What if we told you there was a fun, easy way to combine raffles and auctions to bring in more funds for your cause? Well, there is! Penny socials are a fantastic add-on to any fundraising event - or they can stand alone. Read on to learn more about this type of fundraiser, including how to host one and some tips to raise even more.
A penny social is a common type of auction event that can be lucrative for nonprofits with smaller resources, or for larger nonprofits who don’t want to spend more of their resources.
In this article, we’re going to dig into this fundraising event and give you a step-by-step guide to hosting a successful one yourself.
A penny social is an event where auctions and raffles are mixed together. Attendees to the event purchase tickets they can use to “bid” on certain items. Penny socials are also called Lucky Number Dinners, Pick-a-Prize, Chance Auctions, and Tricky Trays.
The more tickets they purchase to “bid” on a certain item, the higher the chances are that their ticket will be pulled in the raffle for that item.
This differs from a traditional auction, where attendees don’t have to pay for each bid.
But because the winners are determined by raffle, the only way organizations raise money with these events is through ticket sales, instead of upping bids in normal auctions.
Donorbox Events lets you easily set up an event page with unlimited ticket tiers to make selling tickets to your penny social a breeze. Add a ticket-buying deadline to your page, set max ticket quantities for each tier, showcase the tax-deductible amount of each ticket tier, customize your event page with content and visuals, and accept donations on top of ticket sales. Your buyers will receive automated receipts with digital copies of their tickets in their inboxes.
Here’s what the Donorbox event ticketing form looks like. You can also easily embed the form on your website by copying and pasting a code.
Sell Tickets with Donorbox Events
Nonprofits raise money with these types of events in two primary ways –
Your penny social can be its own event, or it can be part of a larger fundraising event like a gala, community gathering, golf tournament, or anything with an in-person fundraising component.
You should establish your pricing for both your event and raffle tickets based on what you’re offering. For example, if you have a lot of high-end auction items, you’ll want to charge more for your raffle tickets.
Or if you’re hosting an evening with dinner and dancing, you’ll want to charge more for your fundraising event tickets.
You might even combine event tickets and raffle tickets, the way Once Upon A Second Chance did for their event using Donorbox. This encourages attendees to purchase tickets at a higher level to get more opportunities to bid on your items!
Use your community partnerships, board relationships, and supporter network to secure attractive auction items. You’ll want a good mix of actual items and things like gift cards and experiences.
Here are some auction item ideas –
Need more inspiration? We have a complete list of 25 simple and unique auction basket ideas to get you started!
Remember, the chance of winning items is what’s going to drive your attendees to purchase more raffle tickets, so be sure to acquire some interesting items!
As mentioned before, the main ways you can raise money with this event are through event and raffle ticket sales. Choosing an efficient and easy-to-use ticketing solution will streamline this process and help you raise more!
Donorbox Events is a user-friendly and powerful tool for creating a beautiful event page for your penny social. You can add unlimited ticket levels along with the deadline to buy tickets and ticket quantity. Showcase the tax-deductible amount for each tier to encourage people to spend more.
Your purchasers will be able to use cards or Apple Pay to purchase tickets. They’ll receive a receipt with their ticket in their inbox. You can also easily refund ticket amounts in full. Plus, leverage promo codes to boost ticket sales and use easy check-in features to streamline your workflow on the day of your event.
Donorbox also lets you accept additional donations from the ticketing form. This helps you convert your event attendees into donors. All information about purchasers and sold tickets is stored securely in the Donorbox database. Take a look at all that our powerful Events feature can do to elevate your fundraising events –
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Once everyone at your penny social has had a chance to bid with their tickets, it’s time to draw for winners.
You can do this however you’d like, but it’s fun to make it an exciting part of the event. Your emcee can handle the drawing, going from item to item, or you can invite special guests like your board members to draw for winners.
Depending on your event, guests can either claim their items then or pick them up at the end of the night.
Take advantage of the momentum of your penny social by encouraging your attendees to give to your organization during your event. Here are three ways you can make it easy for them to give!
Put QR codes around your event venue. This makes it easy for your donors to simply scan and access your donation page.
At the end of the event or before it has started, you can let people know how to give easily through these QR codes. Encourage them to make a donation to support your mission.
You’ll receive a free, automatically generated QR code for any campaign you create on Donorbox. You also have the ability to customize the link and the download format. Download the code, print it, and paste it across your event venue.
There’s nothing better than mobile giving when it comes to accepting donations at your events. And text-to-give can help significantly boost your event donations.
With Donorbox Text-to-Give, the process is a breeze! Just share your unique campaign ID or custom keyword, depending on your plan, and the number or short code with your attendees. All they have to do is send a text and then they’ll receive a mobile-friendly donation page link to donate. They can also easily repeat their donation by just sending a keyword to the same number. See how it looks –
Donation kiosks are a fun, convenient, safe, and fast way for your attendees to donate. You can simply add your card reader app to a couple of tablets and set them up at the event venue.
The Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app for iPads and Android tablets pairs with a card reader device to let your supporters quickly make donations through swipes, taps, or dips from their cards, smartphones, or smartwatches. It supports multiple payment methods and transactions are very secure and super fast!
Donorbox Live™ Kiosk - Learn More!
Pro tip: To get more donations at your penny social event, you can even make it part of the fun by having a give-a-thon. With this, the last person to donate any amount during a certain period of time wins a prize.
After your penny social, it’s important to get feedback from your attendees.
Find out what worked and what didn’t work by sending out a survey using the information you collected when your attendees purchased their tickets.
This will both help you plan your next event and help develop an ongoing relationship with your attendees. If you’re using Donorbox Events to sell tickets, find all your purchasers’ data on the supporter database. You can easily add filters to segment the data for personalized communication pieces.
Now that you know the ins and outs of the penny social, you can host one to raise funds for your organization!
Remember that the best events are the ones your attendees will remember fondly. They’re a chance to make an impression on a donor that can turn into a life-long relationship. So approach each event thoughtfully!
Use Donorbox Events to make your fundraising events run seamlessly and raise more funds. Selling tickets is easy with Donorbox’s lightning-quick event page setup, where you can create an attractive and customized form.
Learn about Donorbox’s powerful products and features to help amp up your fundraising efforts. Sign up to get started right away – in four simple steps!
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Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
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Lindsey Baker Bower