Everything your fundraising night needs

One person for the auction, the pledge and the entertainment

Most events piece together an auctioneer, a host and an entertainer separately, and hope they gel. I do all three, so the night runs as one well-paced show and the fundraising moments land at exactly the right time. Book the whole evening, or just the parts you need.

How booking me works

1. A free consultation

We talk through your goals, your room and your target, and whether you need the whole evening or just the auction. There is no charge for this conversation and no commitment.

2. The plan

Before the night I work with you on the lots, the running order and the pledge: how many lots to run, which order they go in, and where the pledge lands so it catches the room at its warmest. Most auctions that underperform have perfectly good lots. What they lack is a plan, and someone actively managing the room on the night.

3. The software

If you want guests bidding and pledging from their phones, I build the platform around your event, in your branding and loaded with your lots and tickets. It is included when you book me and stays live for three months afterwards.

4. The night

I host, run the live auction and the pledge, and keep the energy up in between. Cards on file are charged when the auction closes, and afterwards you can export every donor to your CRM.

Where I work

I run 60 to 80 events a year across the UK, Europe and the US, for charities, foundations and corporate CSR events, in rooms of 20 guests or 2,000. The biggest single night so far was a gala in Monaco that raised over €1,000,000, and the credit for that belongs to the charity’s team and a very generous room.

Which services does your night need?

Most of the events I am asked about fall into one of a handful of shapes. This is roughly what I would suggest for each before we have even spoken. The free consultation is where we fit it to your room.

• A gala dinner with donated lots. A live auction of a short list of strong lots, followed straight away by a live pledge. If nobody on your team wants to hold the microphone all evening, add hosting.
• A company’s first charity gala. Hosting, the auction and the pledge from one person, with planning before the night on the lots and the running order. Corporate rooms want the evening to feel professional and entertaining, not like a sales pitch.
• A night with few lots, or none worth auctioning. A live pledge and a couple of fundraising games. A pledge needs no lots at all, so almost everything it raises goes straight to the cause.
• A silent auction running through the evening. The auction platform, built in your branding and joined up with the live auction and the pledge. It is included when you book me.
• An event that is streamed, hybrid or fully online. The virtual auctioneer setup, where every lot is called live to people watching at home as well as to the room.
• A long programme with awards, speeches and entertainment. Hosting and an entertainment package, with the fundraising placed where the room is warmest.

How the evening usually runs

Every running order is different, but the shape that raises the most is surprisingly consistent. There is a fuller version in my guide to a charity gala running order.

1. Arrivals and the opening. A quick icebreaker such as heads or tails gets the whole room on its feet, raises money in minutes and tells everyone that tonight is going to be fun.
2. Dinner. I let the room breathe. Raffle tickets are sold while people wait between courses and I give the silent auction a nudge, but nobody is approached with food going into their mouth.
3. The cause. A speech or a short film from the charity, so the room knows exactly what the money will do.
4. The live auction. Five to eight strong lots, run with energy and pace. A long catalogue drains the room; a short one leaves it wanting more.
5. The live pledge. Straight after the auction, while the room is at its warmest. Tiered levels, from a headline gift down to an amount every table can manage.
6. The close. The thank-yous, the total if you want it announced, and a room that goes home on a high.

Why one person for the whole night raises more

Every handover between a host, an auctioneer and an entertainer costs the room a little energy, and the total follows the energy. When one person runs the night, the build-up, the auction and the pledge are paced as one show, and the fundraising moments land when the room is ready for them.

I learned the opposite the hard way. At one big event, running late, with no speech or film to introduce it, I started the auction while people were still talking and did not stop to get them quiet. Only part of the room heard the lots. I have not let it happen since. Whoever holds the room holds the total.

What it costs, and what is included

My fee is agreed up front and is never a percentage of what you raise, so every extra pound the room gives stays with your cause. It depends on the size of the event, where it is and how much of the programme I run, and travel is built into the quote rather than added afterwards. There is more on the fees page.

• The planning: lots, running order and pledge levels, worked out with your team before the night.
• The night itself: hosting, the live auction and the live pledge, whichever parts you book.
• The auction platform, if you want guests bidding and pledging from their phones, built in your branding and live for three months after the event.
• No consignment lots, and no commission on anything the room gives.

What the difference looks like

Jigsaw Trust expected about £14,000 from their live auction. The auction raised £27,000, and a live pledge they had not planned for brought in another £30,600. The credit belongs to their team and a generous room, but it is the pattern I see on most nights: the pledge, placed at the right moment, raises as much as the lots or more.

At MS UK, the year before I was hired, an outside auction company grossed around £13,000 and the charity saw about £1,300 of it. The next year I told the room at the start exactly where every pound was going, and the live pledge raised £8,300, all of it for the charity. I did not criticise anyone. I just made it clear, and the money followed. More nights like these are in the case studies.