Paddle Raise Only Events: Simpler Format, Bigger Impact

What if the most powerful fundraising moment at your event… was the only one you needed?

In this episode, we break down the rise of Paddle Raise Only events—a simpler, more focused format that’s helping nonprofits cut through the noise and drive bigger impact. No live auction packages. No distractions. Just a clear, compelling call to action that puts your mission front and center.

You’ll learn why this model is working, when it makes sense to use it, and how to design an experience that still feels elevated, engaging, and deeply emotional—without relying on auction items to carry the night.

We’ll dive into:

• The psychology behind why donors give more when the message is clear
• How to structure your program for maximum participation and momentum
• What you must have in place before the event to make this work
• Common mistakes that can stall energy in a Paddle Raise Only format
• Real insights from events that are shifting away from traditional auctions

If you’ve ever felt like your auction is adding complexity without increasing revenue, this episode will challenge how you think about event fundraising—and show you what’s possible when you simplify with purpose.

Because sometimes… less really does raise more.

Recommended For

Nonprofit leaders
Development directors
Board members
Event planners
Fundraising committees
School, hospital, and foundation galas

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right here, what do you mean to give on it?$25,$50,$75,$100,000. You are listening to the Auction is Action with You in It podcast, presented by Call to Auction, where our favorite four-load word is S-O-L-D. So, so, so. Well, good evening, everybody. My name is Bobby D. I am your host of the Auction is Action with You and It podcast. And today I'm coming to you live from Chelsea Piers, Pier 59, here in New York City. And it is a beautiful, beautiful spring evening, and we are getting ready to be doing a paddle raise-only event. Paddle raise only, you're asking. Bobby, how can you do a paddle raise-only event? You you don't have an auction, you don't have a silent auction, you don't have raffles, you don't have anything? No, we don't. Tonight, the sole fundraising tool is our paddle raise only. And this is a very important fundraising tool. I mean, if you're not doing a paddle raise at your event, you are totally missing out on tens, hundreds of thousands of dollars. So you need to be doing a paddle raise number one. But there are many events out there that all of the other stuff doesn't really fit. So tonight we're raising money for a hospital in India. And a lot of our donors that are in the room don't really need anything. They have enough money. They can buy whatever they want. But what we're here to do is we're really helping to fund this children's hospital. And what's really special about tonight is they have a two-to-one match for every dollar that's raised. So if you give a dollar, there's two more dollars that are matched on that. So it's actually three dollars. So that's a pretty good ROI, I would think, for this uh fundraising event here tonight. So now the way that you do a paddle raise-only event is inside they're doing heavy hors d'oeuvres, drinks, uh, in their cocktail connection hour. What I love most about this is that they have impact messaging all the way through this space. They've got a huge wall, uh, talks about the different uh departments at the hospital, um, has another wall that is really talking about uh donor-centric uh fundraising speak, talking about, you know, with your support, with your generosity, with your help, we're able to make this happen. We couldn't do this without you. And that's so important to be able to put that out there in the world that your donors are the ones that are doing all of the heavy lifting when it comes into the fundraising. So you've got to put that out there. So in this connection hour, what the board members are doing is they're connecting with other individuals, they're meeting, they're greeting, they're sharing uh information about the mission, you know, they're sharing their why, why they love the mission, and it's really setting us up for fundraising success later. So making sure that you have this impact messaging in your cocktail connection hour and connecting people to people, and then connecting people to the mission and connecting people to the impact that they have, or that that we'll be creating. So super important to be able to have that. So we also then have a very, very short program here tonight. Short program, welcome. Thank you, sponsors, and then from that we get right into the fundraising. We show a video, we talk about the impact, and then we get right into the paddle raise. Now, there's a few very specific things that you have to do while you are setting yourself up for success for this paddle raise. You have to have the most important thing, pre-secured gifts. So tonight we have a$25,000 pre-secured gift, and we have a$10,000 pre-secured gift, and we have a$5,000 pre-secured gift. And what's great about that is that is gonna help us to really kill the crickets, that's gonna break the ice, and that's gonna get people really excited about raising their paddles. And what hopefully is gonna happen is that we're gonna have some people that are going to uh be inspired by those uh that are already given and to be uh generous. And what we're trying to do is really encourage some organic gifts and some uh people that are like, oh, well, if they're giving, I'm gonna give. So making sure that you have those pre-secured gifts. And then we had talked about the match already. Now, the match is a two-to-one match again, and every time someone raises their paddle, their donation is pretty much tripled, which is pretty awesome. So if they give$100, it's like they're given three. If they give a thousand, it's like they're given three thousand. If they give ten thousand, it's like they're given thirty thousand. And we're raising money to help purchase a fluoroscopy machine, which is like an x-ray that really goes around the body and makes it uh pretty awesome to be able to uh help these uh children in this children's hospital to help them be as successful as they can be in their surgeries and their procedures and whatever they might have. So it's uh gonna be super great. And all we've got, like I say, is paddle raise only. So we're gonna start at 25,000, we're gonna go to 10,000, we're gonna go to 5,000, 2,500, 1,000, 500, and then 250. Our goal tonight is participation. We really want to have people to be able to participate at whichever level is meaningful for them. And that's what's great about the paddle raise is this is an inclusive fundraising opportunity to be able to help everyone to be able to give in that room. So then once we get through our paddle raise, we're gonna then say, This is how much we raised, thank you, and then good night. And that's it. And then what'll end up happening is then everybody's gonna be ending up having dinner, and then from dinner, then they're gonna have dessert, and they're gonna celebrate the generosity. And it's super simple. And this paddle raise-only event, super easy to be able to do, very, very low stress. You don't have to go out and get all those auction items or sell those raffle tickets or whatnot. All you have to do is really do some great storytelling, which is so important as well. Forgot to talk about that. You've got to have your storytelling down, and the way we're doing the storytelling is a video that was produced for tonight, especially talking about the children's hospital, talking about the impact that's able to be made, and all of those wonderful things. And then that's gonna set us up with our paddle race. So you've got to have connection hour, connecting people to the cause. You also have to have your pre-secured gifts, a matching gift, an incentive is a great way to help people to be able to give. You have to have that storytelling all the way through. That friends, this is a fundraiser. We're gonna be doing some fundraising, and then do the actual fundraising and having someone that's a pro at it to be able to make sure that this feels good, this looks good, it's smooth, it's encouraging, it's inspiring, and it's motivating. Super, super key to making sure that you have a successful battle raising the event. So, everyone, thank you again for joining me on this live edition from Chelsea Pierce here, beautiful New York City. And uh, for those of you watching, yeah, look at this. It's a beautiful, beautiful day. For those of you that are listening, it's a beautiful day. And I want to thank everybody so much for all of the great uh impact that you were making in the world. We couldn't do this without you. You are all changing the world, and I want to say thank you so much for having me to be a part of your mission and to be a part of the impact that you're creating. Now remember, auction is action with you in it. Sometimes you don't even need the auction. Paddle raise only. Let's do it. You can do it. Find out more on inspirehearts.com or check me out on all the socials. All right. Thank you everyone. Have a great one. We'll see ya. Bye.