Charity auctioneer · Sheffield

Sheffield charity auctioneer for galas and fundraising events

By Kevin DurhamFundraising strategy & live auctions

I work across Sheffield as a charity auctioneer and host, from the livery grandeur of Cutlers’ Hall to the stadium suites and city hotels. The Steel City runs a strong black-tie season, much of it powered by the manufacturing and construction industries that built it.

Check my availability Call 07596 851647

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

In short

A Sheffield charity auctioneer plans the fundraising, runs the live auction and closes with a pledge.
Sheffield’s philanthropy runs through its steel and cutlery heritage, and the industry balls are among the biggest annual givers.
Cutlers’ Hall, home of a feast running since 1625, is the city’s most prestigious gala setting.
The live pledge earns the most. A pledge I ran at Jigsaw Trust raised £30,600 beyond the auction.
A fixed fee agreed in advance, never a percentage, with the auction software included.

Search “Sheffield 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 Sheffield, 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 Sheffield 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 Sheffield 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 Sheffield fundraising scene like?

Sheffield’s philanthropy is inseparable from its steel and cutlery heritage. The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, founded in 1624, has been the voice of the city’s manufacturing for four hundred years, and its Master Cutler still hosts a grand annual feast in Cutlers’ Hall, a tradition running since 1625. That industrial base still shows up in the fundraising calendar, where industry-organised balls, the long-running Construction Ball and the Manufacturing Charity Ball, are among the biggest givers to local causes.

The Steel City also has two large universities, a strong sporting identity through its two football clubs, and the Peak District on its doorstep. The causes that anchor the season raise serious money: Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity’s Winter Ball drew over 500 guests and raised more than £245,000, and Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice needs roughly £6.5 million a year, only a small fraction of it from the state.

No other city has anything quite like Cutlers’ Hall: a 400-year-old livery company whose hall has hosted a grand feast since 1625, and a Master Cutler who is still the ceremonial voice of Sheffield industry. The room itself tells the story of the city’s giving.

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

Where the galas happen

Where are charity galas held in Sheffield?

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

Cutlers’ Hall

City centre

The city’s most prestigious setting for a gala, home of the Cutlers’ Feast.

Sheffield City Hall

Barker’s Pool

An art-deco ballroom seating up to around 400 for a large ball or awards night.

Bramall Lane

Highfield

Sheffield United’s stadium suites, for a sporting dinner or banquet.

OEC Sheffield

Owlerton

A dedicated events centre with a banquet suite for up to 500 guests.

Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria

City centre

A Victorian former railway hotel and a proven host for large fundraising dinners.

Tankersley Manor

Tankersley

A country-house hotel off the M1 that hosts charity balls with rooms on site.

The causes

Who might you be raising for in Sheffield?

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

St Luke’s Hospice Sheffield

The city’s adult hospice, supported by industry balls that raise tens of thousands a night.

Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity

Its Winter Ball drew 500 guests and raised over £245,000 for children’s healthcare.

Weston Park Cancer Charity

South Yorkshire’s cancer charity, running its own spring ball with live and silent auctions.

Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice

A children’s hospice needing around £6.5 million a year, mostly from fundraising.

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

How does a Sheffield 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 Sheffield room reaches the cause.

What should you look for when you hire a Sheffield 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 Sheffield 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 Sheffield auctioneer

Can you host at Cutlers’ Hall?

Yes, and it is one of the finest rooms in the North to raise money in. The history does some of the work for you, which frees me to concentrate on the pledge and the pace. I will run the auction to match the occasion.

A lot of our support comes from industry. Does that help?

It does. Sheffield’s construction and manufacturing balls are among the biggest givers in the city, and those rooms respond to a strong, well-run auction and a clear ask. That is exactly where I add the most.

Do you cover South Yorkshire beyond Sheffield?

Yes, Sheffield and across South Yorkshire to Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster. I work nationally, so travel is built into the fixed fee.

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 Sheffield 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