December is that time of year when it seems like everyone is running as fast as they can, but the list of “things to do” never ends. A holiday shop at your school or church may be the answer to shorten that endless list.

Here is what I have seen as a result of running a holiday shop from various perspectives: Students love it!

For many students it may be the first time they experience the thrill of picking out their own gifts for family and friends. The excitement leading up to the day of the shop is contagious. I truly believe there is nothing that can replace the joy in a child’s eye as he or she selects gifts for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and even pets!

Parents love it! As parents try to complete their own holiday chores what a relief it is for them to know that their child is shopping in a safe, non-commercial setting. A holiday shop is truly a great help during such a hectic time.

I believe most parents would agree that this fundraising event is irreplaceable!

Teachers love it! Many faculty members have used the holiday shop to teach their students about budgeting and spending wisely, but at the same time emphasizing the joy of giving. Our economy has experienced so much turbulence and teaching students the value of money is certainly a necessity.

Fundraising companies may offer the holiday shop to parent groups as either a service to the students or as a fundraiser. In either case, many shop providers offer the gifts on a consignment basis.

However, there are several important questions to have answered before you sign that contract.

1. Who is responsible for the shipping costs?

2. What is the price range of the gifts?

3. Are the items price coded to provide a fast checkout?

4. What is the profitability as a service vs. fundraiser?

5. What additional supplies are provided for free? (gift bags, parent letter, budget envelopes)

Something to consider when exploring school fundraising ideas!

Last year, a 2010 Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle was stolen. The bike was painted pink and signed by a number of country music stars, such as Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, and Taylor Swift.

Here’s the kicker: It had been donated to be sold in a benefit auction to benefit the Lexington affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

The bike had been stored inside a trailer secured by chains in the organization’s parking lot. When employees returned to the office after the weekend, they noticed it was gone.

Sad.

The bike sounds irreplaceable, but I hope at least they had some insurance.

From my event management days, here are some types of event-specific insurance you can consider as you plan your benefit auction.

Property Damage Insurance

Covers the damage or loss of the property of the policy owner. For instance, if you have your auction set-up the night before and a thief slips in during the night and steals a registration laptop and some items, the typical Property Damage Insurance policy would cover those items.

Commercial General Liability (CGL) or Comprehensive General Liability

This is a basic business policy and covers major risks, including property damage and injury to people. Usually higher-risk activities (serving alcohol comes to mind) require an additional policy or rider.

Fire Legal Liability

I once worked at a benefit auction where a centerpiece started to burn. Thankfully, it was only starting to smoke when it was extinguished by the startled guests! A fire legal liability insurance policy is for such instances. Assume your auction volunteers accidentally bump a table and cause a can of sterno to ignite nearby curtains and burn down the venue. This is the policy to have on hand.

Event Cancellation

If you are holding a benefit auction outdoors and fear bad weather might cause the cancellation of the event, this policy protects against unforeseen circumstances such as that. It may also cover labor disputes or damage to the event facility or venue. (Imagine if you’d scheduled to hold your benefit auction in the Opryland Hotel in Nashville in late May 2010. The flood waters of May 3 would have prohibited you from holding the gala.)

About the Author
Benefit auctioneer Sherry Truhlar’s entertaining stories and advice is often picked up by publications (e.g. Town & Country, The Washington Post Magazine, AUCTIONEER, The Eleusis, The Virginia Auctioneer) and television (e.g. E! Style, TLC) where she inspires and teaches volunteers how to hit new fundraising records in their auction galas. Enjoy her FREE Auction Item Guide(listing the 100 best-selling items to sell in your benefit auction) at http://www.RedAppleAuctions.com

When it comes to incorporating a simple auction idea into your fundraising gala, don’t forget about one of the easiest ways to get feedback from your charity auction: surveying your auction guests. I was reminded of this recently while listening to the radio.

On a recent morning show, the DJ was asking his co-hosts and callers about their preferred superhero power. “If you could have one superhuman power,” he’d ask, “What would it be?”

Flying and invisibility were popular, but so was the ability to read minds.

The ability to read minds would be handy at a benefit auction. You could finally learn what guests really thought about your creation. Did they notice the theme? Did they understand where the money was going? Did they mind the cash bar? From a planner’s perspective, we want to know what the guests preferred. Knowing our guests preferences helps us plan a better event.

