But the good news is that you can receive advance notice of the next FREE teleclass by signing up with your email and name on the right.

When you sign-up, you’ll get a free bonus (the Item Guide) to get you started with procurement. Then every other week , I’ll send you information about classes, free auction tips, and other juicy information, all designed to improve the financial success of your auction.

(Oh, P.S. — I email you the item guide immediately, so check your email as soon as you sign-up.)

_______________________________________

A number of you inspired me to dig deep into how and why some auction chairs have super-successful auctions and others don’t.  After three months of research, I’ve got the goods.

In fact, depending on how long you’ve been getting my information, you might have participated in step one of this research (a
survey).

After hearing from you, talking with clients, and meeting with Auction Chairs, I’ve noticed trends.

When these women step in to work the auction … especially when it’s their first time … they have some misconceptions that often don’t get corrected until well into the planning cycle, if ever.

They’re smart women, but by the time they realize what needs to change, “the auction train has left the station.”

It’s too late.

Misconceptions about planning.
Misconceptions about items.
Misconceptions about volunteers.
Misconceptions about the silent auction.

I’m calling these misconceptions “myths.”

The auction rolls forward.
Time runs out.
Tensions run high.

The money is collected (it could have been better) but the truth is, the planning process was frustrating, overwhelming, stressful, and NO ONE WANTS TO WORK ON THE AUCTION AGAIN!

In the end, the Auction Chair knows something wasn’t right.
They’ve lived the event.
They figured some pieces out.

But had they only known THEN what they know NOW.

On Wednesday, December 2, you’re going to hear about these myths, so you can learn from experience….

Inaccurate thinking which led to problems like overestimating auction revenue, underestimating resources needed, and generally failing to prepare as well for the silent auction or live auction.

And of course, I’m going to counter this information with some new thinking and ideas.

I’ll see you there!

Love and success,
Sherry Truhlar, CMP, BAS
Red Apple Auctions LLC

P.S. I’ll also be sharing something on the call that those of you with 2010 auctions will NOT want to miss.

The President of the Parent's Association Committee donned the costume.

Not so long ago (like two weeks ago) I blogged about how dressing up to promote your charity auction could rank as one of those top auction ideas.

Now, I have proof.

That’s right. I have honest-to-goodness photographs proving that some of my fabulous school auction clients are doing just that.

…Having fun.

…Promoting their school’s auction.

…By dressing up.

Voici.  Take a look at these shots… 

Here’s someone clearly in a playful mood promoting the school auction.  No doubt, he’s bringing smiles to others as they pulled up to drop off their kid for a day of school.

I'm not a raffle-type of gal, but if this mime met me at the school while I was dropping off my child, I would suck it up and buy the $50 raffle ticket.

I love that he took the time to create a simple costume and – most importantly – took an hour out of his day to “work” the drop-off area in front of the school to promote the auction fundraiser and specifically the raffle.

As parents pulled up to the school to drop off their children, they were greeted by this mime.  And because he’s a mime and can’t talk, it’s hard for him to be annoying. 

Who is the man behind the face paint?  He was the chairperson of the Parents Association Committee. He decided to dress up in the spirit of the Moulin Rouge benefit auction theme to bring awareness of the fundraiser to the parents.

(You know, just in case they missed the letters, emails, Facebook updates, Tweets, phone calls, flyers, and table which was set-up at the parent-teacher meetings last week.)

Could you say no to him?

It worked!  His gimmick was the buzz among the parents.

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

Visitors to the Rotary Club of Baltimore are treated to an enthusiastic chorus.

On Tuesday, September 29, 2009 I visited the Rotary Club of Baltimore to talk about ways to improve the return-on-investment for benefit auctions by procuring and selecting the proper items.  I’ve been documenting some of my Rotary talks, which you can read here and here.

The Club meets in the beautiful Belvedere Hotel (A misnomer: The Belvedere was converted to condominiums in 1991).  I’m a sucker for old buildings, so hands down, this is the most glamorous venue of any Rotary meeting I’ve attended.

