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From April 1st until May 30th, your challenge is to find a picture of me enjoying one of the travel experiences on the Mission First Fundraising website. Explore packages in domestic and international travel, sporting events, all-inclusive, and more. If you find me, click my picture to register to WIN 10% OFF a travel experience of your choice to use at your next fundraising event! I could be climbing a mountain, up early fishing, out for a night on the town, or warming up on the beach! Hope to see you soon. Good luck!
Contestants MUST be affiliated with a non-profit organization and participate in the organization’s fundraising efforts. One entry per email address will be permitted.
The winner will be randomly picked using a digital winner’s wheel. Tune into our Facebook Live on May 30th at 1:00pm to watch us pick our winner in real time! Our lucky winner will be notified via email. This email will be sent by a Mission First team member from winner_notifications@missionfirstfundraising.org.
The travel experience is to be used in one of your fundraising events within 12 months of the winner notification date. Mission First Fundraising will need to be notified of the trip you have chosen no later than 60 days before your event date. All terms and conditions for the travel experience you choose will remain the same. These terms can be found at the bottom of each trip details page. The winner will receive 10% off the ‘cost to non-profit’ price and utilize the Mission First Fundraising event portfolio to redeem their winnings. 10% is not to exceed $1,000 value.
The reason why this is sought after is the quality of the accommodations, choices of locations in Mexico with a great rate of return for your Nonprofit. 7 nights for 2 adults and if you would like, 2 children under 12 included with no extra cost. Some locations included the only Cirque du Soleil outside of the US, PGA quality golf courses, and/or water and entertainment parks to rival some of the largest in the US.
The appeal of this is the Luxury Private Residence 2 bed/2 bath condo which allows for 2 couples to enjoy a 3 nigth stay and Bourbon experience in Lexington Kentucky. There are 4 Tours with Tastings of 4 of 18 distilleries that you know and love. To wrap up the perfect trip, there is a Steakhouse dinner at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse there in Lexington.
All Inclusive trips are trending again and we have a great selection including this 5 night stay in Costa Rica. The beauty of this travel experience is a choice of 4 and 5 star resorts based on when you would like to travel. This offers flexibility and accommodations tailored to your taste. With pricing for our All Inclusive packages ranging from $1,400 to $1,900 these are a great value for your donors and a great return for your Nonprofit.
Bali is on the rise as it is a forgotten paradise. We have secured a great travel experience that pampers it's guest while also satisfying the need for new discoveries. Dive into world-class scuba, relish in daily breakfast, and unwind with massages amid tranquil surroundings. For many travelers who have frequented Mexico and the Caribbean and are looking for something exciting, exotic and new, the package with it's value pricing puts if very much in reach.
This unique and family orientated experience has captured a great deal of interest. Domestic travel has increased and with enticing accommodations, great views and being located minutes from the Grand Canyon National Park, there is much to explore and experience. Works for a family up to 5 guests for 3 nights, it's an experience that will be a forever memory.
What is a vacation station? Typically it is a collection of attractive, well priced travel experiences held in the Silent Auction section with a “Buy it Now” price attached. What makes this appealing is there is variation which offers mass appeal, great pricing which means less of a net gain for the Nonprofit however there is a higher chance of selling multiple of the same trip. When attendees and supporters attend your event, there will be a budget they have to give to nonprofits they are passionate about and a second budget they have for vacations. In this scenario, they are looking to support your mission, and now they have a second understanding that you are providing them with great opportunities to travel. This is a great passive way to appeal to your donor base and they will remember this year after year.
Can I sell multiple on the same trip?
YES! A benefit of a consigned travel experience in your auction is that, in most cases, you have the ability to sell the same trip to multiple donors. Because consigned travel has significant availability on dates to travel, it is appealing to more people. Additionally, this is a great way to engage a larger number of your donors who would like to support you in this way. In a typical auction item, there is 1 winner, the bids keep going until there is one left with the highest bid and let’s say that the sale of the item netted the nonprofit $2,000. If there was a travel experience that had an agreed upon sale price with the nonprofit and the auctioneer that netted the nonprofit $1,000, and there were 11 people willing to purchase the trip at that price, the nonprofit nets $11,000. Additionally, you have brought a level of excitement and engagement to 11 supporters instead of just one.
