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You are here: Home / Blog Post / The 9 best auction themes from 2019
Jan 14

The 9 best auction themes from 2019

Sherry Truhlar 2 Comments

vintage plane auction gala casablanca

An Evening in CASAblanca

In the process of pulling together content for my new Auction Item Guide, I was reminded of the many themes my clients used over the past year.

Here are the auction themes I thought most creative.

The Eye Ball: See and Be Seen – The event raises money for eye research and corneal transplant, so the theme is directly tied to the mission of the nonprofit.  I wrote about this event first in 2018 when the organization used a different, but equally clever, sub-theme.

An Evening in CASAblanca – Like “The Eye Ball” mentioned above, this name used clever wordplay that tied to its mission.  Court Appointed Special Advocate organizations use the acronym CASA, making this a theme any CASA organization could use.  In my case, Rick’s Cafe from the movie was an airplane hanger, complete with vintage planes.

DC woman auctioneer Sherry Truhlar black and white auction

Black & White Gala: Party of the Century

Black & White Gala – Party of the Century – If you like the idea of a masked ball but are weary of The Carnival of Venice or Mardi Gras themes, take a look at American pop history for inspiration.  The Party of the Century was Truman Capote’s legendary party from 1966.  He used striking black and white decor and guests wore elaborate masks. At this fundraiser, the nonprofit (an art museum) hosted a pre-gala party that included crafting — guests made the mask they’d wear to the gala.

The Fellowship of the School Name: One Auction To Rule Them All – An all-boys school went all-out with its theme based on the epic fantasy book series.  There are many Lord of the Rings fans, and some were inspired to wear costumes reminiscent of Middle-Earth and their favorite characters. 

Catholic school auction beach theme

Seas the Day

Seas the Day – If you’re OK using a more casual theme (some guests might wear shorts or “ugly tourist” outfits), this theme conveys the beach without using the word “beach.”  Beach, ocean, sand and surf themes seem particularly alluring to those auction committees living in cold northern states.  Snow might be falling outside, but inside the venue, guests are reminded that warmer weather is just a few weeks away.  Selling a beach vacation is a nice tie-in to this auction theme, too.

Chinese New Year – Only twice I’ve seen an auction based on the Chinese New Year — once in Oregon and this past year in Virginia.  The independent private school that embraced the theme in 2019 did so as a thoughtful way to  acknowledge their growing population of students from China.  Smart!

Washington DC auctioneer female Sherry Truhlar

Mardi Gras Mambo

Mardi Gras Mambo – Every year I work at least one Mardi Gras-themed event.  But until 2019, I’d never worked a Mardi Gras Mambo auction.  One Dad at the school hails from New Orleans and is part of a krewe.  He built a mini-float and recruited others to drive it straight into the ballroom down a too-small aisle (gala tables were rapidly dragged aside).  Other parents dusted off their high school instruments and marched behind, playing “When the Saints Come Marching In.”  The crowd cheered and to my knowledge, no one had to bare their chest to be rewarded with beads and candy. Once the commotion was back outside the room, we started the live auction.

Moving Mountains – Given the low test scores and dismal high school graduation rates of students in some inner cities, urban education can be seen as an uphill battle.  But if you’re changing the landscape by reversing that trend and altering the futures for the children and families in those zip codes, you are … well … moving mountains.  “Highs and lows,” “peaks and valleys,” and similar language was used all night long while being paired against a backdrop of student success stories and statistics.

Washington DC auctioneer Red Apple Auctions

Making Spirits Bright

Making Spirits Bright – For no good reason, something about this theme transports me to the 1950s.  I feel like I should be wearing a black cocktail dress, fur stole, and holding a red martini in someone’s downtown apartment while Dave Brubeck’s holiday album plays in the background.

Anyway, one of the last events I worked in 2019 was held the first Saturday of December.  The school always opts for a holiday-themed auction and plays upon the time of year, when guests are in the midst of buying Christmas gifts for their family.  It’s a short and snappy theme that screams “holiday.”

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Several other benefit auctions I worked had outstanding decor, but these were fundraising events of 2019 which I thought had particularly relevant, clever, thoughtful, or snazzy themes.  

What’s the best auction theme you’ve seen?  Care to share?

If so, post it 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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Comments

  1. Ann says

    January 29, 2020 at 1:47 PM

    Night of Heroes!
    A few came in super hero costumes, but our hero’s were the police chief, community leader, military officer,
    Educator, etc -90f them and it was a Super night of dinner, live/silent auctions & dancing – after five dress —

    Reply
    • Sherry Truhlar says

      January 29, 2020 at 1:53 PM

      Ann, those are fun themes, too! It’s been three years since I worked a “Superhero Soiree”-themed event. In that case, the money raised was for children in foster care, and as they were honoring the Foster Family of the Year, it was the foster families who were the “heroes.”

      Even so, the photobooth had capes for people to wear and guests enjoyed it — as I’m sure they did with you, too. It’s a relatively easy theme to pull off, too — primary colors and capes for all!

      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!

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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!

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Beckie Middendorf, Development Director and Janet Gulla, Development Coordinator
St. Henry District High School (Erlanger, KY)

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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.

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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”

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