I want you to think about the term “Fundraising Auction”.

A “Fundraising Auction” is an event where items of value are gathered, and then sold in a competitive bidding situation, either in a Silent Auction format, or in a Live Auction format by a Live Auctioneer. And since typically the best items are saved for the Live Auction, arguably it is the Live Auction that should generate a significant portion of the proceeds in any Fundraising Auction.

So why do so many non-profit groups consider the Fundraising Auctioneer to be the least valuable component in a Fundraising Auction?

The Hosting Facility gets paid.
The Printer gets paid.
The Caterer gets paid.
The Liquor Store gets paid.
The DJ gets paid.
The Florist gets paid.
But the Auctioneer … the individual who is expected to raise the lion’s share of the event’s proceeds… is expected to work for Free. And is usually under-appreciated for the professional services he/she provides.

I’m not trying to underscore the value of the invitations & programs, food, booze, music, and decorations. All are important in their own way. But each of these are “Expenses”. It is the Auctioneer who is going to bring “Revenue”… and thus, the “Profits”… into any event. Which is the ultimate objective of any Fundraising Auction.

Here is a real-life example of how under-appreciated the Auctioneer can be. In two comparable events we worked last year, during the dinner portion of the event one non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) at a table with the DJ, the Interns, the Volunteer Staff, and other event “Help”. The 2nd non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) directly next to the CEO of their organization, where we chatted about how important the pending revenue would be to their organization. Which group do you think valued the services of the Fundraising Auctioneer more?

Don’t ever under-estimate the value that a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can bring to your event. The Auctioneer adds value as a pre-event consultant. And the Auctioneer can change an event from a moderate to a huge success.

A Case Study Once I was scheduled to call an Auction for a major local non-profit group. They represented a very good cause and they had a strong and dedicated following. Their event was sold out, quality Live & Silent Auction items had been solicited, and the Special Pledge Appeal had been choreographed and was ready to go. The facility was first class, the appropriate caterer was booked, and the food was ready to cook.

But quite unexpectedly, some unseasonably inclement weather forced the event’s cancellation. Despite all of the committee’s hard work, cancelling the event was the proper decision considering the circumstances.

So the Event Committee scrambled to re-schedule the event for the following weekend.

They confirmed with the Hosting Facility.
They confirmed with the Caterer.
They confirmed with the Liquor Store.
They confirmed with the DJ.
They confirmed with the Florist.
Since they already had the Mailing List of those scheduled to attend, no new invitations had to be printed as all were contacted by email or telephone. So with everything in place, the group went ahead and re-scheduled the event for the following weekend.

But guess who they failed to confirm? You got it… the Professional Auctioneer. They thought so little of the Auctioneer’s contribution that they “assumed” that the Auctioneer would be available and at their beck and call.

But the Auctioneer already had another Fundraising Auction booked for that date with another non-profit group. It was only hour away from the re-scheduled event, and things could have been easily worked out. All Group #1 had to do was start their event one hour earlier, or one hour later, than the Group #2, and the Auctioneer could have helped both groups on the same day.

But because Group #1 failed to anticipate a possible Auctioneer conflict, because they failed to confirm with the Auctioneer before re-scheduling their event, their preferred Auctioneer had to bow out and they had to scramble to locate substitute “Volunteer” Auctioneer only days before their event.

And it cost them.

Learning Points

The Live Auction is usually where the profits are made at any Fundraising Auction.
A Professional Fundraising Auctioneer can be vital to the success of any Fundraising Auction.
The better Fundraising Auctioneers usually get booked quickly.
You need to recognize the important contributions that a good Auctioneer can make to your event.
Michael Ivankovich is a Bucks County Fundraising Auctioneer based in Doylestown PA, and serves the Great Philadelphia PA area. He has been a professionally licensed and bonded Auctioneer in Pennsylvania for nearly 20 years, has been named Pennsylvania’s Auctioneer of the Year, and has considerable experience in conducting Fundraising Auctions. Michael loves helping groups raise needed funds for good causes and one of his specialties is the “Special Pledge Appeal” or “Fund-A-Cause Appeal” which usually enables clients to double their revenue in a single evening.

