5 Revenue Generating Games for your next Fundraising Event

So you are planning a Fundraising Auction! That is so exciting, and I know how much work that can be to get going. If you are like me, you are probably looking for all of the ways to increase revenue at your event besides the Auction and Fund-A-Need.

Lucky for you, I’ve rounded up my 5 Favorite Revenue-Generating Activities for Auctions.

Wine Pull or Whiskey Wall

This is an easy activity to set up and run. As the organization you will get wine, whiskey or spirits of your choice donated to your event.

See how to get booze donated to your event here!

Donors will pay a fixed amount to blindly pick a bottle of whatever you are serving up! Some bottles may be worth less than the given price and some bottles will be worth way more. Learn more about how to play The Whiskey Wall or Wine Pull here!

Punch Board

This is a great activity for nonprofits who have a lot of smaller gift cards or smaller auction items that wouldn’t bring in a lot of revenue during the silent auction. The guests get to pay to play. I recommend $50 to play. When clients sell $25 opportunities, it tends to sell out really fast, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s a sign they could have earned more money. They will punch the board and find out what item they won. It could be a gift card or a physical item or literally anything that the organization had donated but didn’t put on the silent auction. See the best practices and full instructions of the Punch Board here.

The Dessert Dash

Would you spend $1,000+ on a cake? Me neither, but guess what? Your gala guests will. The Dessert Dash is a silent bidding system where the tables pool their bids together and submit them anonymously. When it is time to do the “dash” the facilitator will read the table numbers starting with the table with the highest bid and goes down from there. Each table will send their designated dasher at the time of the reading and they will literally run to pick out the dessert for their table. This is a profitable and fun way to bring in a lot of extra cash for your fundraising event!
Learn more here.

Heads and Tails

If you’ve ever been to a gala fundraiser, you’ve probably played “Heads and Tails.” This is a game that guests pay to play and the winner gets a prize which is either a donated item with broad appeal or something like half of the pot raised.
To play, the facilitator will flip a coin and guests will predict if it will fall on heads (by placing their hands on their heads) or Tails (by placing their hands on their booty). Those who guessed wrong are out and those who were correct stay in the game. You play until there is only one play staying. See the full rules, best practices and a video example of Heads and Tails Here

Golden Ticket

The golden ticket is a high end raffle where the winner gets to pick one of the live auction items from the auction prior to the live auction starting. The tickets should be priced high enough to accommodate an exclusive raffle so people realistically feel like they can win. Bidders will purchase the tickets like in any raffle and the auctioneer will pick the ticket prior to the live auction and ask which item they want. I’ve seen these raise $10,000 (100 tickets sold for $100 each) and then have the winner auction their ticket off raising an additional $5,000! See the best practices for the Golden Ticket so you can have a successful event!

What will you try?

I’d love to hear which of these you are most looking forward to trying at your event! Keep in mind that too many activities can spread your guests thin and end up losing you money in the end, so pick one or two of these to beef up your next fundraising event so you can raise more money!

Dessert Dash: A Revenue-Generating Game for your Fundraising Event

Looking for a crowd pleaser that will raise your organization more money at your next event? Look no further than the Dessert Dash!

Why the Dessert Dash is great:

It is a quick and relatively easy way to raise several thousand dollars more.

How much will people pay for dessert? A surprising amount. For example, just last week I did this with a small private school. Each table bid between $100-$2500 for the dessert dash. In a matter of minutes they raised close to $10,000 towards their fundraising goal. Imagine what your organization could do with that revenue!

Cakes and desserts are easy to get donated.

I know you are in the midst of soliciting items for you silent and live auctions, but what is great about getting cakes and desserts donated is that they are a low-ticket price that are relatively easy to get donated. You can get them donated a few ways:

1. Visit local grocery stores and bakeries and ask if they would donate a dessert (make sure to list the donors on cards in front of each cake so they receive recognition).

2. As your board or auction committee to donate a dessert as a part of their involvement.

3. Put it out in your newsletter, social media, Friday folders (if you are a school) and ask people to commit to donating a dessert.

