If you haven’t used a leaderboard before, now is the time to try one out.
We’ve talked on the blog before about how useful they are to driving fundraising in live auctions and appeals.
But running a leaderboard (or a few leaderboards) at your event can do even more. Promote engagement with your silent auction items, or keep in contact with guests scattered throughout a large venue. The possibilities are endless!
Here are a few examples of creative ways to put leaderboards to use at your next big event.
Keep guests updated about events in progress.
Let’s say your auction’s sectioned off into a few different rooms—perhaps you have two silent auction rooms with staggered closing times, and a third room where the luncheon or dinner is taking place. Your leaderboard’s a great way to let everyone know what’s happening and when.
List each room number and what guests will find there. When one of your silent auction rooms is near closing time, use your leaderboard to announce it: “FIVE MINUTES LEFT TO BID IN SILENT AUCTION ROOM 1!” This way, guests know exactly when they have to return to update their bids, and how much time they’ve got to do it.
Use the leaderboards scattered around your event to count down to important events, like the beginning of dinner in the ballroom. Then guests who can’t hear the PA system can still see how much time they have left to bid before dinner.
Prevent bottlenecks.
Guests tend to congregate in certain areas of a silent auction room, often around hot items—and it can lock new bidders out of seeing things that might interest them.
A leaderboard’s a great way to space it out. Show off those hot items on a leaderboard across the room and allow guests to spread out!
You can even display your silent auction items on leaderboards in other rooms (or in the bar area!) so guests don’t have to stick around the silent auction room to keep track of what’s going on, and can feel free to wander the event.
Show pictures of your packages!
People connect best with images. Research shows that people bid higher on packages that include pictures, and a package with a picture is more likely to sell.
Use your leaderboard to show off your auction packages, especially if the item isn’t visible or tangible (such as a vacation package, or a gift certificate for a service). Let’s say your certificate’s for a local hair salon experience—show off some images of work the hair salon’s done in the past, or of someone leaning back to relax.
The picture display also works fabulously alongside your live auction. While your auctioneer’s working each package, show pictures from the hot vacation spot, or activities the winning bidder will participate in at the destination location to spur interest.
On a budget? Have an awesome leaderboard anyway.
Not every school or nonprofit can afford to hang TV screens around a venue. There are lots of creative solutions available, too!
- Scout a local electronics store who would be willing to donate a screen and projector for the night in exchange for real estate on the leaderboard.
- Create and solicit a sponsorship just for renting additional leaderboard screens, and offer to place their name on every one.
- Display your leaderboard or progress meters anywhere! Clear off a blank wall in your venue and project onto the bare wall, or try hanging a sheet of fabric.
