'm like, yes, you're so right. Like when it's inviting and it looks pretty and you're right when it's like
Misty Marquam (39:21)
right?
Leya Simmons (39:25)
already out there and I can kind of see it and I know what I'm walking up to. I'm so much more inclined to go over and take a look and I'm not I am a typical American like I don't like walking into crowds. just also I'm old and so I'm like uh-uh I don't want to I don't want to be crowded anymore.
Misty Marquam (39:32)
Yeah!
Yeah, so I think all those
things make a huge difference and it's not just about the stuff. It's about the experience of experiencing your stuff, right? Right.
Leya Simmons (39:48)
Yeah, experience. I'm having a mind blown moment. totally,
I am so agreeing with everything that you're saying and I can literally picture them in my head.
Misty Marquam (39:56)
⁓ Yeah,
you don't want it to feel like you're going to like the Goodwill bins, okay? You want it to be like a Nordstrom Christmas window display. Like that's kind of the difference I'm talking about. Like you want to feel good when you're doing it as well as do it. ⁓ Right?
Leya Simmons (40:02)
Yeah. ⁓
Yeah. Yeah.
It's probably more fun to put up that way. mean, you know, and also if you're using an online bidding platform, like with Better Unite, you get QR codes for every auction item. So those then, you know, when they've clicked through the link at check-in that QR code, when they scan it, takes them right to their own bidding page. So it's literally like having the piece of paper there. They just scan the QR code and they're on their phone immediately. I know that makes me happy too. I, yeah, a little pot on the environmentalist back as well.
Misty Marquam (40:17)
Yeah.
Yes.
Yep. And we are saving so many trees, y'all. Me too.
Leya Simmons (40:42)
And just so much time and effort too. Like, let's not make that small either. Okay, so you talked about run of show a little bit and sequencing. What are the absolute like non-negotiable timing rules that you will follow? And then what data, if you have any, that will tell you that a program is too long or like, here's the moment we know we're gonna lose people or, okay, I hear the laughing, yay.
Misty Marquam (40:43)
Totally! Yes.
Well, it's funny, the data is watching people walk out the door. That's my data. Every time. That happens at about 57 minutes on average in a live program in this region. That's when I start to see people like scooting back from their tables. They're not facing the stage anymore. They're gathering their belongings, right? They're prepping to go, y'all. So like I need to know.
Leya Simmons (41:08)
Okay, that's why I feel that strong.
⁓ that's very specific. Okay.
Yeah.
Misty Marquam (41:30)
that, like do we have a two hour run of show? Because if that's the case, you need to get your fundraising done way, way, way in advance. So non-negotiable rules, okay, for a ⁓ run of show. Do not end with your fundraising. Just don't do that. Dumb. Don't even bother having it be a fundraiser then because 30 % of the money just walked out the door, right? In our rooms, donors will be seated when fundraising.
Leya Simmons (41:38)
Mm-hmm.
Period.
yeah.
Misty Marquam (41:57)
You can do all the things, but when we're having your live program and when we're fundraising, we are not talking to a cocktail hour of annoyed people whose feet hurt and asking them for money. We're seeding them and giving them a better experience and curating it so that they're paying attention to the messaging and the stories and they consume all that. They're much better donors then. What else? ⁓ fundraising, would say, has to be over prior to 9 p.m.
Leya Simmons (42:17)
Yeah.
Okay. Okay.
Misty Marquam (42:27)
Period. Like
in almost every market I've ever seen, anything that happens later than then is just not as good. We see money walking out the door. And on that note, I will say we have seen an uptick in like brunches, breakfasts, luncheons, things like that that are less expensive to put on mainly because of catering and you know, during off peak fundraising times and days and seasons.
you often get discounts from vendors as well. So it's cheaper to host it, and they generally do just as well. So food for thought there.
Leya Simmons (43:01)
I mean, do you worry
though that it's like, here was always my worry with this when I was ⁓ running fundraising events. The organization I worked with, my last gig before I came to Better Unite, there was a fundraising breakfast and it was difficult because it's very early that you're up there and doing all those things. And I always wondered if maybe it was just a little less fun than an evening event. And I never, like I don't have any data to talk to you about that, but.
Misty Marquam (43:08)
Mm-hmm.
Leya Simmons (43:28)
What would you say if that was somebody's concern? If the luncheon and brunch, they, I mean, will they feel as fun as an evening event?
