Traditional auctioneers are generally classified as those who do estate sales, car auctions, cattle sales, antiques, artwork, corporate liquidations, real estate auctions, etc. Jim does not seek or accept work in any of these areas. His clientele is made up entirely of 501(c) non-profit organizations. Most traditional auction professionals will do a great job selling Aunt Sally's collection of china after she's gone. Your question should be, "Do they know how to effectively sell a kindergarten Class Project for $3000?

The simple answer is none.

Jim works solo and has a great approach to training your volunteers to fill in the key areas of your auction. Clerks, Checkout, cashiers, spotters and table monitors can be trained to get the job done at no additional cost to your organization. If a circumstance warrants additional staff, Jim can, and will, supply some warm bodies. But it happens VERY seldom.

You can hire a "Team" to do your benefit auction, similar to what you might find at an estate sale, but those folks don't work for free. You are paying for every one on that staff. While each of these positions are important, it's just not necessary to have them handled by paid professionals at most benefit auctions.

Just because they don't send you a bill, doesn't mean this decision is not costing youR organization money. A bad auctioneer, regardless of pedigree or alternate professional bonafidas, will cost you considerably more in lost revenues than a professional's fee.

Your auction is very likely a major part of your annual fundraising goal. Whether the auction goal is $10,000 or $1M, you can't afford to get it wrong. The saying is true, "You get what you pay for." Gambling on the performance, advice and overall effectiveness of someone who dabbles in auctions is risky to say the least.

Just because someone is a "really charismatic person", "super funny" or "knows everyone in the room" does not make them an effective auctioneer. Fortunately, there are some very good Benefit Auctioneers who work with non-profits everyday and understand your specific needs. They will help develop an event that your guests and donors look forward to every year.

It sounds self serving coming from the guy who does Is asking for your business, but I get a call a week from someone who tried the "free guy" last year and is ready for a change.

It's the old "Would you hire a lawyer to fix your plumbing problem?" issue. Jim actually worked as a media professional, so clearly there are exceptions to this adage. Most broadcast professionals will be happy to help with your auction. They generally do it out of courtesy To a local organization and a genuine desire to Give back to their community. They will also tell you, many times, that you are better off hiring someone that really knows what they are doing. A celebrity can be a great part of an event as an emcee and depending on their stature In your market, they may even be an event draw and sell a few tickets. Just don't confuse their talent for reading the 6 o'clock news with the ability to get top dollar for your Live Auction items.

As a true believer that 'a rising tide lifts all boats' I really do want every auction to go well. Bad auctions do nothing to help the non-profit fundraising industry. If you really cannot employ a professional to handle your auction and feel you are within the local laws pertaining to the use of a non-licensed individual, here are a few things that will help your volunteer get through the evening.

1. Keep it small. A non professional doing your auction is like a fish out of water. He's fine for a few minutes, but things can go bad pretty quick if we Are not careful. If your volunteer has little experience, your guests will know this pretty quickly. Don't make guests(and the volunteer) suffer by extending the pain with a lengthy auction. A professional might be fine with 8-10 items, but a well meaning volunteer will be much better off with considerably fewer items.

2. Provide Item Details ASAP. Again, professionals are somewhat used to the fact that things very often happen last minute in the auction world. Do everything possible to lock down the items for your Live Auction as early as possible and avoid last minute changes. Providing the details of each item to your volunteer, well in advance, gives him/her the best chance to get comfortable with the items and do some homework.

3. Avoid Complicated Selling Scenarios. Consignment items, minimum bids, multiple offers for single items, Dutch Auctions can all be daunting if you've never handled them before. Avoid whenever possible.

4. Great Support Staff. If you are using a volunteer, make sure that your Clerk, Spotters and others involved in the Live Auction have some experience under their belts. Having one rookie on the team is much easier when they are surrounded by old pros.

5. Remember they are not a Professional. You've made the decision to use an amateur for your fundraiser. Expectations should be Measured and appropriate. Don't worry about the 'fast talking thing'. Just pace yourself and let the room carry you along through the bidding.

