Hair/Makeup Sarah Dellarocco
Mask Misty Guerreiro of Vintage by Misty
It was March 13, 2020, when Letitia Frye—known by many for her role as an auctiontainer (a term originally bestowed upon her by Alice Cooper, as she blended being an auctioneer with entertaining the crowd)—last stepped on a stage, for an event with Assistance League of Phoenix.
Between that day in mid-March and early October, Frye had been scheduled to work with 65 other events, helping them raise money via live auctions. Instead, COVID-19 hit, and the events were all cancelled.
Frye chokes up when speaking about it.
“When [COVID] happened, I had just flown in from a huge celebrity event in Palm Springs, and just one more event snuck in, and that was the one on March 13,” she says. “And that was the last time I stepped on a stage.”
While many in her fundraising industry looked at that early COVID time as early time off with just a shift in events season (with events to pick back up soon), Frye realized disaster was coming. Quickly, she dove in, brainstorming how to save her business, help her clients, and continue to make a difference in the world.
She had a vision, and so she set up Zoom meetings with newly released giving platforms, talking to them about their technology and capabilities. She vetted them, proposed new ideas, and spent time with their tech people, working through if her ideas could be implemented.
“I was like, ‘Think of it this way… if you meant to bring the gaming platform into a ballroom so you can have people from the outside world participate while we’re in a ballroom, what if we took the event out of the ballroom, and people participated from all over the world?’
“I’m not kidding, I didn’t sleep for six weeks, just brainstorming.”
She encouraged nonprofits to innovate, and knew if the technology for her ideas could work, there could be a new way of holding events, and all virtual.
When Valleywise Health Foundation, a local hospital, heard what she was doing, they called her. Their smaller event was approaching, and they were open to what she was proposing.
Frye brought in Fund Duel—a company based in the Valley, which is a gaming method of utilizing competition and social media to raise funds—which had never live streamed its technologies.
To make the live stream concept possible, Frye immediately thought of her friend, Carey Peña, founder of Inspired Media 360, who had a new studio in Phoenix. Since the studio features two separate entrances and multiple small rooms, Frye knew it would be a perfect location to keep people safe and appropriately social distanced.
On April 23, Valleywise held its event. It was the first-of-its-kind, with an entirely new concept, and utilizing new technology that had never been tried before. As it went live, everyone making it happened held their breath—would everything work? Would the untried technology hold up?
The answer was overwhelmingly yes.
Interviews happened with a young burn victim—without anyone ever being near her. An event was held where no one was near each other. Money was raised. And, most importantly, people from all over the world participated.
“Bringing Fund Duel’s type of technology into a live streaming market was something, which had never been done in the history of the world—we did something that had never been done. Streaming events in a ballroom to other ballrooms? That had been done,” Frye says. “But by taking a gaming platform, that was designed for people to compete, but had never, never had a live stream event and was not designed for that… we took it into the world, into the space, as the first people ever in the world to do it.
“I knew full well I was rolling the dice and I could very well tank my entire career. We could have tanked and we all knew it. We were scared to death.”
But they went live—and ended up with 1,600 viewers from 10 countries, and raising more than they even had projected to make in their regular setting.
“We ended up with a bid from as far as London—and we’re talking about our county hospital and burn center here!”
It was a moment in her life that she says that she’ll never forget.
Frye is also now working with Uncommon Giving, another Arizona-based company. It works with nonprofits, creating a way for people to choose how they give in their daily lives.
“Ultimately, what all of this is teaching me as we move through, is that as the pandemic hit, we took the option to give, instead of it being for the person who could afford a $500 ticket, we took giving and the feeling that it gives you, to everyone. We were no longer defined by a tax bracket, and we were no longer defined by demographics, area code, or country.”
Effectively, by pivoting and creating these new, innovative options, it removed many barriers people had to attending and giving to events. Additionally, by offering free streaming events (some had sponsorship levels, but also always a free live stream), people who were moved by the mission could attend and give whatever they could—whether that was $10 or $10,000.
“People have found in this pandemic that giving is not something that is meant for the wealthy but it’s a selfless act that brings value to you,” she says.
Since that April day, Frye has extremely busy partnering with other groups to create more of these innovative events, including the huge Race to Erase MS drive-in event, a 200-plus car drive-in held in September at The Rose Bowl in California, complete with a drive-thru red carpet. There, she got on stage, attendees heard her through their car radios, and the event was live streamed. It raised $1.4 million.
“These free live streams meant that if you ever had someone who wondered what an event was like, now they get to see. And if they were moved, now they get to give—at any denomination. Giving should belong to everybody. And that’s the greatest gift that has come out this pandemic. This has removed the barriers and the thought that giving is only for the wealthy. Giving is a human experience we all should have, in whatever capacity you can.”
Frye is no longer chanting in the traditional way that an auctioneer would sell, but using her entertainment background in live events to create these new formats.
“It’s about truly researching the human experience of your client, and to eloquently express that in a well-timed manner on TV, and guide people through what they can give or they can buy for the reason that they would do it,” she explains.
In the midst of all of this, Frye also had her first book, No Reserve, debut. Written before the pandemic with an already-planned release date and traditionally published, the title is a nod to her profession. The book itself is about going “all-in” in life, and handling adversity.
It has done phenomenally, with Frye receiving messages from all over the world from people who have been inspired by it.
In a few weeks, the audio book of No Reserve will be released.
Additionally, she’s also in talks to host a podcast on giving with Uncommon Giving.
Since April 23, Frye has done approximately 40 virtual events. She’s grateful to have learned that no matter where she is, she can help people all over the world.
“Now, I can pretty much be in the desert, in a ballgown, and doing an event and helping people anywhere in the world,” she says.