Misty Marquam (43:30)
gosh.
kind of think it
depends on your demographic and what they think is fun. So for example, if having three glasses of wine is a requirement for someone to have fun, no, they're not going to be as much fun. But if you're not basing it around like, let's drink more, you if you have a good planner on your side with a vision, they'll execute fun, like fun is not reserved for after 5pm with a glass of wine in your hand. That's I'm just here to say, but you have to plan it accordingly.
Leya Simmons (43:39)
No.
It's not gonna be good, yeah.
Agreed. Yeah.
Misty Marquam (44:05)
You have to know, what will people expect from a breakfast, timing-wise, run-of-show-wise, food-wise, versus a lunch, versus a brunch, versus a dinner.
Leya Simmons (44:15)
I do know, remember there in that, in that case, the brunch and the luncheon, I've worked on both, like that timing has to be crazy tight because like there is a moment that everyone will literally leave and go about their day. Yeah.
Misty Marquam (44:21)
Mm-hmm.
Yep. Amen to that.
So yeah, I mean, let's see, what other non-negotiables do I have for, I mean, timing of the program, like I said, 57 minutes, people are starting to get ready to leave. So I would say plan for 45, 50 minutes. You know, it'll always run a little longer, but be done by 70 minutes, period, end of story. People are goldfish anymore since the pandemic, you know.
Leya Simmons (44:48)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that's a long
time to sit. It really is. Like most movies rarely get there.
Misty Marquam (44:56)
It really is. And
I'm sorry, if it takes you more than an hour to lay the fundraising stage and tell your story, then we've got more than just a fundraising problem. We've probably got a marketing and communications problem as well, right? We need to be succinct about that.
Leya Simmons (45:06)
Be careful.
Yeah.
So then what do you, so where, what is your kind of ideal sequence? What do you, you know, where do you place what, if you were designing the perfect one and I could do whatever you wanted.
Misty Marquam (45:18)
Hmm.
Yeah. Well,
gosh, it really depends. So there's not a general rule for this, but I will tell you, I generally like to lead with the appeal or the paddle raise. I don't like to put her at the end because we make 80 % or more of our revenue from the stage at the paddle raise, not at the live auction, not at the raffle, not at anything else. And so I would prioritize that.
Leya Simmons (45:33)
Okay.
Misty Marquam (45:47)
But more than that, I look at each event and each organization very uniquely, and I learn from their historical data and what they've done before. So I would just say, talk with your whoever's your auctioneer, your fundraising person, and let them lead this conversation, because they're going to ask all the right questions about your organization, your event, to actually be able to give you some options that are successful that don't end with your fundraising, because we never do that.
Leya Simmons (45:53)
Yeah.
Right.
Misty Marquam (46:16)
Don't treat the appeal like an afterthought, the paddle raise, right? It is the heartbeat of the live program. It should be central to every communications tenant. All of your content should be building up to what we're talking about at the appeal story, right? And here's the misconception I get all the time. It's like, well, we want to do the live auction because maybe if that person doesn't get a live auction, then they'll contribute to our paddle raise. I'm here to tell you those are two separate
Leya Simmons (46:22)
why we're there.
We are.
Misty Marquam (46:44)
buckets of donor demographic. Not that they won't ever be the same person, but it's not very likely that they will. And over 60 % of donor units or bid units usually participate at a paddle raise, where approximately 12 % on average ⁓ of donor bid units would bid on a live auction or win a live auction. So why not start with the most inclusive part of the event?
Leya Simmons (47:08)
Interesting.
Misty Marquam (47:13)
Right? So that's in general kind of high level without knowing anything about the organization, this hypothetical organization I'm planning an event for. I would just look at all those things before I'd make a recommendation. But I do think prioritizing the paddle raise is like, it's, it's the big thing. Yeah.
Leya Simmons (47:23)
Sorry, my fault.
Key, not at the end,
100 % of the time. Otherwise, okay. And I mean, I think that individualized approach, Misty, is why you're very successful and why ⁓ the need for that conversation is so vital. Okay, I wanted to, I have some lightning round questions for you, but we're already at 2.18, I can't believe this. And so I wanted to make sure, I'm checking the, ⁓ you'll get the recording this week.
Misty Marquam (47:49)
okay.
my gosh.
Leya Simmons (47:57)
I can answer that question. ⁓ What are the most important data you should be collecting? Do you have a like maybe one that you would spit out Misty for the absolute like if you can't get anything, you only get one. Yeah.