6. Live items should all be Awesome. Selling Sporting tickets a year after they win the World Championship is not very hard. Selling those same tickets when The team is 21 games out of 1st place, is a different animal altogether. Stick with the best items and everything will go much smoother.

7. Picking the Right Person. It's not about "knowing everyone in the room". On the contrary, that can be a dangerous crutch that can lead to all kinds of issues. Look for someone who is comfortable on stage with microphone And 400 people watching. I'll take a Stage Actor or Improv Alum over a CEO any day of the week.

There is a reason professionals get paid to do this. It allows for some assurances that things won't go sideways during your auction and you will get top dollar for your items on any given night. A well meaning volunteer can certainly get you through a tough situation, but keep your expectations in check.

While there is no perfect number, I seldom see a Live Auction that benefited from having more than 10 items. A great auction item is a great auction item. It will sell anywhere we put it. Trust the room. Items don't bomb because they were in the Silent Auction. They bomb because nobody wanted the item. Regardless of its location in the auction. A bad item is a bad item.

It's a common misconception that silent auctions are not effective for raising the big dollars. I understand there's a Somewhat earned reputation of under performing silent auctions. But that's only part of the equation.

Put a few "Almost Live" items in your Silent and watch guests run the price up on these same items. One of the key issues with groups that are afraid to put something in the silent is they seem to feel that bidders won't find the item. If this is the case, maybe you should take aN honest look at how many items you have in your silent auction. *Here's a hint,...you have too many!

"More items" will not equate to more money for your auction. Never has, never will. All it will do, is make it harder for bidders to find the few items they are interested in.

Yes. Anything that gets our message to the bidders Is a WIN. It's a great piece of technology for promoting Live Auction Items before and during the Live Auction. A big bright screen In the room will grab guests attention. It Is also a great way to provide information about your Evening schedule, Highlighting auction items, promote raffles and games. Maybe best of all, it's a great way to thank sponsors, donors and show appreciation to your volunteers.

As the price comes down, we see a growing number of big screen TV's spread throughout the room. These are a great idea.

Avoid Artwork*, clothing, furs, furniture, Medical procedures, orthodontia, fancy rugs or high end appliances. Each of these items are personal items and can be difficult to sell. Most are also straight forward retail items that people are not likely to overpay for as they have clear idea of the value. Remember, the ideal auction item is something that 100% of the bidders would want to own. Clearly, that's tough to find. So we settle for an item that has the widest possible appeal and is most likely to get people FIGHTING over it in a Live auction setting.

To often I see "A Complete Orthodontic Package - valued at $6000" and the committee will want this item in the Live Auction. I agree, at a school auction, there are plenty of families who will need this item. But,do we really see people fighting over orthodontics? Parents knows what This stuff will cost and every orthodontist offers Terms for financing. At an auction, the winner will need to write a check that night.

I see two primary reasons why these get shoe-horned into live auctions. First, the misconception that "Because it's valued at $6000 it MUST GO LIVE. That's just bad auction policy. Second, these doctors tend to be really good people who already know everybody in the room, so it's a feeling of obligation to include them in the highest profile part of your event. I've pretty much given up arguing this point. It's just not a good way to way to manage your fundraising efforts.

* Unless done by small children or freakishly trained animals.

It's a huge mistake to place your "high value" items at the end of your auction.

When laying out the order of your items, use a bell curve approach. Place your top items in the middle third of your live auction. This allows unsuccessful bidders on your high value items a chance at the other goodies later in the auction.

Start with an affordable, easy to sell item, peak in the middle with big stuff and then finish strong.

Very carefully. Ultimately, this is YOUR auction and we need to avoid allowing donors make demands that might put you in a situation of going against long established best practices. Auctions and politics seem to go hand in hand many times, and can be tough to avoid. I find that if we educate the donors to understand why we make these recommendations, we can often diffuse a situation.

