Strike the match

Too many organizations look at the paddle raise or special appeal as a separate item of the auction. I prefer to look at the paddle raise as the central part of the evening. Typically, no single auction item will ever sell for as much as you could raise through the appeal. Using your pre-committed dollars as a match creates an exciting and interactive way for donors, patrons and the auctioneer to grow the appeal by as little as 25% from the year before to a whopping 100%.

These kind of increases are entirely possible to obtain. With some good preplanning, this could be a reality at your next auction.  It's what I call the Magic of the Match.  What is more exciting than announcing to your audience that you have a $10,000 gift waiting in the wings? Maybe challenging everyone in the room to try matching it his own donation? I think most would agree that the second scenario is just a little or a lot more exciting. Instead of a simple ask, we have created a bit of excitement by whipping up a little bit of a competitive frenzy. There's nothing wrong in a little bit of friendly competition in a crowd that's working together towards a common goal.

While corporate and personal matches at the higher levels grab most of the headlines, it is the donors in the room who are giving at the $250, $100 and $50 dollar levels who we really want to engage in the matching process. Recently, at a smaller event, we used a $1,000 donation as a match at the $100 level and ended up raising another $3,000. We did the same with a $500 gift which brought in another $1,500 via 30 separate donors at $50 a piece.

Raise more of those bid cards high up in the air at your next auction!

A box of chocolates

You never really know where your life is going to take you.

This is one of the many conversations I've been having lately with my son Spencer as he prepares to leave High School in June and begins his own life's journey of discovering his own interests and making his own personal choices. I know he'll find his way and it's exciting for us both, to see what direction life's path will lead him on.

It's hard to believe that half his lifetime ago, he was 9 years old and 5'6". By the time he graduates, he'll be 18 and he's already standing at 6'5" today!

I know from my own life experience, I never would have imagined when I left high school 35 years ago that I'd end up pursuing the career that I ultimately have. Where I ended up and what I ended up doing was completely unplanned and nowhere on my personal radar. My life's path and profession really came about through a series of circumstances and some risk-taking on my part. For those of you who know me now, it would be hard for you to believe that the younger version of me was a terribly shy person. The first step out of my shell was trying out for a college play with the encouragement of a friend. In my audition, I ended up surprising myself and getting the part! Looking back, I actually did pretty well. From there, my confidence skyrocketed and I was forced outside my comfort zone. Many things that I'd previously thought impossible, now seemed within my grasp. So step 1 down my new path all started with a simple college play.

While a student at Eastern Washington University, I had a chance meeting with Mitch Silver. At the time, he owned a small collector car auction company and he was also a professor at the school I was attending. He offered me an internship. I accepted. Step 2. Check.

It was the late 80's and the collector car market was just exploding and Mitch was in the perfect position to ride its wave. Being in the auction business, you have to be a jack-of-trades of sorts. Luckily, I found I liked being on the auction block; so I was offered the job of description reader. Basically, you read a description of the car that's on the auction block before the auctioneer takes over to do his song and dance.

I found it both challenging and fun. I enjoyed working with the auctioneers and liked the dynamics of the auction, so started thinking to myself "I could do that." I guess Mitch thought so too.  He offered me the chance to attend auctioneer's school. I accepted. That was step 3. 

Actually being an auctioneer was much more difficult than I had imagined. I was a terrible auctioneer right out of auctioneering school. The other auctioneers made it look so easy. But it takes some skill and experience to string all the pieces together, necessary to be an effective auctioneer. I found it a real challenge to coordinate the volume, rhythm, speed, and clarity of my voice while searching for and tracking bids in the sea of people staring back at me.

But I didn't give up. I tried my best whenever I got the chance to be on stage to sell those collector cars. With a lot of practice, patience and the assistance of many mentors in the auction business, I started down the long road of my auctioneering apprenticeship; aka step 4.

Bump the clock ahead twenty years. I've been a part of some amazing events and had some great opportunities. A highlight of my auctioneer's career was jetting to New York to work alongside Donny Deutsch on the stage at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan raising awareness and funds for a cure for Parkinsons with the Michael J Fox Foundation.

I'm a perfect example of "you never know where your life might lead you". Now I get to watch as my son takes his turn walking down life's path.

You never know till you try

When we're watching someone perform for the first time, most of us are only seeing the final cut. The performance always seems void of mistakes, flawless. A good performer makes performing appear effortless. Though what you're really watching is someone who has spent thousands of hours trying to perfect his craft.

I was one of those guys who thought I could just pick up a microphone and be an auctioneer. I was awful at the beginning of my career. It's no wonder why people give up so easily early on when trying something new. Even when people said I should quit, I didn't. I kept practicing and have never stopped, constantly pushing myself to become better. Even now, I still feel like I'm a student of my craft. There are so many ways to do something better or differently!