Did you know there are 9.5 million Millennial households in the United States? Typically defined as the generation born between the early 1980s to mid 1990s, the average Millennial is planning to take 3 trips over the next year.

Fundraising auctions allow charities to bring in thousands of dollars for their cause. Auction fundraisers can be in the form of live, silent or online. Because most of the items are donated, the opportunity for raising money is significant. Today we will explore the different types of fundraisers and how to maximize each type. Whether you're new to the world of auction fundraisers or just looking for a quick overview of best practices, this post is for you.

Did you know... Baby Boomers spend a whopping $157 billion on travel each year? If people ages 50 to 70 are a target demographic for your nonprofit, it's smart to know where and why they're traveling. What's on their bucket lists? What kinds of trips and activities are they planning in 2019 and beyond? We put together an infographic with must-read statistics on baby boomer travel trends, plus tips to include top destinations in your fundraising efforts.

The AFP International Conference on Fundraising, or AFP ICON 2019, is coming up March 31 to April 2 in San Antonio. Winspire will be in attendance, so come visit us at Booth 124! We love meeting new people, visiting nonprofit partners and collaborating on innovative ways to support your organization. Plus, we'll be giving away a 5-night luxury hotel stay to one lucky visitor! For more specifics about the event please visit the AFP event homepage.

We are thrilled to announce the winner of Winspire's first Donation Give-Away drawing of 2019! Congratulations goes to Kim, Director of Advancement at The Bright School in Chattanooga. For more than 100 years, The Bright School has provided an educational foundation for generations of children in the Chattanooga area. It's our honor to be able to donate gift cards to Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom ($1,000 total) for their use in an upcoming fundraiser.

The scenario: You've bundled enough donations for four or five big-ticket packages in the live auction. You're confident the group dinner with a private chef, red-hot concert tickets and box suite at the baseball game are going to inspire lucrative bidding wars amongst your donors. That said, your current packages aren't quite enough to fill the 30 to 45 minutes you've allotted for the live auction. Now what?

When it comes to interacting with and educating supporters, few opportunities are as fun and rewarding as a charity auction. The party-like atmosphere creates an appealing, fun guest experience that naturally encourages people to give. This gathering of your supporters also allows you to educate the public on the work your organization does.

Do your donors like to travel? Surveys suggest they do: More than 80 percent of winning bidders report setting aside $5,000 annually for travel, while 53 percent set aside $10,000 or more! As donors in 2019 look to collect lifelong memories instead of clutter, non-tangible auction items continue to grow in popularity. These include experiences like trips, tours, entertainment tickets and exclusive access.

We asked over 100 webinar attendees, how many items do you include in your live auction? Here's what they had to say...

Happy New Year from Winspire News! Though we're still getting over the habit of writing 2018 on our dates, 2019 is officially in full swing. Today on the blog, we compiled important predictions regarding charitable giving in 2019 into one handy infographic. See must-read stats on the rise of giving by email, the importance of securing scheduled gifts, and ideas to engage socially conscious Gen-Z'ers.

Season's Greetings from Winspire! With the world of event fundraising changing day by day, we aimed to deliver cutting-edge, fresh resources for live auctions, silent auctions and raffles all year long.