Client Testimonials

"Vinnie, What a great night! This was our 21st auction, but you made it made it seem fresh. Your bid assistants were a great addition to the night and were encouraging, but not too aggressive. The Fund-A-Need was a great success and brought in more than twice what we expected. Many attendees said it was the best auction they'd been to and many more said you were the "BEST AUCTIONEER WE EVER HAd". Thank you for breathing new life into our auction. We look forward to working with you in the future. NEW CLIENT BLOOMINGOTN, ILLINOIS APRIL 2010!! Thanks, Paul "

PAUL GESTERLING

CENTRAL CATHOLIC
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

"zaffarano auctioneers I’d like to personally thank you for the fantastic job you did on Friday! The feedback we have received about the event has been overwhelmingly positive and we are even hearing that this was the best event yet. I have personally been involved with the golf outing for the past 7 years and feel that we stepped up our game in a big way. We have always struggled with keeping everyone’s attention during the Live Auction and pushing to get the highest bids possible without being too aggressive with our friends. You are able to do this with the extreme skill and professionalism and some very well timed humor. I know that the treasurer was reconciling everything over the weekend…she will be in contact with you about compensation within the next few days. Again, thank you for your contribution to the overall success of our event. Have a wonderful summer with your family and much success to you with business. I look forward to working with you again in the future. Nancy Knott Ardovitch Events Editor, Suburban Focus Magazine New client June 2010 "

Nancy Knott Ardovitch

class 63 foundation golf outing
Co-Chair

"Dear Vinne, Thanks for your help and amazing output. You helped us raise $53,000 from 5 items at the Three Cups of Tea fundraiser…unprecedented! The best thing about working with you is that you really took the time out to help plan, execute and implement an auction the way that we wanted. Above all you listened. The program was packed with celebrities speakers, yet everyone in the 1300 audience at our annual gala LOVED your auction segment. I think we would love to use your talents again! NEW CLIENT APRIL 2010!!! Sadia Ashraf Event Chair CAI fundraiser 2010 "

SADIA ASHRAF

central asia institute(CAI)
EVENT CHAIR

"Hi Vinnie You did a fantastic job. I thought the results were very good, considering the times, and your performance was excellent. I hope that I will get to work with you again in the future and I will refer work to you if I have the chance. Thanks again. New Client March 2010!!! "

BOB O'SHEA

SAINT MICHAEL
CO-CHAIR

"Dear Vinnie: I just want to "THANK YOU" again for the wonderful job at our recent Gala celebration for Teen Living Programs. We had a "RECORD BREAKING "evening with an Oral Auction and Fund a Program success never experienced in our history. Your professional approach with our audience made such a difference in our results. We also appreciated your suggestions throughout the evening as well as pre-planning. We can highly recommend you to any organization! NEW CLIENT MARCH 2010!! Mary Lou Mulvihill Skalkos Board Member "

MARYLOU SKALKOS

TEEN LIVING
EVENT CHAIR

"VINNIE WE WERE THRILLED TO WORK WITH ZAFFARANO AUCTIONEERS. VINNIE SPENT TIME LEARNING ABOUT OUR EVENT AND OUR COMMUNITY. VINNIE HAD VERY GOOD THOUGHTS REARRANGING SOME TRADITIONAL PIECES OF OUR EVENT, AND BROUGHT SOME TERRIFIC INNOVATIONS, WHICH GARNERED IMPORTANT NEW GIFTS. VINNIE WAS ALSO QUITE NIMBLE IN MAKING ADJUSTMENTS ON THE EVENING OF THE EVENT. HIS EXPERIENCE SHOWS AND WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR HIS ENERGY. WE LOOK FORWARD WITH WORKING WITH VINNIE ON OUR 2011 GALA! NEW CLIENT- FEBRUARY 2010! MARION FLYNN(DEVELOPMENT OFFICE) "

MARION FLYNN

XAVIER FRANCIS WARD
DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

"Hi Vinnie, Thanks so much for participating last night- you were FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The gentleman who won the Radhika dinner cut a check for $20,000. That brought our total to $72,000.oo. There were roughly 700 people there , so you were correct that it came to $100 a person. At least 10 people told me that you were "THE BEST AUCTIONEER THEY HAD EVER SEEN". I think, especially for a first year, the auction was a success. As I get them, I will forward a few names of people who are interested in using your services. Thanks again and I hope to see you again next year. Best, Adnaan NEW CLIENT OCTOBER 2009!!!!"