Misty Marquam (48:05)
Well, all the ones I mentioned at the top,
but ⁓ I mean total revenue earned versus what you spent to put on the event. That's probably the most really honestly the most important one. You got to keep your expenses in check and look at the things that are making you money that you're spending money on, which I would consider an investment versus like table decor, you know, not making you any money and cause it costing you money.
Leya Simmons (48:22)
Yeah.
Okay, so actually I'm refining this question for Jenna because she has, in the next step says, what she's actually talking, referencing is ⁓ the attendee data. So what should you be getting, if anything more than the obvious name, ⁓ name, address, phone number, email? I think that's what she means, yes. Name, address, phone number.
Misty Marquam (48:51)
Like on the front end.
I mean,
I'd like to capture their credit card, of course, too. I mean, just to pre-vault it so that that experience, when they get to your event, they're like picking up a big card and going into the cocktail hour. They're not standing in line as their first or last experience at your event. Right?
Leya Simmons (49:12)
Love that. Thank you for saying that out loud. Yes. And
you know, there's a lot of tech around as they're purchasing a ticket, they can keep the card on file for use at the event and.
Misty Marquam (49:21)
Yes. And you
can sell them a raffle ticket right then and there. And you can, you know, buy into all the things. Let tech ease the burden night of that's like my big thing is what would you want if you were the donor? You would not want to have your first thing be 10 minutes in a line.
Leya Simmons (49:40)
Yeah, I totally agree. Waiting is a line between you and your friends and a drink. Like that just does not sound appealing to anybody ever. Okay, that's exactly right. So let's do a couple of lightning rounds because I have some really good questions here and I don't wanna miss them. So I wanna hear what you say. Okay, first one, I know I'm kinda already sweating. Do you see or predict any fundraising trends for nonprofits right now?
Misty Marquam (49:42)
Right?
In fact, I'd probably just skip it at that point.
Okay. Okay. you're going to make me sweat.
⁓ yes. So, well, just on the giving landscape, we're seeing a lot of micro giving. So people giving more often throughout the year, but lesser dollar amounts like monthly donor ship that is up. Peer to peer fundraising, also up like social media driven campaigns, things like that, that are standalone that don't involve necessarily the event. It's just its own little fundraising campaign, right? So we're seeing a lot of that.
Leya Simmons (50:12)
love hearing that.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Misty Marquam (50:33)
We're also seeing big sponsorship fluctuations in the market. think I mentioned that a little bit earlier like Stop thinking about it like a menu where are you know, you're a gold sponsor You get X Y & Z let gold sponsor tell you what they would like their X Y & Z to be Have it be like a buffet and they can just like pick and choose the things that they want, right? So we're seeing a lot more of that
Leya Simmons (50:49)
I love that piece of guidance.
Huh?
That's great, I love that. Okay, what's the best way to predict whether a paddle raise will be strong before you ever step up on the stage?
Misty Marquam (51:04)
Ooh, ooh, did I consult? ⁓ Right? Did a BAS auctioneer actually consult on this strategy? Because if they didn't, ooh, it's scary. Did the video crush? Right? Was it amazing? Did I see a ton of B-roll? Did you immerse me in your mission? Did I feel something as a result of it? Did I have 30 % of my gifts and my goal pre-committed? That's usually a big one for me to create that momentum to get going.
Leya Simmons (51:11)
Yes, if it auctioneers start, yes.
Mm-hmm.
⁓ we haven't talked about that.
Yes. ⁓
Misty Marquam (51:33)
Pre-commitments is key. I like
one to two gifts pre-committed at all my big levels, my larger levels, usually anything above $1,000. And do we have any sort of incentivization at levels that are struggling? I'd like to also know how many people gave what at each of those levels last year. What kind of story and scripting did we have around it? Did we have any specific mission moments or imagery on the PowerPoints?
Leya Simmons (51:53)
Mm-hmm.
Misty Marquam (52:01)
Was what I said matching what they're looking at like that makes a big difference Right. So ⁓ we cannot overlook matching opportunities. So okay little date data It harvested this so that I would have some nuggets to drop for you But when we do a one-to-one challenge match at ⁓ an appeal we're seeing an average right now of 19 stimulation over what we made the year before okay, but if
Leya Simmons (52:05)
Yeah.
ammunition. Love it.
Okay, that's really good
to know.
