Here’s a fast and fun game that can easily raise $3,000+ for your event! Here’s how it works: charge your guests to participate and give them inexpensive items like Mardi Gras beads or blinking bracelets to indicate they’re in the game. The game is simple—either I flip a coin or use a coin flip app on my phone, and guests choose heads or tails by standing up and placing their hands on their head (for heads) or their tail (for tails). If they guess wrong, they’re out and must sit down. The last person standing wins an exciting prize that we can decide on together.

For the live auction, we use a bell curve strategy to maximize bids. We start with a few items that sell at or below fair market value to get the momentum going. This gradually builds the excitement toward higher-priced items, and once we hit the peak of the curve, we work our way back down toward the last item of the auction. By structuring the auction this way, bidders have a chance to engage with different price points, creating anticipation for the next item to come up. We’ll get the best price for each item while keeping the event moving to maintain energy and excitement.

We also have other revenue-generating ideas we can save for the end of the event, which can sometimes double or even triple the donations you would typically receive from a traditional live auction.

One of these ideas is the “last bidder/hero standing” game. Every time someone raises their paddle, they’re committing to a $100 donation, and the last person who donates wins the item. This can be a fun, quick way to generate a lot of buzz and funds at the end of your auction.

This game, which I co-invented with other auction professionals, has been incredibly successful! For example, we’ve sold a Big Green Egg Grill for over $9,000 and Yeti coolers for as much as $4,000! It’s a thrilling and lucrative way to end your auction on a high note.