Adnaan Hamid M.D

Hamdard Center
Treasurer, Board of Directors

"VINNIE WE DID IT! YOU WERE AN ASSET TO OUR TEAM AD WE TRULY ENJOYED WORKING WITH YOU. A WONDERFUL EVENING WAS HAD BY ALL!!! I HAVE HEARD WONDERFUL COMMENTS ABOUT THE EVENT AND PARTICULARLY HOW SUPERB OF A JOB YOU DID. WE ARE THANKFUL FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS AND LOOK FORWARD TO DOING IT ALL OVER AGAIN( WITH YOU) NEXT YEAR! NEW CLIENT-FEBRUARY 2010"

MICHELLE KURLEY

OUR LADY OF PEACE
CHAIR

"Vinnie As always, we were very pleased with your performance. You are always professional and a joy to work with. We raised in total of $70k which is wonderful in this economy. Thanks for all your hard work. SUE LUBBEN FEBRUARY 2010 "

SUE LUBBEN

TIMOTHY CHRISTIAN ELMHURST
CHAIR

"Dear Vinnie, Thank you for helping us with our most successful fundraiser yet! Your involvement goes above and beyond the Live Auction. Your first hand involvement in the PLANNING, PROBLEM SOLVING and the STRATEGY that goes into a successful event is OUTSTANDING!! We not only consider you a part of our team, but a part of our FAMILY! We couldn't do it without you. ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A CURE GALA DECEMBER 2008."

DEO CERRONE

CYSTIC FIBROSIS
CO-CHAIR

"Thank you Vinnie We didn’t think we’d be able to beat last year’s auction but because of you….we did! Your availability, knowledge and expertise really moved us to the next level. The additional services that you bring with you as part of the package were invaluable! It was a great experience working with you and your team. I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU ON NEXT YEARS EVENT!! NEW CLIENT FEBRUARY 2009!!!!"

Angela Broucek

Nazareth Academy, LaGrange Park, Illinois
Director of Development

"Dear Vinnie,
I and my co-chairs cannot thank you enough for helping us to raise more money than we expected had we not experienced your expertise during ourannual fund raising gala . The International Women Associates is a not for profit organization that exists because of the hard work and dedication by volunteer members to provide international programs. Without your help at our live auction, we would not have been able to realize the necessary funding for the following year. Thank you, Vinnie!!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!"

Arica Hilton

Co-Chair for The Adventures Along the Silk Road Gala
International Women Associates

"Dear Vinnie, Thank you for being our auctioneer at our Mardi Gras event. Thanks to you And your professionalism, our auction ran smoothly and we were very impressed with the money you raised. You have AMAZING TALENT and there were many comments on how good you were. Thank you again! New client (February 2009)"

Irene Michaels (celebrity)

Epilepsy Foundation
Mardi gras Queen

"We retained Zaffarano Auctioneers for our non-profit benefit auction for the very first time this year. We were delighted to find Vinnie an EXCELLENT choice from beginning to end. Months before our event, he was able to give us valuable advice during our planning process. The night of our event, he made the evening exiting and kept the entire audience engaged. I polled several attendees after the event and it was UNANIMOUS-Vinnie was Professional, Entertaining and really inspired others to give their maximum to our organization. We were concerned with the present economy how the evening would turn out- IT WAS A TRUE SUCCESS! If you are searching for an Effective auctioneer for your fundraiser- I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ZAFFARANO AUCTIONEERS. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED! NEW CLIENT! OCTOBER 2008"

LYNDA MCCANN

LIFE SPRING FOR WOMEN
DIRECTOR

"Vinnie, Just a quick note to say “THANK YOU” for all of your help and professionalism in making our Action Auction event a huge success last night. Everyone had a wonderful time and this morning people were already talking about when the next event would be. It has really done a lot to strengthen our relationship with our wholesaler partners.

