“The Difference A Professional Fundraising Auctioneer Can Make”

 

Recently we attended a charity auction at which Mike V., a professional auctioneer from A1 Benefit Auctions, was the Master of Ceremonies, and we were very impressed with his style and the amount of money he raised.  We’ve been to fundraising auctions before in which a local celebrity or a member of the organization was the auctioneer, but this was the first time we’d ever seen a professional auctioneer in that setting.  We were so impressed we thought we’d talk to A1 Benefit Auctions to learn why using a professional makes such a difference.

 

	Mike Vendetti

 

Mike V. has been a professional auctioneer since 1989.  After being discharged from the US Army as a Captain, Mike worked as a sales engineer in Silicon Valley for nearly twenty years before embarking on his career as an auctioneer.  He is a past and current member of the board of directors for the California State Auctioneers Association and in 2004 was the California State Champion Auctioneer.  He has sold just about every kind of item in his auction career, and he has done fundraisers since the very start.

 

Q:  So Mike, we were at the fundraiser you did last week and we were really impressed with your fast-talking style.

 

A:  Glad you liked it.  The “fast talking” is actually called the auctioneer’s “chant”.  And even though you say it sounded fast, you always knew what the bid was and what I was asking for next, am I right?

 

Q:  Well yes, now that you mention it, so I should have said it sounded really fast. It’s so different than the celebrity auctioneers we’ve seen at charity auctions.  Is that the main difference with using a professional, that the crowd is somehow mesmerized by the chant?

 

A:  No, we don’t want people mesmerized, we want to keep their attention.  There are actually a great many reasons an organization should use a professional auctioneer.  The chant is only part of it.  A real professional fundraising auctioneer brings a lot to the table.

 

Q:  What kinds of things?

 

A:  His experience as an auctioneer, and his expertise at fundraising.  You use a professional auctioneer for the same reason you hire a professional in any field.

 

Q:  And it makes that much difference?

 

A:  It makes a world of difference.  A pro knows how to sell in that setting.  He’s comfortable.  A fundraising auctioneer creates an atmosphere of giving in the crowd, moves through the items to be sold quickly, and maximizes the return on the investment the organization has put forth.

 

Q:  How does going faster raise more money?

 

A:  Simple; time is a factor.  The more items you can put into the live auction, the more money you make.  Typically, you’ve got a very limited amount of time for the live auction.  A professional will go through the items about one every two minutes.  He’ll know in a very short span of time where the money is in the crowd and who the bidders are.  It’s his business. 

 

Q:  I see, so you approach it as a business and a celebrity or volunteer from the organization serving as an auctioneer doesn’t?

 

A:  Oh, they do the best they can, of course, but they don’t have much experience.  To use myself as an example, I do six, sometimes seven or eight auctions per week.  Using a professional improves on everything a non-professional can do.  A pro knows how to manage the time.  A pro knows what to do no matter what happens...

 

Q: I was wondering about the steps in the bidding.  How do you know how much to ask for?

 

A:  Again, experience.  Auctioneers sell things all the time.  We develop a sense about where to go next.  Give a non-professional an opening bid of 100 dollars.  Now where does he go?  110?  125?  150?  200?  He doesn’t know where to go next, and you can waste a lot of time going in increments too small.  A pro knows what increment to use and when to change it.  A pro knows how to move the bidding.

 

Q:  Well, we’ve seen the proof of that.  We were pretty amazed at how much money you were able to raise.  Do you donate your time?

 

A:  The short answer is “no”.  Auctioneering is what I do, and I do it so well I get paid to do it.  That is actually one of the pitfalls of the “free auctioneer” who ends up costing a charity thousands of dollars in revenues not received. 

 

I’ll give you an example of that:  Recently I convinced a charity to include a five minute revenue enhancer that ended up adding about 25% to their bottom line. That money would have walked out the door at the end of the event.

 

Q:  Five minutes added 25% of their total?  I bet it was that Fund-A-Need thing you did.

 

A:  That’s right, you were at that gala.  When five people bid on an item worth a thousand dollars, only one wins.  Therefore there’s close to four thousand dollars in the crowd they were willing to spend, but didn’t have a chance to.  The Fund-A-Need is a strategy to get that money to the organization as well.  It makes a huge difference...

 

Q:  Yes, we couldn’t believe how much you raised with that and you weren’t really even selling anything.  But on the other hand, we’ve been to charity auctions that didn’t do very well at all.

 

A:  I’ve seen that too. In the beginning organizations would just bring me in for the auction and they’d already made their mistakes.  It’s sad to see people put in so much work but, then badly mishandle it.  They don’t raise anything near what they could have if they’d had the right information going in.  That’s why when I’m contacted to conduct a fundraiser, I include a consultation package in my quote.

 

Q:  A consultation package?  You mean you get involved with planning the event?

 

A:  Absolutely.  If you think about it, it takes months and months to plan and execute a fundraising gala.  Why would you wait to bring in the professional until the last hour?

 

Q.  What do you include in your consultation package?

 

A.  I cover the areas the charity can use some help with, primarily item acquisition, silent and live auction sequencing and set up, revenue enhancers, like Fund-A-Need, timelines and general suggestions to make the event run smoothly. 

 

I bring a lot of resources to the table as well.  Caterers, for instance, or venues, or sound systems.  The sound system is a huge factor.  A sound system that’s good for a band isn’t good for the spoken word.  If the organization doesn’t have a sufficient sound system I can bring in my own equipment and sound-man.

 

Q:  I can see you’re serious about this.  What is the biggest mistake an organization can make?

 

A:  Oh boy, there are a lot, believe me.  I’d say the worst thing organizations do is shut down just when they’ve gotten started.  If you’ve decided to make an auction your fundraiser, you’ve actually started a business.  It makes money and should be run like a business.  What often happens is an organization starts its business only to shut it down after the auction.  Then they start it up again pretty much from scratch a few months later. 

 

There needs to be a plan and goals for the business.  The fundraiser should be an ongoing process.  There needs to be a line of succession with the chairpersons and committee members taking over the business the day after the auction.  Ideally the new chairperson was the co-chair of this year’s event and so forth.  We recommend having a software program such as Auction Tracker to keep track of your guests, donors, and volunteers so you aren’t starting over each year.

 

Q:  That makes sense.  That way they have an ongoing tool with which to raise funds.

 

A:  Exactly.  And each year they get better at it.  That’s important because organizations will always need funds.

 

Q:  And you’ll be there to help.

 

A:  That’s the plan..