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How to Set Up a Fund-A-Need / Paddle Call Package

← Items: Donations & Packages
A Paddle Call takes place during the live auction portion of your event. The auctioneer asks for guests to raise their paddles to make a monetary donation towards a special project, a scholarship fund, a large piece of equipment or a special item that is needed by your organization. Guests who would like to donate raise their paddles while an auction committee member records the paddle numbers. The auctioneer then asks again, this time for a lower amount. Typically, a larger number of guests will raise their paddles. This goes on for at most five or six levels – for example, $5000, $2500, $1000, $500, $100 – at which point the auctioneer should have reached a level where the majority of guests have their paddles raised.

In addition to a "Paddle Call" and "Fund-A-Need," this activity is also referred to by some as "Flurry," "Bidding Frenzy," and "Ask."

Prior to your event, you should create a fixed-price package for each Fund-A-Need level that your auctioneer will be calling out.
  1. Go to Items > Packages > Add Package.
  2. There is no underlying donation for a Fund-A-Need package, so do not add any donations.
  3. For Package Name, enter something like: $500 Fund-A-Need. In other words, be specific about how much this package represents.
  4. For Displayed Donor Name, choose Custom and enter "You!"
  5. For Package Kind, choose Buyable => Fixed-Price.
  6. For Price, enter the specific amount this package represents. In the example above, this would be $500.
  7. Set the Quantity (available for sale) to 9999. This will allow you to record 9,999 of the contributions at this level.
A few more things to note:
  • If your organization is using our Complete plan, then you can sell these fixed-price fund-a-need packages through the eCatalog during the eCatalog Access Period.
  • During the event, your cashiers can record the sale of these fund-a-need contributions through @Event > Record Sales > Wins & Purchases.
  • If a bidder at your event pledges an amount different from one of your pre-defined fund-a-need packages, your cashiers can quickly record it via @Event > Record Sales > Monetary Pledges.
  • You can accept monetary donations of variable amounts from your eCatalog by creating a Fixed-Price Range package. These donations will appear on the bidders' invoices. Click here for instructions on How To Set Up A Fixed Price Range Package.
  • To accept monetary donations of variable amounts from your Event Website, Select and Complete plan users can enable "Enable online cash donations" on the Admin > Event Settings > Event Details page. Note that monetary donations made through the Donate Money feature on your Event Website must be paid for separately from a bidder's auction winnings.

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