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You are here: Home / Audience Development / Creatively paying tribute to your gala honoree via your auction decor
Apr 23

Creatively paying tribute to your gala honoree via your auction decor

Sherry Truhlar Leave a Comment

Female auctioneer Sherry Truhlar Red Apple Auctions at Volunteers in Medicine auction

The opening display captured some of Diana Vreeland’s accomplishments. I and others used it as the backdrop for photos.

I don’t often get into conversations about fundraising auction decor because there are other, more critical elements to discuss that are tied directly to raising money.  Yet for many committee members, decor is the “fun part” of the auction; it’s what keeps them engaged.

For that reason alone, I think it’s worthy of discussion here.

And specifically, I want to give a few ideas on how — if you have an honoree or award winner — you can honor their presence or their memory by ensuring the decor showcases their personality.

Volunteers in Medicine, or VIM, is a primary care medical clinic for low-income, underserved adults who can’t afford health care coverage.  The first VIM started in South Carolina and now the VIM model can be found in 26 states.  All VIM’s are loosely affiliated through the VIM Alliance.

I was the fundraising auctioneer at a recent event benefiting  a local VIM clinic.

Over the years, the all-volunteer committee has created a strong brand around this luncheon auction.  They use the tagline “Shopping is good medicine,” and guests have come to expect fun merchandise in the silent auction.

Privacy screen at fundraising auction honoring Diana Vreeland

A privacy screen was decorated like a bulletin board, showing images of Diana Vreeland’s perfume, magazines, and other products.

Though this event didn’t honor a person, the committee did honor a muse through their decorations.

The Committee Chair selected Diana Vreeland to serve as the fashion icon to guide this year’s branding and auction decor.

(Last year’s inspiration was Coco Chanel.)

For 20 years, Diana Vreeland wrote a highly regarded column for Harper’s Bazaar called “Why Don’t You.”

During most of the 1960s (1963 to 1971), she served as editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine.

She finished her career as a special consultant at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Diana’s favorite color was red — all shades.  She had great enthusiasm.  She helped popularize blue jeans and the bikini.  She told great stories (exaggerating at times).

Since her death in 1989, she’s had a documentary made about her life (“The Eye Has to Travel”), released in 2011.  And just last year (2018), new perfumes were introduced to the market bearing her name.

Diana Vreeland-inspired auction luncheon with red tablecloths

Vreeland’s favorite color was red.

The VIM committee used Vreeland’s legacy as a backdrop to designing the benefit auction. 

Similarly you can use these ideas to pay tribute to your honoree.

Below are some ideas.

Look to the photos for how they played out onsite.

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Opening decor statement pieces

The first decor element guests saw at the luncheon was a tribute table showing photos and memorabilia tied to Vreeland.

Diana Vreeland-inspired red signature cocktail

A fizzy red drink welcomed guests.

A secondary piece — a privacy screen — was decorated as Vreeland herself might organize her own scrapbook.

Both served as photo backdrops for guests.

How to use this at your event

Collect photos and props representative of your honoree.

She likes tennis?  A racket should be part of the table.

He has a family?  Photos should figure into the display.

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Favorite color

Vreeland’s favorite color was prominent throughout the event.  “Vreeland red” is a deeper red, more blue than yellow.  It was found on the tablecloths, the program, the signature cocktail, and the auction bid cards.

Diana Vreeland sayings in fundraising auction

Quotes attributed to Diana Vreeland were throughout the silent auction.

How to use this at your event

Most people have a favorite color.  Ask your honoree what his is and use it as part of the decor.

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Sayings

As a columnist and editor, Vreeland had a way with words.

When she spoke, everything seemed punctuated with an exclamation point.  It wasn’t just good, it was SPECTACULAR!

Each guest received a pad of paper inscribed with one of Vreeland’s sayings, “Simply divine!”

For instance …

  • “Devastatingly chic!”
  • “Outrageously vibrant!”
  • “Smashingly brilliant!”
  • “She was just puttin’ on the Ritz!”
  • “Unshined shoes are the end of civilization!”

At the luncheon, many of Vreeland’s sayings were displayed on cards scattered throughout the silent auction displays.

In addition, each guest received a pad of paper with a pen as a gift.  The pad was inscribed with one of Vreeland’s comments, “Simply divine!”

How to use this at your event

Does your honoree have a catch phrase?

Is she known for using “big words” or colloquialisms?

Does he have an accent or an unusual way with regional words (pop versus soda)?

Use those!

Or like VIM, incorporate a phrase into a simple guest gift, like the pads of paper given to guests at the luncheon.

Diana Vreeland-inspired basket at luncheon auction

This basket held all things Diana Vreeland.

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A few of her favorite things assembled into a basket

A huge basket of Vreeland merchandise was used as a prize at the luncheon auction.

Given her status and ongoing legacy, the basket held branded merchandise from her company.  The documentary of her life, perfume, books, an art print, chocolates, and more.

How to use this at your event

Your honoree might not be a known quantity outside your community like Vreeland, but everybody has their favorites.

If your honoree is a foodie, a big food basket would suffice.

Is she into technology?  Maybe it’s filled with cool tech gadgets.

Ask your honoree what they love and build the basket accordingly.  It could be sold in the silent auction, live auction, or as a prize for a raffle or drawing.

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Touches in the decor can make the honoree feel special, and it gives the decor committee a common focus that is more meaningful.

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Copyright © 2019 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!

Krystal Fenwick
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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!

Diane Albano, Director of Development
St. Joseph Academy Catholic High School (St. Augustine, FL)
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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.

Beckie Middendorf, Development Director and Janet Gulla, Development Coordinator
St. Henry District High School (Erlanger, KY)
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Sherry is “on board” from day one of auction planning, works closely with our steering committee and is only just a phone call away. The night of the auction, we toss her the keys and let her drive the event! We are never disappointed!

Charly Ryan, Director of Institutional Advancement
The Academy of the Holy Cross (Kensington, MD)
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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)
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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
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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
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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.

Nicole Carr, Director of Grants and Special Events
The Ivymount School (Rockville, MD)
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Sherry, 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! Some of the tidbits: You added EXCITEMENT and ENTERTAINMENT… You added EXPERTISE and FUN… You helped the evening FLOW, in a wonderful and positive direction… You were FUN,… Read The Rest “Anne Livaudais Knudsen, 5th year gala co-chair”

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Aren’t KK and Michael a cute couple? They liked that I “moved the crowd along … kept the crowd engaged but wasn’t obtrusive or invasive. We were able to talk but still keep track of what was going on.”

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You 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, … she got the bidders to bid without being rude/pushing, … I loved observing her, I just watched her, … she did a great job.’ It was… Read The Rest “Staci Meruvia”

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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.” The following year, she herself ‘stepped up’ and became one of the gala… Read The Rest “Geri”

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Irene attended one of my New Hampshire auctions and assumed I must be a radio personality — until I started to chant that fast talk. “I’ve been to this event before with a couple of other auctioneers,” she said, “Your ability to get personal with people in a way that isn’t intimidating — men, women,… Read The Rest “Irene”

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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 off… Read The Rest “Carolyn Kahn-Hall and Andrea Del Vecchio”

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As a former Fox News Anchorwoman, I am often called on to perform at auctions. So, I know first-hand that auctioneering can be a difficult job. Sherry Truhlar is one of the best in the business. She is skillful at managing an audience and keeping them focused on the task at hand – which is… Read The Rest “Cynthia Steele Vance”

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Guest at The Potomac School 2014 auction (McLean, VA)
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