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You are here: Home / Blog Post / 4 ideas for handling auction donations that show up AT the event
Nov 20

4 ideas for handling auction donations that show up AT the event

Sherry Truhlar Leave a Comment

Handling onsite silent auction donationsYour auction catalog is printed. All items have attractive displays. Guests are arriving shortly.

Lo and behold, a Board member/volunteer/parent arrives at registration with a last-minute donation.  They’d been meaning to get this to you, but just didn’t.

What should you do?

First, turn away as you roll your eyes.

Second, consider these ideas.

1. Add the item to the live auction

Here’s a recent example from this past weekend.

Upon arriving at the venue on Saturday night, I learned that a one-week summer stay in Martha’s Vineyard had just been donated.  The 5-bedroom home was ideally located in Edgartown and could be used May, June, September or October.

For that crowd, this was a prime item.  We added it to the live auction as the last item (item #5).  In my opening remarks, I also told guests the donation had been made, so they could appropriately plan for it in their budget for the night.  It sold for a whopping $10,700.

What to consider:  Though I’m not a fan of adding items to a curated live auction, use common sense.  If the item is worthy and your timeline can support a longer live auction, add the donation to the line-up.

 

2. Add the item to the silent auction

Many last-minute auction donations are tucked into the silent auction.

Nonprofits running mobile bidding have it the easiest.  They can type in a description about the item, snap a photo of it, and upload it into the digital catalog. The new item instantly becomes available for bidding.  Though it’s better to have a display of this item on the tables as well, it’s not absolutely critical.

Silent auction bid sheets

At this school auction, they put a bright pink sticker on bid sheets of items that weren’t listed in the catalog.

In contrast, nonprofits working with paper bid sheets have more work.  A bid sheet needs to be created and printed. Space must be made on the silent auction table.  And this all needs to happen quickly, so browsing guests have time to see it and bid on it.

One client keeps fluorescent stickers handy to alert guests to 11th hour changes.  See the photo for how they highlighted a “new” item with a bright pink “New!!!” sticker.

What to consider:  The downside of accepting and handling auction donations onsite is that it sets a bad precedent. If guests think it’s OK to arrive with donations at the door, you can expect more of them to ignore donation deadlines next year.

3. Give donations away as door prizes

Years ago I was working at a Catholic parish school auction when several families arrived at registration with unexpected donations.  They were all smaller valued items — baskets with one to three items tucked inside.  Some were shrink-wrapped.

The Auction Chair politely accepted them, carried them into the silent auction area, and told me to use them as door prizes. She had no interest in rearranging the thoughtfully organized silent auction tables to make way for these late arrivals.

I reviewed a few bid sheets to see who was in the room and started calling winners. “Congratulations, bidder 123,” I said, “You’re our first door prize winner. Join me near the stage to select your prize!”

What to consider:  Nerves runs high at registration tables.  The long-planned event is about to begin, and most Auction Chairs will be annoyed with a donor who shows up with any donation at registration.  If the item is small, it might be OK to accept the gift and let the auctioneer make it disappear by giving it away as a door prize. Blame your auctioneer for the idea.

4. Save the donations and run a post-gala online auction

Some nonprofits use their gala as the “kick off” to a post-event online auction that might run seven to 14 days.

Online auctions held after galas tend to include items that didn’t sell at the gala and could be expanded to include last-minute donations that arrived at the event.

What to consider:  It’s a nice way to use the donations and allows those who were unable to come a chance to bid and contribute on the items.  Some software platforms allow you to run a free online auction if it’s small in number.

 

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If you’ve gracefully handled last minute donations, how did you do it?  Post your answers below.

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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

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)

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)

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)

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.

Nicole Carr, Director of Grants and Special Events
The Ivymount School (Rockville, MD)

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”

Aren’t KK and Michael a cute couple? PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiIHNyYz0iaHR0cDovL3JlZGFwcGxlLmV2c3VpdGUuY29tL3BsYXllci9NakF4TWkxSGRXVnpkSE10UW5Wc2JHbHpMVXRMTFdGdVpDMU5hV05vWVdWc0xVcHZjMlZ3YUM1dGNEUT0vP2NvbnRhaW5lcj1ldnAtV0JBVTkwTlVBUyI+PC9zY3JpcHQ+PGRpdiBpZD0iZXZwLVdCQVU5ME5VQVMiIGRhdGEtcm9sZT0iZXZwLXZpZGVvIiBkYXRhLWV2cC1pZD0iTWpBeE1pMUhkV1Z6ZEhNdFFuVnNiR2x6TFV0TExXRnVaQzFOYVdOb1lXVnNMVXB2YzJWd2FDNXRjRFE9Ij48L2Rpdj4= 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.”

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”

Irene attended one of my New Hampshire auctions and assumed I must be a radio personality — until I started to chant that fast talk. PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiIHNyYz0iaHR0cDovL3JlZGFwcGxlLmV2c3VpdGUuY29tL3BsYXllci9SM1ZsYzNRdE1qQXhNUzFPU0ZOUVEwRXRTWEpsYm1VdWJYQTBMVEU9Lz9jb250YWluZXI9ZXZwLTVHMlVHQlFGN1YiPjwvc2NyaXB0PjxkaXYgaWQ9ImV2cC01RzJVR0JRRjdWIiBkYXRhLXJvbGU9ImV2cC12aWRlbyIgZGF0YS1ldnAtaWQ9IlIzVmxjM1F0TWpBeE1TMU9TRk5RUTBFdFNYSmxibVV1YlhBMExURT0iPjwvZGl2Pg== “I’ve been to this event before with a couple of other auctioneers,” she said, “Your ability to get personal… Read The Rest “Irene”

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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