Client Testimonials

Our Benefit Auction had become painfully boring. Although volunteers worked hard soliciting donations and setting up beautiful displays, our parents were looking for an excuse not to spend money – and this was our major school fundraiser!

We changed venues several times, then decided it wasn’t the venue – it was our auctioneer. We went through a few well-known auctioneers but simply couldn’t find “one with the spark.”

Several years ago, I met Sherry and watched her command a chatty, challenging crowd and turn them into a smiling paddle-raising group who were actually enjoying the bidding competition. Totally impressed, I quickly invited her to take a chance on us. She did and it’s turned our ho-hum event into the “gotta be there” party!

The difference – she is a professional in every sense of the word and can handle any situation with ease.

She gets immersed into the event, connects with the audience and keeps them engaged. She makes them feel great about what they are bidding on and is truly excited when she announces “It’s sold!” Our parents look forward to seeing her back each year!

Sherry is “on board” from day one of auction planning, works closely with our steering committee and is only just a phone call away. The night of the auction, we toss her the keys and let her drive the event! We are never disappointed!

Sherry and the resources she provided were a HUGE help to me as I planned our school’s first auction since Covid. I loved having access to the “digital lounge” to watch different videos when it worked for my schedule, then getting my questions answered during our one-on-one meetings. At the actual event, Sherry brought an awesome energy and humor to our live auction. The guests loved her and I know we made WAY more money than we would have without her. Thank you, Sherry!

Our gala is about community outreach AND fundraising. In the past, we’ve done well on the outreach side – PAINT THE TOWN showcased local artists, and everyone had a great time. However, it’s always been a lackluster effort in terms of generating revenue. Sherry helped us to reengineer the event.

From the start, she focused our donor acquisition efforts on high demand items that would bring new buyers to the event. She helped to move us from a tepid Live Auction to one that had great items and competitive bidding. She also tightened up the flow of our program, which helped to keep guests in their chairs through the live auction and paddle raise.

Sherry provides a great show, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Comments included “so entertaining,” “best gala ever,” and “loved the auctioneer.” And the best part is that our event was up more than 20% over last year! We’re thrilled with the results, and using Sherry’s feedback from our wrap up meeting, we’re ready to start planning our event for 2025!

Sherry, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for such an amazing auction at Chef’s Best this year. You impress me every time, but I really think this year was something special. You bring something to this auction that we wouldn’t have without you, and it elevates the entire event. We are very fortunate to get to work with you and your team.

You always do a lot of pre-event communication to ensure that everything is a success. During the gala, you keep people engaged even if they don’t plan to bid — You are really funny; you had people in stitches! One guest at my table said “Whatever you paid for her, she’s worth twice.

Sherry is simply the best. In fact, we secure our Gala date based on her availability.

In addition to sharing a significant amount of pre-event expertise, she brings a very entertaining and engaging presence to the Gala. I have seen her “resurrect” items that didn’t seem to be going very high which end up being some of the most lucrative items.

I had used Sherry when I worked for another organization and then was so happy to bring her to Loaves & Fishes 5 years ago. She never disappoints and can always be counted on to elevate our event. If you want professional results, hire the professional and that is Sherry Truhlar!

I have had the opportunity to lead four major fundraising events and worked with a number of auctioneers, but Sherry Truhlar is clearly the best in the business.

Sherry took the time to do her homework and was completely prepared. She made sure she understood the purpose and the mission of the event and the vibe that we were trying to create. Sherry knew every item in our auction and was able to speak to them eloquently on the night of the event, never having to pause and look down at cards. Sherry was ‘on her game’ on the night of the event.

She was masterful at engaging the crowd and keeping everyone energized, excited, and most importantly, bidding! Throughout our Live Auction, she never lost sight of our financial goals and ensured that we were securing the best bids possible to exceed our goal, which we did!

Sherry is a true professional!!

We had the pleasure of working with Sherry for the first time at the Step VA 2^nd annual fundraising gala. We learned so much from our consultations with her as well as from the digital resources included. Since the gala we have had so much positive feedback from the guests and donors about Sherry’s professionalism and stage presence. Everyone was so impressed and that definitely translated into more enthusiastic giving! We look forward to working with Sherry again in the future.

As our only fundraising event every year, our Sunshine Gala was another smashing success this year. I salute Sherry for the crucial role she played from our planning and strategy meetings until the night of the event. Sherry gives you her total focus when she is working with you, making you feel exceptional like you are the only client she has.

At the event, she is there 110% to engage with the donors and guests; she provides a valuable day of event training for our auction volunteers and assimilates herself with our theme year after. Sherry is so much fun and a joy to work with. It’s hard to imagine our event without Sherry. She has become very

As our only fundraising event every year, our Sunshine Gala was another smashing success this year. I salute Sherry for the crucial role she played from our planning and strategy meetings until the night of the event. Sherry gives you her total focus when she is working with you, making you feel exceptional like you are the only client she has.

At the event, she is there 110% to engage with the donors and guests; she provides a valuable day of event training for our auction volunteers and assimilates herself with our theme year after. Sherry is so much fun and a joy to work with. It’s hard to imagine our event without Sherry.

She has become very beloved by our donors, and we garner new supporters each year because of how entertaining she is with her wit, yet extremely professional and very serious regarding her role. She is top-notch as our auctioneer raising critical funds exceeding our goal year after year.

We have been working with Sherry for several years now, and I cannot imagine having an event without her. She gets results! This year she helped us to double what we typically raise in our live auction – in past years, she has successfully coached us on how to triple our appeal and raise additional funds through revenue enhancers. Sherry is professional, engaging and can captivate a crowd.

Our event is a challenging one – 300 chatty people in a cocktail style setting. Somehow, she can command that room. When it comes to the pre- and post-event consulting, Sherry is incredibly helpful. She is well informed about current trends in fundraising events and offers valuable, insightful, data-driven feedback after the auction. It’s always such a pleasure working with her!

Our only signature fundraising event, Sunshine Gala, was elevated to new heights when we engaged Sherry to work with us. For the past four years, our gross and net income for this event has exceeded our budgeted goal. Sherry has raised the tide and she is definitely a game changer. She researches the auction items, the audience and most importantly the issues relevant to our mission. Her pre-event planning meetings pushes us to think strategically and day of the event training with volunteers have also been invaluable.

On the night of the gala event, she is one of our best advocates and ambassadors as she speaks eloquently about the impact of our mission with our guests. This year, we raised the most ever in our live auction and fund a need/raise the paddle – two critical fundraising aspects of our gala. Further, our net income was over $100K of our goal. We credit Sherry’s expertise, engaging personality and professionalism as our secret ingredient! The best bonus is that she is truly a joy to work with.