Rotarian Howard is given a surprise birthday gift - a bit tongue in cheek - from a fellow Rotarian.

Rotarian President Mary Anne had told me that the Club had been growing, and – sure enough – I saw some photos of new members in one of the Club’s meaty weekly newsletters.

I was initially caught off guard when the Club started to sing the national anthem and it was sung …. uh, so well.  The Star-Spangled Banner isn’t an easy song for the average person to sing, yet this Club belted it out beautifully.  Shortly thereafter, I understood why.  When we guests (three total) were announced to the club, a chorus rapidly assembled (see photo) and greeted us with an official “Welcome to our Club” song sung in 4-part harmony.  Whoa!

It seems Rotarians are never short on humor.  Rotarian Howard was presented a T-shirt from a fellow member who found the “perfect” T-shirt for him while vacationing in North Carolina.  The shirt said something like, “Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting.”  The members laughed; Howard responded, “First, I’m flattered that you think I still wear a size large.  Second, don’t forget that revenge is a dish best served cold.”  Watch out…

A Rotarian visiting from Turkey exchanges banners and gifts with Rotarian President Mary Anne.

Rotary is an international organization with 1.2 million members and 33,000 clubs worldwide.  Today, a Rotarian from Turkey visited the Club and brought the customary banner (each club has its own banner) and a gift of Turkish Delight candy.

When the business of the Club was finished, I spoke about how I became an auctioneer and shared the best items to procure for strong auction returns.

One woman approached me after the talk and said she’s going to research auction schools.  “I like careers that don’t have a lot of women in them,” she said.  I love that pioneer spirit!

P.S.:  More photos from the Club meeting can be found on our Facebook Fan site.

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

An empty table means lost revenue at a benefit auction.

This past spring, one of my clients experienced a higher-than-usual 9.5% no-show rate at their auction fundraiser  If all of the no-shows had been seated together (they weren’t), it would have amounted to over three empty tables.

A significant number of no-shows impacts your charity auction.  First, you’ve likely already paid for the food so that is an incurred expense.  Second, fewer guests means fewer people to bid on merchandise.  Third, if it’s obvious there are a number of guests missing, it may have a negative affect on the guests who are present.  “Where is everyone?” will be the question of the hour.

To reduce no-shows, here are some auction tips:

• Communicate with your attendees regularly. Consistently send e-mail updates to registered guests.  Remind them of your mission, your gala activities, and so forth.

• Promote your fundraising auction up to the very last minute. “We’ll see you in three hours!  Don’t forget to bring your auction catalog!” might be your last message.  If you are using an autoresponder email system, you can create as many emails as you want and have them automatically sent at the time and day you choose.  It’s a time-saver!  I use this company, which offers non-profits discounted pricing (3 months free with a 25% discount thereafter).

• Create a last-minute incentive to attend. Announce that a sponsor has just made a wonderful donation, and you have “a special gift” for the first 50 registrants that night.  If the gift is something truly worthwhile, advertise it!  “The first 25 bidders to arrive will receive a Tiffany key chain (valued at $45).”

• If volunteers tend to be your no-shows, bribe them. Offer them food or a special (free) raffle drawing only open to volunteers.  One organization I worked with in Washington, D.C. offered volunteers the chance to win two concert tickets to a performance of their choice.  The bucket was in the volunteer room with paper slips and a sign telling volunteers to enter.
  

Are you a non-profit who has struggled with no-shows?

If so, what strategies have you used that work well?

Please post them below.

Was this helpful? If so, you’ll love my Benefit Auction Ideas e-zine.  You’ll have great auction ideas delivered to your in-box, twice a month.

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

Simple tulips were an elegant auction centerpiece at this school 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. Non-floral centerpieces will be covered another blog day.

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

Keep them inexpensive.

This low, Balinese-inspired auction centerpiece worked well at a school auction.

Even if you sell the centerpiece, they usually won’t make you more than what you paid for them.  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.

This floral auction centerpiece blocked the view of the screen from this seat. Keep centerpieces low.

