Auctioneer, Consultant Reveals 'A Higher Bid'

Fundraising auctions for schools and charities raise more than $16 billion annually, according to the National Auctioneers Association, but professional auctioneer and fundraising auction consultant Kathy Kingston says that untold dollars more are left in the room, according to a press statement.

Kingston is the author of A Higher Bid: How to Transform Special Event Fundraising with Strategic Benefit Auctions(ISBN: 978-1-119-01787-5, $45, Publication Date: May 2015; a publication of the Association of Fundraising Professionals/Wiley Fund Development Series), which she describes as, “a guide for non-profit organizations to planning and executing more exciting, more lucrative fundraising auctions.”

Kingston, as a professional auctioneer and fundraising consultant, has personally raised millions of dollars for nonprofits and schools across the United States. She offers in A Higher Bid “strategies to position the fundraising auction as a golden gateway to identifying, cultivating and engaging supporters in the organization’s mission.”

Kingston also offers in A Higher Bid many great anecdotes about items and services she has personally auctioned off over the years. Some of the more unusual include naming rights for a newborn baby calf, a vasectomy for “you and your cat,” release of a rehabilitated eagle, a photo safari in South Africa, a Tuscan resort vacation, gourmet dinner and wine for 10 couples at Katharine Hepburn’s estate with Jacques Pepin as chef, a tangy tangerine for $2,500, an instant wine cellar, a $10 bill for over $1,000, a deflated balloon for $500, and a reverse bridal shower for kids by a beloved principal getting married.

According to Kingston, non-profits can and should use a fundraising auction to communicate donor impact. “Often,” Kingston says, “benefit auction organizers misunderstand the power and potential of fundraisers and benefit auctions. Many think of them as merely one-time events or parties. As a result, they leave untold dollars in the room. Worse yet, many donors are never invited to stay connected with the organization after the doors close. After the event, they simply leave, taking their energy and dollars elsewhere.”

She added, “When organizations fail to deeply engage donors and maximize fundraising, the impact is immense. This is a shame, because auction proceeds matter deeply. The money raised at these events goes to feed hungry kids their only meal for the day, save injured and abandoned animals, fund lifesaving medical research, use technology to open communication for people with autism, prevent child abuse and neglect, stimulate downtown small business development, teach third graders to read, enrich communities through music and theater, stand steadfast by our wounded warrior veterans, restore hope and homes for tornado and flood victims, and much, much more.”

A Higher Bid covers virtually every aspect of benefit auction planning and implementation, including what Kingston calls the “Philanthropic Transformation” of auction events, whether auctions are right for an organization, how to energize and empower boards and committees, how to attract the right people to the auction event, how to procure what Kingston calls “incredible” auction items, what donor impact entails, and “fund-a-need” special appeals.

In A Higher Bid, Kingston takes a long-term approach to engage nonprofit leadership and to position a benefit auction as an essential element of long-term fundraising and as a key part of a donor engagement strategy. She also focuses in on a new leadership role for her fellow auctioneers who specialize in fundraising.

A Higher Bid is a publication of the Association of Fundraising Professionals/Wiley Fund Development Series. Visit sandragoroff.com for more information.