You’ll find that these will come in relatively easily. Make sure you assign a volunteer to the coordination of this because they need to be fresh, it will be a bit of day-of coordination and someone should be designated to the Dessert Dash duties.

Who is the dessert dash good for?

I’ve seen many different types of organizations do the dessert dash and have it be successful, but there are some events that it may not be appropriate for. You should definitely try the dessert dash if:

You are a School

School communities love this one. This is a great way to get everyone involved in something at whatever level they can give. There is a certain level of anonymity which is great in communities where everyone knows each other. Some people may bid $1,000 for the first dash at the dessert, but others may only be able to bid $10 but they still get a chance to play (although they may end up with a sleeve of Oreos).

You have less than 30 tables

I would say 20 tables would be the max number of tables to do this with. So thinking a group of 300 would be perfect. The game could get a little long after this. If you have more than 300 guests and want to integrate a dessert activity into your program, try a dessert auction instead with 3-5 premium desserts.

Your program isn’t too long

If you don’t have a lot going on in your program. Maybe you have a Thank you, a video, live auction and Fund-A-Need, adding a Dessert Dash is a great way to fill a little time and get people excited and on their feet. However, if you have multiple speakers and/or a Keynote on top of all the other fundraising activities of the evening, adding a dessert dash could prolong the evening and distract from some of the more mission-focused activities.

How to play Dessert Dash

Get a variety of desserts donated

Based on the number of tables you have, start soliciting for those desserts. Look for a wide variety. Some should be amazing (I’ve seen full fledged wedding cakes donated) while others could be humorous and less enticing (think a thawed out Sara Lee cake still in the box, or some oreos). I recommend you stay away from legit homemade desserts. Stick with bakery quality desserts and prepackaged ones for the safety of your guests.

Note: make sure each dessert can serve the size of your tables. If you have 10-tops, you should not have a selection of 6 cupcakes as an option. Every person at the table should be able to eat the dessert!

Display Desserts with signs to identify them

Have all the desserts out on a display in an area that is easy to access from the dining area. Most often this is by the stairs, but if you have a bar in the dining area, that is another great place to put your display because people will be passing by it and thinking about their favorites as they wait in line for their drink. Make sure each dessert is labeled with what it is and which bakery it is from (if applicable). Some cakes may look vanilla, but have strawberry filling. Guests need to know what they are getting themselves into before they bid! I also recommend listing the donor on each dessert card so they get recognition for their donation.

Have a bid sheet at each table

Each table should have a bid sheet on it where each bidder can write their bid number and amount they want to bid. At the top of the sheet should be a place to write the table number and at the bottom there should be a place to write the total amount for the entire table. I have a free printable that you are welcome to use for your Dessert Dash below. Once you download it, you can print as many as you need.

Have the emcee or auctioneer explain the game

Once everyone is seated for dinner, have the emcee or auctioneer explain the game (this should happen before the dinner so you have time to tally all the cards) .

Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to take a few minutes to bid on our dessert dash! This is how you will receive you dessert tonight, so bid high to get the best desserts. On your tables you will find a bid sheet. Each person/couple will bid the amount they would like to contribute to your table total for the dessert dash. Please write your table number at the top and add up all the bids for the table total at the bottom. After dinner, we will announce the winners and the table that bid the most will get to send a table representative to pick out the dessert first. We will announce each table in 10 second increments to “dash” to the desserts in order from highest to lowest bids. With that in mind, pass around that sheet and bid for your chance to pick first!

Tally the totals and announce the winners

By the time dinner is finished, you should have all of the numbers totaled and entered for check out. Have the auctioneer or emcee announce that it is time to play and remind them that they will be announcing the winners in order from top bidders all the way down and each table gets a 10 second head start in front of the next highest bidder. I always tell them to pick their table representative and make sure they are swift, steady and have good taste in dessert. Then simply announce the table numbers every ten seconds and watch them run to get their dessert of choice!!