Far and away the most common situation is a donor who insists their items be included in the Live Auction. Keep this in mind, when I recommend an item NOT be in the Live Auction, I'm almost always concerned the donor could be embarrassed when it doesn't sell at the level they believe. Donors often think if we just make it very clear to potential buyers "what this item is worth", they will immediately increase the bid. It does not, nor has it ever, worked like that.

I Recommend you place the Fund-A-Need at the end of the Live Auction. IT is designed to pick up any money left of the table. Scoop up that '2nd highest bidder' cash. Doing it earlier in teh evening will only diminish the 'float' in the room.

Alternate names for this element: (

Bids for Kids
Hands for Hearts
Dollars for Scholars
Stop the Auction
Mission Moment
Paddle Raise
The Big Ask

* The advent of electronic bidding has allowed for this element to be placed nearly anywhere In the evening. Discuss the best situation with your auctioneer.

They are a great option for many organizations. The number of online auctions being added to existing fundraising programs is growing every day. Several key reasons:

• Additional revenue stream.
• Takes some of the pressure off selling ALL procured items in one night.
• Great way to reach potential donors that are unlikely to actually attend your auction.
• Creates global exposure for your organization.
• Often times implemented to scale down an otherwise bloated Silent Auction.

When used to supplement to an existing Live and Silent Auction it can be a fantastic revenue stream. I like to target an online audience as one being located out of town(grandparents, aunts, uncles, alumni, etc) be sure to offer things that will be appealing, and make sense, to those folks. Selling a $100 gift card in your online auction for a national chain like Starbucks is great. On the other hand, a $100 Gift Card to the Java Hut in Detroit, has limited appeal to Uncle Carl living in Pittsburgh.

Also consider the effort it takes to ship certain items.

Absolutely not.

Feel free to offer a detailed preview of your items that will be featured in the live event, but starting the bidding process in advance, only forces you to start that item where the bidding ended online. In many instances, this puts you in the position of starting a live item at nearly the selling final price.

So much for getting your crowd involved. All the fun is gone.

Some online auction companies will recommend you run your online auction as a primer for your Main Event. They may recommend you to run your online auction in the 2-4 weeks running up to your big event. I disagree with that approach.

Let me be clear, I like online auctions. They have their place in many of my client's fundraising efforts. I expect most organizations will offer online bidding as an effective revenue stream, sooner rather than later.

When your online auction closes, all those items need to be packaged and shipped to the winners. This takes time. Time you likely don't have in the days before your your annual event. Why add stress to an already stressful week.

additionally, I Have never seen any financial advantage(read: revenue increase) with this appraoch.

Two approaches I like:

1) Start the online auction the day AFTER your event. Post the Online Auction URL everywhere during your event. Programs, on Video screens, thanks you emails. Have your auctioneer promote it. Print up and drop a business card in each guest's bag at the end of the night directing them to your "Online Auction".

2) Start the online auction any time you want. I have clients that run online auctions year-round. Sometimes they have 50 items for sale, other times maybe only 10. But they place things in the online auction as they are procured in many cases.

• This avoids storing it all year.
• Keep that cash flow throughout the year.
• Ease the work load of your committee.

The argument that the online auction allows for the promotion of your event is a good one, but most organizations have their own website for promotion and can driving their own traffic to it via newsletters, social media and general event reminders.

This is the practice of placing an item in your online auction, allowing bidders to run up the bid online , then move the item into the live auction for your big event. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS. It takes the fun out of your Live Auction.

This method forces us to start the bidding on those items at nearly the full market value in most cases and tells your live crowd they won't be able to enjoy the bidding process. Most live auction bidders find the process fun and a challenge.

Don't take that away from them.

If you believe an item will find its best audience of potential bidders, and will make more money for a your organization online, then put it online and leave it there.

It's hard to compare eBay with companies like BiddingForGood.com. I generally recommend if this is one time deal and you have fewer than 30 items to sell online, consider eBay or MissionFish.org. If your organization is looking at a long term online marketplace to bring in revenue for your organization, then consider a company that specializes in non-profit online auctions. BiddingforGood.com is best of breed In my opinion.

