How to Choose a Charity Auctioneer (Avoid This Common Mistake)

The Auctioneer Mistake That's Killing Your Fundraiser

Four Organizations, One Complaint, Back to Back

Benefit auctioneer and MC Jordan Agolli had a run of conversations last spring that stuck with him. Four different nonprofits reached out about hiring him for their galas, back to back, in the same few weeks. None of them knew each other. And when he asked each one the same opening question — "What happened at your last gala, and why are we having this conversation right now?" — he got almost the identical answer.

"It wasn't necessarily even just about the money that we raised. The auctioneer did that," Agolli says they told him. "But they said, this is their words: 'We feel like the auctioneer or MC cared more about themselves than the mission of the organization that night.' They said, 'We just felt like they were not connected and fully understood what we were actually raising money for. It felt generic.'"

One organization added that donors and long-time attendees had said the same thing, unprompted, in their post-event feedback: the room felt disconnected that year.

Mini takeaway: If your own staff notices something felt off, that's worth fixing. If your donors notice it without being asked, you have a bigger problem than one bad night.

Why That Complaint Is Worse Than It Sounds

Agolli makes a point about who notices what: "People that are running events, especially event planners, directors of development, EDs — they're going to scrutinize their event way more than anybody else will. If I make a mistake on stage, I'll be killing myself over it and people will be like, 'I didn't even notice that was a mistake.' But once an attendee starts to notice — red flag. You now have a problem on your hand of, okay, people that should not be noticing this are actually noticing things."

That's the real diagnostic. Your event team will always catch more than your guests do — that's the job. The moment a regular attendee, someone with no reason to be paying close attention, mentions that something felt off, it means the disconnect was large enough to break through. It's a signal worth taking seriously, not writing off as one guest's opinion.

The Two-Name Rule

Agolli holds himself to a specific, almost rigid standard about how much airtime he takes as the person holding the microphone: "You start an event, there's two times you'll say your name. That's it. When you introduce yourself: 'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jordan Agolli. I'm honored to be your benefit auctioneer and MC this evening.' And then when you close: 'Ladies and gentlemen, it's been my true honor, my name is Jordan Agolli, thank you from the bottom of my heart tonight.' That's it. That's the only two times they're ever going to hear your name."

The logic behind the rule matters more than the rule itself: "The narrative is not me. The narrative is not Jordan. My goal would be to say, 'We don't remember that guy's name, but we remember that he guided and helped us understand what we're going for and helped tell that story.'"

He's also candid that this isn't about suppressing confidence on stage. "You have to be confident. You have to control the stage. You are in control — frankly, that's what you're hired to do." The distinction he draws is between controlling the room and controlling the narrative. One is the job; the other is ego creeping into the job.

Mini takeaway: Count how many times your MC or auctioneer says their own name at your next event. If the number feels high, that's worth a conversation before the next one.

Let the Person the Mission Actually Helped Do the Talking

Agolli is direct about the single biggest lever available at any gala, and it isn't the auctioneer: "If you can have a benefit — a person that is benefiting from the organization — be your speaker, communicate that night, that will raise more funds than I'll ever be able to. Because frankly, I'm going to leverage what they say into getting the dollars raised. I'm just the amplifier. I'm the voice. I'm the guide. Nothing more."

He shared his own experience of this from the other side, at an event for a hospital's women's heart disease program, where he was able to speak about his own sister's heart surgery from the stage: "I was able to look out in the room and say, every one of you doctors, nurses, and staff that we're celebrating tonight, you saved my sister's life... I was able to communicate that, and tell people: the money that we're raising tonight, you're saving my sister's life. That's the people that you're kind of helping. And it just goes a long way when you connect."

The practical takeaway for planning your next event: before you finalize the run of show, ask whether someone whose life was genuinely changed by your mission can speak, even briefly. That voice will do more than any professional patter.

When to Override Your Own Taste — and When Not To

Agolli tells a story on himself about an item he almost talked an organization out of including: a make-your-own-whiskey-barrel package, at an event where he's sober and had never been a whiskey drinker. "I just didn't fully get it," he says. The donor and the event team pushed back — "No, we know people in this crowd are going to want this" — and it sold for $12,000, the highest price of the night.

"Had the choice been up to me, I probably wouldn't have said we should use this one," Agolli admits. "But I listened to what they said. I'm like, you've got to understand what we're talking about here." The people who know the room — the development staff, the longtime volunteers, the board — usually know the audience's actual taste better than a hired professional walking in from outside, however experienced. Knowing when to defer to that local knowledge is as much a part of the job as knowing when to take control of the stage.

Marketing 101 for the Event Itself

Agolli, who ran a marketing agency before moving into auctioneering full time, is blunt about a gap he sees constantly: "It still sometimes surprises me today how many people don't have an easy to navigate and understandable digital presence. At the core baseline: can people understand what you do and where your money's going within a couple seconds of being on your website or your social media? If they cannot, you're in trouble."

His fix isn't complicated — a simple website, a simple LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook page, and one clear message about who you help and how the money helps them. He points to the framework he leans on for getting that message right: "Are you familiar with StoryBrand? Anyone that is listening to this, please get the book. It helps clarify the message and tell your story so that people understand it efficiently and effectively."

Give Your Board a Script, Not Just an Ask

The other lever Agolli pushes every organization he works with toward is getting board members to make asks of their own network before the event even starts — and to make that easy by giving them the exact words to use. "A lot of folks have a giving heart," he says, "and closed mouths don't get fed. I know the answer is no if I don't ask." He tells board members directly what to say to their friends and family ahead of time, rather than leaving them to improvise: "Respectfully, tell them what to say, and they'll say it."

That includes setting up matching commitments before the night of the event — asking board members in advance whether they'd match a certain gift level, so the room already has momentum built in before the paddle goes up.

Mini takeaway: Don't just ask your board to "help spread the word." Give them the actual sentence to say and the actual number to ask for.

The Takeaway for Your Next Hire

Whether you're hiring an auctioneer, an MC, or evaluating the one you already use, Agolli's own answer is the right question to ask: does this person understand your mission well enough to make the room feel it, or are they there to perform a job that would look the same at any gala in the country? The money raised on the night can mask the difference for a year or two. Donor feedback, eventually, will not.

Insights in this article are drawn from the Hey Nonprofits! podcast episode “The Auctioneer Mistake That's Killing Your Fundraiser”, featuring host Trevor Nelson and guest Jordan Agolli, benefit auctioneer and MC based in Atlanta, Georgia.