In case of a tie…

If two or more tables bid the same amount just simply say, “looks like we have a tie here…” then announce both table numbers at the same time and they have to race to the dessert line!

Will you try it?

What do you think? Will you try this game? I will tell you that this is a fun event to get people moving and energized after they eat their meal. I always love to see what the joke desserts are too. A box of twinkies is always a great idea for a good laugh.

Whiskey Wall: A revenue-generating game for fundraisers that all the men will love

Let’s be honest, a lot of fundraising galas are planned by women for women. Raise your hand if you are a man and/or have a man for a partner who has complained about having to “put on a tux and go talk to a bunch of people he doesn’t know.” Yeah, me too. Here is a game that the men LOVE every time my clients have done it. In fact it’s usually the first game to sell out.

The Whiskey Wall

What you need:

1. 25-50 bottles of assorted whiskey (get a good mix of scotch, bourbon, rye an whatever other kinds exist…Canadian or Irish?). Make sure you check out this post on how to get liquor donated for your fundraising event.

2. Gift tags (you will use these to number the bottles)

3. Pieces of card stock to write corresponding numbers on for them to draw.

4. Basket or hat or something to put the numbered card stock in

5. Fun volunteers

How to set up and Play Whiskey Wall

The Whiskey wall is very similar to a Wine Pull, except with whiskey.

SET UP

You simply set up by having all the whiskey displayed on a table. Finding a way to display it on a tiers so that each bottle is clearly displayed is ideal (you can do this by draping table cloth over boxes). Guests love to take a look at all the whiskey on display and pick out their favorites and which ones they hope to win.

TICKETS AND PRICING

You can sell opportunities to play at the booth. You will want to determine your price based on the caliber of whiskeys. If MOST of your bottles are valued around $20, I would recommend sticking there. However if you have several that range $40+ you could charge $40 to play. Remember it will sell out quicker with $20 chances, but depending on your audience and your selection you may be able to sell chances for more.

I recommend $20 or $40 because if people are paying cash, it’s easier to stay in $20 increments. However if you are working with a mobile bidding company, ask your rep how you can add the games so they can easily purchase tickets via mobile bidding.

Volunteers could also take down bidder numbers and charge it to their “tab” at the end of the night if you want to skip the cash handling all together. This allows more people to participate and not have to rely on carrying cash to play the games.

How they play

After they pay for a chance to play, they will draw a number from the basket or hat and will be rewarded the whiskey with the corresponding number. Easy as that!

Will you give this game a try?

The Whiskey Wall typically sells out fast and is where the men hang out and examine the bottles together. It’s a fun change of pace from all the events that offer wine. The fun thing is that this doesn’t have to replace the Wine Pull! You can do it in addition to earn even more revenue.

Let me know if you try this game! I’d love to hear your experience.

Gala Theme: Game Night (these ideas will raise you more money at your event)

A great way to make your event stand out and engage your guests is to create a theme or the night and everyone loves a GAME NIGHT! Even those people who “hate games” get caught up in the playfulness once the festivities get started. The best part about hosting a Game Night Themed Fundraiser is that you can use your game stations as a way to earn more revenue at your event!

I recently worked with one of our largest school districts in our state and they hosted a game night and they went all out!

Their centerpieces were giant versions of Monopoly pieces (simple and inexpensive to make).
They brought in an awesome Bar Trivia company to run a fun game during the program.
AND they had awesome game themed stations where they raised extra revenue and kept their guests engaged!

Revenue-Generating Games for your “Game Night” Themed Gala

There are so many games you can play at a gala to generate revenue.

Some of the most popular games are Heads & Tails, the Wine Pull, Punch Board, or the Golden Ticket, but this particular client had some fun takes on classic gala games!