• eBay Giving Works via Mission Fish
• eBay for Charity Fundraising
• BiddingForGood.com
• SchoolAuction.net

Obviously each event is different, but here are a few things to consider.

Silent Auction Keys:

• Avoid getting caught up in the circular auction reasoning that tells you "We need to raise $25,000 in the silent, so we need to have 500 items at $50 each to hit our goal." That's just not how it works.
• Too many items you will create a "buyer's market" that keeps your yields low.
• It's about traffic control. Get bidders in, place bids & get out of the way for the next guy.
• The average guest at your auction will maybe bid on about 3-4 different items in your silent. That means they are NOT interested in an overwhelming number of items on the tables that night.
• Ask yourself, How many things are we asking Guests to sort through to find those few things they Will bid on?
• Silent auctions take time to develop. It's a slow process, don't panic if bidding activity is slow during the first 1/2 of the auction.
• Bidders traditionally wait until the last few minutes to get serious about their bids. Regardless of when you close your tables.
• If you are adding a silent auction to Golf Outing or Food Tasting Event, where many folks will be focused on other things...You need to really cut back your silent numbers.
• Assuming you are having a plated dinner, close your silent before you sit down. Period.
• There is no magic number of "sections" for an auction. But I seldom see a good reason to have more than 4.
• A good rule of thumb is 4:1 ratio of Guests to Silent Items.

I'm not a fan of the use of themes, but ultimately we want to have your silent sections stand out in the room. I'll take an easy to find silent table over one with a cute name any time. Each section benefits from being immediately identifiable as a "Closing Section" when it's easy to find. When we announce the "Dads & Grads" section is closing, people start looking for signs that may or may not be visible. It's much easier to say "The Purple Section is closing. That's the the one with giant purple balloons/purple streamers, etc".

That said, the concept of "Theme Sections" is somewhat dated and usually built around a concern that bidders won't find things in the silent auction unless we give them a cute name to find it. I'll admit that the "Something for Mom's Section" is self explanatory, but I'd wager you have too many items in your silent if we need to give them a road map to find items.

I'd much rather see your Silent Auction tables arranged to reflect increasing values as tables close. As we close out sections, the items should be more desirable and sometimes (but not always) more valuable. We want that last table to be something bidders will fight to own. The theory is based on simple supply and demand. As tables close, bidders have fewer items to bid on, supply is less each time we close a section. We will create a situation where we have the same number of bidders now fighting over fewer items. Advantage to the House. That last table of items should be the best of the best. Some folks call it the Super Silent or Almost Live.

Very clearly marked Silent section.

Coordinated table skirting can also work well but keep in mind, when 300 people start filling the room, the table skirts may not as visible as you planned.

Matching Balloons AND Tablecloths.

Silent Auction bidders are generally classified as "shoppers". They are looking for a deal. Knowing this ahead of time will save you a great deal of stress and confusion over the bids you receive at your silent auction.

1. Start by establishing the Fair Market Value(FMV) of an item. Note: This is often less then the Donor Value, which is often exaggerated for a variety of reasons. Let's say the FMV is agreed to be $1000

2. Keep in mind that the average Silent Item will ultimately sell for around 60-70% of FMV. If using Electronic Bidding, you will skew somewhat higher.

3. I recommend starting your bids @ 40% of FMV. In this case $400 as a starting point.

4. Bid increments should then move at roughly 10% of the FMV. I'd likely round up to $50 bump on this item. NOTE: If your item is worth $685, just round up/down to keep the math easy for your bidders. Please don't have $68.50 increments. ;)

5. Do the math. If we start at $400, and go in $50 increments, how many bids will we need to get to our expected sales range for $600-$700. In this case, we only need 5 bids to enter that range.

