GC Auctions - Setting Up a Paddle Raise

Applies to: GC Events with GC Auctions enabled (Paddle Raise)

Roles: Events administrators with the Manage Registrations permission

Location: Events > [Your event] > Auction > Settings, and Auction > Paddle Raise

Outcome: Your paddle raise appeal has giving levels, is connected to a pledge form, and is published and ready for the Run of Show.

Summary: A paddle raise is often the emotional high point of the night. In GC Auctions, each paddle raise is set up as an appeal with a goal and giving levels your auctioneer will call out. Pledges are counted toward an Online Giving pledge form you choose.

This article covers

• Key terms: paddle raise, appeal, and pledge form
• Turning on Paddle Raise and choosing a pledge form
• Creating an appeal
• Giving levels, starting amounts, and designations
• Publishing an appeal

Key terms

• Paddle raise: The in-room fundraising moment when guests raise their paddles to pledge at levels called out by the auctioneer.
• Appeal: A single paddle raise in GC Auctions. Each appeal has its own name, goal, giving levels, and optional designation. Most events use one or two appeals, for example, a general fund appeal and a scholarship appeal.
• Pledge form: An Online Giving form with pledging turned on. All paddle raise pledges for your auction are counted toward this form.

Prerequisites

• An active Online Giving form with pledging turned on. If you don't have one yet, create it in GC Online Giving first.

Step 1: Turn on Paddle Raise and choose a pledge form

1. Go to Auction > Settings and find the Paddle Raise card.
2. Check Enabled.
3. Under Pledge form, search for and select your form. Only active giving forms with pledging turned on appear here.
4. Select Save changes.

The pledge form's designations become the funds your appeals can raise for.

Important: Once the first pledge is recorded, you can't turn off Paddle Raise or change the pledge form. Contact support if you need either changed after that point.

Step 2: Create an appeal

1. Go to Auction > Paddle Raise.
2. Select New appeal.
3. Fill in the appeal details:

1. Select Create appeal.

Setting giving levels

Giving levels are the amounts your auctioneer calls out, such as $10,000, $5,000, $2,000, and $1,000.

• Select Add level to add a row. Press Enter to jump to the next row.
• Add an optional label for any level (e.g., "Founder's Circle").
• Drag rows to reorder them. Most paddle raises start high and work down.
• Every amount must be greater than $0.
• The pledge form minimum donation dictates what the minimum level for the form is

You can also add a new amount on the fly during the event.

Once a level has a pledge recorded against it, the amount is locked, but you can still reorder it.

Using a starting amount

Use Starting amount to seed the appeal's total with gifts you already have. That might be a lead gift committed before the event or gifts collected offline. The projected slide adds the starting amount to the pledges recorded in the room, so your total starts at a meaningful number instead of $0.

The starting amount is for display only. It doesn't create a gift or pledge record.

Choosing a designation

Designations are optional. The list shows the designations available on your pledge form. When a donor pays, their pledge is recorded as a gift on the pledge form and assigned to the appeal's designation.

Step 3: Publish the appeal

New appeals start as Draft. From the appeal's row menu on the Paddle Raise page, select Publish. An appeal needs at least one giving level before it can be published.

Publishing an appeal:

• Adds it to the Run of Show so you can run it during the event
• Makes it available for projection on a paddle raise slide

You can keep editing a published appeal, or select Unpublish to return it to draft.

Other appeal actions

From the row menu, you can Edit, Add slide, or Delete an appeal. Appeals with any pledges, including voided ones, can't be deleted.

How paddle raise pledges become gifts

Recording a pledge in the room doesn't create a gift right away. A gift is created when a donor pays by card, either at checkout or when an admin charges their card on file. All of that donor's unpaid paddle raise pledges for the event are recorded together as one gift on your pledge form, split by each appeal's designation. Pledges marked as paid offline don't create a gift in Online Giving.

Keywords: paddle raise, appeal, fund a need, pledge form, giving levels, starting amount, seed amount, designation, publish appeal, pledges