Misty Marquam (52:29)
We have enough money to offer a two to one. So like you give a dollar our matching donors gonna give two you're gonna triple your impact tonight. We're seeing almost 30 % So hidden secret Yeah Right, that was not the case up until last year that became a thing last year it was much lower than that like half Yeah Right
Leya Simmons (52:40)
my gosh, look at that. That's really I would not have guessed that I honestly wouldn't have yeah
Interesting.
We all just got a lot more competitive, I guess.
Misty Marquam (52:57)
Right, so I also think
Leya Simmons (52:57)
Whatever.
Misty Marquam (52:59)
⁓ DAFs, donor advised funds are on the rise. People are using those a lot more. ⁓ I already said monthly giving opportunities. I think that's a huge one. And then I would also say like, you know, do we have anything fun planned for the paddle raise itself? Like for example, I have a client that they have these little 15, 20 second video vignette.
Leya Simmons (53:03)
Yep. Yep.
Yeah.
Misty Marquam (53:20)
that they'll play silently so there's no audio. It's just imagery about what I'm talking about when I'm introducing. And our next level of giving is $5,000. $5,000 could help us do things like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, they're seeing blah, blah, blah, blah, blah on the screen via video and it's mesmerizing for the donors. Yes, they love it. They love it.
Leya Simmons (53:38)
Really, that's a very good tip too. Great. Okay,
great tips. Okay, last one. Ready? If you could tell every ED one thing about event strategy using historical data, what would it be?
Misty Marquam (53:49)
⁓
huh. Use it.
Leya Simmons (53:53)
I should have guessed that answer.
Misty Marquam (53:54)
Right? Who cares what
we think? Let the data guide us. Use the data. Make sure it's clean data. I mean, that's the other thing is like data is not all equal. It has to be actually representative of the real reality. ⁓ and then use a robust management or like CRM or at least an event software at the very least. I know that's more than one thing.
Leya Simmons (54:01)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Misty on that note,
coming from Better Unite. No, I'm just kidding. was, this is Better Unite. It's an option out there. It's one. not? We should say that. It was so wonderful to talk to you. had a really good time. I'm not sweating too much either after the lightning round. So I hope you aren't either, but thank you. I mean, I really, feel like I said, I had several mind blown moments in that conversation today. So that was just wonderful. And here I'm going to put up, no, I wanted to put up first.
Misty Marquam (54:23)
Yes, use better unite. Your life will be so much easier.
Thank you.
Leya Simmons (54:47)
Where is it? man, I don't have it. So I was gonna find a Misty ⁓ email address, but.
Email support at betterunite.com, support at betterunite.com. Any other questions or if there's questions that we didn't get to in the chat, please, which I know there was one, ⁓ please do send those over and we will make sure that you're in touch with Misty and that she gets the answers or we get the answers to you. So Misty, thank you, thank you, thank you for your time today. I so appreciate it. And I know everyone on this call does too. Yeah. And taking time in the middle of event season, like I feel very special. I'm not going to lie. Thank you.
Misty Marquam (55:12)
Thank you. It was great being here. Awesome. Thank you.
You should. I love you. Mwah.
Leya Simmons (55:23)
All
right, next week you get me so join us again next week you can scan the QR code to register We are going to talk about federal funding getting cut and what do we do now? We are literally going to provide a guide and a playbook an action plan for those who have lost big chunks of revenue Due to the I think it's 13 billion dollar Cuts that the federal government have ⁓ has has impacted our nonprofit sector
So radically. let's talk about strategies to overcome these hurdles. so yeah, scan that QR code March 17th, next Tuesday at 1 30 again, right here. And I would love to see you then as well as showing you that if you'd like to take a look at better unite, we mentioned it a few times, please scan that QR code. And we would love to show you a demo, show you how better unite can improve your event and auction experience to make your benefit auctioneer specialist very, very happy.
and not to mention all of your guests and donors. ⁓ Misty, again, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time and it was just so much fun chatting with you and talking to you today.
Misty Marquam (56:33)
Thank you. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. It was so fun.
Leya Simmons (56:35)
Of course,
of course. Thank you all as well for spending an hour with us and have a wonderful rest of your day. Now let's all go do some good. See you later. Bye bye.
Benefit auctioneer Erin Kienzel joins BetterUnite CEO Leya Simmons to share proven strategies for maximizing nonprofit auction success. From...
Join benefit auctioneer specialist TiWanna Kenney in BetterUnite’s latest webinar and learn expert strategies to elevate your nonprofit’s live...
Discover the top 3 revenue streams for your gala — Paddle Raise, Live Auction, and Golden Ticket — with BetterUnite and benefit auctioneer Dean...