Aug 18

Harry Potter items sure to create a spectacle as silent auction items

Sherry Truhlar 4 Comments

silent auction item ideas Harry Potter

These Harry Potter books received some fast bids. Harry Potter, The Exhibition tickets would also be well received.

The Harry Potter enterprise isn’t just about books, movies and merchandise. It’s also got a robust business in the “exhibition” area.

Harry Potter, The Exhibition has been making the circuit showcasing all the cool stuff that goes into making the wizardry onscreen. It’s a traveling, behind-the-scenes museum for the movie franchise.

Scoring a couple of tickets to the uber-popular franchise’s traveling exhibit would be a sweet item to add to your silent auction fundraiser.

Chicago and Boston were on the calendar earlier this year. Ontario, Canada is the current home for the show, but the exhibit will be back stateside. It’s due to open in Seattle on October 23, 2010.

From the previous venues listed, it seems that the exhibition prefers to be displayed in science centers and museums. If you’ve got a museum like that in a zip code near you, call them to see if you’re city is scheduled to be on the tour.

The official Harry Potter, The Exhibition website promises “more locations coming soon” but only lists two. Perhaps your museum is on the calendar but it’s not yet updated on the website.

The tickets — like other Harry Potter paraphernalia — would be good silent auction items. I’d expect them to be snapped up, especially given the marketing push underway for the first part of the final installment of the movie series (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), due to be released in November 2010.

(The second and final part of the movie series will be out in July 2011.)

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.

Comments

Roger Carr says

August 27, 2010 at 10:31 PM

Gail,
That is a terrific idea whether or not the Harry Potter exhibit will be in town. We should contact our local museums for interesting exhibits that are scheduled in the future and then work out a donation.

Reply
- Sherry says
  
  September 3, 2010 at 1:28 AM
  
  Good idea, Roger.
  
  Reply
Gail Perry says

August 24, 2010 at 4:43 PM

What a terrific idea. Sherry I love your continuing stream of tips on how to make the most from your auction. So many nonprofits are all staging auctions and they really need your advice!

Reply
- Sherry says
  
  September 3, 2010 at 1:28 AM
  
  Thanks, Gail!
  
  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)

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!… Read The Rest “Anne Livaudais Knudsen, 5th year gala co-chair”

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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, …… Read The Rest “Staci Meruvia”

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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… 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”

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.… Read The Rest “Cynthia Steele Vance”

Cynthia Steele Vance

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

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