Some guests will comment about the gala when they check-out. Others will complain to an administrator. Some folks will make an effort to find and compliment the Auction Chair before they leave. But all three of these methods are haphazard ways to track data.

Surveys are an excellent yet underutilized charity auction tool. If you’ve collected email addresses as guests registered, it’s easy to send out an electronic survey to capture quick data about their take on the gala.

Here are some of the questions you might ask:
• Did you attend the gala as a sponsor, as a guest, or as an individual ticket holder?
• What city / suburb is most convenient for you to attend a fundraiser?
• How many fundraisers do you attend in a year?
• What night of the week are you most likely to attend a fundraiser?
• Where did the proceeds of the gala go?

You can also ask guests to rate elements of the night. For instance, on a 5-point scale, you might ask them to rate the registration, check-out, food, dress code, location, facility, benefit auctioneer, auction items, or entertainment.

For high participation in your survey, keep it short. And send your survey promptly, preferably within three to four days of the auction. That way, the gala is still easy for them to remember.

To create your survey, consider SurveyMonkey. It’s a popular service because the format is straightforward and the tool is free, as long as you work within the company’s designated parameters.

If you’ve got an event coming up, I advocate that you design and write your survey now, prior to the auction. Then the survey link will be ready to email the day after the event.

Outside of reading your guests’ minds, a survey is your best method for finding out what your guests most enjoyed about your benefit auction.

About the Author
Benefit auctioneer Sherry Truhlar’s entertaining stories and advice is often picked up by publications (e.g. Town & Country, The Washington Post Magazine, AUCTIONEER, The Eleusis, The Virginia Auctioneer) and television (e.g. E! Style, TLC) where she inspires and teaches volunteers how to hit new fundraising records in their auction galas. Enjoy her FREE Auction Item Guide(listing the 100 best-selling items to sell in your benefit auction) at http://www.RedAppleAuctions.com .

This low, Balinese-inspired auction centerpiece worked well.

Once again, I’d like to welcome Sherry Truhlar to Step By Step Fundraising!  Sherry’s written a number of great articles for us on the topic of fundraising auctions, and she has a great site at Red Apple Auctions that you should definitely check out.  She also has a FREE Auction Item Guide (listing the 100 best-selling items to sell in your benefit auction) here .  Thanks, Sherry, for sharing your time and knowledge with us! – Jim Berigan

Shrink those floral centerpieces at your benefit auction

When I was a corporate event planner, deciding on centerpieces for special events was one of the creative aspects of my work. Part of the process was making them functional and fun.

As an auctioneer, I have definite ideas on what makes for a good centerpiece!  To keep this post short, I’m only going to talk about fresh floral centerpieces.

Here are three auction tips for selecting a good floral centerpiece for your auction fundraiser.

Keep them inexpensive.

I’ve noticed a trend that the centerpieces are being scaled down in this economy — smart move! Even when the economy is booming I’d prefer if the centerpieces were inexpensive.

Keep them small.

The auctioneer needs to be able to see around and over them. Both bidders and auctioneers get frustrated when they can’t see each other.

If you aren’t selling them (or borrowing them), give ‘em away.

Guests love taking centerpieces home! If you think there’s going to be a swarm of people clamoring for your centerpiece, create a process so guests know the correct pecking order. Mark one of the wine glasses with a gold star, or tell the group that the person with the shortest hair at the table gets first dibs on the centerpiece.

For other auction tips on centerpieces, you might want to read about:

• selling auction centerpieces,
• using vegetables in auction centerpieces, or
• see what the Robin Hood Foundation in New York did for a non-floral centerpiece.

About the author

Benefit auctioneer Sherry Truhlar’s stories and advice has been published in publications (e.g. Town & Country, The Washington Post Magazine, AUCTIONEER, The Eleusis, The Virginia Auctioneer) and heard on television (e.g. E! Style, TLC) where she inspires and teaches volunteers how to hit new fundraising records in their auction galas.  Enjoy her FREE Auction Item Guide (listing the 100 best-selling items to sell in your benefit auction) here .

In this economy, one strategy to help you maintain a strong overall sale value of a party is by splitting up the value among many bidders. Here’s how it works.

Remember the adage, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts?” For example, a house is more valuable than the individual pieces of sheetrock, bricks, and carpeting so the whole (the house) is greater than the sum of each individual item (the construction materials). On the flipside, sometimes the parts are greater than the whole. For instance, when a corporation sells off a division of its company, perhaps that segment of business has been identified as holding more valuable to someone else than it does to the business itself.