Plinko

If you can get your hands on a plinko board or build one yourself this game is a great option to raise some money and use some of the smaller donations you received for the silent auction. Maybe a $10 gas card or a discounted service to some company in your community. You could also have them win cash prizes. You’ll see in the picture below that they had the prizes listed at the bottom of the Plinko board. When one of the non cash prizes was won, they’d remove the sign and replace it with a different prize. This is a great option for those items that were generously donated, but wouldn’t raise much revenue in the silent auction. Think of items that aren’t worth much or maybe don’t have a broad appeal. It’s still fun to win something, but you’ll end up raising more money in the long run!

“Sorry” Wine Pull

The wine pull is a crowd favorite and always one of the first games to sell out at galas (especially when the price is right. To learn the basics of a Wine Pull, visit this post or go here if you want to learn how to get wine and alcohol donated to your event. Now, let me tell you what made this wine pull so special.

Guests paid to play and everyone won.
When they paid to play, they rolled the dice.
All the wine bottles were wrapped to look like the pieces from the game “Sorry”
Guests picked the corresponding color that went with their roll.

This was a hit! All of the bottles were hidden and you didn’t know what you got until you unwrapped them. I’ll be honest, I even played this game a handful of times (we all have to do our part, right?).

“CLUE” Photobooth

While this was not a “pay to play” game, it was a fun way to give guests memories from the event. They had a giant “clue board in the background, a huge selection of “CLUE” themed props and a professional photographer there to snap a photo of the guests pretending to be their favorite clue characters. Most people pretended to murder their loved ones with a candlestick during the photos, which left them all laughing.

Follow me on Pinterest for more ideas for revenue-generating games!

11 Ideas for Silent Auction Baskets or Raffle Baskets

Are you struggling to come up with ideas for your raffle or silent auction? The possibilities are endless, but I totally understand how sometimes it can feel like when the time comes your brain just goes blank and you don’t know where to start. This week I worked with a client who did a Basket Raffle who had a great selection of baskets for which the guests could drop their tickets. Below I’ve included several of the baskets they hosted as well as some ideas that were inspired from each of the baskets. After you take a look, make sure to share in the comments some of your favorite ideas or any new creative ideas you or your committee come up with. We’re all here to help nonprofits make a greater impact on our world!

*This post may contain affiliate links. See my affiliate policy for more information.

Netflix & Chill

I know they technically called this one the “Take-Out food and Movies” basket, but I would call it “Netflix and Chill,” because…you know. This basket included some gift cards to local chains. Another option would be Door Dash or Grub Hub gift cards so they could receive delivery from any of their favorite restaurants. Add in a Netflix gift card to apply to their current membership (because lets be honest, we all have one already) and it’s a great option for someone to bid on or win something that they know they will already use!

Family Game Night

This particular package was built around the popcorn maker, but included a few games. Creating a basket around family bonding is a great idea because family unity is a core value for so many gala guests. Add in your favorite games that are easy to engage multigenerational players and some snacks. You don’t need a popcorn maker to make this basket a success. Pick the things that your family loves and you can be sure that others will appreciate it too!

“Get Hygge With it”

Yes, I’m renaming the baskets here. Get over it. I love a good pun and so will your guests. This Hygge, or Cozy Night In, basket was filled with hot cocoa, mugs and included a gift card to Barnes and Noble for some new books. If you want something more tangible than a gift card, pick out whatever Reese’s most recent Book Club choice was for a best seller that would intrigue most any bidder at your event. Facial masks, wine or cozy throw blankets would also be a great addition to this type of basket!

S’mores Basket

This one is pretty self-explanitory. All the s’mores essentials. Instead of a basket, they packaged this bad boy in an actual fire pit which was a great way to display all the goodies and really made this basket stand out. It also may inspire other baskets like “grills night out” or “grills just want to have fun” with a bunch of grilling essentials all packaged in a small tailgating-ready weber grill. Also, if you have an idea for a basket and need someone to create a pun, please reach out because I will be ready with ideas. I am 💯 percent serious.

Lucky Lotto

This item received the most tickets. I can’t guarantee that it would be as profitable as a silent auction item, but for a basket raffle it made bank. This basket was filled with lottery tickets, scratch tickets and other lottery-based items. You could add a giftcard to your local Casino. Most of our local Casinos donate a one-night stay which includes a buffet for 2 to most nonprofits for fundraisers, so you could reach out and get an overnight to make this prize even more compelling!