6. Does this seem reasonable? If not, go with larger increments or start the bidding a bit higher.

7. If an item is expected to have plenty of bidders, because it's a super popular item, you can realistically start the bidding anywhere without worry. Do you have Taylor Swift Tickets? You could start at $8.50 and go in $3.17 increments and it will not effect the bidding. Demand will outpace supply by a wide margin.

8. On the other hand, if an item is REALLY unique, super specific buyer be prepared to adjust. Imagine we have a "Basket of the Worlds Finest Knitting Supplies" Valued at $600. We are not likely to have enough interested bidders to get the needed bids for anywhere near FMV. Start your bidding a little higher. The shopper who appreciates Knitting Stuff, will still think they are getting a great deal at 50% of FMV. We just won't have the volume of bidders to drive pricing up. So consider that you will get fewer bids than normal, and we want them to all count.

Tips on combating the Bargain Hunter at your auction:

• Base your opening bid and increments on an items FMV - NOT the Donor Value (which tend to be inflated).
• Never lower prices mid auction. Once bidders sense you will do this, they will just wait you out every year.
• Bidders need to be enticed at first glance. Make certain your opening bid is realistic based on the FMV.
• Don't fool yourself into believing, because your organization is really great and everyone in the room loves you, they will throw excess money at your silent auction. The average yield in a silent auction is around 70% of Fair Market Value(FMV) Much of what we see in Silent Auctions is available at a Retail level. No one at your auction NEEDS to buy a toaster over at your auction, so expecting them to overpay for it, is just not logical.

Silent auction bidders are generally classified as "shoppers". They are looking for a deal. Knowing this ahead of time will save you a great deal of stress and confusion over the bids you receive at your silent auction.

Don't fool yourself into believing, because your organization is really great and everyone in the room loves you, they will throw money at your silent auction. Average yields in a silent auction is around 70% of Fair Market Value(FMV) That $100 item you got, is likely going to sell for $70. If you are not careful, it could go even lower.

Tips on combating the Bargain Hunter at your auction:

• Don't let your Silent auction become bloated. It's simple Supply & Demand. A 4:1 Ratio of Attendees to Items is good number. Although many more groups are trimming to even lower ratios due to the overwhelming effort that goes into procuring items. Listen to your crowd. If they are getting bored anf overwhlemed trim your Silent Auction back. EXAMPLE: 400 guests = 100 silent auction items. A saturated marketplace means nobody needs to fight over anything and deals are everywhere.
• The 4:1 Rule of Thumb does not apply to "outlier" events like golf outings and events where you have more than 750 attendees.
• Base your opening bid and bidding increments on an items FMV - NOT the Donor Value (which tend to be inflated).
• Avoid allowing increments of less than $5. If an item won't support a $5 increment, consider packaging it in a basket with other items.
• Never lower prices once your auction starts. Once bidders know you will do this, they will just wait you out every year.
• Most silent items will receive 4-8 bids during an auction.
• Bargain shoppers need to be drawn in at first glance. Make certain your opening bid is realistic based on the FMV. Start between 30-50% of FMV. EXAMPLE: Item with a FMV of $100, might ~$40.
• Increments will be different for each item. I like to be in the neighborhood of 10% of the FMV. EXAMPLE: That same item with FMV of $100, starting at $40, can move in $10 increments.

Do some commonsense math for any item in your silent auction. Take your your proposed opening bid, the chosen increment and the items FMV. Now take the expected number of bids on an item and see if it seems reasonable to expect it to work out.

EXAMPLE: FMV of the Item is $500. Opening bid is $200. Expect maybe 8 increases of $50 each you are at $600. It's not the norm to exceed FMV in the Silent, so maybe you lower your increments to $25 so people can get into the bidding.

"Buy It Now" - "Instant Purchase" - "Get It Now" - Guaranteed Bid"

First, it's a relatively small number of people who actually exercise this option. Most feel "only a fool pays full price" when it comes to a silent auction. Remember, silent auctions attract "shoppers" who want a deal. That said, it doesn't hurt to offer it and costs you nothing if it ever gets exercised.