At your annual auction, consider the potential of the latter. You may find that you are able to raise more money selling something in “parts” or “pieces” than you can if you offer the whole. For example, a common auction item is a themed party donated by a family. One of my clients has a well-known family donate a fun house party each year. Recently the theme swirled around the glamour of an Emmy party. The entire night was laid out to take advantage of the theme with a long red carpet rolled out to meet guests at the driveway, a pseudo paparazzi with press and screaming fans greeting guests as they emerged from their vehicles, and a Hollywood worthy menu complete with champagne toasts.

There were two options for selling tickets to this party. One option was to allow sell it to one person who could then invite 50 people (that is, selling it by the sum). The second option was to sell 25 couples a pair of tickets (i.e., selling it by the parts). The hosts indicated the donation value was $2000, or $40 a person for the night’s entertainment.

To earn at least the value of the party, the auction needed one bidder to pay $2000 or 25 couples to pay $80. An $80 investment per couple for this particular group seemed modest. The committee thought that a couple would easily pay $100 or $125 for that experience, but it was unlikely that any one person would pay $2000 for the entire party. That committee knew their audience. Twenty-five couples paid $100 per couple netting $2500 for the Emmy party.

For maximum revenue, the committee opted to break the party apart – selling 25 pairs of tickets to the party instead of selling one party – in order to sell it.

In your part of the world, a $10 or $20 ticket price might be more reasonable, so don’t focus on the specific pricing from my client. Ticket prices for this type of experience will vary widely depending on your location. Yet the process of “selling the parts instead of the whole” works in every location.

As your auction committee brings in donations and packages items, see where you can apply the strategy to sell parts versus the whole. You’ll find opportunities to generate more revenue while tapping more supporters to your cause!

About the Author: Sherry works with volunteer auction chairs who want to plan their most successful charity auction yet. In addition to offering the auctioneer “fast talk,” she works with clients nationally to teach them the tricks of auction procurement, audience development and marketing. She regularly provides advice and tips for charity auctions on her blog at RedAppleAuctions.com/blog.

Social media applications like blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook can be useful tools to help you publicize, gain attendees and supporters for fundraisers such as benefit auctions. Not only are these tools free to use, but they enable you to relay short, constant reminders about your  fundraiser.

Creating “something to write” can be overwhelming for some people, so here are 12 auction-related ideas on what you (or your public relations volunteer) can post on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, or other social networking sites to promote your benefit auction.

1. Announce donations: When an auction donation arrives, announce the item, thank the donor, and provide a link back to the donor’s website. Be sure to include a photo, if possible.

2. Ask for a donation to round out a package: “We need a florist to donate a bouquet to complete our Mother’s Day package at our Fabulous Fundraising Auction for Children.”

3. Testimonials: Auction fundraisers should be mission-focused. Keep your supporters updated with successes. For instance, “Peggy is off the streets, thanks to our non-profit,” or “Jeremy credits St. Stephens’s art teacher in giving him the confidence to pursue art in college.”

4. Event Preparations: Share a photo of the decor committee drawing backdrops for the auction, or the Gala Chairs meeting to send out invitations. This shows that others are involved in auction planning and preparing to attend the event.

5. Special announcements: Share news. “In just three weeks, we’ve surpassed 50 raffle ticket sales.”  Or, “Only 200 seats left before our school auction sells-out!”

6. Apply gentle pressure to past auction donors: A post such as, “We sold a lovely 2-night stay at the Fairmont last year, and are hoping they’ll donate again,” might work. Include a link to the hotel, and then contact the hotel so they see how you are treating them kindly – even before they donate.

7. Answer questions: Make the questions up, if you need to. “A new family to our school asked what was appropriate to wear to the benefit auction. Here’s our answer, and we included three photos of past guests.”

8. Create a list: You can create a list on almost anything. “Top 5 Reasons to Attend our Auction Fundraiser.”  “Three Ways You Can Volunteer That Will Take Less Than 2 Hours per Week.”

9. Seek specific volunteers: “Any math lovers out there? We need an auction clerk, and your primary job is recording numbers during the live auction. Any takers?”

10. Link to relevant websites: “In 55 days, our charity auction will be raising money for cancer research.  Here’s a link to fascinating article written by XYZ about the need for a cure.”

