Benefit Auctions

An ever increasing trend is to have a blog associated with your benefit auction.

What better way to share ideas and get the news out then a blog.  You can stay in touch with voulanteers and committees, request donations, publacize items that will be in the auction and the event itself.

Take it from me, blogs are easy to set up. here is a free one that is easy to use, and it’s free www.blogger.com/

To serve alcohol or not to serve it is a question that needs to be answered.

Free alcohol is a bad idea for a couple of reasons. One is legal implications if someone is injured or killed because of alcohol served free at your function, who knows where that will go. The other possibility bidder remorse. Awakening to the realization that the family may end up sleeping in the car parked in reserved parking space at Junior’s school because the bidder became inebriated and bid two month’s house payments on it.

Moderation is the key word. If you are going to serve alcohol, have a cash bar that closes before dinner and limit the amount of free wine at dinner.

As the auctioneer at a fund raiser, I do not drink, and I think it is a bad idea for any auctioneer to consume alcohol prior to an event. I find that I need to stay totally focused to do a good job for the charity. The auctioneer is being paid to work for you. Even though I enjoy what I do, I’m not at the event to have a good time. I’m there to raise as much money as possible for you.

Follow this link to an excellent event planning time line.

http://www.mikevendetti.com/charityauctioneventpla.html

How about this for a unique experience?  My friend Kip Toner once sold the opportunity to drive a D9 Caterpillar  Tractor into  a building  that was  being  demolished.  Someone  was  thinking  outside  the  box  on  that  one.

Unique experiences bring in a lot of money at benefit auctions, and they aren’t that hard to get.  Let your imagination run wild.

“What if there aren’t any bids, or the bidding isn’t high enough? Do you have someone in the audience bid?”

I have been asked that question, and the answer is NO. 

 Using a Shill is a very bad idea, and something an ethical professional auctioneer will not tolerate.

Section 2328 of the Uniform Commercial Code states that all auctions are with reserve unless otherwise stated, and if the auctioneer announces that the owner has reserved the right to bid on an item to protect the preset reserve on the item they may do so. 

I do not allow the owner or a representative of the owner to bid.  If the owner places a reserve on an item, I will announce to the audience that there is a reserve, and I will bid for the owner up to the reserve. 

Typically benefit auctions are without reserve, and the item sells to the high bidder.

I recommend avoiding consigned items at a benefit auction.  If it’s consigned, the consignor has to be paid for the item, and what’s left goes to the charity.  It’s an easy way out for the acquisitions committee, but not a lot of benefit to the charity to sell a World Series autographed baseball for $3000.00 when the charity has to pay $2800.00 for the ball.  The charity nets $200.00.  My experience has been that these items sell for pretty close to what the charity has to pay for them. The charity would have been far better off selling dinner donated by a member for $500.00.  It isn’t that hard to get donations, and if it isn’t donated, avoid it

If your group is thinking of having a charity auction here are a few things you should consider:

1) Auctioneers need to see to do their job.It should go without saying but I’ll say it anyhow, If I can’t see a bidder (let alone a bid) I can’t take that bid. If you want flowers get short ones. I once did an auction where they put flower arrangements on every table that must have been 2 feet high, I could’nt see half of the crowd through the jungle. Balloons are not an auctioneers friend either, if you feel the need for balloons at a charity auction put them behind the crowd or in the silent auction area, never between the crowd and the auctioneer. Projectors can help but not if you point them in my eyes. I love an auction with a projection team, it helps show where those great seats are in the ball park, a close-up of the item I am selling but if you put the projector pointing up in my face I will spend half the night dazzled and will miss a lot of bids.

2) Auctioneers need to hear to do their job.It may seem odd to you but it is true, an auctioneer needs to hear to do his or her job well. First of all we need to hear ourselves to tell how we are sounding to the crowd, it is like a musician who likes a monitor speaker, without the feedback of the sound of our voice we can’t tell how we are coming across to the crowd, and without that feedback I keep talking louder and louder until I lose my voice (and that’s a bad thing for everybody). We also would like to be able to hear a bidder who is screaming YES, YES! If you are having a silent auction, end it before the auctioneer gets up. I had a charity auction where half of the crowd got up to make last minute bids on the silent auction and they all started talking loudly with each other I couldn’t hear anything.

3) Auctioneers need to be able to be heard to do their job.An auctioneer makes his or her living by talking, it is very rude when the crowd gets loud and makes the auctioneer shout, it hurts their voice. Ending the silent auction first will go a long way to help this out, but giving the auctioneer a sound system with a volume knob will also help. Consider extra speakers for your auctioneer’s sound system to spread the sound out and not blast the people by the one speaker.

4) Auctioneers need bidders to do their job. If you are going to the charity event, then you must have some regard for the charity, so bid. If you want to bid do not be afraid to make yourself seen, bring a little flash light, wave a colorful rag, hoot, holler, jump up, have fun with it. You can really set the crowd on fire by yelling YEP, when you want me to see you! When the crowd gets involved this way it is a lot of fun.

5) Auctioneers need help to do their job.If you are running the event you know what a big task a charity auction can be, soliciting donations, food, decorations, entertainment, etc… but a good auction also takes ring persons (people to hold up the items for sale so the crowd can see what is for sale), bid spotters (people who concentrate their attention on a particular part of the crowd to look for bids and entice bidders to bid again (it really helps if the auctioneer can’t see because of balloons, flowers, people walking around, projectors, etc..). Invite the auctioneer to bring his own table full of helpers, and give them complementary food. An auctioneer with his staff can give your a Much Better Auction! It will pay for itself.

6) Auctioneers need to not be interrupted to do their job.Once the auctioneer starts do not stop him to read numbers for a raffle, or to entice people to buy 50/50 tickets, or to let a band play or to make announcements unless you want to kill the auction. An auction is designed to mesmerize the crowd, not let them think and good one gets you hooked. To interrupt the auctioneer it to kill the momentum, it costs you money every time.

7) Auctioneers don’t need to be thanked to do their job, but you should thank them. Never let your auctioneer set alone at a table, even if you can get him back he will charge you a lot more next year! Nobody likes to be alone and an auctioneer is a social creature by nature. Always let your auctioneer know if you think they did a good job. Saying thank you goes a long way, a card is better.

What do you think we all need to know to do our Charity Auctions better?

_________________
Rob Weiman
http://www.moundcityestatesales.com
314-680-8599

Here is a great item for the live auction at a school fundraiser.  It’s a lot of fun to sell, and often brings a lot of money.  Five to ten dads available for a day to take care of what ever needs to be done around the house.  Cleanup, paint, garden, whatever.