A signed and numbered print of Shepard Fairey's HOPE piece was popular at a Washington, D.C. event.

(This is part 2 of a two-part post discussing the selling of art in your auction fundraiser.)

Last week I talked about why you should avoid selling traditional art in your live auction fundraiser.  I gave tips for selling art, and I’m adding to it this week with three additional ideas.  

• Keep art politically “neutral.”

In 2009 at a more liberal school auction, I sold a signed print of Frank Shepard Fairey’s iconic HOPE poster for $2500.  It was so popular, I was able to sell it three times, earning the school $7500.

Just 30 days prior to that auction, I worked at a conservative school fundraiser.  An item had been — the auction chair believed — intentionally damaged because it had President Obama’s image on it. 

This brings home the challenge of politically-themed art.  There’s a chance that at least 50% of your audience will immediately dislike it.  You’ve got to know your crowd.

• Suggest a signed and numbered print.

If you aren’t getting an original piece of art (and you usually won’t), it helps to have the piece signed and numbered. “It’s 14 of 100 prints,” sounds better than, “It’s a print.”

I doubt the HOPE poster of President Obama would have brought the value it did had it merely been a poster and not signed by the artist.

• Think twice before framing.

Framing is good for art, but the challenge is that framing is so expensive. An additional $300 of framing might never be recovered in the sale of the item. Although I prefer selling framed pieces, I advise against it unless the framing is deeply discounted or free.

Some final thoughts for my art center clients which have traditionally only sold art in their benefit auctions.

In many cases, an art center’s mission is to promote art to the larger community. These centers remind us that art enriches our culture, reminds us of our humanity, and is a valuable, tangible creative expression. In many cases, an art center’s mission is not to support *this* art style or *that* artist, but to support art in general.

Consider expanding on that theme in your items.

• Sell an art vacation. It might be a first-class trip to Miami Art Basel or transportation and lodging to Burning Man (Can you imagine!).
• Offer a behind-the-scenes at the Santa Fe Art Colony in Los Angeles, or one-on-one instruction with a professional artist at The Torpedo Factory.
• Is there a restaurant in the city which has collaborated with an art center to rotate artwork on the walls? Secure a dinner for two where guests can enjoy culinary delights on the table, and artistic delights on the walls.

The auction is your opportunity to remind art-loving guests that art is meant to be experienced in a multitude of ways, and can be brought into many aspects of our life to enrich our experience as humans. Use your items to remind guests that art is meant to be appreciated with all five senses.

© 2005 – 2010 Red Apple Auctions LLC by Sherry Truhlar

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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!

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

A local college sorority undertakes an auction to raise money for cardiac care.

Even when I’m not working, I’m working.

This past weekend, I traveled to San Diego’s Hyatt Regency to attend a conference which has been on my calendar for months. The hotel is surrounded by Mission Bay, making attendees feel as though we were on our own private tropical island.

Our meetings were in one of hotel ballrooms, but the facility also has a permanent tent on the grounds.  Guess what I saw in that tent on Saturday?  A silent auction!

Alpha Phi's silent auction layout (as photographed through the glass doors of the permanent tent on the hotel grounds)

During lunch break, I popped into the tent to learn more.  Turns out, Alpha Phi sorority of San Diego State University was organizing the auction fundraiser to support the American Heart Association.  The girls weren’t overly welcoming, but I’ll forgive them because I know the stress involved setting up a benefit auction.  (Or maybe they sensed I was a Chi Omega during my college years.)

Later that day, I took this snapshot for any ideas in the silent auction.

The auction layout was good, and I wanted to share a few silent auction tips with you, my blog readers.  Here are my thoughts (as I critique this layout from 30′ away, through a glass door):

• Balloons are color-coordinated to sections.
• Balloons are on long strings, making it easy for guests to see auction categories from wherever one might stand.
• Excellent spacing between auction items and between tables.
• A sound system is in the tent.
• Silent auction displays are attractive (for instance, the bike is out for guests to touch and feel)
  
• Auction signage is large and easy to read.

I was hoping the auctioneer would be someone I’d know, but the sorority was using someone I’d not heard of from Los Angeles.

I have no idea how the event’s fundraising numbers turned out, but from a layout-perspective, both the ballroom and silent auction had some outstanding elements.  From my limited observation, I’d say the sorority was incredibly well-organized for this benefit auction.  (And if they maintained their House GPA while simultaneously organizing this charity auction for 300 people, further kudos are in order.)

Great job, ladies!

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

A silent auction item gets a little lift from a popular movie.

Using a popular movie title to draw attention to a silent auction item was a little tip (or trick?) I saw at one my auctions this past weekend.