11.  Support your supporters: When you notice that one of your supporters (e.g. a school parent, a Board member, an auction donor) is mentioned in the paper, link to it and promote it. “Parent Joe Smith just got promoted and here’s the link. Way to go, Joe! We look forward to congratulating you in person at the gala next Saturday.”

12.  Call to action: Get your audience to act (or think about acting).  Something like, “Early-bird pricing on gala tickets ends tomorrow,” or “Get your gala dress at Lord & Taylor this weekend. The store has special occasion dresses on sale.”
These auction tips will get you started.  You’ll have fresh content in no time!

About the author: Sherry Truhlar of Red Apple Auctions LLC works with auction chairs and committees who want to plan their most successful charity auction yet.  In addition to offering the auctioneer “fast talk,” she works with clients nationally to teach them the tricks of auction procurement, audience development and marketing.  Many of the area’s most prestigious events are her returning clients, including the Washington Performing Arts Society, Larry King Cardiac Foundation, Camillus House, and the Washington Nationals Baseball Foundation.

Sherry regularly provides advice and tips for charity auctions on her blog at www.RedAppleAuctions.com/blog.  (c) 2010 Red Apple Auctions LLC. Reprinted with Permission.

One of the most frequent questions related to auction fundraisers is how to get auction items donated.  In the audio seminar series Secrets of the Charity Auction Experts Karin Costa gave many great ideas for auction items.

She also described in detail how to get those items donated.  This approach to getting items takes away the fear factor from asking and virtually eliminates the need to call complete strangers!

Here’s a short audio clip (5 minutes) from our interview, with transcript version below:

Sandra Sims: You have told us a little bit about how to come up with those ideas, by surveying your supporters and your board members and then sort of just brainstorming different ideas of experiences that you know your demographics may like. So you mentioned going to board members and having them make calls and look for items but what do you find is the best way to go about sourcing the items and experiences for the auction?

Practically speaking, do you have a list of volunteers who then go and make phone calls or do you do it more indirectly through sending out letters or what do you find is the most effective way to get the items in?

Karin Costa: Where we start is with an organizational meeting. Those people who are most connected within your community and with your organization should be those folks on the auction item acquisition team and I like to get those volunteers together and do just what we did, stimulate the ideas.

If Sandra Sims knows me and I am on the organizational committee, Sandra Sims knows that Karin was connected to the baseball industry. Therefore, if we contacted Karin, Karin could get us back scene work at a major league baseball stadium; she could get us on the field working as the grounds keeper or the bat boy; she could get us team merchandise; she could get somebody to come to our home and build us a ball pen or a batting cage with all the materials, the paraphernalia, the uniforms, the bats and the balls, okay. That is a connection.

So I give the group an idea like that, how they can build all different kinds of packages just by knowing me and my connections. So I tell them build a telephone tree of who you know, what they do for a living, what they do for hobbies and what their interests are and, from that telephone tree, we start building contacts and what skills, interests, hobbies, business services and products can these people offer and we specifically write down who we want to contact, what we want to ask them for and how much dollar donation we want value from them.

Sandra Sims: Oh, that is great. So you are putting it down item by item for each person ahead of time

Karin Costa: Ahead of time.

Sandra Sims: Yes, you know what you are going to ask for.

Karin Costa: Do not send your volunteers on an endless scavenger hunt because they will be worn out and that is where all of the frustration builds, where people say ‘we put all this time and effort into our event and we did not raise enough money or we did not raise any money’. If you start like a business and say: our product line is … because our market is … our target customer is … and these are the suppliers we have who are volunteers, are board members, are staff with all of these community connections, this is what we will offer and we will be different from every other organization who is holding an auction event in town.

Sandra Sims: So the members on your acquisition team, they have their phone tree, they know the people they are going to talk to and what items they are going to ask for. Are there any specific suggestions that you give them or script for them to use whenever they start calling people?

Karin Costa: I suggest that the person most connected to whomever is being solicited for that item or service donation contact the person first. So, if you knew me and you knew what my connections are, you would call me and say: Karin, we are putting together the fund raiser for XYZ organization. It is a benefit to raise money for … I know that you can support us. I am asking for a donation of your backstage connections to the local opera company so that I can learn how an opera singer is trained and actually be able to perform at my son’s birthday party. You ask me specifically because you know me; it is a friendly ask; it is a connected ask.

Sandra Sims: So during your brainstorming meeting one volunteer may come up with an idea of someone to contact but they might not be the right person to make that contact.