Understanding your donor base is essential to your mission's vitality and success. Fundraising is a necessary element for a nonprofit. Your supporters help to move your mission forward, raising awareness in your community and financially providing the fuel that powers your nonprofit to accomplish your mission.
For your fundraising event, it’s important to know what resonates with your people. This starts with the theme, the venue, the time of year, will you have entertainment, what items will you choose for your fundraising auctions?
You may have a well funded support base and offer a weekend getaway at the local hotel with a dinner gift card. Nice as it may be to get away, it might underwhelm your donors. More often we see the other side of this as the choice is made to bring some high priced items that maybe only 1 person in the room might feel comfortable bidding on. They look great, however most of your supporters will be left out of that element of the fundraising element.
It is great to look at past history, what was of interest, what was the price point of items sold in your auctions. It may be prudent to add one item that is a little over your highest priced item of last year, especially if it is a dynamic experience that your crowd really desires.
If your nonprofit is newer, talk to your supporters to find out what they might be interested in, relationships are everything and asking them their opinions helps them to feel heard and become more engaged with your mission.
There is a balance of travel and experiences available to you and your supporters, be thoughtful of these choices as it not only helps to fund your next year’s budget but it also keeps people interested and engaged year after year.
Best Practice - we encourage your winning donors to lock in a date as soon as they are able. We will have some winners, who may put off the booking process until weeks before they would like to travel only to find that the most popular time of the year is completely booked. We procure some very attractive travel experiences, some have a great deal of availability, while others are very specialized with limited availability. Even though it may be a year or two away, put it on the calendar and plan early to get your dates.
How many items should be in a live auction?
This is a great question, the short answer is 6 to 8 items, however this is better evaluated over a consult. You will find schools may typically have more items in their live auctions that other nonprofits, however it is really determined by asking a couple of questions. What is your event program, how many people are we expecting, how many items do we have that are donated and what is our goal for fundraising for the evening? The longer answer is it depends, it may only be a few to over 20, it’s worth a conversation to ensure that you aren’t cutting your funding too short or exhausting your crowd with too many items.
How many items should be in a silent auction?
This is also a great question and the trends are changing. The number of events with many tables full of items wrapped in cellophane seem to be diminishing or the number of items are decreasing at the minimum.
With the introduction of the online bidding platforms, it has made it easier for nonprofits to post items online for the silent auction without the tables of presentation.
We have also had an uptick in the “Vacation Station.” It’s not a new concept, however it has proven to be very successful element of the silent auction. We elaborated in a question explaining the Vacation Station above, It is a great way to offer a wide array of vacation experiences with “Buy it Now” prices appealing to those who would like to support your mission in a different way.
Best Practice - Statistically, we have found, the sooner winners are communicated with, after the event is over, the better their experience is and the less chance of people changing their minds over what they purchased at the event.
We accomplish this with your help. When you have your account with Mission First Fundraising and your fundraising items are in your Event Portfolio, the last step is to click the button at the bottom “My Event is Over.” This will allow you to adjust the price and the number of travel experiences sold and enter the First Name, Last Name, Email Address and Phone number for your winners.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Submit Final Numbers” and your winner information is sent to Mission First Fundraising where we reach out to your winners within 24 hours to let them know what the next steps are and if they have any questions, to contact us in regard to their travel experiences that they have won. During this time, we are looking to receive payment from you, only for the trips that were sold and we then communicate with the travel concierge for their trip and facilitate communication between them so they can get started planning their vacation.
As we look to procure high quality travel experiences, blackout dates or not available dates are an important variable. It is not a great idea to offer great trips with very restrictive travel dates.
We have some travel experiences that have no blackout dates, however the majority will have the holiday blackout travel dates of the week of Christmas and the week of the New Year. We only have a couple of travel experiences that are fantastic trips but have months that are not available to travel. When offering these great experiences, we have to be very clear about any blackout dates. A benefit of consignment travel is, as a whole, blackout dates are very limited.
Can I upgrade or add people to my trip?
Often there are opportunities for upgrades or adjustments for your travel experience. You may have additional guest or children you would like to have with you on your trip. There may be upgrades for a different level of luxury. When talking with the travel concierge, they will be able to provide great information on what options you have.
Depending on the travel experiences, there may be daily fees from the hotel or resort. It is customary in travel however not all accommodations have fees.
