Interesting procurement opportunity

Had a conversation today with a guy named Scott Merrin.  He's got a great story - for years he was The Guy at American Airlines who got all of the letters from auction chairs, asking for donated tickets.  He made the decision who got a donation, and who didn't.  And he saw a whole lot of mediocre letters, from chairs who had no real understanding of why he would choose one request over another. Plus a few really good ones, from savvy chairs who did.

He doesn't do that job anymore.  He's an entrepreneur now, running a company called Silent Partners.  He has a huge database of people in the kind of job he used to have.  And he knows what makes a great procurement letter.  And (for a fee) he will send letters on our letterhead, over my name, to his database.

Interesting...

Next up: Credit-Card Processing Account

What am I working on now?

Credit-card processing.  It's vital; people just spend more if they know they can put it on a card.  Bidding goes higher in the live; people signup for more easel-parties, etc. PLUS, it lets us sell tickets online (when coupled with our SchoolAuction.net website) and we can use it throughout the year for things like selling Chinook Books, etc.

And something I know to be true: we can use pretty much any bank we want.  There are specialized services designed to just provide credit-card processing services to fundraising auctions; the biggest such player (Greater Giving/Auctionpay) has their offices just a few miles down the highway from us. There's another one in Minnesota. But like any middleman/specialty reseller of services, these companies mark up the fees, by any where from 1 to 2% (the underlying bank fees range from 1.74%-2.5%, based on a whole bunch of qualifications.)  In return, they give you an "express pay" service - you can have guests swipe their card when they check in at the beginning of the night, and then if they don't want to wait in a line at check out, they can just leave, and you can charge them later.

But you know what? There really isn't a need anymore for these specialized resellers.  There are many, many "regular" merchant-processing banks that are willing to compete for non-profit accounts - even PTAs. Couple that with an Internet Payment Gateway, and I can integrate it into our auction software to provide for swiping at check-in (the "express pay" option), and thus, a quick and easy check-out on auction night. And if I skip the specialized reseller, then I can get away with paying about half the processing charges. Woo hoo!

So, I have an application sitting in my inbox, from a local company, and I'm going to get that filled out (with the PTA Treasurer's help) in the next day or two.  The rates are reasonable (interchange plus 0.35%) and the service is great, and it's going to work well.

A Date, A Venue, An Announcement

Much of the planning for our auction has been suspended for the past two weeks, while the PTA and Foundation wrapped up the Fall Fundraiser (a Fun Run) and I negotiated a date with our preferred venue.

I'm delighted to report that the negotiations (and the Fun Run, for that matter) are finished. Our auction is going to be on April 8th, at the Multnomah Arts Center. Yay! Now I just have to call the auctioneer back to see if he is available on that day (pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease!)

And the PTA sent out an announcement yesterday that it is on. So that's good.

Checking In

Anyone who has ever chaired an auction will understand, when I apologize for not blogging for almost a week and explain why.

We're in a little bit of flux, regarding dates (the calendar was already almost full before I ever volunteered to do this), and the venue (there is a preferred venue whose calendar for next spring has very few available dates).  I think I have an auctioneer, but I've only confirmed him for one of the possible dates (which works on the school calendar, but not at the preferred venue).

Problems like these can make a person crazy, but there are many more crazy-making opportunities ahead of me. So I choose to see it as just the current challenge.  Auction chairs, like any managers, must take these in stride.

Another way to handle procurement

Today, out in North Carolina, the Garris Chapel Church is holding their all-day fundraiser and silent auction. They are using SchoolAuction.net to manage it, and as such I've had occasion to talk to the chair a few times about the event.

What they do, that I have never seen another group do, is they ask all of the attendees to bring items for the silent auction with them when they show up at the event. They enter the items in the database at the same time they check in the guests, print bid sheets for the items on the spot, and put the items out on the table then for bidding.  They don't really know how many items they will have in the silent auction until it is almost over (due to late arrivals), but they also don't send out procurement letters or knock on doors.

I thought that was a pretty interesting idea. I'm not going to use it this year myself, but can see using it with a future event.

Thursdays, Saturdays and an Auctioneer

We may have a date.

The PTA Board voted for March 12th - a Saturday.  I had recommended March 10th, but primarily on the grounds that, this late in the game, I knew we would have problems booking an auctioneer, caterer and a venue on a Saturday night in the middle of the spring auction season.

And sure enough, one auctioneer just laughed at me when I asked her about her availability on the 12th.  But another auctioneer here in town, who I like a lot, does have an opening.  I'm talking to him later today.  And to the preferred venue - lets keep our fingers crossed.

I still like the idea of Thursdays - the conventional wisdom is that a Thursday event is less of a party than a Saturday event would be.  But I've seen a few Thursday school auctions and they have all been great successes, so it isn't Destiny that a Thursday event will be a dud.  And the costs are lower (several venues around here will donate a Thursday night to a school for an auction). But hey, these things are group decisions, and as long as we can make it work, I don't need to be a rebel.

On Signup Parties (aka Socials, Easel Parties, Pay-to-Plays, etc.)

As mentioned in an earlier post, there will be signup parties at this auction.

What's a signup party? Here's an example. Mike and Rebecca (parents of a sophomore at Hypothetical High School) decide that, as their contribution to the HHS auction, they are willing to host 12 people at their house on the day of the Kentucky Derby, and serve these people mint juleps and fabulous tasty food. It's well-known in the HHS community that Mike and Rebecca's house features a patio with a spectacular view of the valley and a gorgeous garden, and Rebecca has an awfully sharp wit and so we KNOW that people are going to want to go to the party.

The Procurement Chair and Rebecca sit down to discuss the idea over a julep or two, and decide to charge $35 per person for the 12 slots.  The Procurement Chair takes a few pictures of the patio and the view and a mint julep, and enters the Kentucky Derby Bash as a Signup item into the auction software, with a quantity of 12, and a price of $35.

On the night of the auction, the Procurement Chair puts a signup sheet on a table, surrounds it with pictures of the patio, of  the mint julep, and of last year's winning horse.  Guests who want to attend write their names down, and at check-out, pay $35 for the slot.  After the event, the Auction Chair prints out a report with the names of the people who signed up, and Rebecca emails them to tell them how much fun the party is going to be, and when to show up.

The auction books $420 in contributions from that item alone ($35 x 12 guests), and everyone is happy.

Here's a link to another blog post on Socials, by a woman I met through the PTA Great Idea Bank website.