Beauvoir School's Scholarship Auction "Bloom"

Event Challenge: The most exciting part of the night at their normally in-person gala is during their robust and unique live auction. Our challenge with this years virtual event was transferring that excitement online, and encouraging bidders to participate while making sure that the programming was for the whole family!

Once a year, Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School, holds an annual silent and live auction to raise critical funds for the school’s financial aid program. Thanks to generous donations from businesses and individuals, Beauvoir raises approximately $500,000 from the Beauvoir Scholarship Auction every year. Every dollar netted goes directly to financial aid for students otherwise unable to attend Beauvoir. In 2019, Beauvoir awarded a significant amount of financial aid, benefitting almost a quarter of the students, and ensuring that Beauvoir can continue to provide the best education and experience for as many children as possible.

The 2020 Beauvoir Scholarship Auction – "Bloom" – was unfortunately unable to be held on its' scheduled date on April 18th.   Approximately 500 members of the school community were unable to gather at the Washington National Cathedral to celebrate and support the 45th Annual Scholarship Auction and Dinner, but there was still the need to raise necessary funds to ensure the school's financial aid expectations and desires are met. 

To raise these vital donations for their Scholarship Fund, Beauvoir chose to move their Scholarship Auction online and bring the event virtual! As Beauvoir is an elementary school it was important to the client that the virtual event not just be catered to the adults who would be bidding on items but to families as a whole. The online platform gave them the ability to start their program earlier at 5:30 pm, and cast a wider net to include grandparents, alumni and friends of Beauvoir (who might otherwise not have attended in person). In addition, they were able to include students and families throughout the hour as our MC, Jim Sciutto, checked in with them via Zoom.

The program consisted of a conversation with the Head of School Cindi Gibbs-Wilborn, live drawings, remarks from the Auction Chairs, the Live Auction and Fund-A-Scholar. The night was hosted by CNN’s Jim Sciutto.

Working alongside the Beauvoir Team we were able to transform their original program into a one hour segment that functioned not only as an auction but as a community check-in for their students and families. Both the pre-produced alumni videos and personal stories from teachers on what they will do once back on campus created the warmth that Beauvoir was hoping to achieve.