Learning Center
How to Make Your Committee Meeting a Success
How To Make Your Fundraising Committee Meeting a Success
You've done your homework and are excited about the real benefits that online auctions could bring to your organization's fundraising efforts. Next step: you need to convince your board or fundraising committee. We've learned some tips and tricks from our clients that can help you make the meeting a success.
Prepare Well and Have All the Information You'll Need
- Select a date, time and location that will maximize attendance, so that the committee is able to make a decision that day.
- Develop a specific agenda, not a generic one that is used at all meetings.
- Do not overcrowd the agenda - discussing a new method of fundraising is likely to occupy most of the meeting.
- Prepare information packets in advance and distribute to all committee members in the format they prefer. Be sure to include:
- Prior years' fundraising results and costs, including staff and volunteer hours
- 2 or 3 online auction case studies on organizations that are similar to yours
- Description of the features and benefits of a cMarket online auction
- Pre-sell committee members in advance. Describe the opportunity to reach beyond your current bidder base, add more value for donors and sponsors, easily grow your auction catalog, and make more money in a cost- and resource-effective manner.
- Avoid surprises. Think through the questions that committee members are likely to ask - such as costs, required effort, available training and support resources, impact on donors and sponsors, expected response from your community, integration with your live event - and have your answers ready. cMarket can provide all the information you need.
- Consider using a cMarket auction expert on a conference call to provide a live demonstration or to be available to answer questions from the committee.
- Present solutions, not questions.
- If you have an internet connection in the room, use a computer to show a currently running auction from an organization that is similar to yours - BiddingForGood.com makes searching open auctions easy.
