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You are here: Home / Administration / Growing a public school auction
Sep 12

Growing a public school auction

Sherry Truhlar Leave a Comment

venue for public school auctionHere’s an example of a public school auction that has made small changes every year to improve.

Headwaters Foundation raises money for the rural Rappahannock County, VA public school system, which services fewer than 1000 students.  At one time, it was one of the poorest counties in Virginia.  It might still be.

The county is located about 90 miles west of Washington, D.C.  To arrive at the venue, you’ll wind around the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, passing a combination of roadside farm stands and upscale vineyards.

This year was the eighth year I’ve worked with the nonprofit.  The group reached out in 2009 after a committee member read about me in The Washington Post Magazine.

They wanted to grow their auction, they needed new ideas, and they were ready to embrace change.

As with many nonprofits, Headwaters Foundation took some ideas and passed on others.  Each year, we revisit some auction ideas, and I’ll share new concepts developing in the industry.  Discussion ensues.

Every fundraising auction is unique, so new ideas must be put into context of their event.

We consider what would work best for the venue, the crowd, and the timeline.  We discuss factors like other programs launching, or how to highlight an anniversary year.  This is their signature event and it needs to have their stamp of individuality; it can’t be a carbon copy of other area events.

In addition to their decision to hire a professional benefit auctioneer in 2010, the past eight years has seen the group experiment with other changes.

  • Purchased auction software
  • Pre-registration of guests’ credit cards
  • Changed venues.  Initially this event was held in several tents in a field next to an old schoolhouse.  The last few years, the event has been in an old dairy barn.
  • Various raffles
  • New activities
  • Added a buffet line
  • Added a sound system in their silent auction
  • Reduced the number of items in their silent auction
  • Changed the closings for the silent auction.
  • Altered the silent auction bid sheets
  • Enhanced the sound system for the live auction
  • Experimented with selling as many as 12 and as few as 6 live auction items
  • Added consigned offerings
  • Grew sponsorship opportunities

These elements of the event have been consistent:

  • The buffet is focused on providing an after-harvest feast with each dish provided by an area restaurant.  The excellent food features the bounty of the agrarian area and is highlighted in the name of the event — “A Taste of Rappahannock.”
  • The cover art of the catalog has always been some art from the library of award-winning editorial cartoonist, Jeff MacNelly.  Jeff spent his final years living in the county.
  • For many years, a gift has been given to the attendees.  It’s a small bag of locally roasted coffee beans.
  • The event oozes of charm and has been a sold-out success for several years.

To get a sense of what goes on inside that big green barn, watch the video below.

Are you experimenting with new ideas?

What are you doing to make your event the best yet?

Don’t be afraid of change.  It’s the one consistent in life.

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Copyright © 2017 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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What auction planners say

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”

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