The back office
Practical guidance for charity auctions.
CRA receipting, fair market value, event operations, and what to know before your next gala.
6 ARTICLES
Free template
The 2026 Gala Run-of-Show Template
The Excel template for managing event-night timelines: minute-by-minute cues for the auctioneer, AV, silent close stagger, and the fund-a-need moment.
Download free →RUN OF SHOW · XLSX
Operations · 16 July 2026
Why your fundraiser starts in the parking lot
Your guests form their first impression before they ever see the auction. Why check-in is one of the most overlooked parts of fundraising operations.
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Operations · 16 July 2026
What happens after the last paddle drops?
The fundraiser doesn’t end when the auction closes. The invisible work charities do in the days after every gala, and how to spend less time on it.
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CRA Compliance · 16 July 2026
CRA receipting: what Canadian charities need to know
Fair market value, split receipting, donated items, and CRA donation receipts — explained with real gala numbers.
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Operations · 16 July 2026
The fundraiser nobody sees
Guests see the auctioneer and the applause. They don’t see the spreadsheets, receipting, and follow-up behind every charity gala.
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Templates · 16 July 2026
The spreadsheet is the most expensive part of your fundraiser
Volunteer hours, transcription errors, and receipts issued twice. What manual reconciliation really costs a mid-size gala.
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Templates · 16 July 2026
Spreadsheets were never meant to run your fundraiser
Spreadsheets don’t scale a charity fundraiser, they multiply. The real cost isn’t the software, it’s the hundreds of hours spent maintaining it.
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