Creative and Cost Effective Lighting Solutions For Your Charity Auction Gala

Lighting can make a stunning difference in the ambiance of a charity auction.

But if that's not in the budget, there are elements of lighting that can be managed by an enthusiastic volunteer.

I'm not suggesting it would be easy - nor am I suggesting that it is ideal - but I've no doubt there are volunteers out there who like to dabble and play, and I've got a great idea for low-cost, high-drama lighting that is perfect for the budget-conscious volunteers: Gobos.

Known as a "Go Between" or "GOes Before Optics" in the technical lighting world, a gobo is a template that is attached to a lighting source in order to project an image onto a wall, floor, ceiling, or - really - even into smoke or the clouds in the sky. The template has a pattern cut into it which allows the light to be projected into that shape.

Another example: As a child, I loved playing with Lite-Brite. A black piece of paper was put over the toy's light source. I would take colored plastic pegs and push it through the paper to create an image. Wherever the paper was pierced, the light would shine through. Once I pierced enough of the paper, a recognizable image was created. In this case, the black paper in the Lite-Brite is similar to that of a gobo.

A pattern has been cut out of some material - plastic, glass, or metal - to create an image. Once the light source is behind it, the light passes through the gobo and forms an image onto the projected area.

The type of material used to create a gobo depends on the type of light used. Obviously if you are using plastic to create your gobo, the light source better not get to hot or it will melt the plastic... or even worse, start a fire.

There are hundreds of gobo images available. Maybe thousands! Many companies sell stock gobos and even create custom ones. When I worked in the corporate world, we had custom gobos made of our logo so it could be projected around the facility during company events. We used those gobos over and over, an idea you could also adopt if your fundraising auction theme or non-profit logo remains consistent year after year.

For the crafty benefit auction organizer, you can reduce costs even further by using your own materials to make your own gobos.

No matter where you find your gobos, this cost-effective decorating tool can add ambiance and elegance to your benefit auction without breaking the budget.

Called the "Queen of Benefit Auctions," fundraising auctioneer Sherry Truhlar, CMP, BAS has been featured in national publications (The Washington Post Magazine... AUCTIONEER) and on cable television programs (E! Style... TLC) for her trend-setting work with auction fundraisers. In addition to servicing clients through an elegant and playful auctioneering style, she specializes in a variety of popular online classes to teach volunteer auction chairpersons the simple steps for improving the financial bottom-line of their charity auctions. Her free or nearly free auction ideas are used by hundreds of charities, and her popular, FREE Auction Item GuideTM is downloaded by dozens each day who seek auction procurement help. GET YOUR OWN FREE GUIDE (listing the 100 top-selling items you can sell in your auction) AT http://www.RedAppleAuctions.com.