Confessions of a Benefit Auctioneer

Part One: What the heck is a benefit auctioneer?

Chances are you’ve seen an auctioneer in action either live at an auction or on a television show like Auction Kings. You know they talk really fast and sell antiques and unique items for thousands of dollars.

Did you know that there are different sects of auctioneers - ones that have very specific niches? Specialties include selling cars, real estate, guns, art, wine, and even cattle. One specialty is benefit auctions and that’s my focus.  

While I’m licensed through the State of Georgia to auction off most items I have chosen to make my career helping non-profits exclusively. I’m in the fundraising business and love it! My job is to consult with my clients leading up to their event on how to make the most profit they can at their benefit auction and to, of course, auction off their items during the live auction portion of the show. Call me an “Auction-tainer” if you’d like because I’m part auctioneer and part entertainer while on stage.

When strangers find out what I do the first thing they ask is if I can talk fast. That’s called The Chant and yes, I can. It’s something I can teach you to do in a few minutes but you have to practice to get really good at it.

It’s what they usually tell me second that I find most intriguing. They share with me their critique of the last fundraiser they participated in. They may have been on the committee, a volunteer or a guest. Almost every time they will say ‘the event was okay, but we probably could have made much more money’. When I ask how, they can’t pinpoint the exact reasons but they can tell me what didn’t work. Often, the first reason they cite was that their auctioneer was not good. To save money they went with a volunteer (a parent, board member, the loudest guy in the organization, etc.) and he either berated the guests because they weren’t spending, was slow and boring, or just drunk. Because I ultimately want their organization to have success at their event it bothers me that they went with an amateur who did not have their best interests at heart.

If you are in this boat and are involved with the planning of a benefit auction I’d like to offer “Dean’s Top 5 Factors for Success”:

1. Have a fundraiser not a “friendraiser”. There is a difference. A friendraiser is more about having a party and awareness of your cause first. Less about making money. A fundraiser is all about setting up your event to make a profit first and party second. They both serve a purpose but designing your event as a fundraiser will make a difference in your bottom line.
2. Target the donation items your guest want. Think of your event as a store that is only open for a few hours. You want to stock your shelves with live and silent auction items that your particular group of guests will find highly desirable. This is what causes bidding wars and that leads to more profit.
   
   
3. Get 100% pure donations. Once you identify what your guests will want to buy and start the procurement process go for only 100% donations. I’m not against consignment items, in fact, there are some great consignment companies out there, but you will give up a healthy percentage of your profit to them. Secure the donation yourself and keep 100% of the profit.
   
   
4. Invite deep pockets. To maximize profit, it’s not about how many bodies you can fit in a room that determines your success. It’s about having people who can afford to attend and spend. Have a great audience development committee in place to help get these guests to your event.
   
   
5. Market your auction items in advance. Guests make decisions at home on how much they will be spending at your event. To help them, market the different money making aspects of your event especially the live auction items. So you don’t overwhelm them with info, highlight one item per email only. Send another email a few days later highlighting another item and so on. Start this process about two weeks out from your fundraiser.

Dean Crownover is a Benefit Auctioneer Specialist as designated through the National Auctioneers Association. Find out more at www.My Benefit Auctioneer.com