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You are here: Home / Blog Post / Benefit auction items: How to procure TV passes
Jun 15

Benefit auction items: How to procure TV passes

Sherry Truhlar Leave a Comment

benefit auction items TV shows

Me, Amy (a friend), TLC’s Andrew Dan Jumbo, and Bob (housemate) lined up in front of the green screen for this photo. The show “Take Home Handyman” shot at my house for 3 days, upgrading my home office. It was a true “behind the scenes” for my friends and I.

One of the most popular types of benefit auction items I sell are those having to do with the entertainment industry, such as “behind the scenes” activities for television shows.

When a show donates a “behind-the-scenes experience,” it usually means that the winning bidder will get to watch a show being taped and perhaps a tour of the facility. For someone who hasn’t worked in the television industry, a taping can be exciting to watch.

Here are some tips on securing these sought-after experiences.

benefit auction items TV show behind the scenes

Amy snapped me telling all the behind-the-scenes secrets here.

1.   Ask family, friends, and everyone on the auction committee who they know!

Even when you think no one has a connection, you can be surprised. An email to your contacts might bring out a potential link.

An auction committee here in Washington, D.C. unknowingly had a former costume designer from New York among them. When we discussed behind-the scenes activities for shows, she immediately thought of friends she could ask for passes. 

She secured two passes to Saturday Night Live’s dress rehearsal in New York. It was very easy for her to get the passes, but she hadn’t even thought of asking her New York friends until I started to talk with the committee. 

2.  Check your local cable company’s show line-up

benefit auction items TV show behind the scenes Bob & Andrew

Bob and Andrew “at work.”

Your nearby cable company likely produces shows airing on local cable channels. Research online.

We have many shows taping here in Washington, D.C. (e.g. The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Pardon the Interruption, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, etc.), but to prove you can do this in your own locale, I researched another city.

A Website search of local Channel 6 in Lawrence, KS led me to find six shows being produced by Free State Studios Productions. Shows like Jayni’s Kitchen (a hairdresser who has her own cooking show) or The Drive an unscripted sports talk show featuring four local pundits) might be willing to have guests sit and watch one of the episodes being taped.

Watching a local cable show might not carry the same panache as watching Glee, but you’ll be surprised at how many people think it’s cool.

Consider reaching out to any show shooting within a 2-hour radius from where you live. It might be that one of your benefit auction committee members even knows someone working on the show.

3.  Call the networks

If you live in a city where one of the larger networks has a presence, ask if you can have a facility tour.

Even if your tour takes place when nothing is shooting, it’s still fun to have a tour. You can see the cameras and sound booth, and perhaps have your photo taken in front of the green screen. (Don’t wear green in front of the green screen.)

It’s not uncommon for schools and business groups to take tours (I’ve been on a few of them myself), so I know that many studios are set-up to process requests. The worst they can say is “no.”

A tour won’t sell as well as a behind-the-scenes “live” experience, but it offers a one-of-a-kind angle.

P.S. To watch an edited video of my episode of Take Home Handyman, click here.

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Copyright © 2009 Red Apple Auctions Co. All Rights Reserved

About Sherry Truhlar

Fundraising auctioneer and educator, helping schools and nonprofits plan more profitable benefit auctions. A prolific writer for her own blog and other fundraising sites, she’s been covered in The Beacon-News, Town & Country Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Northern Virginia Magazine, Wiley's Special Events Galore!, AUCTIONEER, and other publications.

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Sherry, oh, Sherry! You were an invaluable asset to this year’s gala. With your assistance we were able to add so many new elements that truly made a difference in taking our event to another level. This year was the most successful yet! Everyone loved you and the amazing energy that you brought to the event. We look forward to having you again in 2018!

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Thank you so much for the outstanding job you did for us on April 1! I have received so much positive feedback from so many who attended. You even earned Sister Suzan’s (our Vice-Principal) seal of approval! Safe travels to all your many events and thank you for making our biggest fundraiser of the year our best ever!

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Sherry is flexible and easy to work with. She gives honest feedback and advice throughout the planning and implementation process. Without a doubt, Sherry and Red Apple Auctions has helped take our annual fundraising event to the next level.

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I was very fortunate to have Red Apple on board for my first auction. Working with Sherry was invaluable. She provided guidance at every phase of planning, from procurement on forward – and she challenged us to make our event more ambitious and more successful at every stage. Thank you, Sherry!

Pete Goldlust, Director of Development
Oak Hill School (Eugene, OR)

If your auction needs to upgrade, call any auctioneer you find on Google. But if you want your auction to be impressive, meaningful, and profitable, you need to call Sherry.

Erin Banda
2016 NYUMBANI Board member

The auction was entertaining .. proactive … the crowd was involved and felt a part of it,” he said, emphasizing, “The entertainment value was huge.

Darrell, a long-time attendee

We plan on booking Red Apple Auctions much earlier for our next event so we can take advantage of more of the pre-event offerings.

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2012 Oakcrest Anne and CarolinaSherry, personally, I can’t even begin to tell you the immense amount of positive feedback that I received having YOU (and Darby) there with is this year!… Read The Rest “Anne Livaudais Knudsen, 5th year gala co-chair”

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Staci Meruvia 150 ptYou have NO idea of how many people came up to me (I know Julie as well) and said, ‘That auctioneer was incredible … she engaged the crowd, …… Read The Rest “Staci Meruvia”

Geri said: “Great job of getting potential donors in the room to step up to the plate and not feel guilty or bad about it. They actually wanted to give more … and that’s not something I’ve seen in many other auctioneers.” 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 The following… Read The Rest “Geri”

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Most product & consulting remarks are found on their respective webpages, but I’ve listed two below so you’re assured my products are as spot-on as my auctioneering.   Not only was our 2013 auction a blast, but our Washington, D.C. public school raised $67,000 — that’s $25,000 more than last year! The evening went… Read The Rest “Carolyn Kahn-Hall and Andrea Del Vecchio”

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