Karin Costa: True. Then we find out who it is – remember the movie and the play “Six Degrees of Separation”, who did they know, who did they know, who did they know, down the line. How far down the line do you have to connect in order to get to the ask? And you want the closest person to that connected ask to be the person asking. So you do not know me but you are a friend of a friend and that friend is who should be contacting me as the friendliest ask, the easiest, least fearful ask for a donation.

What a great way to go about getting items donated!  This takes out the need for cold calling all together.  It’s all about your committee working their network of contacts and making friendly asks.

You’ll get the entire one hour interview in both audio download and text transcript as part of Secrets of the Charity Auction Experts.

What would happen if you could take the benefits of instant bidding and excitement of online auctions like eBay and apply them to a live event?

That’s exactly what the wireless keypads from IML do.

The portability of the devices mean that attendees can make bids on auction items from anywhere at the event.  They don’t need to leave their seats to keep bidding.  All of this encourages more bids and can make a difference in funds raised at an event.

The technology can be used at event with an attendance of 100 to over 1000; it’s very flexible.  With this system you can forget the hassle of paper bidsheets too.

I met Ray Hansen earlier this year and got a demo of the devices.  I was instantly intrigued by what kind of impact this could have on fundraising events.  Since then the potential has been proven to me through some of the amazing charity events they’ve worked on.  Here are just a few:

• The Museum for African Art used the technology for the first time at their 25th Anniversary Gala. David Bowen, whose company produces the event every year, said, “Our guests really enjoyed the interactivity that the IML devices created, especially at dinner.  And our check-out has never been so smooth…for our guests or our staff. “
• Public radio station WFUV used the devices to run the auction at their 2nd Annual Spring Gala.  This photo shows one of the beautiful table displays along with the IML wireless devices right on the table, ready to take bids.
• The American Cancer Society in Chicago raised more this year at their Discovery Ball than last year.
• The Robin Hood Foundation used just the pledge management aspect of the technology to raise $72 million (yes, million!) to help the needy in New York City.

Recently I spoke with Ray by phone for an in-depth interview.  The complete audio with text transcript is included in Secrets of the Charity Auction Experts.  Here’s a 6 minute audio clip (with text version below) that gives you a great preview.

Sandra: Especially with your background and having that concern for non profits and the funds raised, what are some of the focus with this technology, some of the uses of it and some of the benefits?

Ray Hansen: The idea is behind the overall technology and I’ll focus it on where are we seeing successes. The idea is that you’re going to get as many people participating in the bidding process as possible. You also have the ability to extend the silent auction for a much longer period of time than you normally would, just on a logistical front. Inside the dinners, presentation you can keep that silent auction running, people can still be bidding on items. They don’t have to get up from their seats; they don’t have to leave the bar; they don’t have to leave their social area; they can still talk to people. The whole time they can be getting updates about their silent auction items and bidding and continuing to bid on them.

We’ve seen a number of areas that have benefited from this. From everyone from museums to private schools, public schools, every type of event that’s out there would benefit from using the system. It’s really a diverse group of people or silent auctions or gala events that would benefit from using our system.

Sandra: Great, so I’m just thinking about if I was at one of these events, basically it’s a hand held device and it looks a little bit bigger than a cell phone and you don’t have one per person do you? It’s maybe one per table, or how does that work?

Ray Hansen: We’re really flexible with that. Generally we say one device for every two people. Everyone who comes in will have their registration list beforehand and we will burn them a bidding card, so at registration they’ll get their bidding card and they can walk up to any device that’s set out on the dinner table; set out at the silent auction area, really anywhere and plug their bidding card into the device and really start bidding away.

Sandra: How do they know what items are up for the auction?

Ray Hansen: There’s a couple of different ways. We still encourage for table top displays of the silent auction items so that if people still want to see and touch the items and get the full descriptions; where our system plugs in similar to a PowerPoint laptop, will plug into any of the audio visual components that are in the room, whether it’s a big screen, plasma screen what have you and then we create these movies essentially that have the silent auction items scrolling through and it gives some really important information.

First it tells you how much money has currently been raised in the silent auction. It also tells you per item what’s the highest bid and who has the highest bid on that silent auction?

Sandra: Okay, so on the screen it will scroll to, say there’s a car, and so it will have the description, it will have the item number and then what the top bid is. Someone will pick up the device and put in their card and then what do they do from there?

