• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About
    • About RAA
    • Meet Sherry Truhlar
    • What makes us unique
    • Reviews/Clients
    • Press
    • Licensing
  • Contact
  • Client Login

Fundraising gala auctioneer Sherry Truhlar

  • Services
    • Onsite Auction Services
    • Virtual Auction Services
    • Fund a Need Experts
    • Consulting
    • Onsite workshops
  • Products
    • $10 Trainings
    • On Demand Webinars
    • Books
  • Speaking
    • Why Sherry
    • Keynote and Other Topics
    • FAQs
  • Blog
  • Free Resources
    • Virtual Gala Cheat Sheet
    • Auction Software Help
    • Newsletter
    • Auction Item Guide™
    • Blog
  • Store
You are here: Home / Administration / How to organize a charity auction: Part 2 (Auction Chair tools)
Jan 22

How to organize a charity auction: Part 2 (Auction Chair tools)

Sherry Truhlar 6 Comments

how to organize a charity auction - notecards

One 2014 Auction Chair has notecards labeled with different auction subjects. This card was “Setup / Decoration.” During our meeting, she would list all the tasks related to that topic on the card.  It was a quick reference for her to see what else needed to be done.

[This is the second part of a two-part blog. Read “How to organize a charity auction, part 1″ here.]

As mentioned in Part 1, I thought about writing on this topic a few months ago and decided, “Nope. I need to save this topic until January.”

The reason being is that January is the month that many stores — Home Depot, Walmart, Kmart, Target, Staples, The Container Store (the annual Elfa® sale) — advertise one particular theme.

Getting organized!

This is THE month that many stores promote organization.

Volunteer Auction Chairs need to be organized. They are often working with many volunteers to plan the fundraising auction. Keeping track of the big picture — AND the details — is part of the job.

Here are four organizational tools I’ve seen other Auction Chairs have success using:
  • Google Calendar and Google Docs: This combination is perhaps the most popular online method for staying organized and sharing information. The tools are free and enable your entire committee to keep up-to-date.
  • Standard paper calendar: Whether it’s an “At a Glance” or some other brand, paper calendars are still popular among auction chairs. It allows for the entire month’s activities to be seen on one page, which many people like.
  • Electronic calendars: With so many people using their phone to keep up-to-date, it’s no surprise that tech-savvy Chairs opt to use their mobile phone as their master auction calendar.
  • Subject-related notecards (see photo): Last month I had a meeting with two Auction Chairs. One had brought notecards labeled with auction topics, such as Setup/Decoration, A/V, Silent Auction, Food & Beverage  and so forth. As we talked through different subjects, she’d list “to do’s” on each card related to that topic. She could then follow up later on those tasks, or hand it off to the appropriate volunteer managing that activity.  Clever!

Do you have any tricks for keeping your charity auction organized? If so, share your ideas below.

Copyright © 2014 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.

Reader Interactions

How to organize a charity auction: Part 1 (the supplies)
FREE training on auction consignment items! Trends & other ideas you need to know.

Comments

  1. Nadya says

    January 22, 2014 at 2:46 AM

    Trello is awesome. Trello and Bitrix24 are the best free productivity tools in the history of humanity.

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      January 22, 2014 at 9:03 AM

      “…history of humanity.” That’s quite the vote of confidence, Nadya. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  2. Jeff Porter says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:20 PM

    Sherry,

    As usual – great article!

    I would put my vote in for Trello for managing auction items during the setup/procurement phase. Trello is a pleasure to use and easy to get up and running with it. We like it so much I would love to integrate it into Handbid in the future so that “approved/ready” items would flow directly into the auction system.

    Its so flexible that you could organize it in a number of ways. At a minimum, you could have columns for each of the states for an item:

    Last Year (list of items from last year)
    In Progress
    Approved (by donor)
    Acquired / Ready

    Cards in each of these states (lists) could be assigned to members of the team to acquire

    On each card, you could track the item details (description, fine print, starting price, increment, donor information, etc.), photos, etc.

    Best of all, Trello is free to use for all of the necessary features 🙂

    Let me know your thoughts…

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      January 21, 2014 at 1:23 PM

      Hi Jeff! Thanks for commenting. Ah, well, I wasn’t really thinking in terms of “auction software management” when I wrote the article (which is an entirely different topic, in my mind). Nor was I thinking of “volunteer management” (in which case, VolunteerSpot and others have nice programs). But … OK … we’ll run with it. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Sheila says

    January 21, 2014 at 12:27 PM

    Check out Wunderlist! It is a free online tool and phone app where you can divide the different categories of “to do” items, prioritize, move around, etc. Just started using this a few months ago and it is a great tool! (with the Pro option, you can share certain lists with others)

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      January 21, 2014 at 12:36 PM

      Thanks for the tip, Sheila!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

CONNECT WITH ME HERE

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • pinterest
  • youtube
  • feedburner

home | auctioneering | consulting | free item guide | about

 

Red Apple Auctions Co., PO Box 6066, Arlington, VA 22206
Toll free: 888-474-0838 | Email: Info@RedAppleAuctions.com | Copyright © 2005 - 2024

 

Sherry Truhlar • Charity Auctions • School Auctions • Fundraising Auctions • Auction Galas • Benefit Auctions

 

Terms of Use · Privacy Statement