Video Shorts

These days, at large fundraising gala events, people expect a live auction to be a key feature of the evening. “It’s a spectacle, and people are excited to see it,” says Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Educational Foundation in San Diego.

Beveridge joins two other seasoned fundraising professionals, Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA, and Rachel Schmidt, the Director of Marketing at English in Action, on the first episode of KLM Auctions’ "Friends With Benefit Auctions” podcast, in which they discuss different approaches to creating a successful fundraising event.

Though there are a number of ways groups and organizations can raise money for their cause, many realize that taking the Benefit Auction route, with live event-based fundraising, is, as Schmidt describes, a “major revenue driver.” Taylor notes that Carlsbad Educational Foundation incorporates an ‘entry ask’ - a way for multiple people to win big items at only $100, and have found it to be a crowd-pleasing aspect of an event, while Rachel talked about the ‘last paddle battle’ game as a fun and valuable addition to live and silent auction portions.

When it comes to the Auction portions of the evening itself, the fundraisers say the person chosen to be the auctioneer can make or break an event and contribute significantly to the energy, profitability, and success of an evening. “It’s one of the most critical pieces of the event,” says Beveridge. She likens the position, and hiring a volunteer to do it, to a best man or maid of honor speech at a wedding: “you know it’s coming, and you’re kind of ready to wince a little bit.” But finding a professional who is adaptable, adept at reading and leading a room, and helpful in discussing the event’s needs before event night “Matters so much”. With the auctioneer position being a “key revenue generator for the event… we don't want to leave it up to chance”, says Maryman.

Almost all organizations incorporate stories highlighting the mission as a critical part of the evening, invoking what Maryman calls a “misty hopeful” mood among the audience - encouraging people to empathize with the organization’s cause and become inspired to donate. Through their fund-a-need, Schmidt and her team like to strike a balance between a lively event and serious, impactful storytelling, "demonstrating a need, but in an optimistic, hopeful, cheerful way.” As a school and educational organization, Taylor notes that the timing of the programming is key, and that they aim to build to the “misty hopeful moment” after the live action and before the paddle-raise.

The three guests also discuss consignment packages as one highly valuable piece of the item package puzzle. Picking consignment is “all about picking the right packages,” says Keith. The right items that can be sold at significantly more than their cost and in multiples are ultimately worth it in the long run.

Hosted by KLM Auctions Founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane, “Friends With Benefit Auctions” is a dynamic new video-podcast featuring conversations with experts in the nonprofit development, educational, fundraising, and live event spaces from around the country, talking all things auction, benefit fundraising and live charity events. This dynamic series will explore insider tips, tricks, and juicy details regarding the exciting benefit auction and professional fundraising space, and explore what it takes to make an event really pop.

Hiring a professional auctioneer for a charity or benefit event increases the chances of meeting or exceeding fundraising goals, says Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA.

For many nonprofits, revenue from annual galas and auctions is essential to achieving their quarterly or yearly fundraising targets. The auctioneer plays a crucial role in this success. “A professional auctioneer is a key revenue generator for the event,” says Maryman. “We don’t want to leave it up to chance. We want someone that we know has extensive experience.”

Beyond being engaging on stage, a skilled auctioneer can elevate the event’s overall effectiveness. A fundraising event needs “somebody who really understands how to command an audience, how to engage with an audience, how to read the room, when to push and when to back off,” Maryman explains.

She also stresses the importance of hiring someone with the expertise to not only perform well during the event but also assist nonprofit executives in the planning process.

The Sacramento SPCA has used professional auctioneers for years, even before Maryman joined as Senior Manager. She has personally relied on them for her last eight galas. The results have been clear. “The SPCA’s event revenue has increased year over year,” she says. “I definitely think a professional auctioneer makes such a difference. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.”

- - - - -

“Friends With Benefit Auctions” is a new video-podcast talking all things auctions, benefit fundraising and live charity events. This clip is from Episode 1 of KLM Auctions’ new video podcast 'Friends with Benefit Auctions', featuring an expert conversation with Taylor Beveridge, Kristi Maryman, and Rachel Schmidt.

Watch the full discussion on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KLMAuctions/shorts

And follow KLM Auctions on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0riOVM38ByDgHkgbNhTrGE?si=d35a32961dcd420a

At high-rolling events, an auctioneer’s quick thinking and ability to be present in the room can lead to fun payoffs for a nonprofit or charity group - sometimes even raising $1,500 cash in a few seconds.

“Being flexible and being able to go off-the-cuff” is one of the most valuable attributes of an experienced professional auctioneer, says Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Educational Foundation.

Auctioneers often also serve as hosts, emcees, and hype-people at an event, and must be lithe on their feet, present in the moment, and good on a mic. This often is the difference between a duller, less-profitable event and an exciting one. Rachel Schmidt, Director of Marketing and Events at English in Action, says that “Bringing the energy and being able to shift as needed is a key element to having a professional run your auction.”

