Our Story, Our Vision
President and Product Director
Becca Wallace | President | Illinois
I never set out to run a software company, I was a volunteer trying to fix a chaotic silent auction at my kids' school.
That experience led me to Silent Auction Pro, where I started as an event coach, became our UI/UX specialist, and now serve as President and Product Director. I’ve worn almost every hat here, but my focus has always been the same: make fundraising easier for the people doing the hard work.
I lead the design and development of our platform, driven by customer feedback and a deep belief in practical, human-centred design. I’ve reimagined our entire interface, overhauled navigation, created checklists, cheat sheets, training videos—you name it. If it helps a busy organizer breathe easier on event night, I’m all in.
Outside of work, I’m a proud mom, band booster, and parish volunteer. Whether I’m wrangling marching band logistics or serving at church, I’m happiest when helping people feel supported.
Silent Auction Pro is now proudly woman-owned, and I’m honored to carry forward the legacy of our founder, Jim. I’m here to keep improving what we offer, so every client can raise more, run better events, and feel good doing it.
Connect with Becca
Sales
Christina Cromer | Regional Sales Manager - Western U.S. | Washington
In 2018 the Willow Center, an organization that I volunteered for, reached out a few weeks before their Event and asked me to help find Auction Software with invoicing capability.
I reached out to four auction software companies. I either had to leave a voicemail, fill out a form, or send an email requesting information. But then, on the first call to Silent Auction Pro™, an Event Coach (Becca), actually answered the phone to my surprise, and it was a Saturday! Even though I had a background in computers, I have never used any type of online auction software.
Becca helped explain what auction software can do, what features I might need, and what Silent Auction Pro could offer. Silent Auction Pro's pricing was very straightforward, and Becca explained that even though it was quite user-friendly, I'd have an Event Coach guiding me through the process. With my event coming up very quickly, Becca let me know it would be quite the challenge to get the auction running in time, and even suggested I perhaps look for a simpler process. But an online auction was the right path for Willow Center and the board decided, with only 8 days to spare, that Silent Auction Pro was the platform for them.
The owner of Silent Auction Pro, Jim Donnell, had reached out to me and cautioned me as he was concerned that I had such a short window that perhaps I should consider other solutions. I told him I was going to use Silent Auction Pro, and I would make it work. The entire team at Silent Auction Pro was accommodating and stepped up to the plate to help me get the auction and tickets ready to go just 8 days before the event was to take place. I was so impressed with how the Support team not only helped me, but the way they helped each other make all customers happy.
As it turns out, Silent Auction Pro was looking for another Coach, and Becca asked if I was interested in a job, as they were impressed with my determination and deployment of Silent Auction Pro. I came on board as an Event Coach two weeks later. Today, I enjoy coaching Silent Auction Pro customers and hearing the pride in their voices when they exceed their goals.
Connect with Christina
Misty Carlisle | Regional Sales Manager - Eastern U.S. | Kentucky
For several years I was the chairperson for an annual fundraiser that was held for the small Catholic school that my children attended. Over the years our event grew in size and we needed to find a software to help us streamline the processes. From the very beginning, the unwavering support and the willingness to listen and implement suggestions made Silent Auction Pro the best choice for our group. We were so proud to see our proceeds increase from year to year and the features of the software factored into every dollar that we earned. We had more time to plan our event and solicit auction items because the administrative side of things was much easier for us.
I was so excited to be given the opportunity in 2019 to join the team and share all of the benefits that I have experienced using the software. Being an event planner with a restaurant background, I feel comfortable helping others plan and sharing my ideas and past experiences with our customers. Wearing the sales hat now for the company, I love when a customer asks me for a reference and I can provide over 10 years of positive feedback. What I enjoy the most is letting them know that we are on their side. Each and every member of our team has been in their shoes and we want nothing more than to help them succeed. It is amazing to me how much the software has changed over the years but one thing has remained the same, the desire of each and every one of us to make sure that our customers feel supported and prepared for their big day!
Connect with Misty
Marketing | Social Media | Customer Outreach
Tricia Harris | Customer Engagement & Retention and Marketing Manager | Mississippi
Since 2008, I’ve proudly dedicated my career to the nonprofit sector—helping organizations achieve their fundraising goals through strategic planning, cost-effective solutions, and a deep passion for making a difference. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with inspiring groups such as the Girl Scouts of Greater Mississippi, American Cancer Society, Junior League of Jackson, Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi, and many others.
As a former Advancement Director at a Catholic school, I understand firsthand what drives organizational success—especially when every dollar counts. My background in event planning, fundraising, and volunteer management allows me to bring creative, actionable ideas to every organization I work with.
My guiding principle is simple: maximize profits and minimize costs without compromising impact. I’ve earned a reputation for being resourceful, inventive, and wholeheartedly committed to helping nonprofits thrive—even with limited resources.
