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Travel consistently ranks among the most exciting and profitable auction items at fundraising events. A well-chosen travel experience can create energy in the room, inspire competitive bidding, and generate significant revenue without requiring your organization to purchase inventory upfront. Mitch-Stuart alone has helped nonprofits raise more than $1 billion through risk-free consignment travel packages, giving organizations access to hundreds of unique experiences that appeal to a wide range of donors.
Yet offering consignment travel packages at your auction alone doesn’t automatically guarantee success.
If your organization is going to get the most out of consignment travel packages, the travel packages need to be more than just another auction item they need to be part of your overall fundraising strategy. Below are the biggest mistakes we've seen nonprofit organizations make with travel packages, and how to avoid each one.
A luxury African safari may sound like the ultimate bucket-list trip, but it might not be the best fit for every audience. If your donors are primarily young families, a Disney vacation or an all-inclusive Caribbean resort could generate far more bidding activity. Likewise, an audience of retirees may respond more enthusiastically to a European river cruise or an Italian villa stay.
Before selecting travel packages, ask questions like:
What is the average age of our donors?
Do many attendees travel internationally?
Are they families, retirees, or young professionals?
Have certain destinations performed well in previous auctions?
Travel packages should be recommended based on donor demographics, a nonprofit's fundraising goals, and past auction event performance. Customized packages can also be created for a specific organization and its donors.
Travel packages deserve the same planning as any major sponsorship or live auction item.
Many organizations wait until the last minute to find suitable travel packages for their auction, often resulting in a rushed and unplanned search for items to include in their gala.
Planning 3-6 months ahead gives your organization the opportunity to:
Feature travel packages in invitations and emails.
Highlight experiences on social media.
Include them in auction previews.
Build anticipation before guests ever arrive.
As attendees find out about the great vacations available to bid on, they arrive at the gala armed and ready to bid on these fantastic trips.
People aren't bidding on airfare or hotel nights.
They're bidding on memories.
Instead of listing a package as "Seven Nights in Italy" tell the story behind the experience.
Describe sipping wine in Tuscany, walking through centuries-old villages, enjoying private culinary experiences, or relaxing beside the Mediterranean.
The emotional connection matters.
Mitch-Stuart supplies nonprofit supporters with an extensive array of marketing materials for their charity fundraising auction packages high-quality images, presentation sheets with in-depth information on each travel package, and detailed trip descriptions are all included.
Variety creates excitement.
By offering too many similar travel packages, the bidders will lose interest as they may feel that there is nothing different to choose from in regards to their travel vacation.
Offer Different Travel Experiences for Auction.
For example:
A luxury European villa
A golf getaway
A Broadway weekend
An all-inclusive Caribbean resort
A family-friendly Disney vacation
A once-in-a-lifetime safari
By offering different types of experiences, you attract different bidders and are more likely to see competitive bidding across multiple packages.
Mitch-Stuart's catalog of hundreds of travel experiences to destinations around the world, including weekend getaways, gives your auction variety and something for every budget and interests.
Many nonprofits avoid consignment travel because they wrongly believe they'll have to pay for unsold packages. That's not how reputable consignment programs work.
That's not how reputable consignment programs work.
With Mitch-Stuart's risk-free model, your organization only pays for the travel packages that are sold at your event, after the event. There's no cost to your organization for any packages that go unsold.
By understanding how consignment works, event planners can confidently include more experiences of higher value to raise more money for the nonprofit.
Many travel packages can be sold to several bidders after the highest bidder has won, provided others were actively competing for it. This can add up to a lot of extra money for your auction.
This can add up to a lot of extra money to your auction!
Mitch-Stuart allows nonprofits to sell many travel packages multiple times, maximizing the fundraising upside from every item on the auction floor.
Not every travel provider is equal.
What happens after the auction?
Will winners have someone to answer questions?
Who handles reservations?
What happens if travelers need assistance?
At Mitch-Stuart, we handle all the logistics and documentation so that organizations can focus on promotion and maximizing bids. Our style of service is why we’ve been able to develop long-term relationships with many of the leading nonprofit organizations for more than 30 years.
Even the most desirable travel package can fall flat if it isn't presented effectively. A skilled benefit auctioneer does far more than ask for bids. They know how to build anticipation, tell the story behind an experience, engage the audience, and create friendly competition that encourages higher bidding. The right auctioneer can transform a travel package from another auction item into one of the most exciting moments of the evening.
Organizations sometimes rely on a volunteer, board member, or local personality to run the live auction. While that may seem like a cost-saving decision, it can leave significant fundraising dollars on the table.
Professional benefit auctioneers understand pacing, bidder psychology, and how to maintain energy throughout the event. Their experience often translates into stronger bidding and better fundraising outcomes.
Mitch-Stuart's team works with nonprofits throughout the planning process and can share guidance based on years of fundraising experience. If you're looking for an experienced benefit auctioneer, ask your Mitch-Stuart representative for recommendations within your region.
Nonprofits who treat their consigned travel to be a part of their overall fundraising strategy will be pleasantly surprised at the new ways of increasing donor engagement and raising more money that can be incorporated.
Whether you’re looking for unique fundraising campaigns or want someone to help you administer your current nonprofit travel auctions, Mitch-Stuart is an experienced fundraising partner that can work with you to create memorable travel experiences for your bidders and generate impactful fundraising for your cause.
Consignment travel is a fundraising model in which a travel provider supplies fully-packaged vacation experiences for an auction at no upfront cost to the nonprofit. The organization only pays for packages that actually sell, making it a risk-free way to offer high-value auction items.
No. Under a risk-free consignment model like Mitch-Stuart's, nonprofits are only invoiced for the packages that sell at the event. Unsold packages cost the organization nothing.
Most organizations do best with a curated mix of 4–8 varied experiences rather than many similar options. Variety across price points, destinations, and trip styles keeps bidder interest high across the room.
Yes. Many consignment travel packages can be sold multiple times to different underbidders who were actively competing, turning one item into several sales and significantly increasing auction revenue.
Ideally 3–6 months before the event. Early planning allows you to promote packages in invitations, email campaigns, and social media, and to feature them in auction previews.
A skilled benefit auctioneer builds anticipation, tells the story behind each trip, and creates competitive energy that drives bids higher.
With an experienced partner like Mitch-Stuart, the provider — not the nonprofit — handles reservations, logistics, and any traveler questions after the auction.
Mitch-Stuart recommends travel packages based on donor demographics, an organization's fundraising goals, and what has performed well in past auctions, and can also create fully customized packages.
