Whether you’re planning a virtual or in-person fundraising event, a Paddle Raise can be a great way to build excitement and encourage donations! We aren’t talking about the paddle raising for item bidding: we’ve all seen auctions in movies and tv shows with characters raising their paddles, getting into bidding wars for the most coveted item on the auction block. Don’t let your team and guests get confused! We’re discussing a Paddle Raise to generate donations—your guests won’t receive anything (except a tax deduction opportunity!). Putting on your own Paddle Raise isn’t complicated, but there are a few simple things you can do to make it a smooth, successful event that raises lots of money for your organization.

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• What a Paddle Raise that is conducted at and event or auction
• 3 key steps for a successful Paddle Raise
• How to take your Paddle Raise to the next level
• How Auctria can make your Paddle Raise be a success!

What is a Paddle Raise at the Event and Auction Fundraiser?

As quintessential as a Paddle Raise auction might be in the media, the scripted scenes aren’t quite the same as putting one on yourself in real life—so let’s dig into what actually makes your auction a Paddle Raise!

A Paddle Raise often starts with the announcement of a large donation. This serves to generate excitement and motivate your attendees to join in and increase the funds raised to make a bigger difference for your organization! Announcing a large donation this way also allows you to spotlight a significant donor and give them the proper recognition. When the large donation is announced, the emcee or auctioneer will call on your guests to add their own donations, similar to a donation match but without matching the exact amount.

The announcer will then call out progressively lower monetary amounts and guests will raise their numbered paddles for the amount they wish to give. As the amounts get lower, make sure your announcer reminds people that small donations can add up and be just as impactful as a single large donation to help motivate attendees to give what they can. This can work for in-person or virtual events, and is a great way to bring some energy to your fundraising event.

3 Key Steps to a Successful Paddle Raise

A successful Paddle Raise is, at its core, dependent on an emotional appeal to your guests, asking them to increase the support for your organization and its mission. This kind of appeal has 3 key elements that make it successful time and time again, for every organization and every mission.

In an interview with Kelly Russell from Artisan Auctions, Sam Swaim, a fundraising strategist from Swaim Strategies, sums it up as “people give to people”.

The 3 steps for a successful Paddle Raise are:

• The Story
• The Ask
• The Collection

The Story: Psychologically, attendees give most when it comes from a place of emotion. The quickest way to create emotional connections is through good storytelling! Your mission is the emotional heart of your organization, so it’s important to communicate it clearly and effectively. Why is your mission important? Who does it impact? How does the money you raise make a positive impact?

Make sure the answers to these questions are told in a cohesive, compelling manner during your event. Even though attendees are likely familiar with your mission, this is a key time to reiterate why your organization does the work it does. If you’re not sure how to tell your story, consider storytelling to be THE HEART of a successful fundraiser with some key tips on how to communicate your mission!

• Make the Most of Your Website
• Write and Record an Impact Video
• Share Your Call to Action

Here’s one key tip: to capitalize on the idea of “people give to people”, interview someone who has been directly impacted by your organization! You can bring them up as a live speaker or play a recording. Hearing from someone who’s experienced the benefits of your mission is a great way to help your audience connect emotionally with your mission.

The Ask: have a clear call to action. The most effective stories about your organization and its mission should finish with a strong call to action that encourages your audience to provide support. A strong, clear call to action is essential—just because you’ve told the story doesn’t mean that donors will understand that donating is the next step. For a Paddle Raise, this is where you should let them know that you’ve received a large donation, and that they can help you take that donation even farther by donating themselves to grow the impact.

The Collection: this is the Paddle Raise in action! Once you’ve communicated your story and given the call to action, it’s time to follow through and collect those donations. Having a good emcee or auctioneer is key here: they should keep the energy up, reminding guests that every dollar helps your organization make a difference to motivate everyone to donate.

“One person [donates] $6,500…And then their friend raises their paddle and goes, ‘we'll do that too’…they wanted someone to match them…giving is contagious. So you gotta set yourself up for success. If you know you're starting at $5,000, try to fish for more. And if you can find and identify a donor, or a sponsor, this is a great opportunity for them to give at this moment to motivate others to give.” - Auctioneer Sean Weiner

How to Take Your Paddle Raise to the Next Level

There’s a few ways you can make sure your Paddle Raise drives as many donations as possible.

Arranging for several precommitted, larger donation amounts from regular donors is a great way to get the ball rolling even at larger monetary amounts. If the announcer calls out the larger monetary amounts and no one breaks the ice to start donating, it may stall the momentum and deter donors from donating even at lower levels. By guaranteeing several immediate donations, you’ll keep energy high and encourage more donations at every level!

Track how many attendees have donated and aim for a 100% engagement level! If you have someone quickly tracking who has raised their paddle, you could show the number or percentage of guests who have donated on the screen. The higher the percentage, the more motivated other guests may be to donate! The emcee can call out the rising percentage as well, verbally calling on guests to achieve a 100% donation rate. No one likes to be left out or feel like they’re the only one not contributing, so this can be a powerful motivator.

Hint: You can do this easily with Auctria!

Bobby D. Ehlert, founder and fundraising auctioneer at Call to Auction, noted an interesting trend he saw this year.

The fund a need the opportunity engage one hundred percent of the audience.

He goes on to explain what levels to choose and how to incentivize levels of giving.

“A recent trend in 2025 is being more creative with levels with the Paddle Raise. For example, starting at $12,000, which can be presented as $1,000 a month to help a program. Then you might go to $6,000, presented as half a year, and then $3,000, and $1,500.

“Another level seeing a lot of participation is the “365 level” ($365), tied to the organization showing up every day of the year. This is presented as an opportunity to be a partner and make a donation for a dollar a day. This is an example of tying the mission to the different levels.”

If you want to dig in even further on how to motivate your attendees to donate more, fundraising auctioneer and friend of Auctria Kelly Russell, Artisan Auctions, goes into detail about her “sweep” strategy! By having guests raise their cards for a photo and then asking them to leave them raised if they’d like to make a small donation, you can employ a gentle amount of social pressure to encourage donors to make another small donation, which can add up to a significant amount.

There’s a lot of ways to get creative with how you pitch the donations to your attendees—do some brainstorming with your team to make sure you’re maximizing the impact of your Paddle Raise!

How Using Auctria Can Make Your Paddle Raise a Success!

With Auctria, you can transform your most powerful mission moments into meaningful giving. We make it easy to set customizable paddle raise levels that match your capacity in the room. For data entry ease, set increments input each donation entry. Then, record gifts during the event for immediate payment or in-person checkout, or enter them later and send guests a statement or batch payments using pre-registered cards.

• Simple Setup with Paddle-Raise Dashboard
• Use donation levels that match prior levels of giving
• Use a progress tracker so donors can see total donations
• For greater impact, add custom images next to the donation
• Place donation buttons throughout the event website for easy donation
• Add a donation section to the event website's footer to display on every page

One Auctria user, Almost Home, saw their Paddle Raise bring in 42% of their event’s gross income! Having an engaging MC or auctioneer and sharing mission moments can make a huge difference in the success of your Paddle Raise. Check out our Features page to see all the customizations you can make to help your event be a success.

Yes, a Paddle Raise is Right for Your Event

We hope that this helps you and your team get started when considering how to inspire, engage, and motivate your attendees to donate! Want to see how other organizations are using Auctria to power their fundraisers? Check out our Public Auction and Fundraising Events page! This page features live updates with currently active events so you can see exactly how other nonprofits are running their events.