Professional charity auctioneer & host
The charity auctioneer who raises more — and makes it a celebration.
Kevin Durham is a professional charity auctioneer and event host, based in Kent and working across the UK, Europe and the US. Twenty years of live television and stagecraft, 60 to 80 events a year and over £10 million raised for good causes. Your guests have a brilliant night, and you clear your fundraising target with room to spare.
- £10m+ raised for charity
- €1m in one Monaco night
- 5-star reviewed
The honest version
Most charity auctions leave money on the table. Not because the lots are wrong or the room is cold, but because nobody is driving the room.
A professional auctioneer reads momentum, names it out loud, and uses it. That is the difference between hitting your target and doubling it.
Why the room responds
A volunteer reads out the lots. I run the room.
I started in television, interviewing the likes of Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon and Robin Williams for Fox, Warner and Universal, before turning that timing and stagecraft to fundraising. The broadcasting background is why donors stay engaged and why bidding keeps climbing.
- Momentum is a skill, not luck
- A structured pledge drive usually out-earns the lots
- Lots sourced in-house keep more with the charity
- An audience of twenty or two thousand, held with the same energy
What I do
Everything your fundraising night needs
From the headline live auction to the games that keep guests smiling, all built around your target.
Live charity auctions
The core service. Sharp calls, lively banter and real strategy that keeps competitive bidding alive and drives the top lots well past their reserve.
Find out more →Live pledges
Often the highest-earning part of the night, and the part where I put the jokes down. I connect the room to your cause, then run tiered giving that lifts the total sharply. This is where the real money lives.
Find out more →Event hosting and MC
The full programme, from arrivals and speeches to dinner transitions and the close. Pacing, energy and a room that stays with you.
Find out more →Entertainment packages
Games, quizzes, table-to-stage competitions and comedy. Very few charity auctioneers can bring the whole show. I can, and I do.
Find out more →Fundraising games
Interactive moments built to lift donations and hold attention. Heads or tails, the envelope game, table-to-stage competitions, all timed to keep energy up.
Find out more →Strategy consultation
A pre-event partnership on lot sourcing, programme structure, bidding strategy and audience psychology. The first consultation is free.
Find out more →A rare combination
Not just an auctioneer. A full entertainment package.
Interactive games, quizzes and table-to-stage competitions, hosted with a TV presenter’s timing. I am one of very few charity auctioneers who brings the entertainment too, so the whole night lands, not just the auction.
Run your silent auction in-house, and keep the commission.
Most platforms take a slice of everything you raise, which has never sat right with me. When you hire me, I set you up on my own software for free and help you source the lots, so thousands more stay with your charity.
- No per-lot commission handed to a third party
- Free software, set up for your event size
- Mobile bidding, joined up with the live auction and pledge
A signature night
Over €1 million raised in Monaco, in one evening
The Sheba Medical Center gala, held under the high patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco at the Yacht Club in Monte Carlo. A high-net-worth, multilingual room, held from the first lot to the final pledge.
“Due to his brilliant auction and donations we raised over 1 million Euro, so a big congrats on this fantastic job.”
What organisers say
The results, in their words
He owned the room as he conducted the live auction, more than doubling our target. It was not just during the event where Kevin showed his skills, but also in guiding our planning.
We were able to 10x our original fundraising target, and our guests enjoyed the entertainment that came with the auction itself.
We hosted just over 300 guests and raised more than double what we achieved last year. Kevin’s key suggestion, the live pledge alone, brought in nearly £20,000.
His energy, enthusiasm and natural charisma lit up the room. We’ve already booked him for the next one.
He was absolutely brilliant to work with. He cared about the professionalism of the event and reaching our targets. We look forward to working with Kevin again.
He added a pledge element we hadn’t considered and it became hugely successful. He made our first charity auction a huge success.
Trusted by fundraising teams at
How it works
Four steps to a total that beats the plan
- 01
A free consultation
We talk through your event, your target and your room. No fee, no commitment, just an honest read on what is achievable.
- 02
Strategy before the night
Lot selection, sequencing and the pledge structure, planned together. This is where most of the extra money is made.
- 03
On the night
I host, read the room and drive the bidding, so the programme runs to time and the energy never drops.
- 04
The total
You clear your target, and more often than not you beat it. The difference shows up in the final figure.
About Kevin Durham
From live television to the fundraising room
I am a professional charity auctioneer, event host and TV presenter based in the UK. My first charity event, back in 2005, put me on stage alongside Annie Lennox, and set the standard for how every night since has felt.
Over two decades I moved from television and comedy film work into professional auctioneering, building a reputation for events that feel more like entertainment than obligation. I work across the UK, Europe and the United States.
See it in action
Watch me work a room
Before you book
Questions organisers ask me
What does a charity auctioneer do?
A charity auctioneer runs the fundraising part of your evening: the live auction, usually the pledge or fund-a-need, and often the hosting around them. The job is not reading out lots. It is reading the room, building momentum between bids, and knowing when to push and when to let a moment land. That is what separates a total that meets the plan from one that beats it.
How much does a charity auctioneer cost?
There is no fixed price list. The fee flexes with the size of your event, the charity behind it and the scale of the fundraising opportunity, which is what lets me work with a Monaco gala and a room of forty. You will never pay commission on what you raise: the fee is agreed up front. The first conversation is free.
How far do you travel?
I am based in Kent and work across the UK most weeks, from London and the South East to Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. I also work in Europe and the United States. Travel is part of the conversation when we agree the fee, not a surprise afterwards.
Can you host the whole evening, not just the auction?
Yes, and most clients book it that way. I can take the whole programme: arrivals, speeches, dinner transitions, the entertainment, the live auction, the pledge and the close. One person holding the room all night keeps the energy where it needs to be by the time the fundraising starts.
Let’s talk
Tell me about your event
A free initial consultation to talk through your goals, your room and your target. Available for events in London and across the UK, Europe and the US.