A fundraising gala has a job to do that most parties do not: at some point in the evening the room has to stop enjoying itself, listen, and give money. Everything the DJ does is in service of that moment, before it and after it. This post is about how we support a live auction, a paddle raise and an appeal from behind the decks, and where our role stops and the auctioneer's begins.
Who does what: the auctioneer, the DJ and the microphone
The division of labor matters more at a gala than at any other event. The auctioneer runs the ask. A good benefit auctioneer is a specialist: they read the room, control the pace of bidding, know when to hold for one more paddle and when to close. We are not that person, and a DJ who tries to do it on the side will cost you money in the room. We work alongside the auctioneer, never as one.
We are also not the MC. If your program needs a host who walks the evening from welcome to close, hire one; often the development director who is used to speaking in public is the right person. What we do is light mic work: welcoming people to their seats, calling the room to dinner, introducing the first speaker if nobody else is doing it, and handling every microphone on the stage so the people who do speak are heard.
What we own entirely is the sound and the music: every wireless mic, the walk-up and walk-off music, the audio under the video, the silence when it needs to be silent, and the floor afterwards.
Cues around the live auction and the paddle raise
The live auction is a run of cues, and we build them with the auctioneer on the planning call or, better, in a ten-minute conversation at the venue before doors. The things we agree:
- The walk-up. A short, upbeat cue as the auctioneer takes the stage, cut clean as they reach the mic. Not a full song. Ten to fifteen seconds is right.
- Under the lots. Most auctioneers want nothing under the bidding. Some like a low bed of music between lots while the spotters reset. We ask, and we set the level with them, because what sounds quiet from the booth is a distraction from the stage.
- The hammer. Some auctioneers want a hit of music when a big lot closes to keep the room's energy up. Others think it cheapens the moment. Their call, and we ask.
- The paddle raise. This is the part of the night that pays the organization's bills, and it works on silence. When the auctioneer opens the fund-a-need, the music is off. Not low, off. The only sound in the room should be the auctioneer and the spotters calling paddle numbers. The moment a table starts talking, bidding drops, and background music gives them permission.
- The close. When the paddle raise ends, the auctioneer usually hands off to a thank-you from the executive director or the board chair. We hold silence through that, then come up under the applause with something warm and building, so the room exhales and moves.
A detail that surprises first-time gala chairs: the auctioneer's microphone is often not one of ours. Many professional benefit auctioneers bring a headset or a handheld they trust and want it on a channel they control. We give them a line into our system and a level check before doors, and we keep a backup handheld on the stage, switched on and muted, for the moment the headset battery goes at the worst possible time. It happens about once a season.
Mics for speakers and the silent moments
A gala program has more people at the microphone than any other event we do: an honoree, a family member, a board chair, a beneficiary telling their story, a video. Every one of those people gets a mic check before doors if they are in the building, and if they are not, we check with whoever is standing in. The most important thing we do all night may be pulling the level up on a nervous honoree who is speaking too quietly, before the back tables lean in and then give up.
The appeal video is its own cue. The AV team or the venue usually runs the picture; the audio may run through us. We confirm before doors which way the audio goes, at what level, and who presses play, so a moving three-minute film does not open in silence while two people look at each other across the room. When the video ends, the cue is nothing: let the room sit in it for a beat before the auctioneer stands. That pause is worth money.
Energy after the ask
Once the appeal is closed and the thank-yous are done, the room has been sitting for ninety minutes and has just been asked for money. There is a temptation to launch straight into dancing. It rarely works. What works is a few minutes of warm, lifted music while people stand, stretch, visit the bar and check the silent-auction tables to see whether they have been outbid. Then, once the room is up and the tables are half empty, we open the floor. The first songs on the floor are broad and known; a gala crowd skews older and generous, and it dances to what it recognizes.
Many galas close the silent auction during this window, and it helps to hold the announcement of the closing time until after the appeal. "Silent auction closes in fifteen minutes" is a useful thing for us to say from the booth, and it gets people moving toward the tables.
What to ask, and what it costs
Ask your auctioneer what they need from the sound, and connect us directly. Ask the venue whether a house system is required and where the stage feed comes from. Send us the run of show, even a rough one, two weeks out; we build the cue list from it and go through it line by line on the planning call. If there is an AV company handling screens and the video, tell us who they are so we can coordinate the audio handoff.
A gala with a full program, an auction and a floor afterwards is the Corporate Premier package at $4,500: up to four hours, detailed music and scheduled-cue preparation, setup and breakdown. Additional wireless microphones and extended hours are quoted on top. Nonprofits ask about pricing earlier than any other client, understandably, and we would rather you see the number up front than get to the end of a call and find out.
Send us the date, the venue and the headcount, along with the auctioneer's name if you have one, through the contact page. We reply within 24 hours.