Ray Hansen: From there they would enter the lot number and then they would press the enter key and then a brief description of the item would show up on the little LCD screen and would also tell what the highest bid is and now if there’s bidding commenced it will tell you what the next bid has to be based on those bid increments. The person will hit the enter button again and put their bid in and send the bid.

Sandra: Right and is it wireless, automatic.

Ray Hansen: Completely wireless. It’s updated instantly. Both on the device and on the display screens. I will say that on the display screen though, these screens are completely customisable, so if you wanted to display ten lot items at one time, it’s easy for us to do that and then in addition if you want to just highlight one specific lot silent auction item, it’s very easy for us to do that as well.

Sandra: Okay, so when you and I were talking earlier, you described how this automatic feature and the fact the silent auction organisers can get instant feedback, they know exactly how much has been raised. What items have gotten a bid and what items haven’t and so you told me a little bit about how that information can be used to then further more bidding. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?

Ray Hansen: I will. First of all, our technology it is, it’s technology right. There’s always going to be that need for…that yin and the yang between man versus machine. Our people are there watching the silent auction update live and we always encourage for there to be an open dialogue and open communication between our onsite people and those who are Mc-ing or of course the host of the evening. That way if we see a bidding war break out, we can highlight that to the MC; we can put it up on screen. He can bring attention to it and conversely if things are going bad in the silent auction or the goals aren’t being reached, we have that information right in front of us so that we can communicate that to the MC, so he can get back in front of the donors and start helping to pull some of that money out of their pockets and get it back in the silent auction or the life pledge.

Sandra: So you’re not leaving the funds raised to chance. You know minute by minute how it’s going.

Ray Hansen: Yes, literally second by second updates and there’s none of this at the end of the auction where you’re tallying up the highest bids and the disappointment. At least while you’ve invested so much money in the silent auction getting the people there; sending out all the invitations, all the effort that you’ve put into this, at least it gives you that actual item right then and there, so at least you have a chance to get an attempt to pull some more money out of people.

The complete 30 minute audio interview and transcript are included in the Secrets of the Charity Auction Experts seminar series.

Have you ever thought about a live auction as being like a circus?  It’s true!  During the auction all eyes are focused on the stage to your ringmaster, the auctioneer.  Any great circus has many other performers to make the event a success.  Your auction also needs “ring people” to help the person on stage perform at his or her best.  (That is, to get the most bids on live auction items and ultimately the most funds raised as possible!)

This concept was one of the biggest take-away lessons from my interview with Dawn Rose-Sohnly. She has been serving as an auctioneer and auction assistant (or “ring person”) for more than 15 years.  Along with her sister Karen, she has helped raise millions of dollars for charitable organizations.

Here’s a short (2 min.) excerpt from our interview:

Sandra Sims: What can a non profit do to actually make the auctioneer’s job easier?

Dawn Rose-Sohnly: I think communication is key. If the auctioneer is new to the non-profit. Definitely point out key bidders. Explain the room set up. Are there key bidders that are sitting in the front versus sitting in the back?

The non-profit organization should always hire a professional bid assistant to encourage bidding and excitement to the prospective bidders. I think ring people are a key component to an auction.

Sandra Sims: You’ve mentioned “ring people” and “auction assistants.” What are those positions and what do they do?

Dawn Rose-Sohnly: Basically, it’s the same term. Ring people are the individuals that you see in the audience that are encouraging bidders to bid. They use a lot of enthusiasm. They’re very hard workers at what they do. They’re trained, they’re professionals and I have seen people that say I’m not going to bid anymore and that ring person will get in front of them and that person will bid five times after that. It adds the excitement and enthusiasm to an auction. On all of our charity auctions we always use ring people.

Sandra Sims: Give me an example if you can of what a ring person might do to encourage that bidding?

Dawn Rose-Sohnly: A ring person might go up to him and you’re working with the public so you’ve got to realize your space in between that bidder and it’s really reading the public, but you might get in front of that person and say you may want to bid one more time. This is a great cause, it’s going to a great non-profit organization; if you bid one more time, the other person may not stop bidding and you could be the high bidder. That might be one technique of how they do it.

Sandra Sims: A lot of it like you said is reading the audience?