Margarita Madness

This basket included all the fixing for a Margarita night. Vodka, Margarita Mix, Margarita glasses, salt for the rim, some small batch craft salsa and guacamole mix. The winning bidder just needed to provide some friends and chips for a great time. This is another basket that received a lot of tickets in this basket raffle and the winner had a lot of fun taking home! Some other ideas would be some fixings for tacos or gift cards to a local favorite Mexican restaurant.

Craft Beer Basket

Your town likely has a thriving craft brewery scene. A great basket to offer is a Craft Beer Basket including some of your favorites. In my experience if you approach your favorite local breweries with a pitch for your nonprofit, you will probably get a growler or 6-pack along with some brewery swag to add to your basket. It’s a great chance for them to get exposure and give back to their own community. Sure it’s easy to buy craft beer and add it to the basket, but your local breweries may surprise you, don’t be afraid to ask. See my post on how to get beer, wine and liquor donated for tips on how to get these items for FREE!

CRAP Beer Basket

This one made me audibly laugh out loud. I have never seen this one before, but place it right next to your “Craft Beer Basket” to amuse your guests and get some engagement. This would not be a profitable silent auction item, but worked great as an option in the Basket Raffle. Throw some of your favorite domestic options in this one. I know our craft brew scene is strong, but you may have some bidders who like their classic easily drinkable domestic beers. While this didn’t get the most tickets, it definitely had people talking. Very cheap to assemble but it is something people will remember.

Single Cocktail Basket

This Old Fashioned Whiskey Basket was a hit among the guests. As a craft cocktail lover myself, I can imagine having an entire basket raffle filled only with single cocktail baskets. Think Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, Moscow Mules, Margaritas, etc. Purchase everything you need to assemble the perfect cocktail, including glassware, and add a recipe card so the winner knows exactly what they need to create the perfect cocktail at home. The creator of this basket picked some tasty whiskeys which was definitely a selling point. This would be a great item to pitch to local liquor stores as a donation for some free publicity and community outreach!

Italian Dinner Basket

This basket includes everything you need for a delicious Italian dinner. Pasta, wine, seasoning, sauces and more. Like the Old Fashioned basket above, this item is a great jumping-off point for brainstorming basket ideas. How many meal-inspired baskets could you come up with? Juicy Lucy Basket, Homemade Sushi Basket, Instant Pot Success Basket, etc. The possibilities are endless. This was a fun addition to the basket raffle and inspires so many more ideas. I’d love to hear what you come up with in the comments!

Self-Care Basket

This self-care basket included home facial masks, a luxurious Volcano Candle from Anthropologie, a self-help book by the inspiring Brene Brown and more. You could also include salon or spa giftcards, bath bombs, body lotions and oils, hotel giftcards (which you should 100% be getting donated from local hotels), essential oils, spotify gift cards, babysitting coupons, wine, coffee, a cozy one-size-fits-all robe or anything else that you would consider self-care. Think of what you love to have to pamper yourself and add it in this basket for the most competitive bidding.

What are your ideas?

I would love to hear some of your most creative ideas for baskets for silent auction or raffles. Have you ever done a basket raffle? Give it a try. It gives donors a chance to pick which prizes they want to be drawn for while skipping over the baskets that don’t give them much interest. It also lets the guests who just want to win, stock pile their tickets in the baskets with the fewest tickets so they increase their chances of winning! Thanks to the Fridley Schools Foundation for letting me share your wonderful baskets!

Golden Ticket: A Fundraising Auction Enhancer to Raise Money At Your Next Event

The Golden Ticket is an exclusive high price point Raffle Game where the winner gets to pick ANY of the Live Auction Items as the prize.

