“Cathy MacPherson is a dynamo! She will bring energy, passion, and expertise to your event. Because of Cathy, we achieve goals we could never have dreamed of before. Her support and guidance, from day one, help to shape your event and create an atmosphere of giving. Our board, donors, and staff love her. She has helped evolve our events from dinner and dancing to mission-driven giving.

Amanda Barney (she/her)
Chief of Staff
Thundermist Health Center
Warwick, RI  02886

“Working with Cathy was the best investment our organization made for our gala! She worked with us from the start to ensure a mission focused and impactful event. She really does care about the organizations she works with. Cathy provides hands-on support in creating a great event. She is a donor and mission centered fundraiser who really cares about the donor experience. She brings professionalism and passion to our event. I would recommend Cathy to anyone looking to transform their fundraising events.”

Jessica Null, M.Ed., CFRE
Director of Philanthropy and Communications
Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Rhode Island

Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity has worked with Cathy MacPherson for two years and we are very much looking forward to a third.  She served as emcee and auctioneer for both a live in person gala and fully virtual auction fundraiser, where she was instrumental in generating donations. Through Cathy’s sincere participation, valuable experience, friendly and professional demeanor, and willingness to go above and beyond, our events were a resounding financial success.  Cathy completely understands and appreciates the fundraising needs of nonprofits and the clients they serve. We are more than happy to provide this testimonial, recommending Cathy for your next event.

Jacques Du Preez,
Director of Marketing

Bob Roetger,
Director of Development

Cathy is both an experienced, insightful professional and an engaged, personable colleague. The depth and personalized attention she brought to our team during a chaotic and challenging time was a major stabilizing force, and a large part of our success. In a field where it is far too common for consultants to remain out of touch with the practical reality of a small shop taking on a big project, Cathy was shoulder to shoulder with us every step of the way. I can’t wait to work with her again.

Bobby Pape
Executive Director, Boston Musica Viva and Freelance Non-Profit Project Manager

“Working with Cathy is such a pleasure. There are barely enough words to describe how incredible she is not only as an auctioneer, but a person. Cathy knows what benefit auctions are all about. Trained by Kathy Kingston, a legend in the benefit auction circuit, she understands philanthropy and donor stewardship. She is a professional beyond reproach and has become a friend. Cathy is there from inception to post-event stewardship, she does it all – and does it all well! With Cathy’s help, we doubled our fundraising goal the first time we did a fund-a-need. During our virtual event this year, something we had never done before, we raised one and a half times our goal with her help! Recommending Cathy comes easy and hiring her is a no-brainer!”

Jessica Null
Development Specialist, Thundermist Health Center

What can I say about Cathy? Our partnership began in a period of great uncertainty, but her can-do and positive attitude helped propel us to a successful event. Our event was planned as a live event, but due to the pandemic, we quickly shifted to virtual. Cathy was continually learning best practices, bringing them to our team and helping us implement many of them on the fly. On top of all of that, she’s simply a fun and engaging person to work with. You can’t go wrong with Cathy; she has our highest recommendation!

Nick Adams
Executive Director Cantata Singers

“At Community Giving Tree, our annual fundraising gala had hit a plateau in terms of funds raised each year.  So we decided to hire an auctioneer, and hold both a live auction and a live fund-a-need type auction.  We chose Cathy MacPherson as our auctioneer, and we increased our fundraising by 66%!

We were worried that an auctioneer would pressure our guests, but Cathy was funny, charming and knowledgeable.  In addition, she is a dream to work with; a week or two before the event, we met to go over the auction items and fund-a-need; as a result, she arrived at the event fully prepared regarding both the items and our mission.  During the auction, she is able to adjust on the fly, based on guests’ reactions.  As a result, people really responded to her.  We have used Cathy for 3 fundraisers, and now she is the first person I call when setting the date of the next one; her availability is more important than the venue.”

Christina Eckert, Director of Development, Community Giving Tree

“When it comes to auctioneering, Cathy MacPherson has what it takes to bring in the money! She is charismatic and is able to drive bidding in a fun and exciting manner. I love how she uses the speed of the bid to create an urgency to bid now or lose out! In my specific experience as part of the consultant team for the Milestones MS Gala benefiting the National MS Society, Cathy was impressive and had full support of the team!”

Elizabeth Strawn
Senior Director, Development
National Multiple Sclerosis Society

“Cathy’s professional auctioneer skills bring an uptick in funds raised for our nonprofit organization, each year we hire her. She understands our mission, a key component and building block for raising money beyond our expectations. Her enthusiasm, wit and humor captivate our guests drawing out the best in them! We put our trust in Cathy and it pays off!”

Katherine Bagshaw, Development Committee/Event Planner, Community Giving Tree