If you do go this route, treat the "Buy It Now" option like a privilege extended to the bidder. If a bidder doesn't want to be bothered with checking their bid all night...Here's the solution. They can, for a premium, buy their way out of the process.

Remember: You're the one taking the risk. Without the Buy It Now, an item could sell for much more in the course of normal bidding.

NOTE: Some items have a FMV well above what the donor may have told you. Especially sports tickets - many sports fans are accustomed to paying above market value for a good game. Most anyone in Green Bay will happily pay you 3 times the $79 face value for 50 yard line seats @Lambeau Field. Using a 135% Buy It Now formula on that will cost you a bundle.

Same rule applies for this seasons"hottest holiday toy" i.e.; "2002 Tickle Me Elmo", "2006 Xbox" or "The 2007 Wii". All were selling for 3-6 items FMV in the months leading up to Christmas.

Whatever percentage you decide on, just use common sense on those special items and toss the formula out the window.

TIP: The Buy It Now price on those Green Bay tickets...I'd say $1400.

Some guidelines for your Silent auction Bid Sheets:

• Provide a clear and brief description of each item. (Consider bullet points)
• Each sheet should be printed on a computer using a sans serif font. (Helvetica, Arial, Veranda, etc.)
• Include the Item Number for each item in your silent auction.
• Print the Bid Increment for each item in BOLD TEXT.
• If using EMS(Event Management Software) pre-print your increments.
• A blue or black pen sitting next to each Bid Sheet

Some things you DO NOT need on your Bid Sheet:

• Bidder's name
• Bidder's phone number
• Donors name (generally provided on the accompanying Item Description Sheet)

Here are some good ideas to get you thinking.

While they look attractive and generally carry little or no risk if an item fails to sell, consider a few things. • On a item that sells for $150.00, if the first $100.00 is going to a consignment shop, who gets the better end of the deal? • With a Consigned vacation package costing $3500.00, that sells for $3800.00 in your Live Auction, the bidder's $3800 is now gone from the room, yet only $300 goes to your organization. •These are FOR PROFIT companies and the Valuation they often offer, “This package has sold for $10,000” type deals are VERY often outlier pricing and not the average of what these things sell for. •Consignment items are often vanity items that committees want to be shown offering. “Look at the amazing items we have to offer” as they re often responsible for procuring extraordinary items. They want to be seen s having provided awesome items for the non-profit. Admirable goal, just misplaced in the scheme of raising money. • If you research these items' Fair Market Value, more often than not, the "consignment price" is within 15-20% of the FMV of an item. Which means we need bidders to REALLy be willing to bid above and beyond what is accepted as FMV. It certainly happens, but not every day do we find donors openly willing and eager to spend more 100-200% above what an item is worth.

Sports & Celebrity Memorabilia

Using Mobile/Electronic bidding devices is one of the biggest advances in Charity Auctions in recent years. The simple answer is "yes" you will make more money if you utilize them at your auction. Most companies will tell you, and I agree, that you should realize a 20-30% increase in yield, regardless of which company you choose over old school paper bidding. Having a micro-processor manage your bids in those last 3 minutes of your Silent Auction is enough to ensure immediate benefits.

The cost will be a factor for some groups, and rightfully so. Talk to the available vendors and go with one that meets your specific needs. The companies I list are all great, but every client has unique needs. I work with nearly every company out there and welcome the opportunity to help clients find the right fit.

I've had a select few clients, who after giving electronic bidding a chance, had concerns over the Zombie Bidder Syndrome...Where bidders just stare at their phones and forgo the normal social interaction that comes along with most events. It's the same conversation that is taking place in many homes regarding dinner table etiquette. If that's a concern for your org, it will certainly play into your decission.

A goodaudio system is NOT a luxury!