Schmidt details one such example at their event last year, when Keith was encouraging donations during the Fund-A-Need and suggested that people donate an equivalent of cash in their wallets - that “change” that people might have forgotten about and haven’t used in a while could do a lot to serve the organization’s mission. Maybe they had a ‘C-note’ in their pocket that’s been there a while - wouldn’t it be more worthwhile to leave that money here tonight with the organization?

To some surprise, one bidder pulled out an actual $100 bill from his wallet and offered it up. Audience members saw this and began doing the same - as it turned out, many were carrying cash they were willing to part with for a good cause.

Keith realized what was happening and jumped on the opportunity, accepting the money and building on the energy by encouraging the audience to do the same. Simply by asking if anyone in the room had “a C-note in their pocket”, KLM Auctions was able to take advantage of an unexpected moment, raising $1,500 in cash for the organization from one off-the-cuff suggestion.

Schmidt notes of hiring a professional auctioneer: “The advantages are… working the room, feeling the energy and reading the energy, and being able to pivot when needed.” You never know when an opportunity to turn someone’s reaction into a donation will arise, and being able to capitalize on those moments, as was the case for English in Action, is key.

Allowing people to get to know the auctioneer and their personality during the Live Auction, before he or she asks the audience for donations in the Fund-A-Need, is crucial to building trust, momentum, and reparté with the audience at a live event, according to Keith McLane, Founder and Lead Auctioneer at KLM Auctions.  

“I’ve always felt that a Live Auction does a really nice job building momentum into the Fund-A-Need,” he says. McLane recommends doing at least part of the live auction before the Fund-A-Need so that audiences are familiarized with the auctioneer before the most critical part of the evening. He notes, “It’s a very intimate thing - coming up and saying, ‘Folks, this is why we’re here’” and asking for money.

When the time does come to ask for flat-out donations, notes McLane, the audience should already be familiar with the auctioneer and be able to say, “‘Oh I like this guy - he’s funny’ or ‘this is engaging,’” making them more enthusiastic to donate.

McLane points out that this tactic is often more effective than appearing in front of an audience for the first time and saying, “Alright, you’ve never seen me before, but now I’m gonna be asking you to give the organization $10,000.” Going straight into the Fund-A-Need without giving the audience a chance to get to know the auctioneer first can feel a bit “standoffish”, he says.

For optimal results, McLane recommends putting the Fund-A-Need at the very end of the program for an event with 6-8 Live Auction packages or less. For groups with 8-12 or more Live Auction packages, putting the Fund-A-Need two-thirds of the way through is ideal.

This way, depending on the number of packages being sold, the audience has a chance to become familiar with the auctioneer before the Fund-A-Need without any portion of the event feeling too drawn-out.

Organizers of charity benefits face an important choice: how to order the Live Auction and the Fund-a-Need segments, two important components of a successful event, says Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA.

The Fund-A-Need (sometimes called the “Direct Ask”), is a common fundraising technique in which event organizers appeal to the audience for straightforward contributions. A Fund-A-Need often comes in close proximity to the live auction segment, and organizers sometimes struggle to decide exactly how to sequence the fun and lively energy of an event with the more solemn business of guiding the audience through a series of donation requests.

The topic of ordering fundraising activities is one of several discussed in the podcast episode, Friends With Benefit Auctions, led by KLM Auctions founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane. He asks his expert guests: “Are people thinking they like to have the live auction first, or should the Fund-A-Need go in the middle of the live auction?”

Maryman says the Sacramento SPCA keeps the donations and energy high by combining the two activities. “We’ve always mutually agreed…that the best placement for Fund-A-Need is right smack in the middle” of the live auction, she says.

Maryman elaborates on her organization’s ordering: First comes the front half of the live auction items, after which a mission presentation is shown to the audience, crafted to both inform and inspire. This is where the Fund-A-Need comes in, and organizers ask for charitable donations to support the mission. The sequence closes with the second half of the live auction items.

According to Maryman, this mixed format ensures attendees remain engaged throughout the auction. Putting the Fund-A-Need close enough to the live auction delivers buzz and energy early enough that audiences are engaged, but it's not so late in the evening that audiences are tired and done spending money. “It’s still fresh, but people aren’t ready to bail,” says Maryman.

If your benefit auction is your organization’s Super Bowl of annual fundraising, then auctioneers “take the ball the last three yards” into the endzone, says Keith McLane, Founder and Lead Auctioneer at KLM Auctions.

With such important developmental goals, hiring a professional auctioneer with the right personality and approach is key to fully realizing the fundraising potential in the room.

McLane likens a charity benefit event to a football game. The development, event, or planning teams at an organization do “97% of the work” well ahead of time - ‘practicing’ how the event will go, procuring items and donations, figuring out operations and logistics, and advertising the event. But it is up to the auctioneer to make this hard work worth the effort, and to execute on event night, “taking the ball the last three yards.”

Some auctioneers are better at this than others. “For some reason, a lot of [auctioneers] are arrogant,” says McLane. Hazing and harassment is not the way to encourage guests to donate at a live auction, he says, emphasizing the importance of meeting the audience where they are. “You’re not trying to grind them, or bamboozle or hoodwink them into doing something they don’t want to do,” says McLane. “You can’t go into a room and be like, ‘Oh, come on, you can afford this!’ or, ‘Isn’t your wife worth this piece of jewelry?’”