I certainly couldn’t have done it without your guidance and constant reassurance that everything was going to be fine – starting with our introductory meeting 3 weeks ago. You went above and beyond the call throughout, particularly with the stress of our merchandise delivery coming in at the eleventh hour and the fact that we ended an hour later than scheduled. (Again, my apologies for both.)

You came through for us big time and we appreciate it. I look forward to working with you in the future and hopefully steering additional business your way. Thanks again!"

Brad Sopko

InBev USA Central Division
Sales Operations Manager

"Vinnie, " Thank You"we just tallied up our numbers and totaled around $96,000.00. This is considerably more than our last auction($68,000),which had many more items. Your suggestions, flexibilty and commentary helped greatly throughout the evening. We heard glowing comments regarding how much folks enjoyed you in particular. You contributed greatly to our event and we couldn't have done it without you. We certainly would recommend you to others needing an auctioneer!!!!! NEW CLIENT April 2008"

Bethany Dehann

Timothy Christian School
Co-Chair

"Hi Vinnie, I just wanted to thank you for being our auctioneer at our annual auction this past weekend. You were amazing! You were able to pull the crowd in, keeping everyone’s attention throughout the entire live auction and during the Fund A Cause. We riased more money in the live auction than we did last year and this was the first year that we did the Fund a Cause, per your suggestion, and we made over $12,000 just in that portion of the event. You brought some really neat, new, fresh and very fun new ideas to our auction this year. This is exactly what we were looking for. I have been hearing from numerous attendees how wonderful and entertaining you were. You made a lot of funny jokes and are excellent at creating bidding wars during the live auction. You made everyone laugh. At the same time, you held yourself in a very professional manner and made sure you thanked everyone that purchased a live item once their bid was final." I AM VERY CONFIDENT IN SAYING THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE BROUGHT IN THE AMOUNT WE DID IF IT WAS NOT FOR YOUR HELP." You were truly beneficial to our action. Thank you very much, Michelle New Client April 2008 "

Michelle Grimm

A Pet Adoption Center
Co-Chair

"Dear Vinnie, Thank you for leading the "Bid for a Cure"workshop, and demonstrating the best practices for holding auctions to our volunteers and staff from across the country. Your Flexibility, Professionalism and the Ability to connect with the audience all contributed to the success of the day. You received rave reviews from attendees, and we look forward to having you serve as our auctioneer at our future events. Again, thank you for lending your time and talents in the fight against Cystic Fibrosis. March 2008"

Carol Perline

Cystic Fibrosis
National Director of Fund-raising & Development

"Vinnie, "Thank You" for the outstanding job you did at our annual auction for what was a difficult year for our school. You were very entertaining and had the entire room engaged in the Live Auction. I would definatley consider your retention for next years event! New Client April 2008"

DeAnne Glomski

Edison Regional Gifted School
Co-Chair

"Dear Vinnie,
After a loss of our original commitment for auctioneering, and only about only ten days to go before our 2nd Pie auction to benefit Senior Services Assoc. of Kane County, I began contacting every local auctioneer listed in the yellow pages. All were sympathetic but already commited to other jobs. It wasn't looking good. But then one of these kind contacts went the extra mile, and said they had an idea of a fellow who he thought might help us out. When you called me to say you would do our event you looked like a major hero to all of us here. With little lead time, two other auctions on the same day and driving a distance to do our event, you were ahead of the time you originally promised, set up promptly, patiently noted all of our rapidly changing item changes on the program and then proceeded to more than triple our revenues from last year by the end of the evening. You kept the crowd motivated and having fun through (alot of pumpkin pies!) and we were extemely pleased with the results. We would recommend you to anyone who wants flexibility, friendliness, professionalism, not to mention INCREASED profits for their next auctioning event. We're giving you plenty of lead time for next year...pencil us in now! Many Thanks Again For the Great Job!"

