Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Volume 15 | Issue 3

ISSN 2155-787X

Welcome new readers! You'll love these resources to help you plan a fun-filled, profitable benefit auction.

Friend, I was at a dinner party recently and one of the guests was Grenadian.

She gave me some nutmegs, still in the shell. The photo shows the shell (which breaks off easily) and the inside of the nut, which reveals an ever-changing pattern as I grind more of the nut. Pretty cool looking, I think.

Two announcements:

(Complementary) Auction Item Guide is out: What Really Flew in 2022.
(Complementary) "Event Planning for Associations" NXUnite educational panel on Feb. 21, 2023 Register here.

Sherry

P.S. How are plans coming along for your 2023 gala? If you’d like to talk, set up a meeting.

From an auction guest...

“I saw Sherry this week at the Chef’s Best auction, which has the critical mission to raise money to fight hunger among the most vulnerable families in our community.

Now, I’ve read all the other reviews here, and they are all entirely accurate. Sherry is professional. She is energetic. She is entertaining. It is all completely true.

But, one thing about Sherry that really stood out to me was the sheer finesse she demonstrated the entire time she was on stage. Sherry managed to be funny and charming, all while being uncompromisingly professional, at the same time. It simply blew me away how she balanced these little reminders of the evening’s mission, with this laugh-out-loud banter with the audience.

At one point during the night, I remember saying to my wife about Sherry, “She is like a magician. She just touched his heart, and out comes his wallet!”

She’s the perfect balance of entertainer and auctioneer. I know I opened my wallet deeper than I had expected and my friends and I are still taking about how much fun we had. And it was all for a good cause!"

Ryan Donlon, auction guest
Food & Friends “Chef’s Best” gala (Washington, DC)

Getting another bid by making trips approachable

Trips and vacations are often strong sellers in a fundraising auction. To push higher sales and get even more guests to participate, I work to make a vacation sound approachable to anyone attending.

Two ways I do this are 1) to share how to get to the destination, and 2) to provide other tidbits about the area, hoping it spurs other guests to bid.

Committees can also share this type of information.

Additionally, they can add maps to slideshows and online auction sites to help guests place a location.

In the video, you'll hear how I incorporate this data into a sale.

Watch the video.

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