The Paddle Raise
The minutes that can
change the night.
Often the most productive part of the evening, and the part most worth getting right. We help you prepare the appeal, and we conduct it live.
Let's Build Your Paddle RaiseA direct ask the whole room can answer.
A paddle raise is a live appeal for direct gifts to your mission. The auctioneer names a giving level, and everyone who wants to give at that level raises a paddle. No item is sold, and no one has to outbid anyone. Ten people can give at the same number. A hundred can give across the night.
That is why it is so often the most productive moment of the whole event. The format is simple. The strategy is not, and that is where we come in.
Where We Make the Difference
Strategy
The Giving Ladder
We work with you to set giving levels that fit your room, your donor history, and the goal of the night.
The Program
The Mission Handoff
We help connect your story, speaker, or video straight into the invitation to give, so the room never has to change subjects before it is asked.
Momentum
Leadership Gifts
We work with your team to think through how your pre-committed gifts, matches, or challenges can best benefit the room on the night of your event.
On the Night
Room Execution
We coordinate with your volunteers, spotters, recorders, and production teams so everyone knows the sequence, and then we conduct the appeal.
The mission gives people a reason to care. The paddle raise gives them a way to act.
The Giving Ladder
Where the night is
won or lost.
Levels that fit the room, and mean something.
The ladder is the sequence of giving levels, from the largest gift down to a community ask. It has to be set so your ask is transparent and the tone is set. Set it too low and major gifts never appear. We work with you to build levels that fit your audience and your history.
Every level should stand for something real. A scholarship. A week of services. A piece of equipment. Donors deserve transparency regarding what their gift makes possible.
In the Room
Calling numbers is the
smallest part.
We read the room and conduct the moment.
On the night, this part is ours. We watch the room and the response, we control the pace and the silences, we recognize every gift, we move cleanly between levels, and we stay with the spotters and recorders the whole way. A strong level may be worth holding. A quiet one may need a cleaner line or a faster move. The script gives us structure. The room tells us how to conduct it.
Belief is the best ask
Lead with passion.
Donors will give to a mission they feel connected to.
When your donors are prepared and your program is built to lead into the mission moment, the ask happens naturally. It leaves them connected to the cause, ready to give, and wanting to be part of your mission.
That connection is built long before the night. It comes from how the invitation is framed, how the story is told, and how the program moves toward the ask. When the room already understands the need, the appeal is not a hard turn. It is the moment the whole evening has been building toward.
The best paddle raises work because donors know why they are there and feel like part of your mission. That is what we help you build, well before the paddles go up.
Using Games to Enhance Donations
Finish your ask with fun.
Give the other eighty percent a reason to raise again.
A strong appeal does not have to end on its last giving level. Closing with a game is a strategy many organizations overlook, and it is often where the rest of the room comes in. Whether it is a donor match, a competition, a paddle drop, or our favorite, Last Paddle Standing, the goal is the same: give the other eighty percent of the room a reason to raise their paddle more than once.
Last Paddle Standing is the one we reach for most. Played at a single fixed amount, guests raise their paddles as many times as they like, and every raise is another real gift. The auctioneer calls the numbers until one paddle remains and wins an exclusive prize, but every raise along the way has already added to the total. It turns the close of your Fund-A-Need into energy, participation, and one last push for your mission.
Common Challenges Nonprofits Face
Ten common challenges that keep a paddle raise from maximizing donations.
- The ask is not placed well within the program.
- The giving levels are not structured for the room.
- Donors are not told clearly where their money goes or why it matters.
- The presenter makes the ask more complicated than it needs to be.
- No paddles or bid cards are used, so gifts are hard to see and count.
- The presentation on stage falls flat.
- The program or impact video does not connect into the paddle raise.
- It is led by a volunteer instead of someone who asks for large gifts on a stage every week.
- No sponsor prep or matching funds are lined up before the night.
- The appeal is scheduled too late, after the room has already faded.
Proper preparation, timing, and presentation can be worth tens of thousands of dollars to many organizations, and six figures or more to others.
Questions We Hear Most
What is a paddle raise?
A paddle raise is a live appeal for direct gifts during a fundraising event. The auctioneer names a giving level, and guests who want to give at that level raise a numbered paddle. No auction item is bought, and many donors can give at the same level.
Is a Fund-A-Need the same as a paddle raise?
Usually, yes. Fund-A-Need, special appeal, mission appeal, cash call, and paddle raise are all common names for the same direct-giving moment. Some organizations use mission moment for the story that leads into it, and paddle raise for the ask itself.
Should the paddle raise happen before or after the live auction?
It depends on the program. Sometimes a short live auction builds the room and the appeal follows. In other events the paddle raise should come first. What matters is keeping the mission and the ask connected, and making the ask before attention or attendance falls away.
How long should a paddle raise last?
There is no fixed length. It depends on the number of levels, the size of the room, and how the gifts are recognized and recorded. It should move with purpose while still giving donors time to respond. Long enough to recognize real participation, short enough to hold the room.
How many giving levels should we use?
Enough to reach the real donor bands in the room without making the appeal repetitive. Your giving history, what you know about your donors, and the goal should set the ladder. Too many levels tire the room. Too few leave willing donors without a place to give.
Do we need leadership or pre-committed gifts?
Not every event needs them. They are nice to have, and they have their place: a leadership gift can keep the appeal from opening cold and show that respected supporters believe in the work. When you use them, they must be genuine gifts prepared for public recognition, not staged bids.
Should we offer a matching gift?
If a donor wants to match gifts, a real, simple match can add energy to the room and strengthen the appeal. It has to be genuine and easy to explain, and the room should know what is being matched and what unlocks it. A complicated match just becomes another set of instructions when the room should be thinking about the mission.
What if nobody gives at the opening level?
The opening level sets the tone for the whole appeal. Placed well, it tells the room where the giving begins. If a paddle goes up at your highest level, that is a win for your mission. If it does not, the level still did its job by naming the ask, and we keep moving. Donors need to know what they are being asked to give, because the largest gifts never come if they are never asked for.
Can a small nonprofit run a paddle raise?
Yes. The ladder and the goal should fit your donor community. A paddle raise scales from a small gathering to a major gala. The mechanism is the same. Only the numbers change.
Minutes of work that can define the whole night. That is what we come to do.
Justin James