Meditations on a Silent Auction

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

As you all know (I hope!!!), EECM is hosting its first annual fundraising event – A Flavor of the East End – on June 2nd at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. One of the main interest points of the evening will be a large silent auction. I’ve been working on the auction committee for the last few months and it has been quite an experience. The goal was clear: round up a sophisticated and awe-inspiring array of items that will cause our event attendees to froth at the mouth with desire and blissfully dole out large quantities of hard-earned cash.

The realization of this goal was somewhat more difficult. Let me tell you now – begging is exhausting work. Seriously. We sent out what felt like thousands of solicitation letters to all the businesses and restaurants we could think of. And some kind-hearted and heaven-bound individuals responded immediately with donations. But for the most part, it’s easy to ignore a piece of paper. So I spent a few days pounding the pavement and marching through the nearby shopping districts attempting to charm wary business owners out of gift certificates, gift baskets and fabulous items from their stores.

Their responses varied widely. Sometimes I got a: “oh yeah! EECM – I’ve heard of you. I’d love to donate!!” More often, I got furrowed brows and prevarications about how I was the twenty seventh person to come through their door today asking for a donation. Ouch.

And what do you say? “No, you silly person, don’t support AIDS research or Breast Cancer awareness!” Of course not. We just happen to be blessed (cursed?) to have a lot of worthy causes going on in Pittsburgh. Next year, I’ll start hitting people up in January.

But fear not gentle reader. I did ultimately prevail in my auction-stocking mission and can confidently assure you that the silent auction is going to rock. We have donations from more than 70 different sources, ranging in value from $5 to $1,000! From yoga lessons to restaurant certificates and baskets of chocolate to swanky furniture and snazzy home décor to car maintenance, there should be a little something there for everyone. Remember to Bid Early and Bid Often!