How much can a refugee services organization raise with an auction?

Short answer: your committed base, plus the employers and congregations already involved in the work.

Working it out from a committed base in a divided community

Smaller than a general public and far more engaged — and some of the community actively opposes the work.

• Congregations and co-sponsor groups already supporting households
• Employers who hire refugees, which is the strongest business ask available
• Established community members, reachable only if the campaign is not English-only
• The cost of a household's first-year provision, itemised

Do not size against the general public. This organization's base is narrower and deeper than most, and the campaign should be built for the people already involved rather than for a town that has not decided how it feels.

What moves it

Employers who hire refugees

A direct, articulable interest and the strongest business ask available — and they convert other employers better than you can.

Congregations and co-sponsor groups

Organized, committed, and frequently already supporting a specific household. They are a network rather than a list.

The communities you serve

Established members who arrived years ago, reachable only if the campaign is not English-only: multilingual pages.

Whether the ask named the eighteen months

Most people picture arrival. Naming rent deposits, credential evaluation, English classes and transport funds a phase donors did not know existed.

Setting the goal

Name a household's first-year provision with real costs, and report in the same units — households supported, English class terms, employment placements, credential evaluations. Aggregate throughout, with nobody identifiable anywhere.

Goal and budget mechanics: fundraising goals and budget.

General information, not legal or protection advice for your organization. Client confidentiality where immigration status, asylum claims or family abroad are involved is a safety matter with legal dimensions — your legal and protection staff decide how any of this applies, and they should read anything public before it is published.