A surround-sound approach is best. A speaker in each corner of the room will not overwhelm the nice people nearest your stage. As an added bonus, people in the back will be able to hear as well. Speaker stands should be raised high enough so sound will not be blasting someone's ear all night. Hotel and banquet hall sound systems are almsot never as good as the venue representatives promise. A professional, third party, sound system is worth every dollar. If your donors cannot hear, they simply will not bid.

It's often distracting, seldom done well and sounds terrible when not done properly. An effective auctioneer will be all the entertainment you need.

This also goes for Sound effects that may be considered for your Live Auction Power Point/Keynote presentation.

K.I.S.S. - Bidders need details on what we are asking them to buy. They don't spend extra money because we had some corny special effects in our Slide Presentation.

I prefer to use a hand-held wireless microphone. Not a lavaliere or cattleman's mic. With enough cord, a wired mic is fine as well in some situations. That said, every auctioneer has his/her own preference.

Acceptable microphones are available from the following companies:

• Shure
• Sennheiser
• AKG
• ElectroVoice- EV

NEVER:

• RadioShack
• Samson
• Nady

Maybe.

Most DJ's and bands configure their sound systems to adequately cover a dance floor. Which means if you crank up the volume so the guests in the back of the room can hear, you are blowing out the nice folks in the front seats. Turn it down--and nobody in the back of the room can hear.

Talk to your DJ and see if he/she can borrow or rent a few extra speakers to better cover the room. It's their business, they know people with lots of AV stuff. Just communicate your needs and give them a chance to help you. They will most likely be able to help you out.

Good Audio is not a luxury. Don't skimp on it. Get the proper equipment you need to communicate with every person in the room the night of your event.

The "house" sound at the club, banquet hall is never adequate for your live auction. Ask the Venue manager if they would feel good about letting a professional singer use the system?

You are right to be concerned about running late.  It's a top complaint among auction attendees.  Respect the guests time and get them out of there at a reasonable hour.  Remember, auction yields begin to decline after 10:00 pm.  Run long at your own risk!

Have your auction over and done by 10pm.(Earlier for weeknight events) Here are some Tips to Stay on Schedule:

First, it's worth noting that the need for having a printed catalogue is up for serious debate.  Admit it, very few people actually read them.  They are expensive to print.  Did I mention nobody is reading them anymore?!?!   And advertisers are increasing less excited in seeing their business names in print.  they prefer an online link or social media mentions that can drive traffic to their business.

If you do print one...avoid using script or silly, fun fonts! 

You never see legitiamte newspapers printed in Comic Sans or Script for a reason - it's difficult to read  We are not printing a fun, one page flyer for the Bowl-A-Thon. 

Sans Serif fonts work best (Helvetica, Arial, Veranda, etc) but a Times Roman or Garamond is not a horrible option.

The IRS has a page on this very subject.  Follow the link for FULL details.

http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Charitable-Organizations/Charity-Auctions

"Donors who purchase items at a charity auction may claim a charitable contribution deduction for the excess of the purchase price paid for an item over its fair market value.  The donor must be able to show, however, that he or she knew that the value of the item was less than the amount paid.  For example, a charity may publish a catalog, given to each person who attends an auction, providing a good faith estimate of items that will be available for bidding.  Assuming the donor has no reason to doubt the accuracy of the published estimate, if he or she pays more than the published value, the difference between the amount paid and the published value may constitute a charitable contribution deduction."
 

This one is easy, but not necessarily for every auction. It is a slight variation of the popular "54 Card Drawing", but can also be handled like any standard raffle the night of your charity auction.

In a nutshell...you sell your guests “the opportunity to claim/take/remove any item from the live auction before we begin."  

You pick the number of tickets to sell and the price at which they are offered.

Sell 100 chances @ $100 each for $10,000!

Sell 50 Chances at $50 for $2500!

Every room has a different level of comfort for buying tickets at a given price.

Draw the winner immediately prior to the start of your Live Auction and the winner takes ANY item they want from the live. 

