Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP- “Just Results” Auction for Give a Day

Vanessa Payne from SGM writes…When Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP decided to participate in the Give a Day Campaign in 2007, we wondered what we could do to raise as much money as possible, given that we are a relatively small firm.  We decided that a combination of humour and fear of public humiliation might do the trick, and the “Just Results Auction” was born (“Just Results” is the firm’s tag line).  The auction is now held each year in late November or early December to coincide with World AIDS Day and the Give a Day Campaign.

The Just Results Auction is both a silent auction and a live auction.  Lawyers and staff donate items for the silent auction, and food and drinks are available at the same time. During the silent auction this year, a staff member painted a partner’s face/head to look like a giant hamburger – it was a challenge that resulted in a $500 donation to the Campaign.

After the silent auction ends, the live auction begins.  The items available in the live auction give winning bidders an opportunity to make a lawyer(s) do something.  For example, there are some fairly innocuous items such as bidding to have a lawyer buy you flowers once a month for three months, to buy and deliver to you a fancy coffee once a week for 6 weeks, or to buy you a cake on your birthday.  Another item gives the winning bidder a right to pick a lawyer to go around the office at the end of a day and collect all the dirty glasses and mugs.  One year, a winning bidder could choose a lawyer to switch work stations with a staff member for a day. As a result, one of our lawyers wound up spending a day at reception answering the telephones and receiving courier packages (I’m not exactly sure what the receptionist did that day!).

However, the live auction items that raise the most money are not so benign – these items involve making lawyers perform at the firm’s holiday party, which takes place three or four weeks after the auction.  For example, one item gives the winning bidder(s) the right to choose 2 or 3 lawyers to act out a scene from a movie (chosen by the winning bidder) at the holiday lunch.  Past performances have included scenes from Brokeback Mountain and Pulp Fiction.  Another item gives the winner(s) the right to choose 2-3 lawyers to sing a song of the winner’s choice at the lunch (a performance of “Like a Virgin” by two male lawyers was particularly popular).  So in addition to raising money for a good cause, the auction also helps liven up our holiday party with all kinds of strange performances.

The main performance, however, takes place in our office the morning of the holiday party. The winning bidder(s) can select 5 or 6 lawyers to perform a pre-selected song.  For the past two years, these performances have been videotaped by a staff member.  You can see last year’s performance here. (You may notice that other people in our building also get to enjoy the show).

This past year, bidding on this item went crazy – it started out normally enough, but two “consortiums” of lawyers, staff and students suddenly emerged and started bidding against each other. In the end, the auctioneer decided to take everybody’s money and let each group choose 3 of the performers.  This added about $3000 to the total and resulted in this performance.

The Just Results Auction is one of the highlights of the year at SGM.  Hilarity reigns (even during bidding on the more benign items) usually as a result of the antics of our auctioneer, Mark Wright  (who is also the policeman in the first video and the guy wearing the mini-skirt in the second video).  The auction is fun, so it is well attended.  The desire (of at least some lawyers) to avoid being chosen to perform creates bidding wars – and bidding wars mean more money for the Campaign.

Now we just have to think of a great song for the group performance this year!

Published by: GiveADay on January 20th, 2010 | Filed under GAD Events, Give a Day 2009, Give a Day Harambees, Media, Workplace Campaigns
Comment now »