Here’s how to harness the enthusiasm of your volunteer auctioneer AND give him the tools he needs to be more effective…so YOU raise more money!
If your group uses volunteer auctioneers (whether it’s a Board member, the local mayor, a gregarious Dad, etc.) then you probably already know how nerve-wracking it can be for them—and you!
Let’s face it; very few people are comfortable in front of an audience.
Most folks are terrified of public speaking, but they’re willing to “take one for the team” in an effort to make the event run smoothly.
Sherry, thanks for all the help. You’re a good teacher, and that’s coming from me (a law professor). I can’t imagine having done this without all of the sound advice you provided.
Tony Perez, 2010 volunteer auctioneer
City Choir of Washington (Washington, DC)
Most people don’t love speaking, much less selling in an entertaining fashion. Your volunteer auctioneer will perform better – and you’ll raise more money – with coaching.
Plus, there are many aspects of running a successful benefit auction that your volunteer auctioneers may find hard to process, making for even more angst at event time.
So let’s fix the anxiety issue and take back control of the auction once and for all!
The perfect way to do this is with coaching, and I’m here to help you make that happen.
This coaching covers a lot of ground. Here are some often-covered topics:
- What to do to prepare immediately, starting with the moment you agree to be the auctioneer
- How to prepare for the big day … what you need to do, versus what the committee needs to do for you.
- How to properly sell “doubles”
- How to manage a cash appeal
- The one action you could make on stage which could cost your charity thousands of dollars
- Methods of selling similar types of items to maximize revenues
- Crowd quieting techniques
- When and how to oversee raffles, games, and similar activities
- Working with your volunteer floor crew
Auctioneers, you owe it to your charity … and Committee, you owe it to your volunteer auctioneers — to make your next auction free of fear, overwhelm and confusion.
To schedule an auctioneer training session:in**@Re**************.com, or call 1-888-474-0838.
I just wanted to let you know that the auction went GREAT! I was able to raise about $10,000 for the live auction, and overall, I believe around $26,000 was raised. Thanks for the help.
Everything you said was true, and it went exactly as you said it would. I really appreciate the help!”
Troy Smith, a volunteer auctioneer
Rock Creek Forest Elementary School (Chevy Chase, MD)
Thank you very much for the volunteer auctioneer training. We held our auction last night to benefit St. Luke’s School in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of NYC. The auction was an amazing success.
I’m hearing we raised about twice as much as last year with essentially the same items. I am confident that our success is attributable, in large part, to the practical and actionable advice that I learned from the two hours I spent with you. I followed exactly what you told me to do in everything from assigning and training people into supporting roles, to asking for the donations.
It all played out just like you said it would.
Although my financial planning and investment advisory practice requires that I give presentations and I’m comfortable speaking to groups, I have no previous auctioneering experience. I knew I needed professional advice to make the auction as successful as possible.
I was fortunate to find you. Your training was spot on! I have a feeling the school is going to ask me to do it again next year. Expect a call to book a refresher course when the time comes.
Michael Nelson, CFA, Esq.
Executive Monetary Management
Parent and Volunteer Auctioneer for St. Luke’s School (New York, NY)
I wanted to let you know that our 7th Annual, A Global Tasting wine event was very successful. Our (volunteer) auctioneer, J.T. Hand did a great job with the live and silent auctions!
I took your advice to have fewer items in our auction, and our appeal brought in double the amount from last year. All together we brought in over $25,000 in the auctions and the total event revenue netted over $100,000.
I would like to see the auctions continue to increase in amounts as I know there is more potential, but am somewhat limited with number of attendees and how the auctions entwine with the overall wine pairing event.All in all, we heard so much positive feedback on displays and spacing.
I can’t thank you enough for your wonderful advice; I have learned so much from you and look forward to gleaning more helpful tools in the coming years.
Jackie Summers, Executive Director
Junior Achievement of South Central PA (York, PA)
I was waiting to write you — to say thank you for the wonderful class on 14 February — until after our big night. Everything went great. Your training was super, as evidenced by the increase in our proceeds that were directly attributable to the volunteer auctioneer instruction. Ken and Kevin did very well and were well prepared — thank you for all the great prep ideas and “tricks of the trade.”
I’m glad I found you on the internet! Thank you, thank you!
Michele Ritchie-Moore, Auction Chair 2011
St. Veronica Catholic Church and School (Chantilly, VA)
We were committed to using a volunteer auctioneer for our school auction, but we recognized the need to have some professional guidance. In four hours, Red Apple Auctions provided us with many ideas which improved our logistics, boosted our yields, and really impacted our bottom line. And our guests loved the changes!
Blair Critch, Auction Chair
Westminster Academy (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
I’ve meant to write to you for almost two months now, to thank you. Green Hedges School’s 2010 Gala Auction was a big success. A huge part of that was our volunteer auctioneers, whom you had helped prepare.
Ellen and Jock were fabulous, raising 164% of fair market value for our live auction items (and exceeding the performance of the professional auctioneer used the previous year) and surpassing our goal of $15,000 for “Raise The Paddle.”
The preparation you provided made them much more comfortable working the crowd and gave them the confidence they needed to tackle the evening head-on. Their performance got rave reviews.
Carolyn Kahn-Hall, Assistant to the Director of Development
Green Hedges School (Vienna, VA)On March 7, 2011, Carolyn added the following comment to a Red Apple Auctions’ blog post:
Sherry, a year after working with you, our volunteer auctioneers got a 210% ROI (up from 154% last year) from our live auction items! We referenced your training frequently during our prep sessions – thanks again for the great help!