I work with some local and regional nonprofits that have amazing donors and raise good money at their events through the Live Auction and Fund-A-Need, but struggle to solicit high value items. Their largest item may be a trip valued at $2,500 (though it would sell for more in the auction). The Golden Ticket is an excellent game for organizations like theirs because even though they may “lose” a live auction item through the Golden Ticket winner, the proceeds from the Golden Ticket sales far exceed what the item would have sold for in the auction. And, in my experience, roughly 50% of the time my clients play this game, the Golden Ticket winner donates their item back to the auction, generating even more revenue, because people are just amazing sometimes.

Who would benefit from offering this game?

This would benefit your organization and enhance your event if…

1. You are a small to mid-sized event (250-999 guests) that has live auction items with values all under $5,000.

2. You are an organization hosting a gala of 1,000+ because you have a larger pool of donors to whom you can sell the tickets

   Who should skip this game:

   If you are hosting an event with less than 500 people and are offering auction packages that have values over $5,000 there is a good chance you could actually lose money by offering the Golden Ticket to your guests. It works better when the ticket sales will exceed the price of your most expensive live auction item.

What you need to play?

• A roll of raffle tickets

• Dynamic and engaging Volunteers who can sell the tickets

How to set up and play:

Determine how much you want to make from the game:

Set a goal for how much revenue you want to earn from the “Golden Ticket” Game. Your goal should be equal to or higher than the value of your most expensive Live Auction item so you don’t end up losing money on your game.

Say your biggest Live Auction item is a trip to Italy valued at $6,500, your goal should at least be to sell enough tickets to meet $6,500 (though, if you have enough attendees, shoot for higher). For the sake of the instructions, I’m going to use the goal of $10,000, but know that depending on the number of people you have attending and their giving capacity, you will need to adjust your personal goal.

Decide how many tickets you should sell and how much to sell them for.

If you are hosting an event of 1,000, you should easily be able to sell 100 tickets and could likely sell them at $100 a piece to reach your goal of $10,000. You could also try for 200 tickets at $50/piece or 50 tickets at $200/piece. Remember the higher the price, the more challenging they are to sell, but the exclusivity of the raffle increases a lot which will be appealing to many of your donors.

Selling your tickets somewhere between $50 and $100 is a great place to start and fill in your numbers from there. If you have a group of 250 people, a goal of raising $10,000 with the Golden Ticket may be too high (unless you have exclusively high rollers at your event), but you could work to sell 50 Tickets at $100 and raise $5,000.

Keep in mind the winner may pick your most expensive item, so whatever you raise in the Golden Ticket needs to make up for the potential revenue you might sacrifice on that Live Auction Item.

Get the most charismatic and sales savvy volunteers you can and sell those tickets out STAT

This game can only be truly successful when you completely sell out your tickets. These volunteers should be fun, extroverted and feel comfortable chatting with strangers and know how to clearly communicate the message. I’m sure you can think of a few volunteers right now who would be perfect for this job. They will feel honored when you let them know they were the first person you thought of for this role!

EXPERT TIP:

If there is a trip or dinner experience for multiple people (say 6-8) on your auction lineup, have your volunteers go up to groups of people that are clearly friendly and have them each buy a ticket to increase their chances. “Hey, you should ALL buy one or two and then if one of you wins you can still all go to Mexico! Do it! How fun would that be?!” I have seen tables of friends go absolutely WILD when they win a trip with their besties!

Pull the Golden Ticket Winner right before the Live Auction

Bring the raffle tickets up to the stage and have the auctioneer (or whoever you want) pull the winner. Your auctioneer will remind the audience,

“I am about to pull our Golden Ticket winner. The winner will get the choice select any of the Live Auction Items we have tonight or donate it back to be bid on in the auction. Now let’s see who our lucky winner is…..Which item are you going to claim tonight?”

I like to give the choice to give it back BEFORE selecting the winner because it is off putting and a shame strategy to put a donor on the spot after you’ve called their name. Remember, every part of your event is about nurturing donor relationships because that is going to make you more profitable in the long run.

