Auctioneers ‘Take the Ball the Last Three Yards’
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.”
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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 Educational Foundation, Kristi Maryman, Senior Manager at the Sacramento SPCA, and Rachel Schmidt, the Director of Marketing at English in Action.
Hosted by KLM Auctions Founder and Lead Auctioneer Keith McLane, “Friends With Benefit Auctions” is a 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 explores insider tips, tricks, and juicy details regarding the exciting benefit auction and professional fundraising space, focusing on what it takes to make an event really pop.
KLM Auctions is the nation’s premier provider of event-based fundraising advisory services and professional charity/benefit auctioneers. Get in touch with us about your next electric fundraising event here: https://www.klmauctions.com/contact-us
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