L.J. Ganser

L.J. Ganser served as host and auctioneer for the 2019 Wild Bird Fund Flocktail Fundraiser at the Central Park Boathouse on April 17. This was the largest event of the kind we have attempted, and L.J. was a key to its success. He was an upbeat and entertaining host, and the auction was excellently managed. He had taken the time to learn about our organization, and it showed in his presentations. He read the temperature of the room expertly and helped maximize our return on auction items. I recommend L.J. Ganser, and definitely plan to work with him at our next fundraiser.

GiGi’s Playhouse NYC engaged L.J. to be our auctioneer at our 6th annual “i have a Voice” Gala celebrating the achievements of New York City’s Down syndrome community. L.J. was beyond fantastic and his energy led us to raise a record amount during our live auction! Starting with L.J.’s preparation for the event, we knew we made the right choice in working with him. He made the effort to visit our location multiple times not just to learn about our mission, but to experience the energy of our programs. He mindfully prepared to present each item, incorporating connections to our audience and understanding the donor connection, as well. At our Gala, he met with guests during the cocktail hour, allowing him to engage with the audience prior to auctioning items. It was clear during the event that he was passionate about our cause which was echoed by the funds we were able to raise. We are so grateful L.J. was a voice in our annual Gala; we plan on working with him for years to come! Thank you L.J.!

We interviewed many auctioneers, but decided to hire L.J. Ganser for our biggest Fundraising/Friend-raising event of the year in May 2018.

LJ was wonderful to work with. He spent extra time getting to know the Chairs, staff and our school deeply so that when he was doing the auction, he could speak from the heart about what he saw and experienced with our students. H also took the time to have lunch with the students in the dining room which was a large part of our ask for the evening, so again he was authentic when raising money for that project.

L.J. advised us on the starting bids of our live auction items and recommended different strategies we could use to increase the raise. He understood how to work the crowd, get people bidding against each other, and make it fun. He was actively moving around to generate excitement the whole time.

We achieved 100% of our ask for the Programmatic Need. In addition to this, we had a very successful live auction where we were able to sell a couple of very large items twice.

I first encountered L.J. as an auctioneer at my daughters’ school fundraiser and immediately knew I wanted to hire him to bring his energy and talents to the annual gala for my theater company. I am thrilled he was available – we almost tripled our auction total from last year!

L.J. has been the auctioneer at our Annual Auction for the past 2 years. L.J has a great sense of humor and is confident and bold in getting the crowd’s attention and to get the crowd to up the bidding. He is funny, warm and experienced and I would definitely recommend him. We will be using L.J. again.

PS 75, The Emily Dickinson School, has been lucky enough to have LJ auctioneer our school fundraiser. Before LJ came along we hired professional auctioneers that have been in the auctioneering business for over 30 years. But our crowd was craving a change. Then LJ was introduced to us. His experience as an actor brought a hilarious,comedic style that won the hearts of the audience and the best part is that people spent more money! He connects with his audience with such ease. I hope LJ will auctioneer all of our school fundraisers!

Just when you think LJ has squeezed all the money out of a room, he digs in and somehow finds more. I have witnessed him do this for live auctions at three different New York City public schools. He truly understands the challenges and limitations when it comes to selling live auction items to a bunch of public school parents (as he is one himself!). He takes the time to not only research the auction packages, but also the culture of the school. Pair that with his acting skills and you have an auction experience yielding top dollar. LJ is an actioneer I am proud to endorse and would recommend to any school or organization.

L.J. is a fantastic auctioneer!  He knows his audience, reads the room perfectly, and does his homework so that his delivery and descriptions are fresh and entertaining.  He even wrote a song about the auction organizer (to the tune of “Uptown Girl”) which he sung to the group as a preface to bidding on Billy Joel tickets!  And, he’s a genuinely great guy who has often bent over backwards to fit us into his schedule.

It is my absolute pleasure to recommend L.J. Ganser as an auctioneer. L. J. has supported the PTA’s annual auction for six years and due to his delightful personality, his expertise in grabbing the attention of the bidders and the apparent love of what he is doing has helped the PTA raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the education of many, many students.
I have cherished my time working with L.J. and have come to know him as a driving force of our auction. He is truly a delight to work with and to witness the control he has over the event is remarkable. I can’t think of a better person to fill the shoes of an auctioneer! And, speaking of shoes, he cuts quite a cloth and adds a Cary Grant sophistication to the evening.

View/Print Letter of Recommendation

Hiring LJ as an auctioneer in 2011 was one of my best decisions as PTA co-president at PS163. His quick wit and fast-paced auctioneering raised the bar for our live auction, and working with him was a delight from beginning to end. He took time beforehand to learn about the items up for auction and to learn about our expectations, and he gave good advice on the order and pacing of the auction. Because of the care he took in advance, when bidding began, he knew exactly how to work the crowd to push the bids higher. He was so entertaining in his “performance ” that people really tuned in instead of tuning out. We all laughed hard, and then raised our paddles. Thanks to LJ, the live auction went from being a rather obligatory part of the evening to being the highlight. We felt so lucky to have him as part of our team–and PS163 has not brought in anyone else as auctioneer ever since.