McLane says a better approach is ensuring the attendees feel like the auctioneer is on their side. “You want to have folks feel not just that you care,” he says, but that “they trust you.”

McLane notes that his company makes sure to take a “non-arrogant” approach. The KLM Auctions company motto is “Preparedness, Caring, and Humility,” or PCH for short. For McLane, that responsibility is not taken lightly. “You don’t wanna blow that last little bit when you’ve put all this work into it.”

If you are thinking about hiring a professional auctioneer for your fundraising event, do it!  The investment is well worth it, says Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Educational Foundation. “I fully subscribe to hiring a professional auctioneer.”

Anyone who has attended fundraising events has probably witnessed the performance of an amateur, “volunteer” auctioneer - tapped from within the organization itself to sell items to the highest bidders in the audience. But Beveridge advises fellow nonprofit professionals: “Don’t hire the volunteer. It is not going to benefit your organization in the same way.”

Likening auctioneering to the tricky task of delivering a best man or maid of honor speech, Beveridge says, “You know it’s coming, and you’re kind of ready to wince a little bit.”

Beveridge continues: “As nonprofit professionals, we’re always trying to think of how to cut costs; how we can maximize these donations. It feels like it would be easy to get a volunteer to come run your auction.”

As tempting as it sounds to conserve funds by pressing a volunteer into service, however, Beveridge has seen how essential professional experience is to the energy and success of an event. Professional auctioneers, like KLM Auctions founder Keith McLane, have the background and knowledge to read and lead a room. A well-intentioned but underskilled volunteer might cause a crowd to cringe and feel uncomfortable, demotivating them to donate.

After considering five or six auctioneers for their event, Beveridge’s organization decided to go with “the best… somebody with credibility,” because at the end of the day, “It’s one of the most critical pieces of your event. You’re investing in the professional, because it matters so much.”

Success in auction-based fundraising is all about selecting the right auction items, but event organizers sometimes pick items that are "frankly, too expensive,” says Keith McLane, Founder and Lead Auctioneer at KLM Auctions.

Rather than auctioning a single high-value consignment package for little or no profit, event organizers often find it more effective to sell a lower-cost consignment package well above its cost.

“If we sell something that costs $5,000. . . for $5,500 at your event, it’s not the end of the world, but nobody’s excited about that,” says McLane.

Rather than the organization keeping only $500 in this hypothetical, McLane says it’s often better to offer, for example, a package which costs the organization closer to $1000 which can realistically be sold for $2000 or more. This allows the organization to keep a greater percent of the sales price for themselves and net more than they would’ve had they sold a more expensive package closer to the asking price.

Additionally, says McLane, the excitement and profitability of the right consignment items comes from the ability to sell them to multiple different winners. Such items ultimately bring in more net profit to the organization than a pricier, single-use item ever could. “If you take $26,000 out of your room but you get to keep $13,000, most of my clients would get pretty excited about that,” says McLane.

This clip is from Episode 1 of KLM Auctions’ new video podcast Friends with Benefit Auctions, featuring an expert conversation with Taylor Beveridge, Director of Philanthropy at Carlsbad Education Foundation, Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA, and Rachel Schmidt, the Director of Marketing at English in Action.

People get excited when, at their live events, Carlsbad Education Foundation incorporates what Director of Philanthropy Taylor Beveridge calls the ‘Entry Ask’ to build excitement and momentum right before the live auction.

Often, competitive live auction items might sell for more than 10 or 15 thousand dollars to just a few bidders, making winning those larger, higher priced items unlikely for most attendees. Carlsbad Education Foundation wanted to create a way to give more people the chance “to win something big,” says Beveridge.

Enter the Entry Ask Opportunity Drawing, in which event guests pay $100 at check-in for the opportunity to win huge items like a three-carat diamond or an evening on a yacht.

Beveridge says the game is closely tied to the auctioneer and the excitement they are able to build in the room. Organizations want to play into “that fanfare you get when some of these auction items go.”

There are primarily six ways that foundations and non-profit organizations can raise money through their live event, according to Keith McLane, owner and lead auctioneer at KLM Auctions.

Before an event, Ticket Sales and Sponsorships are the primary ways groups first fundraise, especially by selling tickets for schools and educational groups, and by garnering sponsorships for other non-educational groups.

At the event itself, many groups choose to incorporate live auctions, silent auctions, and a fund-a-need (sometimes called the “appeal” or the “flat out ask for cash”).

“And then of course, the sixth thing is game and raffle ideas - what we call revenue enhancers,” says McLane.

By incorporating some combination of ticket sales, sponsorships, live and silent auctions, fund-a-needs, and revenue enhancers into their event, organizations can build a live event program that is both profitable for the group and fun and engaging for the audience.

McLane makes his comments in the “Friends with Benefit Auctions” video-podcast. Watch the full first episode of “Friends With Benefit Auctions” with guests Taylor Beveridge, Kristi Maryman, and Rachel Schmidt on YouTube and Spotify at the link in our bio.