Anyone who has ever chaired an auction will understand, when I apologize for not blogging for almost a week and explain why.
We're in a little bit of flux, regarding dates (the calendar was already almost full before I ever volunteered to do this), and the venue (there is a preferred venue whose calendar for next spring has very few available dates). I think I have an auctioneer, but I've only confirmed him for one of the possible dates (which works on the school calendar, but not at the preferred venue).
Problems like these can make a person crazy, but there are many more crazy-making opportunities ahead of me. So I choose to see it as just the current challenge. Auction chairs, like any managers, must take these in stride.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Another way to handle procurement
Today, out in North Carolina, the Garris Chapel Church is holding their all-day fundraiser and silent auction. They are using SchoolAuction.net to manage it, and as such I've had occasion to talk to the chair a few times about the event.
What they do, that I have never seen another group do, is they ask all of the attendees to bring items for the silent auction with them when they show up at the event. They enter the items in the database at the same time they check in the guests, print bid sheets for the items on the spot, and put the items out on the table then for bidding. They don't really know how many items they will have in the silent auction until it is almost over (due to late arrivals), but they also don't send out procurement letters or knock on doors.
I thought that was a pretty interesting idea. I'm not going to use it this year myself, but can see using it with a future event.
What they do, that I have never seen another group do, is they ask all of the attendees to bring items for the silent auction with them when they show up at the event. They enter the items in the database at the same time they check in the guests, print bid sheets for the items on the spot, and put the items out on the table then for bidding. They don't really know how many items they will have in the silent auction until it is almost over (due to late arrivals), but they also don't send out procurement letters or knock on doors.
I thought that was a pretty interesting idea. I'm not going to use it this year myself, but can see using it with a future event.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursdays, Saturdays and an Auctioneer
We may have a date.
The PTA Board voted for March 12th - a Saturday. I had recommended March 10th, but primarily on the grounds that, this late in the game, I knew we would have problems booking an auctioneer, caterer and a venue on a Saturday night in the middle of the spring auction season.
And sure enough, one auctioneer just laughed at me when I asked her about her availability on the 12th. But another auctioneer here in town, who I like a lot, does have an opening. I'm talking to him later today. And to the preferred venue - lets keep our fingers crossed.
I still like the idea of Thursdays - the conventional wisdom is that a Thursday event is less of a party than a Saturday event would be. But I've seen a few Thursday school auctions and they have all been great successes, so it isn't Destiny that a Thursday event will be a dud. And the costs are lower (several venues around here will donate a Thursday night to a school for an auction). But hey, these things are group decisions, and as long as we can make it work, I don't need to be a rebel.
Monday, September 13, 2010
On Signup Parties (aka Socials, Easel Parties, Pay-to-Plays, etc.)
As mentioned in an earlier post, there will be signup parties at this auction.
What's a signup party? Here's an example. Mike and Rebecca (parents of a sophomore at Hypothetical High School) decide that, as their contribution to the HHS auction, they are willing to host 12 people at their house on the day of the Kentucky Derby, and serve these people mint juleps and fabulous tasty food. It's well-known in the HHS community that Mike and Rebecca's house features a patio with a spectacular view of the valley and a gorgeous garden, and Rebecca has an awfully sharp wit and so we KNOW that people are going to want to go to the party.
The Procurement Chair and Rebecca sit down to discuss the idea over a julep or two, and decide to charge $35 per person for the 12 slots. The Procurement Chair takes a few pictures of the patio and the view and a mint julep, and enters the Kentucky Derby Bash as a Signup item into the auction software, with a quantity of 12, and a price of $35.
On the night of the auction, the Procurement Chair puts a signup sheet on a table, surrounds it with pictures of the patio, of the mint julep, and of last year's winning horse. Guests who want to attend write their names down, and at check-out, pay $35 for the slot. After the event, the Auction Chair prints out a report with the names of the people who signed up, and Rebecca emails them to tell them how much fun the party is going to be, and when to show up.
The auction books $420 in contributions from that item alone ($35 x 12 guests), and everyone is happy.
Here's a link to another blog post on Socials, by a woman I met through the PTA Great Idea Bank website.
