What was initially meant as a one-year project returns this week for its 45th edition.
For more than four decades, the Rotary Club of Midland’s major fundraiser, which sees all net proceeds supporting both community and international charitable causes, has poured well over $1 million back into the community.
And this time around, organizers say that while this year’s offering will closely resemble recent auctions, there will be a little more emphasis on art and artists due to a partnership with Quest Art School & Gallery.
“Quest launched an initiative to attract its community of artists to donate their work to the auction,” club president Jason Wilson said.
“And the art will be on display in the Mezzanine Gallery at Quest for a full three weeks before and during the online auction bidding period, offering fantastic exposure to the art community.”
This year’s auction begins Thursday and will be online for two weeks, closing at 9 p.m. on Feb. 29.
Wilson said it takes close to 50 people to put the event together with the majority of the club’s 38 members helping to acquire items and submit them to the auction’s system, distribute posters and flyers and/or assist with item pickup following the auction.
“The staff at the businesses of Rotarians are often helping submit the items acquired into our system,” Wilson said, noting an auction committee of five people ensures that all items have images and proper descriptions, that all physical items are accounted for in the inventory, that all items are posted online and that any questions from bidders are answered.
“Half a dozen people at Quest are helping to acquire and promote the art this year. And there are always some staff at our pickup locations that help to prepare for item pickup. The whole process is a significant undertaking each year.”
The auction was first held in February 1979, broadcast over the radio. In the ensuing years, the auction was televised on a local TV station and bids were received by telephone, handwritten and posted on a board.
In the late 1980s, a locally developed state-of-the-art computer program was added to track bids and instantly display them to the television audience. Eventually, the auction moved to being online and on TV while continuing to take telephone bids. More recently, the auction has been entirely online.
Wilson said the auction’s ongoing success is directly linked to having an active membership coupled with the generosity of local businesses and individuals.
“Most members in our Rotary Club actively seek donations from assigned businesses and individuals in our community,” Wilson explained. “This is a huge undertaking each year. But the auction still can’t be a success without the generous businesses and individuals that we ask.
“This combination results in a large number of quality items in our auction which attributes to there really being something for everyone to bid on. Lastly, the generosity of our bidders goes a long way, ensuring that most gift certificates are selling for almost full value, and some items even selling for over retail value.”
Wilson said the auction also benefits the community by connecting local businesses with residents
“It gives businesses and individuals an opportunity to show their support for the community and, in turn, helps to promote these businesses to the followers of the Rotary Club and bidders in the auction,” he said.
“Not to mention that all of the proceeds from the auction contribute to the pool of money that the Rotary Club of Midland uses to help organizations and projects in our community and around the world.”
To check out the auction, click here.