What truly fuels me is Event Day—the buzz, the energy, the satisfaction of seeing everything come together. I believe planning should be both effective and enjoyable, and I bring that positive spirit to every project.
In 2021, I was honored to join the Silent Auction Pro team after being a loyal customer since 2017. It’s been the perfect opportunity to merge my nonprofit expertise with a powerful auction software platform—helping even more organizations raise more, have fun doing it, and ultimately, make a bigger impact.
Connect with Tricia
Customer Service and Support
Amy Greer | Customer Support | California
Annually our local chapter of National Charity League would put on a large fashion show fundraiser to raise chapter money and then donate proceeds to a local philanthropy. I had decided we needed to move into the 21st century and streamline things with ticketing, auctions, and donations and went on the hunt for an auction/event management platform. After much research, I decided on Silent Auction Pro™ and we started planning our March 2020 event... then Covid hit and our event was canceled two weeks out! We were devastated, but Silent Auction Pro staff was unbelievably helpful and worked hand-in-hand with us to pivot to a hybrid event once things began to open. I was so impressed by the personal attention we got from our Event Coach (Christina) with training and coordinating with me, and the owner, Jim's, willingness to create and innovate as the auction space was changing before our eyes. Our event was finally held after many months of reimagining it several times, and it was a huge success! We couldn't have done it without the personal attention of the Silent Auction Pro team!
Several years later, I heard Silent Auction Pro was hiring and because I was so impressed with the team, their customer service, and getting to learn the software, I joined as a part-time support staff. Today, I enjoy supporting evenings and weekends, and helping others learn how to use the software to create successful fundraising events!
Lisa Hayes | Customer Support | California
In the Spring of 2021, my daughter and I were members of our local National Charity League chapter. Each year the junior class embarks on a fundraising event to benefit a local philanthropy. We hold a fashion show that includes both a silent and live auction as well as wine pulls, raffle baskets and vendors. Our previous chairpersons had started using Silent Auction Pro to convert from paper bidding to online bidding during covid and were impressed with the ease of the software. When it was my turn to work on the committee, I was assigned the task of adding donations for both our silent and live auctions as well as items included in our raffle baskets and converting them into auction items. For a stay at home mom , I found the software to be user friendly and stress free and I enjoyed the ease of uploading straight from my mobile device. I was impressed with how easy the software could be used by anyone and how smoothly it made our entire event run. We proudly raised a significant amount of money for a charity close to my heart with the help of Silent Auction Pro.
After our event, Jim sent me an email looking for more west coast employees and I proudly became a part of this close-knit team along with my friend and fellow NCL member, Amy. I truly enjoy helping our customers use and navigate our software, and it gives me so much joy knowing that they are making philanthropic impacts in their own communities.
Jim's Legacy - Our Founder
Jim Donnell | Founder
Jim Donnell founded Silent Auction Pro in 2005, and spent the next almost 20 years improving it for the benefit of his customers. In November 2024, we lost Jim to cancer. We now proudly carry on his legacy and honor his passion to make auction events easier and better for everyone. Here, we share Jim's story...
In 2000 my wife and I moved to Tahoe City to escape the rat race of Silicon Valley. I was working for a small but growing company writing code for their website and had the opportunity to telecommute. We were new to the community so I decided to join the Kiwanis Club of Tahoe City to help give back and meet people.
The Kiwanis Club had been holding a small silent auction based fundraiser for a few years and was using spread sheets and then a Microsoft Access based database to help track all the donations they were getting. I volunteered and worked the event for a couple years. The events were successful but the check-in and check-out process was a nightmare. With my background in software development and this relatively new thing called the Internet, I knew I could make it better.
I wrote the first version of what is now Silent Auction Pro in 2003 for my club using ''Cold Fusion''. That was essentially the birth of Silent Auction Pro. For that I received a special recognition award from the club and ultimately Kiwanian of the year.
I continued to improve it every year and added new features and functionality. The issues with check-in and check-out virtually disappeared and attendees started noticing how well our events were running. People started asking if they could use the software for their own fund raising events. I had only written the software to support one organization so there really wasn't any way to let others use it.
In 2005, I completely rewrote the system using PHP and MySQL and released it as ''Silent Auction Pro'' and offered it to other charitable organizations. The word spread about how well it streamlined the whole fundraising process and our business was born. While we don't limit the use of our system to charitable organizations, 98% of our customers are raising money to help others.
I love that we are helping great organizations do amazing things for their communities. I also love that virtually everyone on our team - most importantly our sales and support staff - were and are still all customers of Silent Auction Pro. We've all walked in the shoes of our customers, we understand the challenges that are faced by small and large organizations in running fund-raising events. Our solution has grown over 20 years to include virtually every option or feature an organization would need to run their event. From including an embedded live stream for your fund-a-need to auctioning off a live goat (that's another story...) we have it covered.