I recently came across another great idea to raise money for your charity event and wanted to share it with you in time for your next event. This idea is literally a gateway to cash!

When your benefit fundraising committee meets to plan your event, assign someone to find a door. Yes, you read that right: a door! I’m not saying you should go out and spend good money on a new door at Home Depot. No, this gate will be found in front of someone’s yard on garbage night. You don’t need to have windows or even a handle, you just need an old door.

Now is the time to turn your door into dollars. What you are going to do is take the gift certificates that you have collected and stick them, many of them, on the side of the door. These gift certificates will be for things like car washes, oil changes, pizza, dinner for two, tire rotation, McDonald’s, Arby’s, Hardees, a manicure, a message, a free visit to the salon. Just remember, this is the side of the door your charity event guests will never see! Lean the door against a wall so gift certificates are hidden so no one knows the value of “what’s behind it.”

On the other side of the door, the side facing the crowd, you can spray paint a large question mark or use a magic marker to write the words “Mysterious door” or “What’s behind door #1? ” Make it fun! It’s up to you whether you decide to put this door in your live or silent auction, although I suggest you put it in the live auction because the auction can be a lot of fun. The key is to have this door in sight from the moment your guests start arriving so that the mystery grows and the guessing game begins. You want your guests to ask each other, “I wonder what’s behind it? Is it worth nothing or is it worth a lot? Should I bid? If I don’t bid, will I regret it?”

If this door is part of your silent auction, you’ll need to write ‘Gift Certificates’ on the bid sheet so people know what they’re bidding on. If the gate is on your live auction, you can wait until the gate opens to bid, at which point your auctioneer can let the crowd know what you’re bidding on. Just make sure the prize is a good one so the bidder walks away happy. A recent event where I featured such a door in the live auction. Event organizers taped gift certificates totaling approximately $250 and the highest bidder won it with a bid of $650!