The Chair of a school auction called me a few days ago to get my opinion. Her committee is thinking of moving its fall charity auction date to a new day and season. Traditionally the fundraiser has been held in December, but they're considering an auction date in the spring so as not to compete with their Annual Fund. "What do you think?" she asked. In one respect, it doesn't matter. As long as a committee follows the principles of conducting a successful auction, the gala can ... Read On >
Buying acrylic frames for silent auction displays – and lovin’ eBates
A client asked me for some advice on where to buy acrylic frames for the silent auction displays. In our local Washington, D.C. area, the cheapest I've seen has been at the Super Dollar store where 8.5" x 11" frames were selling for $1.25. But I also did a quick search online and was pretty pleased when I could refer her to Absolute Acrylic, which priced the frames under $3.50 each. That purchase resulted in a savings to her school of well over $100! Another tip: If you're shopping for silent ... Read On >
Charity auction item idea: Newspaper printer’s plate
Last night I worked a charity auction for a smaller school in Maryland. While walking the silent auction area with the 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 showed the image from the newspaper's front page. (The photo attached isn't the plate I saw. I've traveled into the future and pulled this photo from a later, related post.) The Auction Chair had contacted a friend of hers who ... Read On >
What’s the best day to hold an auction fundraiser?
Most charity auctions are held on Friday and Saturday nights. But is a Saturday night really the best day to hold an auction? Are fundraisers better on weekends? What's the matter with the rest of the week? Nothing. That said, sometimes you can tell what type of an auction the organization is hosting simply by looking at the day of the week they've chosen. Here's my not-entirely-accurate (but pretty close) look at what types of charity auctions fall on any given day of the ... Read On >
Live auction item idea: Time on boats and yachts
One of the enjoyable aspects of my work is the people I meet in wildly different professions. Like, for instance, the patron at a Miami auction who invited me to join his crew as they moved yachts from Miami to Fort Lauderdale after the Miami Boat Show. We left before sunrise, navigated up the intercoastal waterway, and arrived in Fort Lauderdale a few hours later to enjoy lunch. What a nice way to spend the morning! Boating activities are a good silent or live auction item, though I ... Read On >