Normally, its pretty easy to estimate, in advance, what they will choose. This  enables us to guesstimate the value of your prize and set your ticket prices appropriately. Make certain you don't have something in the live that could, under normal circumstances, fetch more than your expected gross ticket sales.  

EXAMPLE:

Selling 100 First Choice Tickets at $25 each is not going to work if you have a 14 Day Hawaiian Vacation, valued at $7500.00 in your live.  In most live auctions, that item is going to be what the winner will.  Bad news is you potentially lose $5000.00 on the deal.

Adjust ticket prices to make sure the math is in line.

NOTE: I’ve seen groups try to exclude one or more items from the “first choice” because it was considered to be “exceptional”.  I strongly disagree with this practice.   It's confusing to buyers, and generally sounds cheesy.  We might as well announce,  "take anything you want from the live...except the things we know you really would like".  It's all or nothing. 

Sure.  Here's the scoop on how to do it the right way.

Quite simply The Easiest Money Making  Game on Earth.
 It only gets screwed up when we try to make it more complicated.

The premise is simple.  
 

1. Choose a prize that you are confident your guests will be willing to pay a few bucks to win.  Prize should be valued at less then $750 in most cases.  The “Buy In” price should be based on crowd size, the prize and financial situation of your crowd.  $20-$25 is, by far, the most popular level.  This is a game for the masses, don’t overprice it.  We want as close to 100% participation as possible.

2. Have a well chosen, small group of sellers get people to sign up.  We want as many people in the room as possible to play.  Don’t focus on the rules and how to play the game. the pitch is simple: “Give us $20 and you can win 4 Cubs Tickets”. Anyone can play, no skill involved.

3. Have your auctioneer run the game just before the start of the live auction.  (A good trick to get everyones attention for the Live)

4.  Game is played by a series of coin flips. Everyone who bought a chance to play stands up.  Each time the coin is flipped, players must guess if it will be “Heads or Tails”.  They publicly indicate their guess by placing their hands on their “head” or “tail”.  

5. Each flip eliminates those who guessed wrong.  They immediately sit down.  Last one standing wins.

NOTES:

Absolutely. Jim feels it is in everyone's best interest to make sure the boat is on the right course as early as possible when planning something this important. If there is something an auction has been doing for years, but never realized its detriment to the event, Jim is going to tackle that issue months in advance to avoid any last minute problems. Without advance consultation we leave too much to chance. Jim is available for client consultation on an unlimited basis. In person, by phone, email or Online video sessions, Jim will make sure you have the answers you need that best suit your fundraising needs.

I am part of successful auctions every month of the year. Listen to your crowd. Schools need to work around vacation schedules and breaks on school calendar. Some organizations avoid the holidays, when "the money" tends to head for warmer climates. Which is why many of the largest benefit auctions in Florida, California and Arizona are held in January, February and March.

Generally Jim books his auctions 10-12 months in advance. That's not to say you can't book on 2 days notice. It has happened! The bottom line: If you are having a Charity Auction, get your auctioneer locked down about the same time as reserving your venue.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."- Ben Franklin

If your auction has hit a plateau, maybe something is wrong. It may be a major thing or something that just needs a little tweaking, but who's qualified to determine the best course of action?

You can approach this issue several ways.

1.Let your well meaning committee or Board of Directors tell you what they think the auction needs.
2.Copy what the guy down the street is doing at their auction and hope he's getting it right.
3.Just keep guessing and keep your fingers crossed.

Another option is to consider the opinion of a professional consultant who sees the same problems at charity auctions every day. He will see the signs of potential problems and help you avoid them, before it's too late. Even better, a pro will be able to share the success stories from established, time tested auctions and tailor the approach to fit your particular organization. We can all learn from other people's mistakes.

Sure do. See Charity Auction Photos here.

Sure. Just drop me a line and I'll forward some contact information for upcoming events. Sometimes a committee may let you duck in the back of the room to see how things run. Other times you may need to buy a ticket.

I've included an evolving collection of auction photos to help you with some new ideas for your event.

Photos are here.

Here are some great examples: