Fundraising Auctions: Issues and Checklist for Artists
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Auctions can be a successful way for organizations to raise needed funds. However, frequent auctions or multiple auctions from various groups can have a significantly negative impact on the art community—the very constituency they wish to support. Unfortunately, fundraising auctions have gained a reputation for selling artwork at considerably less than market value. Reliance on auctions as fund raising mechanisms may ultimately harm galleries, collectors and individual artists by siphoning off gallery sales, devaluing artists’ work, replacing art exhibitions, and reducing the artist’s ability to make a living.
Organizations sponsoring or benefiting from fund raising auctions, especially those involved with the art community, should act responsibly when planning fundraising efforts. Artwork needs to be handled and displayed with care and respect. Every effort should be made to obtain the highest price for donated work, minimum bids should be established and honored, and all information regarding the purchaser forwarded to the donating artist.
MYTHS ABOUT FUNDRAISING AUCTIONSArtists are often asked to donate work for an auction. An organization requesting donated work properly justifies donations as a show of support for the organization and an opportunity for artists to show their work. However, some rationalizations are overextended. Here are a few:
Myth #1: Donating work does not cost the artist anything.
Fact: There are very real expenses incurred by the artist in making a piece of artwork. Materials, time, out sourced labor, rent, utilities and general overhead all must be paid by the artist for every piece that they make. For some artists or craftspeople, material costs, fuel and studio expenses may be significant. In addition, if there exists any possibility for the artist to sell the piece, that opportunity is gone: the entire revenue at the wholesale or retail price is lost. Some auctions mitigate this by sharing a percentage of the auction purchase price with the donating artist or compensating them otherwise with tickets or memberships. But the net difference to the artist may be a significant loss of income. In addition, if an artist donates an important piece any extended exposure that it may have generated in a gallery or exhibition space is lost.
Myth #2: Artists won’t mind giving away unsold inventory for a good cause.
Fact: Although artists don’t sell everything they make, work at auctions selling far below retail prices may affect future sales viability. While it is true that most artists or crafts people rarely sell everything that they make, giving it away to a fundraising auction which then “sells” the work below the established retail price, affects the ability of both artists and the galleries to sell similar work. Their market is adversely affected with low prices and competition from auctions.
Myth #3: Auctions are an exhibition opportunity.
Fact: Auctions may provide exposure, but they are a marginal venue for exhibiting work. Artists should keep in mind that the work presented at auctions is rarely curated or juried. The work is sometimes uneven and usually not exhibited in a cohesive manner. Works donated to an auction are rarely professionally installed, as in a gallery or museum, but often placed on tables casually, crowded into cases, or used as centerpieces on tables. Works are rarely lighted advantageously and, in the case of live auctions, often carried out onto a stage where it is difficult for it to be seen. Furthermore, the work to be auctioned is usually displayed at the preview for a very short time, typically for only a single evening.
Myth #4: Auctions introduce your work to a new and wider audience.
Fact: Auctions rarely yield introductions that are meaningful to the artist. An auction may offer exposure to an emerging artist, but an auction is an ineffective marketing approach for an established artist. Collectors attend auctions with a variety of motivations, but they know that artists cannot afford to give their best work away as a donation. Until the structure of auctions change, artists and their work will still be at a significant disadvantage under these circumstances.
Myth #5: Artists benefit the most from art organizations, therefore it is the responsibility and duty of artists to show their support by donating work to auctions sponsored by art organizations.
Fact: Everyone in the community benefits from local art organizations, not just artists. Art organizations deserve support and are challenged to raise funds. However, over-reliance on auctions of donated artwork may hurt their constituency.
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