Charity auctioneer · Cotswolds
Cotswolds charity auctioneer for galas and fundraising events
I work across the Cotswolds as a charity auctioneer and host, and I have run a fundraising night at Manor by the Lake in Cheltenham. The rest of the region, from Cirencester to Stroud and Tetbury, runs on the same country-house gala format, and it suits the way I work.
In short
- A Cotswolds charity auctioneer plans the fundraising with you, then runs the live auction and pledge on the night. It is a strategy job first.
- I have delivered a real charity event at Manor by the Lake, Cheltenham, so this is not a place I am describing from a map.
- Cheltenham’s racing and festival money spills straight into the charity-gala circuit, so the room already understands the theatre of bidding.
- The live pledge is the single biggest earner of the night. At Jigsaw Trust a pledge I ran raised £30,600 on its own.
- A fixed fee agreed before the event, never a percentage, and the auction software comes with the booking.
Search “Cotswolds 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 Cotswolds, where the galas actually happen, and the causes you might be raising for.
Kevin Durham
Charity auctioneer & event host
What does a Cotswolds 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 Cotswolds it usually pays for the fee several times over.
The difference a professional makes
Why does a professional out-raise a volunteer host?
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 Cotswolds fundraising scene like?
The Cotswolds is one of the few places where the auction is not a novelty. Cheltenham is the home of National Hunt racing, and the money and manners of the racing season, owners, hospitality regulars, the country-estate set, run straight into the charity calendar. Guests here are comfortable with a paddle in the air. That means I can pitch the room a little harder and lean on lots that suit it: raceday hospitality, shoot and hunt days, access to a country estate.
Around that sits a well-run charitable infrastructure. Sue Ryder’s Leckhampton Court Hospice holds a polished annual Winter Ball, Longfield in Minchinhampton runs its Black and White Ball, and Cheltenham Festivals has to raise the overwhelming majority of its income every year from patrons and donors. The affluent residents help too. The property press has spent a decade writing about the Beckhams and the rest turning the region into a London-money enclave, and some of that wealth turns up at the right causes.
In the Cotswolds the racing crowd is the fundraising crowd. Nowhere else in Britain treats the auction as a sport the way Cheltenham does.
Where the galas happen
Where are charity galas held in Cotswolds?
A few of the rooms in and around Cotswolds that suit a black-tie fundraising night. These are the kinds of venue I work in, not a list of events I have run.
Manor by the Lake
Cheltenham
A Victorian manor in seven acres for a black-tie ball. I have worked here.
Cheltenham Racecourse
Cheltenham
The Jockey Club’s course, with room for up to 800 at a sit-down gala dinner.
De Vere Cotswold Water Park
near Cirencester
A confirmed charity-ball host that suits mid-size dinner-dances.
Cowley Manor
near Cheltenham
A country-house hotel in parkland for an intimate private gala.
The Greenway Hotel & Spa
Shurdington
A 16th-century manor house for a smaller formal dinner.
The Long Table
Cirencester
A community dining venue for a less formal fundraising night.
The causes
Who might you be raising for in Cotswolds?
A gala only works when the room believes in the cause. These are established Cotswolds charities that run fundraising nights, and the kind of work a strong auction and pledge pays for.
Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice
Its annual Winter Ball has raised around £135,000 over six years for the hospice.
Longfield
A Gloucestershire community hospice running a Black and White Ball each spring.
James Hopkins Trust
Free nursing respite for life-limited young children, funded by a Kite Ball and golf day.
Cheltenham Festivals
Raises the great majority of its funding annually, much of it from patrons and donors.
How does a Cotswolds 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 Cotswolds room reaches the cause.
What should you look for when you hire a Cotswolds 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, in line with the fundraising codes
- Bidding software that treats room and online bids equally
How much does a Cotswolds 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 comes 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 Cotswolds auctioneer
Have you really worked in the Cotswolds?
Yes. I have delivered a charity fundraising event at Manor by the Lake in Cheltenham. Most of the location pages you will find online are written from research. This one is not, at least for that venue.
Do you cover Gloucestershire beyond Cheltenham?
Yes, across the Cotswolds and into Gloucestershire, from Cirencester and Stroud to Tetbury and the villages. I work nationally, so the travel is built into the fee.
What lots suit a Cotswolds gala?
Raceday hospitality, country-estate experiences, shoot and field days, and the odd money-can’t-buy trip. This is a room that responds to experiences over objects, and to a bit of competitive theatre.
Sources and further reading
- Gift Aid, GOV.UK
- UK Giving report, CAF
- Code of Fundraising Practice
- Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice
- Longfield
- James Hopkins Trust
- Cheltenham Festivals
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 Cotswolds 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.