Variety the Children’s Charity of Illinois Case Study

Variety the Children’s Charity of Illinois, is one chapter of a national organization that changes the lives of children. Founded by 11 “godfathers” who discovered an abandoned baby girl in their theater, this nonprofit still works closely with movie and theater companies to raise money to support children. Today, Variety helps children with disabilities, and their families, to be active and social, and to gain a sense of belonging in their communities.

Watch our full Nonprofit Spotlight talk with Angeliqe Barthel, Executive Director of Variety Children’s Charity of Illinois and read on for an in depth look at how they use our platform to raise more at their annual events.

The Challenge

Variety hosts two tentpole events each year, a golf outing and an Oscars party gala. Both events include a silent auction to supplement the funds raised from ticket sales. With such great connections in the entertainment industry, some of the special items donated to their cause can cause bidding wars. 

For example, one limited edition Barbie was a hot item at a recent event. Speaking from experience, Angelique knows that bidders might get unruly when trying to win a coveted auction item, especially when they know it’s all for a good cause. 

The Solution

CharityAuctionsToday’s popcorn bidding feature allows extensions on hot items. This can help ensure that no one snipes an item at the last possible moment with a large amount that their opponents have no time to counter. Additionally, this extension in bid time helps drive bidding even higher than it might have, earning more money for a great cause. This emphasis on fairness and boost to items’ bottom line is why this is one of Variety’s favorite CharityAuctionsToday features.

The Results

Variety the Children’s Charity of Illinois has been a CharityAuctionsToday customer since 2018. With the help of our platform their silent auctions raise an average of $1,081 per auction, and the total amount raised via auctions for Illinois kids with disabilities is $15,143.

Annually, these funds help Variety the Children’s Charity of Illinois to support more than 2,500 children. Variety provides specialized bicycles, wheelchairs, and adaptive technology as well as to attend fun events with sensory and other accommodations.

And that Barbie doll? It started out with an estimated value of $25: with the help of our popcorn bidding, it sold for $500.

Good Advice

Tom asked Angelique, “How do you keep your ‘rolodex’ of sponsors and donors up to date?”

“As far as keeping our sponsorships and donors relevant and current…there’s no secret sauce to that other than typical stewardship, staying in touch, doing the thank yous, making sure that the people who donate are on your monthly newsletter…and occasionally doing that ask if you haven’t gotten a donation in awhile, make sure than you’re not asking the wrong person. If you haven’t heard from somebody in a year maybe they have moved on, and you have to make a phone call and see ‘Who IS who I should talk to now?’”

“And that takes a lot of work and that’s [why] in a smaller charity, you need volunteers. Because you can’t do everything by yourself…I try! It doesn’t work. You need a lot of help to keep things like that current.”