What you do and do not do on a daily basis has a long term compounding impact on your Small Business success. Depending on the approach you take and the level of self-sabotaging you engage in will have real effects on the outcome of your business, including whether or not you are actively killing your Small Business.What does killing your Small Business mean?Killing your Small Business means that you may be making decisions that are sabotaging your business success and unwittingly committing to a course of action that will eventually see you fail.
It is about the self-sabotaging behaviours that people employ on a conscious and subconscious level to stop themselves from being successful, to slow things down or to completely undermine their goals.
It is a bad habit that can cost you your Small Business;
It is a bad habit of ego-centric, failure enduring decisions etc that do not serve your highest purpose;
It is allowing fears to drive your Small Business direction and kill it from the inside out. Often this is a slow and painful death – one small decision, action or inaction compounding over time.
What does killing your Small Business look like?Imagine that you decide to put on an event to show off your services and bring in more clients/customers, more money and build your business. As a result of this decision, you go about setting up the event, sorting out the details, thinking about the costs and considering what profit you will make. You’re excited and ready to go, but, then something strange happens and you lack the motivation to do the basics well to get the message out there to your niche audience. You find yourself unwilling to step out of your comfort zone and be vulnerable.
Worries begin to fester about your ability to pull the event off;
You worry that people will see you as an imposter;
Fear takes root and all your decisions and actions are now run through this internal filter;
You think about giving up;
You think about retreating because it all seems to hard to get off the ground;
You may even worry that you will have too many people show up for the event and what will you do then?
Fear burrows deeper in your gut and whispers, “Who do you think you are? You know you can’t handle it, you’re not ready, you need more time. You’re a fake, fraud and you’re not going to cope if they all come.”Subconsciously you sabotage your every effort to grow your business through inactions and not following through. You now live in Excuse Central! You feel overwhelmed and the last thing you want to do is take action.You may be asking, what person in their right mind would be doing this! It’s insane and it doesn’t make sense.But from an emotional safety perspective it makes perfect sense to the Small Business Owner who fears too much success too soon. They may fear not being able to handle the abundance and prosperity that could flow from their awesome idea.I never said it was rational.Internally their subconscious seeks to keep them safe through avoiding situations that have the potential to be successful.Say hello to procrastination!This kind of self-sabotaging behaviour may not even be something that they can see themselves, however, anyone around them who is trying to help them get off the ground and grow their business can see it. Bystanders are often fraught with frustration as they watch you abort your best efforts.If a bystander tries to intervene when the Small Business Owner is not ready to receive their message of how to help, it can lead disagreements, resentment, anger and parting of ways.Fear and an out if balance ego that feels threatened are insidious weeds that, if left unchecked, can become an out of control jungle of compounding self-sabotage behaviours that have a flow-on effect, resulting in you actively killing your own Small Business.Where to from here?If you have begun to see yourself in this scenario, that is a good thing to acknowledge. Admitting that you have a fear that holds you back is an empowering step forward. It is an opportunity for you to explore what is really going on inside you.
Check in with yourself to see if your ego has flared up in response to help and give humility a go, you may just end up being more successful than you thought and experience greater support from like-minded people;
Reflect on what you are doing or choosing not to do. Ask yourself the hard questions to get to the deep reason as to why you do not want to be successful right now;
Consider what might be holding you back from success and nip fears in the bud because honestly, having too many people want to attend your event and know about your Small Business is a good problem to have!
Daily reflection on your thoughts, behaviour and resistance will help you to avoid killing your own Small Business.

A shaky economy and rising unemployment rates have caused many Americans to take a serious look at the options of earning legitimate income from home. With layoffs, hiring freezes, and work furloughs, the idea of “being your own boss” has probably never sounded so appealing as it does today.Before anybody decides to venture off onto a new path of running a home based business, there are a few things they should know. There are a lot of really good opportunities, and there are also just as many bad opportunities as well. The bad opportunities will get you nowhere, but some of the better opportunities offer the potential to achieve amazing success and allow individuals without much experience to plug into their systems and make six and seven-figure incomes from home.So, you might ask, what is the perfect home based business? I think that might depend on who you ask. But the most important question is: How much money will this make me? To others, the most important question might be: “How much time do I have to spend doing this business?” In any case, there are some programs that have the potential to bring the top earners upwards of $100,000+ per month, while setting their own hours and teaching others how to run their businesses as well. When looking for a home-based business opportunity, I would highly recommend researching to find out if this is an opportunity with an established, and successful company instead of a “here today, gone tomorrow” sort of outfit.I have recently discovered what I consider to be “The Perfect Home-Based Business Opportunity.” What would I consider the “perfect” home business? Well, I believe that a perfect home based business should have excellent training and support program available if I need it. I also expect the opportunity to earn a six-figure income. The system I am using was developed by two industry giants, one is in the health and wellness industry and does multiple-billions of dollars in international business annually, and the other is in the Online Marketing industry. BOTH of them have earned an A+ Rating with the Better Business Bureau.The system I am using is an Online Marketing System that has been around for about 10 years or so, and offers an efficient way of running a business from your own home. This system also allows people with little or no experience the opportunity to earn a legitimate six-figure income. I don’t have to bother with my own advertising, all I have to do is purchase leads that flow in from my companies’ proven and successful nationwide advertising campaigns that are already established. I follow a step-by-step system to earning wealth and helping to teach other people how to duplicate what I have done. It is so simple, very rewarding, and yes, I believe it is the perfect home-based business opportunity available today.I wish you luck in your home-based business endeavors!If you would like more information about my current home-based business ventures, please feel free to contact me, I enjoy sharing my success with others!