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You are here: Home / Blog Post / How to get auction guests to notice your fabulous benefit auction items
Mar 05

How to get auction guests to notice your fabulous benefit auction items

Sherry Truhlar 8 Comments

Cable TV orange construction flagThe last time I visited my parents, I did a lot of work outside. But before I could mow, trim, dig, rake, and haul, I needed to remove about 30 orange and yellow flags from the yard. The city had cross-crossed my parents lawn with small flags identifying various cable and utility lines in preparation for some work that had been completed a couple of months earlier.

When I asked Dad why he wanted me to store the flags versus just throwing them away, he said, “You never know when they might come in handy.”

Well, he’s right. Construction flags along road

And as I knew he’d never miss one flag, I packed one into my suitcase to share this idea with you.

Let’s turn our attention to your gala.

Remember that your silent auction is your store.

Just as commercial retailers go to great lengths to bring attention to specific items they want you to buy, you should make an effort to bring attention to specific benefit auction items you want your guests to buy. Flags are one way to do that.

The flags don’t need to be construction flags, though those might tie nicely into your theme. Construction flags are relatively easy to locate or inexpensive to buy online.

auction volunteers holding flags for live auctionDuring a teleconference last week, I listened as a school auction chair explained their silent auction layout and closing. Their auction theme is “Construction Junction,” which is a cute nod to some upcoming renovation work (really, a demolition project) their school will undergo next year.

When our conversation turned to marketing, I thought of my Dad’s utility flags.

I asked her if she had any construction flags, explaining, “We can give them to your volunteers to wildly wave as we make our way through the silent auction, closing items. It will be easy for guests to know where we are in the crowd.”

Felt flags in a plastic bagFlags can also be used in the live auction.

One of my clients runs a large auction with 1,200 guests. Although I bring my own floor crew to identify bidders, she always has a bevy of volunteers eager to help.

She gives each volunteer a flag to wave when they have a bidder in their section of the ballroom. It helps those of us onstage spot the bidders.

Here’s a tip: Opt for fluorescent yellow and orange-colored flags. Blue, red, green and other colors aren’t nearly as effective in a large ballroom.

So have you ever used flags? How did it go? 

Post your thoughts below.

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Copyright © 2013 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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Comments

  1. Ray Elks. says

    March 6, 2013 at 10:18 AM

    Hi Sherry,
    What a fantastic yet simple idea.
    It has really given me food for thought.
    The same principle could be used i.e. Golf hole flags, Sports Club flags etc.

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      March 6, 2013 at 10:34 AM

      Don’t you love those clever ideas that make life easier? It’s like learning to peel a banana from the bottom to avoid all those annoying strands from having to be removed. It’s like, “Ahhhh. Yes!”

      Reply
  2. Mel says

    March 5, 2013 at 3:58 PM

    For our live auction, we have about 320 guests (capacity) in the community centre, including a ‘back room’ that’s not entirely visible from the stage. Throughout the crowd are several volunteers with homemade flags (fluorescent orange triangles on sticks) – when a bidder makes their ‘move’, the volunteer yells and raises their flag, so the auctioneer and their stage assistants know there’s a new bid, and roughly where their bidder is seated – there is a lot of movement in the room, and it would be easy to miss someone raising their hand or bid card. There is also a flag volunteer in the silent auction area, in case someone working or bidding there wants to bid on a live item as well. Without those volunteers working the floor, we’d lose a lot of bids.

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      March 5, 2013 at 4:33 PM

      Sounds like you’ve made those flags work for you, Mel! Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  3. Lynn says

    March 5, 2013 at 2:10 PM

    What a great idea! I’m already thinking of ways to use the flags at our upcoming auction!! Thanks Sherry.

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      March 5, 2013 at 3:31 PM

      Sure. Send a photo, Lynn!

      Reply
  4. Doe Stahr says

    March 5, 2013 at 1:03 PM

    At a recent Artist Trust event to support the Art community, they used actual artists, called up on stage to signify each Thousand dollar bid received for their ‘Fund a Program’ auction. As volunteers for the evening, they were asked to wear funky red white and black, so together they made a quite wonderful living, cheering graphic.

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      March 5, 2013 at 3:31 PM

      That’s a very visual reminder of money being donated, isn’t it, Doe? In D.C., the WWII Memorial has a wall of over 4,000 stars. Each star represents 100 Americans who died during the war. When you think about that looking at the stars, it’s like, “Whoa…..” And — of course on a MUCH more pleasant note — those artists onstage representing those $1000 donations visually creates a scale people can process. I like it!

      Reply

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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”

Cynthia Steele Vance_150X180As 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.… Read The Rest “Cynthia Steele Vance”

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