AUCTION RECAP: Columbia Land Trust Ensuring a Northwest Legacy

After a summer filled with biking, hiking, camping, swimming, and simply lounging around the park—in short, enjoying all the amazing natural beauty in our vast backyard—it was especially meaningful to gather last Friday to celebrate and support the Columbia Land Trust in their work to conserve the incredible landscapes throughout the Columbia River region. It’s a cause especially close to our hearts here at Benefit Auctions 360, and we’ve been thrilled to support their fundraising efforts for the past six years.

 

This year, the team at CLT decided to shake things up a bit, focusing on the celebration aspect most of all for Wine & Land 2011, held at Montgomery Park. After carefully assessed their fundraising and event history with us and Samantha Swaim Fundraising, they decided to try a new approach, eschewing the silent auction, shortening the live auction to a few key packages tied to their mission, and focusing on the special appeal—all before a locally harvested feast and dance party, which were the heart of the evening. Although not the traditional model, the infectious energy and high spirits cultivated among the 230 ardent supporters fueled the fundraising efforts—nearly $150,000 was raised, well over our targeted goal!

CLT’s special appeal was especially successful because they tied the giving to a very personally meaningful theme: “Gifts We Give to Our Children.” The evening had begun with a light-hearted social hour, which of course put everyone in a festive mood, before they all took their seats for a dynamic welcome by Executive Director Glenn Lamb that touched on the four areas of CLT’s focus: repairing natural habitats along rivers and streams; conserving forests as a natural resource; supporting local farms; and, in conjunction with Three Rivers Land Conservancy, growing their Backyard Habitat Program to teach children about the abundance of nature right outside their door.

The strong connections that people have with this environment, and therefore with their support for CLT, made this start to the evening quite powerful. As Glenn said, “Columbia Land Trust is all of us, saving one of the great places on earth. We—you and me—are passing our great Northwest natural and cultural history to our children, to future generations.”

A quick live auction of three travel-related packages, including a Columbia Slough Watershed canoe excursion, got the crowd excited before the special appeal, an incredibly moving message from CLT supporter Lindsay Cornelius that conveyed the importance of preserving our beautiful surroundings for future generations.

Thanks to hard work securing many pre-committed donations, the momentum started strong for giving to secure this legacy. We were moved by the passionate support and thrilled with the generosity of so many guests. And that was just the start of the night!

After the program, guests headed upstairs to trade their own stories, laugh, and share ideas over the delicious, seasonal dinner sourced from local farms (naturally). Along with a few more ways to give and win fantastic prizes (raffles and a Wine Wall, where guests purchase a mystery bottle for $25), the Freak Mountain Ramblers stole the night away with their rollicking bluegrass/country/rock ‘n roll. What a night to dance under the soaring atrium and celebrate how lucky we are to live in the beautiful Northwest! And lucky that the Columbia Land Trust does such amazing work to keep it that way!

Photo from Columbia Land Trust.