Last year, going green was the theme at the American Cancer Society's Discovery Ball. This year, director of distinguished events Lee Kite focused on sustainability of a different kind. "The great events are the ones that can sustain themselves year after year, the ones that don't show real dips in fund-raising," no matter the economic climate," she said. On Saturday night, the ball raked in more than $2 million for the third year in a row, and Kite said that meticulously planned auctions helped her and her team meet their financial goals.
"We had an incredible live auction this year, and we really educated our guests about what was going to be happening," she said. "We not only drove them to our Web site, but we also sent out a preview book of all of our auction items to table hosts a few days before the event. That was our way of asking them to come ready to bid."
Kite said this year's auction offered several packages, such as trips for four or dinners for 10, that could allow for shared spending. "The economy is something we're all still looking at, so we're getting silent auction packages that are for six or eight people and encouraging our guests to bid in groups," she said.
At the ball, guests used IML's handheld bidding devices. "We started bidding on our live auction items at the beginning of the night," Kite said. "People bid on packages up to 15 minutes before the live auction began, so some of the lots came into the room with a threshold bid at a very high level."
Kite said using the electronic bidding tools also helped tie up the silent auction. "There's always that awkward moment when you're trying to close the silent auction and people are hovering over one thing," she said. "Electronic bidding stops all that because it cuts out at a legal time. Everyone knows they have to stop bidding at exactly the same time, and I think people appreciate the fairness of that." After all 250 silent auction lots closed simultaneously, guests headed to their dinner seats and planners could start converting the foyer into a dessert lounge. "We could start turning over the physical environment because people weren't getting up and down to check on their items," Kite said.
Greg Case, president and C.E.O. of Aon Corporation, chaired the ball with his wife Mamie. According to Kite, choosing co-chairs who are well connected—and choosing them early—is a key to successful fund-raising. The society has already named its co-chairs for the 2011 Discovery Ball and plans to announce the 2012 selection soon. "We even have our eye on who may chair for 2013," Kite said. By choosing chairs well in advance, she explained, "those who are on board for the next year bring their heavy-hitters to the event to say: 'I need you to see this. I'm going to be involved with this. So this year, come as my guest. I may be asking you for financial support next year.'"
