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You are here: Home / Blog Post / Perspective matters: 3 stories about school auctions
Feb 11

Perspective matters: 3 stories about school auctions

Sherry Truhlar Leave a Comment

This past weekend I shared some work stories with a friend who knows nothing about school auctions.

She thought they were interesting.  Maybe you will, too.

The underlying theme is perspective, and how and where you live influences your school auction.

============================

The influx of wealth from China is shaping school auctions

At one of my big-city school auctions two years ago, a one-week stay in Greece sold for $25k.  The buyer was a student’s grandparent.

The woman didn’t even speak English, but she learned how to raise her bid card!

She and other family members had flown directly from China to attend the auction fundraiser after the school made a point of inviting the families of the exchange students who are attending the school.

The families were seated at a couple of tables and became active bidders.  I learned later that the woman didn’t even take the trip.

Chinese exchange students are not just making an impact in the private schools of tier 1 and 2 cities.

Last month, I wrote about a private school in a mid-sized city which had decided to use a Chinese New Year’s theme at its school auction to acknowledge and welcome their growing community of Chinese exchange students.

(Incidentally, this year the schools are not pushing to invite the families of exchange students because of the coronavirus.  There’s no sense in trying to attend your child’s school auction if you’ll also endure a two-week quarantine in California.)

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Rural private school auction: Common items; uncommon success

A few months ago, I visited with an auction chair from the Midwest.  She lived in that region often referred to as a “fly over state.”  The population of the school’s town was fewer than 1000; the entire county had fewer than 19,000 people.

I was surprised that the local population could support a fairly large private school.

“I hate to say it,” she said, “but the public school here is so bad that if you can afford to send your children to private school, you do.”

Even more fascinating to me is that the auction fundraiser was run more as a commercial auction.

Community businesses donated hundreds of goods and services from their companies.  Guests — who weren’t necessarily parents — came to buy items they used every day.  This auction wasn’t about selling a fancy vacation, an over-the-top dinner, or a class excursion; it was about selling ~400 items of work and everyday life.

In recent years, the Auction Chair had noticed that not all of the items were selling for full or over-value.  She was exploring other options for her auction to see what could be done to improve the numbers.

Even still, that event raised an impressive $200k; significantly more than many auctions I work in the D.C. area!

============================

Know your international audience

I have several clients who host a trivia night as one of the school’s annual parent activities.  Trivia night typically has a lower-priced ticket than the auction, and the evening is meant to be more about community-building than fundraising.

In particular, one client has had great success with their trivia night — it’s more anticipated than the auction!  Teams are strategically formed and tables sell out.  Rules are tightly enforced; anyone caught with a cell phone is expelled.

Despite the success of trivia night at several of my clients, one school found it just didn’t work for them. 

For a change of pace, this school had decided to replace the annual auction with trivia night.

The school knew that many of the parents had advanced degrees (E.G. doctors, attorneys) or ran businesses, so it seemed like trivia night might make for some fun competition.

Turns out, the parents didn’t like the new activity.

This school had a diverse, international student body.  Many of the children were first generation Americans.

When it came time to answer American trivia, the parents — though bright — didn’t know the answers.  They lacked shared cultural touchpoints that make a trivia game work.

The parents had no shared pop culture and their exposure to music and television varied.  Even historical “facts” can be fluid, depending on who is leading the education.

In short, the parents didn’t find trivia night fun.  But an auction was something they all understood.

============================

I could share other international and regional stories, but this seems like a good place to stop.

Perspective makes a difference in your beliefs. 

  • It might be normal or outrageous to sell 150 live auction items in your auction.
  • It might be normal or outrageous to learn that your best bidders aren’t even fluent in your language.
  • It might be normal or outrageous to have such a diverse parent population that they aren’t familiar with Friends TV show.

Keeping an open mind is always a good idea.

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Copyright © 2020 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

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… 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… Read The Rest “Cynthia Steele Vance”

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

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