Who I Work With

Dean coaches individuals and teams, ranging from newbies organizing their first event to those with decades of fundraising experience.

The one characteristic nearly all my clients share is dedication and drive. If you’re gung-ho about making your event successful, we’ll work great together!

If you’ve never organized a fundraiser before, I can teach you how to do it right. I’m prepared to hold your hand and be at as many meetings as possible to help ensure your success. The first year running a fundraiser is always the hardest. I’ll answer all of your questions and help you avoid the most common mistakes ‘newbies’ make. I often see newcomers to event management take the knowledge I provide and run with best practices that ensure success for years to come.

If you’ve run your organization’s fundraisers for a few years, you likely know what’s working for you…and what’s not working quite so well. We’ll focus on the areas you’re aware you need help with to raise the bar of your success. I’ll work with 1 or 2 individuals, or dozens on a Committee or your development team. If you’re excited about your organization and event and open to what’s possible, we can achieve great things.

If you’ve been organizing the same event for thirty years the same way, you know how hard it is to work against prior years’ numbers. Together, we can spot opportunities for improvements, and combine your time-tested strategies with my knowledge about today’s latest trends. Working as a team, you can begin to envision some new possibilities to help you achieve even greater success with exceeding your goals.

Whether you’re looking to step up to something new, make some big changes, or you’re just excited about integrating some new ideas into what already works for your event, my services will be a great fit.

I work with a variety of types of organizations: those supporting schools and kids, health and wellness, pets and animals. My clients run fundraisers and benefits for public and private schools, medical-related organizations, and in support of the arts. I’ve worked at benefits and fundraisers for March of Dimes, MDA, cancer foundations, hospitals and small centers like the Atlanta Birth Center. I enjoy the arts, and working with small and large organizations supporting them, such as the Atlanta Ballet, the Atlanta Opera, and the Center for Puppetry Arts. I’ve also had the pleasure to work with many organizations supporting pets, wildlife and nature.

I have over 20 years’ experience as a Benefit Auctioneer, and it’s likely I understand your cause, your goals, and how to gain the most financial support possible for it.

I understand that when it comes to my clients and the causes they support, every single dollar raised will help change a life. This is a cornerstone of the work I do and it’s the bulk of my job as a Benefit Auctioneer Specialist. I can help your audience understand the true value of every dollar, and how it will change someone’s life for the better.

Regardless of what your event sponsors, understanding how dollars truly make a difference is what motivates attendees to want to help—to want to give more. This is one of the biggest differences between a specialized Benefit Auctioneer and anyone else you might hire.

I work with individuals, committees and teams who want building a successful event to be an easy, smooth process, not something everyone dreads each year. I work with clients who have a lot on the line and who care a great deal about their non-profits’ success. Yet with the right approach, skills and tools, a successful event doesn’t have to be a stressful one in the making.

Many of my clients have common challenges and concerns as well as shared goals in fundraising.

Some of these scenarios may sound familiar to you…

“We’ve taken the same approach to our fundraiser for years: an awards event with a fundraiser attached. Making the awards the focus always seemed the right approach to getting as many in attendance as possible, because the winners invite dozens of people to come. We focus our energy on the awards and dinner, and have a small silent auction and a very small live auction after presenting the awards. But as the awards are handed out, the room gets more and more empty. By the time the live auction comes around, there’s hardly anyone left. The ones still there seem tired, ready to leave, and in no way eager to spend money. I’d like to reorganize the timeline of our event, but I’m not sure we can pull it off. What if the auction is so boring or such a turn off, nobody bids much? What if we scare off our audience and nobody comes next year? I wish there was a way to put the money-making first—a way to try something new without putting what little we have at risk.”

“The legal foundation I work with holds a small silent auction each year for fundraising. Year after year, we face a real challenge, because what we do as a foundation isn’t easy to put in simple terms people can easily understand. This year, we desperately need cash, and a lot of it, to keep going. I’ve seen other organizations do Fund in Need requests that generate a lot of money. I’d love to get my committee on board with the idea, but I just don’t know how to pull it off. How can I explain our cause to an audience so they’ll feel motivated to donate cash? I believe in our cause, but I just don’t have the skills to translate all we do in simple terms…never mind the personality to ask for pure cash donations. I know what I don’t have and what we need—I just don’t know how to get it.”

“We’re about to start planning our third fundraiser, and already the committee is arguing over what’s best. It’s so stressful trying to decide what to do—silent auction, live auction? Games, raffles, or something else? Half the group thinks we should aim for small, affordable donations from as many people as possible. I think we should aim big, too, and try to engage everyone to give at whatever level they can. I don’t have much experience planning events, but I know the goal we need to hit this year is huge. I need a way to get everyone to agree–to get my hands untied so the real work can begin.”

“It’s gotten to the point where the entire committee hates the silent auction we do every year for our fundraiser. It’s too much work and we don’t make nearly enough on the items we collect and process. Raffles never do well for us, either. What’s left for ways we can make money that are actually doable? We need fresh ideas and real solutions—ones that work for organizations like ours. We want and need new revenue streams, but we’re at a loss as to what’s next.”

“We’ve had good success with our annual fundraiser in the past, and we’d like to keep it going. Our event has really grown in popularity, and we’re getting bigger crowds and more donations. We’d really like to tap into what looks like could be a lot of unrealized potential. We want to make things a little more upscale, we’re just not sure how to go about it. We want to auction higher-priced items this year, but will that work for a silent auction? Is a live auction a better choice? Putting more money on the line without a plan is risky. What we need is professional advice from someone who understands where we’ve been, where we want to be, and how to get there.”

Organizations are likely to be successful working with Dean Crownover if they are open to new ideas, have a good sense of humor, and believe what they’re doing is a fundraiser first and a friend-raiser second. That means, the goal is to make money…not throw a party.

I have the most success with clients who are ready and willing to let me take control of certain aspects of their fundraisers—the ones I specialize in!

The clients I work most successfully with are those who understand that I will make them money, not lose money for them. Their investment in me is solid and it is small compared to the gains that can made with a professional approach to fundraising.

You don’t have to do it all yourself when you work with a Benefit Auctioneer Specialist. Let me carry some of the weight so you’re free and able to put your focus where it’s best applied.

Dean Crownover is a professional Benefit Auctioneer who brings expertise in planning, audience development, staging and showmanship to your event.

If you have a small committee or a few volunteers who are focused and gung-ho ready to work on your fundraiser, I can help. Your strong work ethic and dedication combined with my knowledge and skills can make your goals a reality.

Ready to take your event to the next level?

Testimonials

It’s not about what we say…it’s what our satisfied clients say. Watch the videos and read the testimonials.