On Auctioneers

I talk to a lot of auction teams when they are just starting to make decisions regarding their events. Usually, I'm talking to them because they are wondering whether using SchoolAuction.net makes any sense for their team, and whether spending money on that will pay off.

My position on that is probably predictable. But perhaps not completely. Because I will tell auction teams that the first, best place to spend some money on your auction is not with software - it's hiring a professional benefit auctioneer. I will tell my prospects that if it comes down to either hiring an auctioneer, or subscribing to SchoolAuction.net, that they should go with a benfit auction specialist this year, and then next year, come back and add the software.

Here's why: benefit auctioneers make your organization money. A lot of money. It may look like their job is to smile, talk kinda fast and call out bid numbers. But folks, that is just the frosting on the cake.

The professional benefit auctioneers I see working for our customers are, in the end, a lot like psychologists, with a specialty in crowds. The best of them spend time during the months before your event getting to know your organization - understanding why people would support it. Then on the night of the event, they spend the couple of hours between the time the doors open and the time they take the stage to sell the Live Auction items working the crowd who has shown up - listening, watching, and talking with your guests to get a sense for, and help shape, their mood.

Then, when they take the stage, they assume control. By that point, they know pretty well how each item needs to be presented, where they can look for bids, and how far they can push the bidding. And they sell.

Which is really an important thing to understand. The purpose of a live auction is to sell the items, and raise the most money possible for the school or organization. It is important for them to do so within certain parameters - respect the mission, have fun - but in the end? It's sales in real time, on a high-wire.

And this is why going with an amateur is a mistake. It's easy enough to find someone who is willing to stand on stage in a tux. It's possible to find someone who can mimic "the chant" of an auctioneer. It's really hard to find an amateur who is willing to take the fiscal success of your live auction in their hands and know which live-sales techniques are appropriate given the behavior of the crowd in front of them.

So, I am an advocate for Benefit Auction Specialists. They deliver the very biggest bang for the buck in your auction budget.

But software is a close second. More on that sometime later.

The Procurement List

One of the reasons I'm pretty sanguine about my ability to get this auction done without losing my mind is that I already have A List.

That is, a procurement list. A list of local businesses who are pretty good about donating items to fundraising auctions in our city. I have one because I have chaired two auctions here before, and have my database files from those events, plus I am pretty sure I can get the file from the last auction held to benefit this particular school. That happened two years ago, but the list should still be helpful.

I also know what a list should look like. If you don't have a good list, here's a few tips on how I go about building one.

1) To estimate the size of the list, set a goal for the number of items you want in the silent auction. My rule of thumb is a little less than half as many items as guests; so if I think I'm going to have 150 guests (my initial estimate), I'll shoot for 60-70 items in my silent auction. I'm probably going to hear back from 30-40% of the businesses I contact, so I'll need around 200 businesses on the list that I mail.

2) I'm going to look for 15-20% of those 200 (30-40 businesses) to be local restaurants. Restaurant gift certificates are incredibly useful items to procure; they can be packaged with other items easily, or used in a Feeding Frenzy, or on a Quick Picks board.

3) I want 80-90 of the 200 at least to be located within 3-4 miles of the school. Of the rest, I'll look for another 35-50 to be within the city, and the rest can come from around the state or even the region.

4) I want businesses owned or managed by school parents represented in the list, but I know I can't count on that for the bulk. I won't set a goal here, other than to try and to take what comes.

5) What I CAN set a goal for is to have 10-15 school parents host Signup Parties (a.k.a. Easel Parties, Pay-To-Play parties, etc). I love signup parties; they are easy to procure, and provide those all-important "something everyone can afford" items for the event.

6) For a live auction, I'm going to start by trying to find a Community Tradition-type item or two. I'm new to this school, so I'm going to need to poll the PTA board first, but I bet I can put together a Honey-Do Crew at least.

7) I also want to put together a couple of vacation outings for the live auction, so I'm going to ask around to see what families at the school might have vacation homes. If I can get one family to let me auction a stay at their home for a week, and one more to donate a weekend, then I'm feeling pretty good about that.

8) As soon as I get confirmation on the Benefit Auctioneer who is going to work the event, I'm going to set up an appointment with her to come to one of the PTA board meetings, and do a brainstorming session.

9) If I can get it, I am going to look at the data from the last auction, to see who bought what. This always inspires ideas.

10) To stock the Wine Wall, I am going to ask each family in the school to donate one bottle and to bring it to me at the Back-To-School PTA Picnic.

Bonus tip: I know there at least two other people who have chaired school auctions in our PTA. I'm going to ask them for their lists, too.

So. Do these tips pass your sniff test? What additional tips do you have?

"Welcome to the Suckers' Club!"

My friend Lori posted that as a response to my Facebook page yesterday. She's been a very involved parent volunteer herself, and so I knew she meant it in camaraderie. But still, it made me think a bit. The perception of the Auction Chair position is that is an ENORMOUS job; one which you have to be a little crazy, or a superhuman, to volunteer for.

Now, I've chaired two school auctions before, and through my work at SchoolAuction.net I've talked dozens and dozens of other chairs through their events. I've worked as a volunteer at roughly 30 fundraising auctions per year over the past 4 years. So I think I have a pretty decent handle on what the job entails. And while I certainly don't want to turn down the gratitude of the PTA for stepping up to the plate this year, I also know this little secret: it's not that bad.

Yes, the last two weeks leading up to the event can be hectic, as you realize all of the little details that somehow slipped through the cracks. Yes, recruiting volunteers requires asking people to help, which can be un-fun. And yes, procurement requires a certain boldness; you are asking for free stuff from people who would really rather sell it to you. And yes, there are probably tasks to do that you've never had to do before, like setting up a credit-card processing account, or getting a raffle permit.

But really, none of it is Rocket Science. It takes some dedicated time, and a system for tracking the to-do lists, and a couple of good lieutenants with a sense of humor. A case of wine and a room where you can store the procured items helps. My perspective this year is that I need to set up just a few Big Things here in the beginning, and then I'll be fine. I'll post on those over the next couple of weeks, and tag those posts as Big Things.