What's a signup party? Here's an example. Mike and Rebecca (parents of a sophomore at Hypothetical High School) decide that, as their contribution to the HHS auction, they are willing to host 12 people at their house on the day of the Kentucky Derby, and serve these people mint juleps and fabulous tasty food. It's well-known in the HHS community that Mike and Rebecca's house features a patio with a spectacular view of the valley and a gorgeous garden, and Rebecca has an awfully sharp wit and so we KNOW that people are going to want to go to the party.
The Procurement Chair and Rebecca sit down to discuss the idea over a julep or two, and decide to charge $35 per person for the 12 slots. The Procurement Chair takes a few pictures of the patio and the view and a mint julep, and enters the Kentucky Derby Bash as a Signup item into the auction software, with a quantity of 12, and a price of $35.
On the night of the auction, the Procurement Chair puts a signup sheet on a table, surrounds it with pictures of the patio, of the mint julep, and of last year's winning horse. Guests who want to attend write their names down, and at check-out, pay $35 for the slot. After the event, the Auction Chair prints out a report with the names of the people who signed up, and Rebecca emails them to tell them how much fun the party is going to be, and when to show up.
The auction books $420 in contributions from that item alone ($35 x 12 guests), and everyone is happy.
Here's a link to another blog post on Socials, by a woman I met through the PTA Great Idea Bank website.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Thinking about The Team
I know I'm going to get a few questions after Tuesday on how much work this event is going to be for everyone else - it's nice that I'm volunteering my time, but who else is going to have to work on this, and how much? So I'm thinking about what other people I'll need. Here's a first crack:
- Theme & Decorations Chair - I'll be frank; I'm not good at this. I need someone visual, someone good at party planning. I think I have this covered; the foundation chair said either she'd do this or get someone who can.
- Food and Drinks Chair - the foundation chair, again. She has a catering background, and said this is easy for her to do.
- Procurement helpers - I'll take the lead on procurement - send the letters, take the phone calls, do the follow up, store the stuff. But two or three people who I could ask to make pick-ups would help.
- Ticket sales chair - I can do this if need be, but as a new parent at the school, I don't have too much of a base here. If I can find someone to spearhead a sales effort at meetings and picnics and the like, that would help. We'll have online ticket-sales capability through the SchoolAuction.net software, so that helps.
- Event-night workers - I'm going to pursue a volunteer-swap with one of the other area school auctions - their volunteers can work our event; ours will work theirs. My general break-down for that swap-crew is 8 people total, for 6 hours each: 4 people for the front desk; 4 to be runners and will-call staff. We'll need 5-6 more people to help with set-up on event day; that's probably a 4-hour committment. We'll all pitch in to clean up.
- The rest: someone with a truck or van will be helpful to find, for event-day hauling. It might be nice to print a small program; I bet I can get my wife to help lay that out. I can handle sponsorship sales.
What do you think? What am I leaving out?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Status Report on the RGMS Auction
Next Tuesday, the PTA has its first meeting. That will likely be the first time that many of the people in this school hear about my offer to chair an auction for this year.
It will be a little bit of a surprise; in the planning for this school year that went on last spring and over the summer, the PTA Board did not plan for an auction. They planned other activities and fundraisers, and one of the inevitable results of me showing up and offering to help out in this way is that I've made some work for those Board members - they will have to figure out how this will fit into the year.
So for now, the date is still unsettled; as is the question as to whether the money raised will go through the school's foundation or PTA. I don't have a theme yet, either. In the absence of that, I can't finish the procurement letter.
But it doesn't explain why I haven't STARTED the procurement letter. That would be simply due to procrastination.
Here's three links pertaining to writing a procurement letter:
It will be a little bit of a surprise; in the planning for this school year that went on last spring and over the summer, the PTA Board did not plan for an auction. They planned other activities and fundraisers, and one of the inevitable results of me showing up and offering to help out in this way is that I've made some work for those Board members - they will have to figure out how this will fit into the year.
So for now, the date is still unsettled; as is the question as to whether the money raised will go through the school's foundation or PTA. I don't have a theme yet, either. In the absence of that, I can't finish the procurement letter.
But it doesn't explain why I haven't STARTED the procurement letter. That would be simply due to procrastination.
Here's three links pertaining to writing a procurement letter:
Friday, September 10, 2010
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.
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.
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