Remove the item from the live auction

When they announce their selection, congratulate them cheerfully and have your AV team remove it from the slide show or have the auctioneer skip it during the live auction, acknowledging the winner and thanking everyone who participated in the Golden Ticket Raffle.

Are you going to try it?

This game is a fun way to get more revenue out of your live auction items! It’s exclusive and a great way for donors who may not be able to afford bidding on the Live Auction, but have their eyes on certain items. They get a fighting chance as 1 of 50 people for only $100 instead of dropping a couple thousand on what it would actually sell for in the auction.

Comment below if you’ve tried this or have any questions.

I’m always happy to give feedback to make sure your event is a success!

Wine Pull: A revenue generating game for fundraising events

The Wine Pull is a great way game to play throughout the night of your fundraising auction or charity event. The majority of the wine pull will happen during the cocktail hour or silent auction.

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What you will need:

• A variety of donated wine: a couple really nice bottles, mostly $10-$15 bottles, and you can even throw in a one or two $3 buck chucks if you are feeling particularly silly (see here how to get wine donated for auction items). Ideally 25-50 bottles.

• Wine sized paper bags (these would work, but even though these are a little more expensive, people appreciate having a handle so they can still mingle while carrying their wine).

• Corks (as many as you have bottles), so start drinking. Only sort of kidding, you can get some on amazon too. I’ll let you decide how you acquire corks, but I know which one sounds more fun.

• A basket or something to place the corks in

• Permanent Markers

• 1-2 volunteers to run the booth

• optional: Red and White ribbon. This is if you want to give your guests the option of selecting a red or white wine. Poll your committee and see if this matters to them. I don’t believe it impacts the success of your wine pull, but some guests may appreciate it.

• optional: gift tags

How to set up the wine pull:

You will start by collecting all your bottles and placing them in the paper bags and then number each one. Then take your corks and use a permanent marker to number the corks. You will have the same number of corks as you have bottles. You can reuse the same corks year after year (yay!). If you are choosing to let your guests choose red vs. white, make sure you separate the corks with the corresponding bags so they don’t get mixed up.

When you get to the venue, you will have all the bottles out on the table, with the numbers facing forward. (note, if you would rather have the bottles on display, you can use gift tags to number the wines).

Place the numbered corks in a basket (two separate ones if you are doing red vs. white)

How to play the wine pull:

After the guests pay to play “Wine Pull” the volunteer will hold out the basket and the guest will pick a cork. The volunteer will grab the corresponding wine bottle for the cork.

Side note: many guests will ask if the volunteers can hold their bottles until the end of the night. This is why I recommend using the bags with the handles because it allows the guests to take the wine with little inconvenience. If you have multiple volunteers at the table, you could receive the bidders name and bid number and bring the bottle to silent auction checkout. It’s a hassle, so my recommendation is that you just encourage the guests to carry the bottle with them so there are no mix-ups at the end of the night.

How much should a single “wine pull” cost and how should they pay?

If you are asking the guests to pay cash, it should cost $20. Most of the bottles donated will be around that $10-$20 mark, but a few will be worth way more. This is the fun of the game.

If you are using a mobile bidding software, talk to your contact with the software you chose and they can help you set up an option to buy a turn at the wine pull in the mobile bidding software. This is my recommendation because fewer people are bringing cash to these events since mobile bidding makes purchasing items and donating so accessible.

If you are not using a mobile bidding software, and you want to offer your guests an option other than cash, have the volunteers collect the guests’ names and bidder numbers and then they can pay at the end of the night during checkout with the rest of their auction items and donations.

3 Ways to get Wine and Alcohol Donated for Auction Items and Fundraising Games

One of the most important questions to ask yourselves about auction items is, “Does this item have broad appeal?” Meaning, is this something a lot of people like and would be willing to bid on? If there is one thing that you can guarantee a lot of people could bid on it is….(drumroll please)… alcohol.