Dawn Rose-Sohnly: Yes, definitely. Over the years I have been able to tell which bidders are going to bid and which ones do not. It’s body language, it’s looking at their eyes. I don’t know, I guess I’ve just got that knack because I can tell when somebody is going to bid or when somebody is going to hesitate and I can have somebody tell me even as a ring person on the benefits that I’ve worked, they’re not going to bid one more time, but I know that doesn’t mean no. I can always get them to bid additionally.

Dawn went on to describe the benefits of having ring people and several successful auctions where assistants were key to driving up the fund total of the event.

During our one hour interview Dawn also shared:

How to choose a great leader for the auction committee chairperson

A success story of an auction that raised $78,000 with only 40 items!

How to divide up item acquisition & other event planning tasks amongst committee members

How to set minimum bids and bid increments

How to determine which items go in the live auction vs. the silent auction

How to add revenue to your event with a “bidding frenzy” and a special appeal

What to look for when hiring an auctioneer so that your auction is as successful as possible

Success tips from Dawn’s favorite charity auction that raises more than $100,000 every year

The complete one hour audio interview and transcript are included in the Secrets of the Charity Auction Experts seminar series.

The goal for an auction is to raise money, plain and simple. However, at many auctions, the catalog of items for bid may number far less than the number of attendees at the event. Hosting a Raise the Paddle Special Appeal will encourage every attendee to give a little extra at the event.

A Special Appeal is an opportunity during the auction for the auctioneer to take a moment to bring the focus of the evening back on the charity. A quick reflection on the reason for the evening will inspire and motivate attendees to dig deep in their pockets and make a difference for the charity.

Here are some reasons to host a Special Appeal in your auction:

• It’s a great way to involve every attendee at your event and turn them into donors
• It helps provide funding for a new project, such as a low-cost spay/ neuter clinic, repairing a building or adding a new school playground.
• Encourages event attendees to Sponsor various levels of your operation, from $50 for a shelter cat’s spay surgery to $500 for new band instruments in schools (adjust values for your local prices)
• Encourage extra giving to meet a matching challenge grant or donation
• Create a 100% tax deductible opportunity for giving during this special event!

The best time to host the Special Appeal is before you are half way through your auction, before your attendees start to lose interest and head back to the buffet tables. Using the Bell Curve strategy, you’ll still be ramping up to the premiere items on your roster. Place the Special Appeal just after a highly successful item that brought in several high dollar bids with great excitement. You want your audience to think high dollar amounts when pledging their support to your charity.

If you place the Special Appeal after the highest dollar items, people may not be as generous with the high dollar gifts because they’ve already won a high ticket item and are factoring that into the equation. But, by placing the Special Appeal before those highest ticket items, the donors will still feel drawn to bid competitively on those items, even after pledging a high amount in the Special Appeal.

Your auctioneer (or a great public speaker from your group) will announce that there are plenty of wonderful items available for bid in just a few moments, but right now, we’re going to pause for a moment to reflect on the charity’s mission. It will take a minute to settle the crowd, and then the auctioneer/ speaker will spend 2 to 4 minutes highlighting some of the achievements for the group.

The purpose is to show success, tug at heartstrings, create excitement for these achievements, and inspire participation to fund the appeal! People want to support and be part of a winning team. This energetic and emotional Special Appeal process will also draw people into bidding who have not yet raised their paddles.

This is the time to switch gears from people bidding against each other, to encourage them to bid together for the greater good. Start with the highest bid you believe you can get from the crowd. Do not sell yourself short on this. Your goal is to get several paddles excitedly in the air to fund this great appeal. Then, work your way down at set increments so that everyone in the room is able to pledge a donation at the level where they feel most comfortable. Your regular auction workers will be noting the bids and including them in the regular check-out process, denoting that for the Special Appeal, no goods or services were exchanged and that portion is 100% tax deductible as allowed by law. If you are aiming for several high dollar pledges in the Special Appeal, you should spend some time prior to the auction targeting your donors who could pledge a high amount to lay the groundwork for the appeal.

Remember that even at an auction, the key to receiving gifts is by asking. Too many times, groups believe people will simply open their wallets without being prompted. By using the Special Appeal in your next auction, your charity can bring in the highest amounts ever, simply by asking at the appropriate time. Keep your auction lively, energetic and fun, and the bidders will see to it that your profits will reflect their enthusiasm for the group and for the auction.

About the Author: Danielle Hamilton is the editor of HumaneFundraising.com and moderator of a Yahoo group dedicated to helping animal rescue groups raise money for animals.