Have you ever wondered how much to charge for an individual ticket price to your charity fundraising event? A lot of organizations tend to fall into one of two categories when it comes to selecting a ticket price: 1) they believe that the ticket price is supposed to help cover the cost of the event, or 2) they rely on the money raised during the fundraiser to cover the cost of putting it on, so they set a lower ticket price to attract more attendees. What a lot of people don’t know is that your ticket price helps set a tone for your charity event. If the ticket price is too high, then maybe not everyone can afford to come to your event. If it’s too low, you might get a lot more people to come but you might not have as many high bidders in the room.
One thing that we’re asked a lot is how much we can sell live auction items for, and one of the questions we ask in response is “How much are you charging for an individual ticket price?” This is because there is a correlation between your ticket price and what your live auction items will sell for. If your ticket price is lower, then more people will be able to afford to come to your event, but they also might not have the economic means to be able to bid or donate in the way that you might be expecting. Having a higher ticket price tends to make it so people who can’t afford to attend your event don’t come, but those who are able to afford the higher price also most likely have the opportunity and the ability to bid and donate more at your event.
A higher ticket price also allows you to bring in more expensive/high quality items that people can afford. For example, if you have a ticket price of $65, and a live auction item with a value of $3000 and a starting bid of $1500, that might not be the right audience for the cost of that item. In this example, your ticket price is low, which allows for you to have more attendees at your charity event, but most live auction items sell between $500-$1000 with ticket prices less than $100. Even if your item is something that everyone in the room wants, it’s already starting higher than your selling range for that ticket price, and might not be the best item for your live auction that moment. However, if you are charging a ticket price between $100-$175, the general selling range for that ticket price is $1000-$3000. Your $3000 value item fits better into an event with a ticket price in that range.
One way to help select the right ticket price is to look at your previous year’s auction items and see what range they fall into. Additionally, the right benefit auctioneer can look at your past auction data and give you a recommendation on what you should charge for your ticket price. If you’re wondering what to charge for your event, and want to know more about how to make these types of decisions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us today!