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.
  

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

]]> http://www.redappleauctions.com/revenue-generators/shrink-those-floral-centerpieces/feed/ 1 http://www.redappleauctions.com/venues/negotiate-hotel-rental-auction/ http://www.redappleauctions.com/venues/negotiate-hotel-rental-auction/#comments Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:35:58 +0000 Sherry http://www.wpstudentsites.com/custardapple/?p=104 When I worked as an event planner for GE, I read event management magazines to keep abreast of remodeled hotels, unique venues, trends in meetings, and other tidbits.  As a benefit auctioneer reading those same publications, I like to keep an eye out for how my clients might use key information to help them in their auction planning.  Here’s a juicy morsel I just read.

My March 31, 2009 HSMAI Affordable Meetings email highlighted an article written by The Associated Press titled “Major Hotel Companies Cutting Event Costs.”  Many fundraising auctions are held in hotels, so the title grabbed my attention.

For obvious reasons, hotels prefer clients who book sleeping rooms.  The challenge with fundraising auctions is that the non-profit is more interested in ballroom space to accommodate a silent auction and a dinner (or cocktail hour). My clients usually have local guests who attend the auction, enjoy the evening, and return home — to snooze in their own beds.

Does that eliminate you from nabbing a great deal on a hotel?  Not necessarily.

The article highlighted several deals, so – for those of you booking venues right now for auction fundraisers this fall or next year — let’s see how we can swing this to your advantage. Of the hotels listed, I think these four companies had deals which could benefit you.

1.  Hyatt Hotels – For events involving at least 10 guest rooms, Hyatt is giving a 10% discount at its resorts, or 6% at its hotels.

2.  Starwood Hotels (i.e. St. Regis, Sheraton, and Westin) – Offering a 3% discount on the total room bill and 10% discount on food and drink.

3.  Fairmont Hotels – For events with at least 10 rooms, 10% off total room bill.

4.  The Kessler Collection (hotels in CO, NM, NC, GA, and FL)  are waiving all no-show fees and eliminating penalites for rescheduling events.

Here’s five auction tips which resonated with me as I read about those hotel chains:

* Discounts on food and drink (F&B in the vernacular of the trade) are obvious perks.

That is often the largest expense of a fundraising auction, so any discounts are savings straight to the bottom line.

* A ten room minimum is workable.

One of my non-profits uses four rooms for staff alone.  After they’ve set up the auction, worked the event, and tore down the party, it’s often 1 AM and staff are “rewarded” by getting to crash upstairs in the hotel room instead of driving home in exhaustion.

* Market sleeping rooms to your guest list.

Couples can enjoy making a weekend of the party … even if the party isn’t on a weekend. Remind them that if they book a room, they can attend the auction and drink as much wine as they’d like, because they won’t be driving home until the following day.  And who doesn’t love breakfast at hotels?  Mmm.

* Auctions celebrating a milestone (“It’s our 25th anniversary!”) often market their gala to founders and alumni who launched the organization oh-so-long-ago.

Select a Friday or Saturday night to make the date more appealing to out-of-towners.  They’ll want to support the group (especially if you are honoring them during the evening) and will often need a room.

* Eliminating penalties for rescheduling and dropping no-show fees are good additions to your contract.

Planning is difficult because planners usually secure critical functions in advance (e.g. venues, auctioneers, check-out services, bands), but specific schedules are often not determined until dates near.  For instance, a decade ago I worked at an association.  We booked our convention dates at least six years in advance, but it’s hard to know what you’ll be doing six years from now!  With fundraising auctions, event planners book venues nine months to a year in advance, but the Board of Directors might decide to reschedule an auction date 2 or 3 months before the event (I’ve seen it happen!).  Avoiding rescheduling or similar penalties is a good way to play it safe in uncertain economic times.

If you want to read the entire article, the HSMAI link led me here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-hotelsside0330,0,915228.story

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

AUGUST 2009 UPDATE TO THIS POST: Here’s a FREE teleclass I’m leading to discuss auction fundraisers and venue contracts.