We are some of the liveliest, most entertaining and engaging fundraising auctioneers in the United States. We are also some of the most knowledgeable, insightful and provoking consultants you’ll ever see engage your committee.
Focused solely on the theater of fundraising, we hone our craft on a daily basis and constantly strive to become better onstage performers. Each time we take the stage, our performance is rooted in the belief that every bid is an act of heroism, and every bidder is doing good work for your cause. We treat each of your bidders with respect and honor your donors, all while making the auction entertaining for all.
We also know that our success onstage takes months of planning, and offer strategic consulting on every event we work with throughout the planning process. Our goal is to get as involved with your event as early as possible to offer strategic guidance on the many facets of your event.
When you hire us as your Fundraising Auctioneer, you get strategic input on a variety of aspects of your event, including: creating new and creative live auction items; when to sell your most expensive item; how many lots you should do in your silent auction; online auctions; and how you can motivate your board to stay engaged in your fundraising.
In addition to the five precepts upon which all of our consulting is based, our strategic pre-event consulting services include:
The newest, hottest lots for your next auction are within a degree or two of separation of your committee. Put our auctioneers to work with your committee and come up with fun, exciting and highly profitable auction lots that will help raise the level of excitement at your auction.
Working with your committee, we’ll gain an understanding of your previous event, and then make a recommendation on how to order the live auction lot sequence.
There is a science to crafting a silent auction that will engage people and get them to spend. We know what items sell well and which your committee should stay away from. We have equations for how many items you should have in your auction and how to set your opening bids and Buy It Now prices.
If you need help organizing and implementing your silent auction, our Auction Director service offers implementation-level auction event planning.
If you haven’t done an online auction before, we can help explore how appropriate it would be for your support base. We understand the work that goes into putting together a good online auction and getting people to come bid on it (hint: it’s not much less than a silent auction) and can discuss it clearly and openly.
If you already do an online auction and are looking for assistance beyond strategic consulting, our Auction Director, Beth Sandefur, includes online auction implementation as part of her service offering.
We speak to numerous boards of directors every year, motivating them to help achieve tangible goals that will have long-term benefits for your auction and organization.
We’ve seen it all, from VH1 sponsoring 3 tables and then not sending a single person to the event to Wegman’s Supermarkets offering a 3-to-1 challenge grant in the fund-a-need. We understand the relationships it takes to cultivate sponsors, and have fresh ideas on how to get them involved in your event.
The night of your auction, we’ll happily train all of the volunteers working on the live auction – the spotters, recorders, runners and Vannas. In the process, we’ll motivate them to help make your auction exciting, memorable and successful.
Each of these services is included when you hire one of us as your Fundraising Auctioneer. For those events seeking more hands-on assistance in addition to an auctioneer, we offer the Auction Director service.