Judith Smith

Senior Services Assoc. Inc.
Case Manager

"Dinner on the Town was the first major Gala that Naper Settlement has hosted in many years. We wanted the entire evening not only to be perfect, but fun. We have never hired a Professional Auctioneer and vinnie came highly recommended. After propossing our event to him, he graciously agreed tp participate. He took the time to learn about our organization and the auction items unique to our museum and hosted the live auction very professionally-helping us to meet our fundraising goal! WE WOULD RECOMMEND VINNIE TO ANY ORGANIZATION THAT IS LOOKING FOR A TRUE PROFESSIONAL TO BE ON THEIR FUNDRAISING TEAM. NEW CLIENT( AUGUST 2008)"

MICHELLE HARRISON

NAPER SETTLEMENT
DEVELOPMENT EVENT COORDINATOR

"Vinnie, Thank you so much for auctioneering our golf outing. you were unbelievable we rasied triple what we did last year . I can't wait to see you in action at Casablanca."

Bonnie Wolinski

Casa of Lake County
Co-Chair

"Vinnie, I'd like to thank you for your amazing work at each of our four auctions this year. Each salesperson had a fantastic time and are looking forward to next year. You are a key factor in the events success. Thank you very much!"

Paul-John Perciballi

Labatt
District Manager - Chicago

"Vinnie Thank you again for helping us with our annual Kane county dinner/auction in Elgin. By incorporating your innovative"Fund A Cause" into the live auction, we grossed over 10 times the amount from previous years. Thanks again Vinnie and we'll see you next year !"

Beth McClory

Senior Services
Director

"Vinnie, On behalf of my co-chair Sylvia and the staff we are very pleased with the auction in is totality(entertainment value, cash results, ease of working relationships with staff). WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU BACK FOR NEXT YEARS EVENT!!! NEW CLIENT May 2008 "

Richard M. Skolly

Victory Gardens Theatre
Co-Chair

"Vinnie, We were all exceptionally pleased with the time, experience and attention you provided for our annual auction. You were attentive to our pre-auction concerns as well as the actual event night. Thank you again for always be on-hand and approachable when a situation arised. I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU FOR ANY SCHOOLS ANNUAL AUCTION !!!!! NEW CLIENT FEBRUARY 2008"

Kathy Thornton

St.Peter N Paul School
Co-Chair Naperville committee

"Dear Vinnie, On behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis foundation,"THANK YOU"from the botom of our hearts. You were fast, charming and funny. The crowd enjoyed watching you and you made our Live Auction a "HUGE SUCCESS". Your The Best -Thank you ! AMY PATTERSON New Client December 2007 "

Amy Patterson

Cystic Fibrosis

"Vinnie, "Thank You" for all you did to make our event so successful. Everyone really enjoyed you and your team. I look forward to more chances to work with you and I hope you can return for next years event. I WILL RECOMMEND YOU TO ANYONE NEEDING AND AUCTIONEER ! "New client May 2008""

Slyvia Margolies

Victory Gardens Theatre
Co-Chair

"Vinnie, I'd like to thank you for the excellent service you've provided at our auctions over the past several years. You and your team have been nothing but professional, and you've been able to make our events interactive and keep them fun. The feedback from our field has been overwhelmingly positive, and I look forward to working with you again in the future. Thanks for everything!"

Beth Bachman

American Family Insurance
DX-Asst, CHIM