Stellar Fundraising Auctions

What Stellar Fundraising Auctions does

Stellar Fundraising Auctions is a privately held, founder-led professional services firm founded in 2014 by Greg Quiroga and headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company provides fundraising auctioneering, pre-event consulting, auction event planning, virtual gala production, catalog copywriting, data services, and spotter services to nonprofit organizations, schools, and foundations. Its core deliverable is on-stage auctioneer performance at galas and fund-a-need appeals, supported by unlimited pre-event consulting and lot-creation guidance as part of a flat-fee professional services model billed on multi-year contracts. The team comprises approximately 13 named members, including auctioneers, support staff, and several Quiroga family members, with no external investors or parent entity.

The firm's go-to-market is sales-led and direct, targeting nonprofit development staff, committees, and boards primarily across Northern California (San Francisco, East Bay, Marin, Sonoma), with some nationwide engagements. It complements direct outreach with content marketing through a blog, the Black Tie and Tales podcast, the Fundraising Auction Minute video series, and co-hosted educational workshops with partners including Beth Sandefur Events, The Lux Productions, and Greater Giving. Since March 2020 the firm has shifted a portion of its delivery to virtual galas, leveraging a partner stack for event management, AV production, and bidding technology. Stellar holds no proprietary software product, AI capability, or disclosed patents; its defensibility rests on auctioneer talent, brand reputation in the Bay Area nonprofit community, and a curated virtual gala partner ecosystem. Revenue, headcount, and contract values are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Stellar Fundraising Auctions

Legal name

Stellar Fundraising Auctions

Website

https://stellarsf.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stellar Fundraising Auctions is a San Francisco Bay Area professional services firm founded in 2014 that provides live and virtual fundraising auctioneers, pre-event consulting, and event planning to nonprofits, schools, and foundations under a flat-fee model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Fundraising Auction Services

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Sports Fundraising & Development Services (Foundations, NIL Collectives Support) (MPAKAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Fundraisers & Charity Events (Gala/Walks excluded) (MPAGAEAK)

Keywords

• Fundraising auction services
• Nonprofit event consulting
• Charity gala auctioneers
• Virtual gala production
• Auction event planning

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Auctioneer Services: Professional fundraising auctioneer performance at galas and events, transforming goodwill into charitable support through engaging live auction presentations
2. Consulting Services: Pre-event consulting with non-profit staff, committee, and board members to help make events successful. Includes unlimited consulting as part of the flat fee model.
3. Auction Event Planning: Event planning services including timeline development, messaging strategy, silent auction strategies, live auction lot creation, and fund-a-need pitch optimization

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Stellar Fundraising Auctions provides professional fundraising auctioneer services, pre-event consulting, auction event planning, virtual gala production, catalog copywriting, data analysis, and spotter services to nonprofit organizations, schools, and foundations. The company engages directly with clients to plan and execute live and silent auctions at galas and fundraising events, with services delivered as a flat-fee professional engagement that includes unlimited consulting.

Product overview

Stellar Fundraising Auctions is a professional services company providing fundraising auctioneer and consulting services to non-profit organizations. Their offering is a service-based model rather than a software product, centered on live auctioneering performances, virtual gala services, event planning consulting, catalog copywriting, data services, and spotter services. They do not operate a software platform or SaaS product with distinct modules or product lines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Black Tie and Tales: Company podcast featuring educational content about fundraising auctions and industry insights.

Products and services

• Auctioneer Performance Professional on-stage fundraising auctioneer services at live galas and events. The Stellar auctioneer is described as an unparalleled performer who transforms goodwill into charitable support through engaging live auction presentations.
• Pre-Event Consulting
• Virtual Gala Services End-to-end virtual gala production and auctioneering services, delivered in partnership with virtual event production and bidding platform partners. Covers online bidding, livestream broadcast, registration, pledging, and payment processing for nonprofit virtual fundraisers.
• Auction Event Planning
• Data Services
• Catalog Copy Writing
• Spotter Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Double the amount of funds raised at virtual galas compared to initial goals
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Beth Sandefur EventscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2020Beth Sandefur is a rockstar virtual event production, management and consulting professional who spearheaded the Bay Area charge into virtual events. Provides Online Bidding Support, Virtual Event Management services including project management, creation of run of show and script documents, consultation on program flow, design guidance for broadcast format, coordination of media (videos, slide decks, graphics), recommendations for pre & post event communication, and rehearsal management.
• The Lux ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2020Tom Durante and his team at The Lux were the first Bay Area AV company to create a virtual gala solution called the Lux Livecast. They have developed in-house best practices for stress-free virtual gala creation and bring creative ideas to every project. Stellar has conducted numerous virtual galas with The Lux including Manhattan Wine Auction, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area, Hamilton Families Virtual Block Party, and more. Offers complete remote production and in-studio packages.
• Greater GivingcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2020Greater Giving provides bidding platform technology essential for virtual galas. Their platform enables easy registration, bidding, pledging and payment processing. The platform allows auctioneers to easily see and react to bidding and pledging, and comes with a suite of screen-ready graphical elements optimized for livestream.
• Sonia Harris Graphic DesignminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 March 2020Sonia Harris has been designing logos, books, websites, posters, infographics, flyers, and advertising campaigns since 1998. She designed Stellar's logo, business cards, and this website. Her fully equipped graphic design studio in Los Angeles is mobile and can work on-site or off.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• OneCause: OneCause (formerly BidPal) provides online fundraising, auction, and event software plus auctioneer services for non-profits—the closest direct competitor to Stellar's combined auctioneer + event services offering.
• Accelevents: Accelevents offers an all-in-one virtual, hybrid, and in-person event platform with silent and live auction functionality for non-profit fundraisers, directly competing with Stellar's virtual gala stack.
• Silent Auction Pro: Silent Auction Pro provides online and mobile bidding platforms plus auction management tools for non-profit galas—a direct alternative to Stellar's silent auction consulting and technology-supported auctions.
• Charity Auctions Today: Charity Auctions Today (formerly Charity Auction Solutions) provides online silent and live auction platforms and consulting for non-profits—a direct substitute for Stellar's event services plus technology stack.
• Winspire: Winspire packages unique auction experiences (travel, sporting events) for non-profit live auctions, competing for the same high-value live auction lot budget that Stellar helps non-profits curate and sell.

Emerging players

• Auctria: Auctria provides online auction and event management software for non-profits and schools—an emerging, lower-cost substitute for parts of Stellar's service offering.
• Qgiv: Qgiv is an online fundraising and event registration platform serving non-profits, schools, and churches—an emerging competitor in the same auction and event niche as Stellar.
• Givebutter: Givebutter is a modern, free-tier online fundraising platform gaining share among small and mid-sized non-profits—an emerging alternative to traditional fundraising auction software + auctioneer services combos like Stellar's.

Broad incumbents

• Bonterra (formerly Greater Giving): Bonterra owns Greater Giving (a documented Stellar partner) and offers a full non-profit technology suite. As a broader incumbent in non-profit tech, it competes and partners with Stellar across the fundraising event stack.
• Classy: Classy is a broader non-profit fundraising and donation platform that handles online giving, peer-to-peer, and events—a broader incumbent whose event module competes with parts of Stellar's offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_3jryJi6vGIIyWKWkvA_xw
• Facebookfacebook.com/stellarfundraisingauctions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stellar-fundraising-auctions

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stellar Fundraising Auctions