There are several different auction packages you can compile around a theme of wine, beer and/or spirits. To see some ideas, check out this post on Alcohol-related auction items or grab my FREE AUCTION ITEM GUIDE below:

Once you brainstorm a bunch of items that you know will get your guests’ hands high in the air, the question remains…

How do you get wine, beer and other forms of alcohol donated to use at a nonprofit auction or for fundraising games?

When I go to events, I see the three different types of donors of wine/beer/alcohol items.

1. Ask a local, privately owned, Liquor Store to sponsor your auction item or game.

   What do I mean by this? Say you are doing a Wine Pull and need 50 bottles of wine. You can pitch this to local liquor store owners and ask if they would be interested in Sponsoring it. You could even name the game after them: “Anderson Liquor’s Wine Pull.”
   How does this benefit the liquor store? The same way any sponsorship (either cash or in-kind) benefits a person or company. They get name recognition and advertising at the event. Asking them to sponsor a game is especially appealing because they are typically in a prime area at the event and get a lot of attention. They should also be listed in all other places that sponsors are listed.

2. Ask the board to come together and donate

   Alcohol-related items are commonly donated by the board. Things like the “Wall of Wine” or “Wheelbarrow of Booze” that are compiled of several different types of wine, beer and spirits can be pulled together by several different people. Ask the board to contribute one to two bottles of their choice (remind them they need not be stingy 😉). This is a great way to easily collect a wonderful collection that can be used in auction items or for a game like a Wine Pull or Whiskey Pull.

3. Reach out to restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries in your community.

   Similar to reaching out to a liquor store, the local restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries in your community can gain name recognition, advertising and good will with your guests through sponsoring your event by providing beer, wine or spirits. This is a great option if you have a venue that allows you to bring in your own alcohol at the event because they could even sponsor the bar.

   Could they sponsor the bar, or offer up one case/keg to sell at the event?

   I went to an event recently and a local brewery was willing to donate a keg of a crowd favorite beer. At the event, the organization let everyone know that if they selected that specific beer 100% of the proceeds could go back to the organization. So instead of paying $8 to the venue, they were racking up $8 donations one after another.

   Could they donate an alcohol-related experience?

   Could they host a tasting or a tour? Could their craft bar tender put on an exclusive cocktail class for 12? If they can add some food to this, even better! This is a great LIVE AUCTION item!

   Could they put together a basket or donate a gift card to the silent auction?

   I go to a lot of silent auctions… A LOT of them and since my husband loves craft beer, I keep a close watch on the brewery donated items. It will usually be a couple 6-packs, a brewery gift card and some swag (sweatshirts or coozies or anything with the name on it) and even in the silent auction these items go well above retail value because of their broad appeal. It’s a great, low cost way for the breweries, wineries or distilleries to give back and be involved in their community.

Give these a try and watch those donations come in. Keep coming back for more ideas on auction items, fundraising ideas and how to get donations.

Additional Fundraising Idea: PUNCH BOARD

I met with a client earlier this week who reminded me of one of my favorite additional fundraising activities for a fundraising gala: The Punch Board. 

I first saw one of these at one of my events a couple years ago. They had a giant board with about 50 holes in it. Each hole was covered by some tissue paper and had a special prize behind each piece of paper. Guests paid $25 to "punch" the paper and claim their prize. Prizes can include anything from a bottle of wine to a $50 restaurant gift card to a Kindle to a light up necklace. You really don't know what you are going to find. This punch board sold out in less than 30 minutes. Do the math: 50 holes at $25 a piece = $1250 in less than a half hour. The next year they raised their prices to $50 which allowed the board to be available a little longer throughout the cocktail hour, but it still sold out before the sit down program started and they raised twice as much money. 

Other clients I've worked with have had similar experiences with this game. It sells out fast! Some choose to have certain holes for different amounts and it will up your prize. You could select $25, $50 or $100 and know that the more you give the better your prize will be.

If you have a crowd that is competitive and loves games and activities, this may be a great option for you. Some event production companies have these available for their clients but it can be replicated by anyone who has a tiny handy bone in their body. 

For other great fundraising activities, contact me today!