Charity auctioneer · Cheshire

Cheshire charity auctioneer for galas and fundraising events

By Kevin DurhamFundraising strategy & live auctions

I work across Cheshire as a professional charity auctioneer and host, from the Golden Triangle down to Chester and Warrington. My job starts weeks before the night and finishes with a live pledge that usually raises more than the auction did.

Check my availability Call 07596 851647

A live charity auction in full flow, the room bidding against each other.

In short

A Cheshire charity auctioneer reads a room of supporters and lifts the total on the night. That is a fundraising job, not a valuation one.
Cheshire has an unusual density of giving: three independent adult hospices and a county community foundation, all leaning on the event calendar.
The Golden Triangle around Alderley Edge, Prestbury and Wilmslow puts real disposable wealth in the room, which changes what your top lots can be.
The live pledge is where the money is. At Jigsaw Trust I raised £30,600 from a pledge the charity had not even planned.
A fixed fee agreed up front, never a percentage of what you raise, and the auction software is included when you book me.

Search “Cheshire charity auctioneer” and you will find a lot of pages that could be about anywhere. This one is not. I am Kevin Durham, a charity auctioneer of twenty years with over £10 million raised, and below is how I work in Cheshire, where the galas actually happen, and the causes you might be raising for.

Kevin Durham

Charity auctioneer & event host

20years£10m+raised60–80events/yr

Check availability 07596 851647

What does a Cheshire charity auctioneer actually do?

Reading the lots out is the last five per cent of it. The job is fundraising, and most of it happens before the night: choosing and sequencing a short list of strong lots rather than a catalogue of weak ones, building a live pledge into the running order, and making sure the room is warm and quiet at the moment the money is asked for. On the night I work the floor with a wireless microphone, not a podium, because the total follows the energy and the energy is in the room, not on the stage.

A volunteer host reads a catalogue. A professional runs a plan. That difference is the whole case for hiring one, and in Cheshire it usually pays for the fee several times over.

The difference a professional makes

Why does a professional out-raise a volunteer host?

£14kWhat Jigsaw Trust expected from their live auction

£27kWhat the live auction actually raised on the night

£30.6kRaised by a live pledge they had not even planned

0%Of your total taken as commission. A fixed fee, agreed up front

Those are real figures from a gala I called for Jigsaw Trust. The auction nearly doubled the target, and then the live pledge, run at the room’s emotional peak, brought in more than the auction did. That is the pattern almost every night follows, and it is why the live pledge matters more than the lots. A room raises more when someone has planned the ask, held the pace and kept the energy up. None of that is in a catalogue.

I never take a percentage of what you raise, which is the model most for-profit auction companies run on. My fee is agreed before the event, and the goal is a total that makes it look small.

What is the Cheshire fundraising scene like?

Cheshire gives you something most counties cannot: a concentrated pool of private wealth sitting a short drive from your venue. The belt around Alderley Edge, Prestbury and Wilmslow, nicknamed the Golden Triangle, holds some of the most expensive postcodes in the North West and a fair share of Premier League footballers, business owners and entertainment names. Put a strong sporting-memorabilia lot or a money-can’t-buy experience in front of that room and it lands differently than it would elsewhere.

The county also has a deep charitable base for its size. Three separate adult hospices, East Cheshire Hospice in Macclesfield, St Luke’s in Winsford and the Hospice of the Good Shepherd near Chester, all depend heavily on fundraising events because statutory funding is thin. East Cheshire Hospice says only about a fifth of its income is government-funded, so the galas, balls and auctions on the calendar are doing real work, not topping up a comfortable budget.

Cheshire is the densest cluster of Premier League footballer wealth outside London. No other county puts that kind of disposable spending power in a charity auction room.

A professional charity auctioneer working the floor during a live auction.

Where the galas happen

Where are charity galas held in Cheshire?

A few of the rooms in and around Cheshire that suit a black-tie fundraising night. These are the kinds of venue I work in, not a list of events I have run.

Chester Racecourse

Chester

Big-capacity balls and awards nights on the oldest racecourse still in use in England.

Carden Park

near Chester

A country resort with ballroom-scale spaces for gala dinners and awards ceremonies.

Tatton Park

Knutsford

A Grade I stately home whose Tenants’ Hall handles large dinners and balls.

Peckforton Castle

near Tarporley

A genuine castle for an intimate black-tie dinner in the Great Hall.

Bolesworth

near Chester

A countryside estate a quarter of an hour from Chester for gala dinners.

Shrigley Hall

near Macclesfield

A country-house hotel with elegant rooms for a charity ball.

The causes

Who might you be raising for in Cheshire?

A gala only works when the room believes in the cause. These are established Cheshire charities that run fundraising nights, and the kind of work a strong auction and pledge pays for.

East Cheshire Hospice

Runs on community fundraising for roughly four-fifths of its income, so events income is not a nice-to-have.

St Luke’s (Cheshire) Hospice

Covers around 300,000 adults across the county and runs a popular annual summer auction.

Hospice of the Good Shepherd

Serves Cheshire West and Deeside, funded largely by balls, challenges and community events.

Cheshire Community Foundation

Channels local giving into hundreds of small charities across Cheshire and Warrington.

The live pledge under way, the moment the biggest money of the night comes in.

How does a Cheshire auctioneer raise more on the night?

The shape of a big night is fairly consistent. Warm the room early, often with a quick game like heads or tails, so the first time people reach for their wallets is painless. Let dinner breathe. Run a tight live auction of genuinely strong lots. Then, at the warmest point of the evening, run a live pledge straight into the cause, with Gift Aid adding 25p to every eligible pound.

Everything is planned to a running order, and everyone bidding, in the room or on a phone, competes in the same lot at the same price through the auction software that comes with the booking. Charitable giving in the UK runs to roughly £14 billion a year; the job is to make sure a fair share of the goodwill already in your Cheshire room reaches the cause.

What should you look for when you hire a Cheshire auctioneer?

A fixed fee, not a percentage of what you raise
Fundraising strategy before the night, not just a host on the day
A live pledge built into the running order
Real figures and references from past events
A written fundraising agreement, as the Code of Fundraising Practice expects
Bidding software that treats room and online bids equally

How much does a Cheshire charity auctioneer cost?

A fixed fee, agreed before the event and never a percentage of what you raise. The fee reflects the planning as much as the night, and it should be made back many times over by a properly run auction and pledge. A written fundraising agreement and solicitation statement come as standard, as the Charities Act requires, and the auction software is included in the booking rather than sold on the side. You can read more on my fees page.

Questions

Common questions about hiring a Cheshire auctioneer

Do you cover the whole of Cheshire?

Yes, from the Golden Triangle and Macclesfield across to Chester, Warrington, Crewe and the rural west. I work across the North West and travel is factored into the quote, not added as a surprise.

What kind of lots work in a Cheshire room?

With the wealth in parts of the county, high-value experiences and signed sporting memorabilia can go a long way. The trick is a short list of genuinely strong lots, not a catalogue of fifty. I help you choose and sequence them before the night.

Can you help a hospice gala specifically?

Yes. A lot of Cheshire’s fundraising calendar is hospice-led, and those nights live or die on the live pledge. That is the segment I am strongest on, and it is where I raise the most.

Sources and further reading

Venue capacities and charity figures are drawn from each organisation’s own pages and were correct when this page was written. Please confirm details with the venue or charity directly before you book.

No obligation

Bring this to your Cheshire event

Tell me about the evening, your room and your target, and I will give you an honest view of what a professional auctioneer and a live pledge could add.

Get in touch 07596 851647