Julie & Julia was released in August.  I liked the movie.  It’s generally received positive reviews.

This charity capitalized on the vibe and good feelings of the movie by writing “Julie & Julia, Part 1″ in the silent auction header description of a French cooking class.

In the Washington, D.C. area, L’Academie de Cuisine is a well-known culinary school.  Professional chefs and amateur cooks can take classes there.

Its founder, the elegant Chef Francois Dionot, is gracious with donations to area charities.  Sometimes I’ll see his cooking classes (like the one in the photo) for sale in the silent auction.  Other times Chef Dionot himself will donate a dinner prepared by him, which is always a live auction item.

Although this auction donation is always popular with the crowd anyway, I still liked the clever approach this non-profit took.  The organization is reminding bidders that they (like the actors in the movie) might also become inspired by a French Chef — if they just would give themselves the gift of bidding on this item.

What item are you including in your auction that is a repeat donation?  Maybe there’s a way to spice up the description with a popular movie title to attract some new eyeballs to the bid sheet.

Bonsoir, mes amis.

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

A hand-written one-time-use bid board is placed at the check-out area of this auction. It lets guests know if they won.

Some organizations deliver purchased merchandise to each guest while they are seated at their tables.  But most organizations require guests to pick-up their auction items at the end of the evening. Here’s a silent auction idea to save you some time.

A common question my team fields from the guests is, “How will I know if I won anything in the silent auction?  If I didn’t win anything, I don’t want to stand in the check-out line.”

How can you easily let bidders know if they won?

There are several ways to let winners know.  The simplest way is to use signage.

Signage can be reusable or one-time use.

This reusable bid board was placed near the check-out area. The circled bid numbers alerted guests that they needed to pick-up an item.

Reusable auction signage is made of a material (a chalkboard or white board) that allows winning bid numbers to be circled and erased each year.  In contrast, signage meant to be used once is constructed of posterboard or foamcore.

Signage should list the winning bid numbers in numerical order. This allows a bidder to quickly scan the list and see if he’s a winner.

The signage should not list the names of the winners or the items they won. That information is unnecessary to the purpose of the winning bid board.  In fact, the only reason a guest’s name would be listed is if the organization isn’t using bid numbers.  (And if your group isn’t using bid numbers, why on earth not?  The benefits of using bid numbers are well established.)

Place the auction signage in areas easily seen by guests.

1.  If guests must exit the main area from a common door (such as guests leaving from a single ballroom door), the signage can be displayed just outside those doors.  Guests will view the sign as they walk through the door on their way to coat check and check-out.  I recommend stationing a volunteer or two next to the sign to draw attention to it, just as an airline will station a representative outside of the jetway to alert offloading passengers of gate changes.

2.  The signage can also be posted near the check-out area itself.  Put the sign on a easel so it’s at eye-level or a little above for easy viewing and reading.

At this large event with several hundred guests, the winning silent auction bid numbers were listed on a Powerpoint slide and displayed on the A/V screens. Guests knew whether they'd won any items in the silent auction long before the live auction started.

In addition (or in place of) signage, your event can make use of A/V screens by displaying the winning bid numbers on the screen.

A volunteer will need to create a Powerpoint slide once the high bidders are finalized.  Save the slide to a handy zip drive and run it over to the individual handling the A/V equipment.  He can easily upload the slide and display it to the crowd.  While guests enjoy their meal, they can see whether they had the winning bid in the silent auction.

Like this idea?  Click here for more silent auction tips.

And here’s a silent auction idea for an item (maybe a tad crazy) worth reading.

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC

While walking the silent auction area with the auction chair, she pointed out an item I hadn’t seen sold in prior auctions.  It was a metal printer’s plate from The Wall Street Journal.  The plate was the image from the newspaper’s front page.  (I wanted to include a photo of it here for you, but I got caught up in other tasks and – dang it – forgot!  Sorry, friends.)

The auction chair had contacted a friend of hers who worked at the newspaper.  She asked for the front page printer’s plate from November 5, 2008 — the day the world learned that the United States had elected its first African-American president.  For Obama fans, history buffs, or new junkies, I thought this was a neat piece of history!

The Auction Chair told me that she found these plates relatively easy to obtain, even without a contact at the paper.  Multiple plates are often made of each front page.

The school’s crowd was fairly conservative so the Obama election didn’t excite those guests, but I still think this is a great concept for any group looking for unique auction item ideas, especially as a silent auction item

My recommendation is that if you know of someone who works at your local newspaper (The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Washington Post, etc.) start with your contact first.  But if you are truly “cold calling” the paper and don’t have a lead, ask for the Community Relations or Marketing department.

(c) 2009 Red Apple Auctions LLC