How many of you know that benefit auctioneers MAY be considered "professional solicitors" in some states and must (in Florida) register with the state and pay for a $50,000 surety bond? I just saw this today. I don't remember hearing about this in my auctioneer course (I may have simply missed it). I asked several Florida auctioneers I know who do benefits and they hadn't heard of it either- which alarms me that so many may be at risk. This is what I found for Florida: "....Under the Florida Solicitation of Contributions Act (Chapter 496, Florida Statutes), a benefit auctioneer working on behalf of a nonprofit generally must register with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) as a Professional Solicitor. If you are paid to conduct, manage, or carry out a charitable solicitation or auction, you are legally considered a professional solicitor. Did you hear about this in your auctioneer course?

Happy Friday on the road again. Had an event last night and we did not raise $1 million but what we did raise the client was ecstatic about it. Sometimes you gotta hit a couple singles before you can hit home runs, either way you and the client are winning!

What you measure is how you can know if your event was a success. Here are some ideas that you can present to your clients to really dive deep into their data and see what areas they can improve on. Being a better consultant/strategist helps you provide more value and you know what more value means...bigger paycheck:) Let me know any thoughts you have with this or if I missed anything.

We’re in the middle of event season and I know that many of you had events this weekend. The Call To Auction team has 3 events this weekend and all ended up gang-busters! Although attendance numbers are down…Fundraising is UP!!! We are excited to be the conduit for change through Live Event Fundraising! How’d your events go?

As we enter spring fundraising season as well as cold and flu season I wanted to share an experience I had several years ago in the hopes that someone doesn't make the same mistake that I made. I also realize that you may already know this but here it is. In 2018 or so I did a summer event where the stage was an elevated (very high runway) and this is important because I am terrified of heights. I also had a not so pleasant summer cold. Can we all agree summer colds are the WORST! I wasn't sick enough to find a replacement but I was feeling quite congested. Leading up to the event I did all the things I could think of to either get rid of the cold or to minimize the symptoms. Morning of the event I felt pretty good but still had a cough and congestion, so mid day I decided to take a decongestant to clear everything up. I'm sure you know where this is going. Fast forward to the decongestant doing its job AND in doing the job of clearing up my congestion and cough it also dried up everything else including my mouth! As I walked onto the runway (remember I am afraid of heights) I was scared and it took me a moment to find my balance. As I opened my mouth to speak, my mouth refused to cooperate because it was so dry that it was glued shut! Nerves because of the height issue AND dry mouth because of the decongestant and I had one hell of a time trying to do my job. I had to stop and ask for water but because it was a runway there were no tables or a podium to put my water down, so I had the pleasure of learning how to juggle a mic, water, and my notes, ALL why having the worst cotton mouth I have ever experienced! I realize this could have been condensed to say, don't take a decongestant the day of your event, but I can't pass up on a good story, so here we are. Decongestants sound like a great idea AND they are, but not when you need to speak!