Paddle Raise Ideas: The 'Superhero Ask' that Added $110K

One Question, Seven $40,000 Gifts

Chris Hensley has called more than 400 live auctions and 400 paddle raises, and he's still running experiments. On a recent episode, Trevor Nelson asked whether he was testing anything new, and Chris described a small change that produced a big result. At a gala supporting a Chicago children's hospital, the organization asked him to open the paddle raise at $25,000. Before doing that, he tried something different.

"I'm going to start at $25,000, but before I do that, is there a superhero in the audience, a champion for this cause, that can raise their paddle at a number bigger than $25,000? Raise your paddle, yell it out, call it out, or I'll come over to you." One man called out $40,000. Then a voice from the other side of the runway said, "Well, if Larry's doing 40, I'm doing 40." It happened seven times. Seven different donors gave $40,000 instead of $25,000, and the last one topped them all at $45,000. In total, that added up to about $110,000 on top of what the room would have given anyway.

Mini takeaway: Every donor who gives at the starting number is giving a number you chose. The superhero ask lets the room choose a bigger one.

Why It Works

The ask itself takes about eight seconds, and Hensley says there's no secret behind it. "That is basically it," he told Trevor, when pressed on whether there was more to the technique. Part of why it works is that donors are different. "There are donors who want recognition, and donors that will give very quietly and not put their name on anything. You need to cater to all of them."

The other part is the room. Once one donor raises a paddle above the opening level, others see it, and a few who would have given at the base amount decide to match or exceed it. The $15,000 difference between $25,000 and $40,000 might not have come up if the auctioneer had simply started low and asked guests to participate.

The ask doesn't land every time, but Hensley says it works most of the time. "It's been working like 60 to 70% of the time. I'm going back through my mind to events over the last month, and I can think of maybe one where it didn't work." When it doesn't, he says nothing dramatic. "I just say, thanks for letting me try. You know the answer if I don't ask." There's no downside, because the paddle raise starts at the planned number either way.

What It Looks Like When It's Slow to Land

A second example from the conversation shows why patience is useful. At a church event in Chicago, Chris was starting the paddle raise at $7,609, a number chosen because it matched the cost of running the church's webcast service, and he asked the superhero question. Nobody responded. "Right as I was giving up on the audience, I look left, I look right, I look one more time to the left," he said, and began to say thank you for letting him try.

Then a woman raised her paddle. "I'll give $10,000." The man next to her said he'd do $10,000 too. She came back and gave a second $10,000. She was making one gift in honor of the church's current pastor and the other in honor of a previous one. The room cheered.

The unusual opening number in that story is a good tip in its own right. A specific figure tied to what a gift pays for is more believable than a round one, and worth borrowing.

How to Try the Superhero Ask at Your Event

The technique doesn't take a lot of production, but it does take a few decisions before the night. Here are the ones Hensley's example suggests you settle ahead of time.

First, talk to your auctioneer or emcee in advance and agree on the opening number for the paddle raise. Chris's clients had already decided on $25,000 and he didn't change it. The superhero ask sits in front of the opening level and doesn't replace it.

Second, make sure the room can actually respond. Chris wanted to walk to donors at the first event but couldn't because he was on a raised runway, so he took calls from the audience instead. If your stage is tall, tell your spotters to watch for hands and relay amounts.

Third, give it a few seconds. The pause is where the pressure builds. The ask took eight seconds to deliver at the church, and the first response arrived only as Chris was moving on.

Finally, plan for the question to fail. If nobody raises a paddle, you've lost nothing and you move straight into the raise. Hensley's "thanks for letting me try" is a good model because it keeps the room friendly.

Two Bonus Ideas From the Same Conversation

Hensley also borrowed something from HGA Fundraising's own playbook. A client of his had 30 high-end silent auction packages, including three or four trips. He told them to pull the trips out into their own display with signage and call it a vacation station, ideally with a sponsor underwriting it. The remaining high-end items go in a section he calls super silent. "You're going to increase your bids on that by 10, 15, 20% probably," he said. For more on how that idea works, see our article on the vacation station strategy for silent auctions.

The other idea is about the follow-up. Chris points out that event photography should do more than fill a website gallery. Take a picture of each major donor with the mission speaker, the board chair, or the executive director, then send it with a handwritten note. He described meeting an executive director who held up two stamped, handwritten envelopes in answer to his question about stewardship. "Bingo. You nailed it. We can move on to another topic."

Insights in this article are drawn from the Hey Nonprofits! podcast episode “The 'Superhero Ask': Use This To Raise An Extra $110,000 At Your Next Event”, featuring charity auctioneer Chris Hensley.