Jerry Davich: Doggone fundraiser is one to copycat
JERRY DAVICH jdavich@post-trib.com November 15, 2011 10:16PM
Rescued greyhound Jet Li. | Provided photo~Sun-Times Media
Updated: December 17, 2011 8:30AM
The fancy-pants fundraiser attracted nearly 250 guests who dug deeply into their wallets and purses for a whopping $46,000 in just a few hours.
The event offered a silent auction, live auction, champagne fountain, wonderful dinner and an open bar this past Saturday night at Avalon Manor in Hobart. In other words, it was a top-shelf affair that was both hoity and toity, in a good way.
I wonder if you can guess what charity was behind such a successful fundraiser, especially amid a recession that has people thinking twice about any unneeded expenditures? Go ahead and try: American Cancer Society? Burn victims? Children with brain tumors? Homelessness? Make-a-Wish terminal patients? A strange disease you’ve never heard of?
No, not even close.
The “Winning Hearts, Not Races” fundraiser was held on behalf of dogs. That’s right, dogs. Well, a certain breed of dog, to be precise. Greyhounds.
“They are counting on us,” announced Jeff Coggins, president of American Greyhound, which hosted the event.
“It’s for the little woofers,” auctioneer Larry Little told the crowd to prompt higher bids.
American Greyhound/Great Lakes Inc. rescues racing greyhounds from tracks and farms, and then provides necessary veterinarian work, foster home care and finally, an adoptive home for them to spend their life as a family pet.
The upscale fundraiser was the organization’s second annual event, yet it surpassed expectations as well as the total from last year’s event, $28,000.
“You guys rock!” yelled Coggins’ wife, Barb, to fellow guest John Corso, who had just bid $2,500 for a week-long African photo safari for two.
“What the hell did I just do?” Corso muttered to himself after the bidding ended.
You did a wonderful thing, John, but there’s no way I would do the same for this particular cause. Still, it didn’t stop other guests from following his lead.
Coggins told the guests sincerely, “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, and from every greyhound we save.”
Is it the dogs or the event?
I usually feel out of place at such formal events, like an olive that fell out of its martini. But I try not to appear too shaken alongside Mr. and Mrs. Well-To-Do from Swellville.
Coggins invited me to attend this event after reading my previous columns on other fundraisers that fell flat for various reasons.
If you recall, I attended a fundraiser last year that boasted all the swanky trappings except for one thing: guests. The place was half empty, and several of the guests were from the organization that hosted it. I really felt bad for them so I offered suggestions.
For example, remind guests why they were invited. Don’t tell us why. SHOW us why. Introduce us to who we are coughing up money for. Use photos on a large screen — we are a visual society — and infuse the timeless complication-resolution formula to tug on our heart-strings and then purse-strings. Also, explain exactly how our money will help.
Common sense stuff, I figured, but you’d be surprised.
“If any organizations attempt any of these suggestions, feel free to invite me for a possible column on the results,” I wrote in a previous column.
Coggins did just that, and I came away impressed by his event. But what intrigued me was how this fundraiser, for rescued dogs, did better than other fundraisers I’ve attended, for people who need to be rescued.
As I watched guest after guest donate money to top the $40,000 mark, I wondered, why? Is it the design and execution of the event or the charitable cause?
“I don’t believe it is the particular cause so much as how they go about running their fundraisers,” Coggins told me afterward. “At (our event), everyone was having fun, or at least 99 percent of them were. You have to make something like his fun, or they won’t be back. And, trust me, they will be back.”
I must admit, the event was fun, even for someone like me who has zero interest in greyhounds, who were smartly paraded through the crowd (on a leash). Even many of the auctioned items were dog-related, which guests enjoyed.
“The basic tenet with our auction is, ‘Is it going to be first class?’ If the answer is yes, we do it, if no, we don’t,” Coggins said.
First class, sure. But I think the doggone cause was the bigger attraction. I’ve seen people climb over homeless humans to help a hapless pet in downtown Chicago.
My advice to fundraiser organizers for other charities: Bring a few puppies.
Silent auction etiquette
The woman hovered in front of the coveted item that she bid on during the silent auction, waiting for it to finally end.
“Five, four, three ...” the auctioneer announced to the crowd.
The woman hurriedly grabbed a pen and wrote her bidder number on the bid sheet, just in the nick of time before the auctioneer finished, “Two, one, it’s over.”
She clapped happily at her cleverness, but because I’m new to silent auctions, I wondered, is this proper etiquette or just plain rudeness?
Listen to Jerry’s new radio show “Casual Fridays” at noon on Fridays on WLPR 89.1-FM or www.thelakeshorefm.com.
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