Hi everyone,
I'm amazed and delighed to see that this blog is still getting some traffic, although I have been ignoring it for quite a while.
This year, I'm chairing a Rotary Club auction, and have told the crew at RGMS that I'm up for co-chairing one again this year.
I'll start posting again; I have more to say.
Roger
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Friday, November 18, 2011
Reviving the blog
I don't (quite) have a new auction-chair gig this year - although there's a possibility.
In the meantime, I'm going to open this blog up to my friend Lisa Shippy - she's also an amazing auction expert, and may have a little more time to post.
In the meantime, I'm going to open this blog up to my friend Lisa Shippy - she's also an amazing auction expert, and may have a little more time to post.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Day After
Whoof. We had a lovely time, and raised more money than I expected. Well, more than I expected earlier this week. We were hoping for a late ticket-sales surge, and pulled out a bunch of stops to try and make it happen... but it didn't. In the end, we had 94 guests (63 bid numbers) - and we were missing 4 of 5 of our most-involved families, who had other commitments. Argh.
But, we had good stuff for sale, and excellent food, and a great auctioneer, and we made the best of it.
So, what's next, for this fundraiser, and for this blog?
For RGMS, I am going to take the items that came in late, and the ones I held back, and launch an online auction in a week or two. We'll get those heavy hitters who missed the event yet.
For the blog; I'm going to use it generally to talk about some topics that may be of interest to auction chairs - how to set up will-call, say. I have definite opinions on that. And procurement. Look for a post on that next.
But, we had good stuff for sale, and excellent food, and a great auctioneer, and we made the best of it.
So, what's next, for this fundraiser, and for this blog?
For RGMS, I am going to take the items that came in late, and the ones I held back, and launch an online auction in a week or two. We'll get those heavy hitters who missed the event yet.
For the blog; I'm going to use it generally to talk about some topics that may be of interest to auction chairs - how to set up will-call, say. I have definite opinions on that. And procurement. Look for a post on that next.
Friday, March 18, 2011
What to do, what to do
I just got a really great donation from a frozen-yogurt shop that opened up last year in our neighborhood. They are local-only: two shops in the world, one down the street - one about 5 miles away. They sent a card good for Free Yogurt for a Year - one 12-oz. yogurt per week for 52 weeks. Fair market value: $250.
The question is - can this sell in the Live Auction? It's betwixt and between the Silent and Live in my mind.
Thoughts?
The question is - can this sell in the Live Auction? It's betwixt and between the Silent and Live in my mind.
Thoughts?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Venue Resolution
We're staying at the place we originally booked, after lengthy debate. This is a little disappointing to me, not in that I dislike the building, which I believe is a lovely place to have an auction. No, it's because this effectively caps our attendance at a level lower than I was shooting for.
I had hopes we could raise the attendance and thus raise the number of silent auction items (I always aim for the number of items to be 80-85% of the number of bidder numbers, so as to promote competition). But my aspirations have been met with some resistance from the parents on my team who have been at the school longer. They claim our school doesn't really have a lot of people who come and bid, not a lot of parents with money; its a middle school and not an elementary, etc.
It's the tyranny of low expectations - too often in a situation like this, you perform down to the expectations, rather than exceeding them. I really think this is the wrong way to go with a fundraiser - especially one that is as local in nature as a school auction. This is last type of philanthropy people give up when they cut back - the giving that directly affects their community (and their kids!).
But I'm one voice out of several. I now turn my attention to making sure we exceed these expectations, within the limitations of the ticket count available to us.
I had hopes we could raise the attendance and thus raise the number of silent auction items (I always aim for the number of items to be 80-85% of the number of bidder numbers, so as to promote competition). But my aspirations have been met with some resistance from the parents on my team who have been at the school longer. They claim our school doesn't really have a lot of people who come and bid, not a lot of parents with money; its a middle school and not an elementary, etc.
It's the tyranny of low expectations - too often in a situation like this, you perform down to the expectations, rather than exceeding them. I really think this is the wrong way to go with a fundraiser - especially one that is as local in nature as a school auction. This is last type of philanthropy people give up when they cut back - the giving that directly affects their community (and their kids!).
But I'm one voice out of several. I now turn my attention to making sure we exceed these expectations, within the limitations of the ticket count available to us.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Another quick donation
Here's another easy donation you can get for your school auction from the comfort of your home office.
http://community.tenmarks.com/
This is a link to a form you can fill out to get a donation of a one-year subscription to their online math-tutoring service. Very cool. Thanks, TenMarks!
http://community.tenmarks.com/
This is a link to a form you can fill out to get a donation of a one-year subscription to their online math-tutoring service. Very cool. Thanks, TenMarks!
Venue headaches
This school has traditionally held its auction at one of the local arts centers. It's a lovely old building, and a great choice. I reserved it for our event back in the fall.
I wanted to swing by today to talk to the event manager about set-up; I'd put this off for a couple of months because a) I had attended auctions there before, and b) well, life has been throwing other stuff in my way. Sue me, I'm a volunteer.
Anyway, it became clear today that our event is likely going to need more space than they have available for us. The room where we would normally put the silent auction is available, but not until 6:30 that night. It has enough room to seat the number of people we had at the last auction (in 2009), but I'd like to increase the attendance and think I can.
So, I'm considering alternatives. More news as it breaks...
I wanted to swing by today to talk to the event manager about set-up; I'd put this off for a couple of months because a) I had attended auctions there before, and b) well, life has been throwing other stuff in my way. Sue me, I'm a volunteer.
Anyway, it became clear today that our event is likely going to need more space than they have available for us. The room where we would normally put the silent auction is available, but not until 6:30 that night. It has enough room to seat the number of people we had at the last auction (in 2009), but I'd like to increase the attendance and think I can.
So, I'm considering alternatives. More news as it breaks...
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