If you are looking for a good charity auction idea, here's one that helps with procurement. Each year during the month of August, Saturday Night Live allows people to enter into a drawing for free tickets for the upcoming season. Here's text from the site (which still states 2007-2008 season): To enter the Saturday Night Live ticket lottery for the upcoming 2007-2008 season, send an email in the month of August only to snltickets@nbcuni.com. Please include all contact information and do not ... Read On >
Live Auctions
Two lesser-known labs of the Smithsonian can be great benefit auction items
Although securing a private behind-the-scenes tour of any of the Smithsonian Museums is a fascinating donation, the Smithsonian Institution has two lesser-known research facilities that make for unusual benefit auction items. These work great in the silent auction or possibly the live. (I've written before about the popularity of research-related benefit auction items.) The Feather Identification Lab (jokingly called "CSI for Birds") of The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is one ... Read On >
Auction Item Idea: Heavy Equipment Training School
I love to learn. I believe that any subject can be interesting -- an adventure, really -- if you simply have the right teacher. I've undertaken dozens of classes over the years just for the pleasure of learning. (Auctioneering school was one of those classes.) Tonight while driving back from a client meeting, I passed a training academy which was so unusual it made me whip my neck around to read the sign again. Call me crazy, but this could be a unique auction item idea for the live or silent ... Read On >
Benefit auction items: How to procure TV passes
One of the most popular types of benefit auction items I sell are those having to do with the entertainment industry, such as “behind the scenes” activities for television shows. When a show donates a "behind-the-scenes experience," it usually means that the winning bidder will get to watch a show being taped and perhaps a tour of the facility. For someone who hasn’t worked in the television industry, a taping can be exciting to watch. Here are some tips on securing these sought-after ... Read On >
Benefit auction item: Procuring walk-on movie and TV roles
An auction volunteer from Minnesota recently wrote, "How do you even get some of these items. I'm just frustrated in over my head." Yikes! I want you to be inspired, not frustrated. If I've got tips on how to secure a benefit auction item, I'll share it. One of the more popular items I sell are those related to the entertainment industry. A walk-on part usually refers to the opportunity for someone to be part of the background of a movie or a commercial. This isn’t a speaking role, but it's ... Read On >