Ethics Guiding An Art Auction Fundraiser

By Minnie Whitley


There are a number of ways through which fund can be raised so as to meet a specific objective. Planning an art auction fundraiser is a suitable manner for raising funds. In such an auction the artist donate their pieces of artwork which are then presented to the bidders at various bid prices. This way of raising fund has been noted to be very productive and it also accrues a lot of benefits with it. The artworks donors benefit from directly publicity that is accorded to them. The buyers get quality pieces of art work and finally the ultimate objective of the fundraiser is met.

It takes the efforts of the bidders, artists and the organizing committee to benefit effectively from such an auction. The process mostly follows these steps; setting of a venue, acquiring of artwork pieces, production of an item list, production of the buyers list, printing of the biding sheets and finally setting a date for auction.

When one is organizing this kind of an event then he or she should consider some elements first. These factors are basically known as the principles to be followed while setting up a fund raiser. In this list contains; Information the artists; artists must be told of the profit they are going to get, which is primarily the publicity. Also publishing guidelines which are used to guide the art donation process is essential, this is followed by the establishment of an updated catalogue carrying the information on artists plus that of their artworks.

Another key element to be followed is, getting a suitable auction house which is followed by setting a great seating arrangement which makes sure that the top preferred bidders get the best seats. The management is also expected to hire qualified auctioneers with adequate experience of doing fundraising auctions.

How the display is another key aspect each piece should be significantly placed. It is at times said that the better the way in which the artwork fits the surrounding then the higher bidders will tend to bid on it. One has to make sure that the bidders can access the information about artists that they are willing to bid on their work this promotes the bidders comfort and hence they can make higher bids.

On the other hand there are some things that organizers and the artists are expected not to do. Firstly the artists are advised not to overstate the value of their artwork subsequently they are asked to state their normal prices. Secondly the choosing of non eloquent presenters is highly disregarded; playing around with words is not acceptable hence one is advised to make simple but appealing short statements which attract the attention of bidders.

Artists are advised not to donate pieces of artwork that they are tired with. This so because well informed bidders can always know when the piece of artwork is there to be disposed or the artist is proudly presenting it for the auction, hence while donating the artist is always expected to take the objectives of this fundraising at heart.

To conclude it can be clearly noted that fund raising auctions are very efficient. They also accrue benefits with them, so bidders, donors and the organizers gain respectively.




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