Charity Auction Trends

Local charities and those around the country frequently look to wine donations of many kinds to offer at their fundraising auctions.

No real surprise there as wine inspires passion and enjoyment for many of us, and what better way to support our chosen cause than to donate and bid on wine themed lots and get some great vino in the process.

There are some trends nationally though that may cause organizers to adjust their expectations and their approaches for meeting their fundraising goals. Funds contributed at auctions are down overall and much of this is due to a tough economy, and to a slightly lesser degree "auction fatigue". "Auction fatigue" has been on the rise as so many charities have turned to them as a lower key way to raise some money.

As donors become worn out from the number of auction invites, the challenge is to alter the format or the auction lots themselves enough to rekindle interest.

One of the more successful changes has been to intersperse raffle lots within the live auctions.

What is working here is not the garden variety raffle of buy a ticket for a dollar to potentially win $100. The ones that work now sell a limited number of tickets at a high price with the chance to win very high end gifts, like trips to wine country and wine dinners.

The challenge remains for the live and silent auction lots to again get to the levels seen when the concept was newer. Here also some very specific items are starting to garner that interest.

Wine themed dinner parties are one item that has brought in larger donations nationally. The lots include dinner for 8 -12 including wine and food set in some spectacular venue. Donations get even bigger if you can involve a celebrity chef or ramp up to an exclusive location for the dinner. The addition of a winemaker, or wine professional attending the dinner can also help.

Trips to wine country are also getting good bid levels especially when they involve the opportunity to stay at a winery with the owners and see things like harvest and crush. Throw in some donation from the wineries' library collections and bid levels get very interesting.

If the donation is strictly wine, some enhancements can allow the lot to enjoy more success.

Vertical collections of a sought after producer are doing very well right now. Also, a wine cabinet filled with multiple verticals of different varietals or from multiple producers brings on much more interest than a cabinet filled with a more varied or random selection.

For any of the wine lots the addition of tasting notes, ratings from wine critics or competitions or even a food pairing recipe from a local chef for each of the wines is a plus.

Some charities have decided to start up their own wine clubs as a means to raise money, which can be very successful when administered properly.

There are legal ramifications centered on local liquor laws that the charity needs to be aware of. The charitable designation does not exempt the organization from having a license and from following importing and distributor restrictions. The easiest way to ensure compliance for the charity is to have someone with a license run the wine club; this however can cut into the amount earned by the charity.

There is also the pure administrative work of running a wine club, which requires time and dedication to finding club worthy offerings that are unique and changing. This needs to be coupled with diligence in getting wine to the club members and having all billed to ensure the expected amounts of money make it into the charity coffers.

An alternative is to seek out donations of a one year subscription to some wine clubs that the charity then auctions cleaning up the administrative and legal hurdles while maintaining your established fund raising format.

Wine themed donations will continue to raise money for charities and winery and wine shop owners remain a charity oriented group of folks, with some minor adjustments to keep the concept fresh and an improving economy it is likely donation levels will return to those high amounts of a few years ago.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can e-mail George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo. www.thedinnerpartyshop.com .