Testimonials
UNICEF USA
Teach For America, DC
UNICEF USA
Harry – we cannot thank you enough for the outstanding job you did with UNICEF Changemaker, it was such a huge success! We greatly appreciated your flexibility and knowledge as our team navigated the virtual event space for the first time. We could not have done it without you! Your energy and enthusiasm are contagious and go a long way in raising these crucial funds for UNICEF’s work.
amfAR
Teach For America, DC
UNICEF USA
Harry is fantastic on stage, and is always great to work with from beginning to end! The audience respond incredibly well to him, helping us to maximize our fundraising!
Teach For America, DC
Teach For America, DC
American Heart Association
It was a pleasure to work with Harry throughout the planning process of our gala. From thoughtful insights on goal achievement to program structure, Harry’s perspective was valuable. He joined us for a rehearsal with our board members in advance of the gala, and then executed his role wonderfully during the event, engaging the event team on stage, as well as our guests in the audience.
American Heart Association
American Heart Association
American Heart Association
During such a challenging time, and despite going virtual, HSO Productions helped us have our best year ever, providing such great advice along the way. On the night itself we actually doubled our auction and significantly increased the individual giving. The feedback was incredible!
USA Ski & Snowboard
American Heart Association
USA Ski & Snowboard
Harry is amazing, his personality is infectious and somehow was able to keep his performance light and engaging despite it only being him and a camera [in the virtual space]. Harry is creative, energetic, flexible in planning, and always up for anything. He engages the crowd and makes everyone feel like they can make a difference raising money.
MTV Staying Alive
American Heart Association
USA Ski & Snowboard
Harry is a vibrant, dynamic and an incredibly skilled auctioneer – there is no doubt that his energetic approach gets the very best out of a room. Confident and funny, our fundraising on the night was a huge success, and Harry played a key role in helping us hit our ambitious targets. Moreover, he worked closely with the whole team on th
Harry is a vibrant, dynamic and an incredibly skilled auctioneer – there is no doubt that his energetic approach gets the very best out of a room. Confident and funny, our fundraising on the night was a huge success, and Harry played a key role in helping us hit our ambitious targets. Moreover, he worked closely with the whole team on the run up to the event, using his extensive experience to advise on fundraising and run of show, in order to maximise our income generation on the night. Thank you, Harry!
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Harry was the magic ingredient our event needed to get to the next level. Because of his time and talent, he doubled our mission drive and live auction. He made that part of the program fun and exciting. This had everyone raising their bidder number so they weren’t left out of the fun. Harry was so engaging after the event people came up
Harry was the magic ingredient our event needed to get to the next level. Because of his time and talent, he doubled our mission drive and live auction. He made that part of the program fun and exciting. This had everyone raising their bidder number so they weren’t left out of the fun. Harry was so engaging after the event people came up to just to ask if he will be back next year! He will, of course, be coming back every year after the outstanding results we had raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He is a true professional who puts in the time before your event to learn as much as possible to truly optimize the time he has on the stage. We are looking forward to a long relationships with Harry. We know our event fundraising goals will only increase with Harry’s insight and participation.
Vail Valley Foundation
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Harry is the consummate professional – delivering not only on the high energy and excitement needed to inspire support for our work, but also on the planning and homework that needs to be done in order for an event to be genuine and authentic. He creates an instant connection with our audience. Thank you Harry!
Lycée Français De New York
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Lycée Français De New York
As we planned our first virtual fundraiser, we were navigating uncharted waters, but with Harry as our MC we were able to not only reach, but surpass our financial goal. During the event, his energy was infectious. The excitement of our audience could be felt through their comments in the chat box - as well as through their donations! Thank you Harry!
Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga
Lycée Français De New York
We were thrilled to partner with Harry to develop our first ever virtual Ticonderoga Ball. Harry provided crucial strategic guidance as we developed our plans and made himself readily available to our team throughout the process. The Ball was a smashing success far exceeding any gross or net goal ever achieved in the past 27 years. Our
We were thrilled to partner with Harry to develop our first ever virtual Ticonderoga Ball. Harry provided crucial strategic guidance as we developed our plans and made himself readily available to our team throughout the process. The Ball was a smashing success far exceeding any gross or net goal ever achieved in the past 27 years. Our attendees loved Harry’s energy, humor, and ability to keep the event fast paced targeted to meeting our event goals. Bravo!
LitWorld
Fort Ticonderoga
Gilda's Club NYC
Everything about working with Harry was seamless and delightful. His performance artfully and authentically balanced our voice with his own disarming wit. Not only did many guests express how Harry amazed and dazzled them, but the numbers spoke loudly. In a season that was tough for many nonprofits, he helped us exceed our goals. The firs
Everything about working with Harry was seamless and delightful. His performance artfully and authentically balanced our voice with his own disarming wit. Not only did many guests express how Harry amazed and dazzled them, but the numbers spoke loudly. In a season that was tough for many nonprofits, he helped us exceed our goals. The first thing we did in planning for next year was to book Harry!
Gilda's Club NYC
Fort Ticonderoga
Gilda's Club NYC
Harry was instrumental in guiding us through our first virtual event, our milestone Gala this past November. We knew from our past experiences with him at our in-person events that he would be so helpful. He is a pro that studies the current landscape and adjusts to maintain his high standards of fundraising and to always be incredibly
Harry was instrumental in guiding us through our first virtual event, our milestone Gala this past November. We knew from our past experiences with him at our in-person events that he would be so helpful. He is a pro that studies the current landscape and adjusts to maintain his high standards of fundraising and to always be incredibly engaging with his audience. Yes, even virtually. With his help we had an outstanding virtual gala!
St George's Society of New York
St George's Society of New York
St George's Society of New York
Harry was an absolute pleasure to work with in organizing our annual British Bash. His enthusiasm for developing creative fundraising strategies, analyzing previous fundraising outcomes, and establishing goals were extremely helpful to our team. The pledge drive was a not only a huge fundraising success, but Harry’s passionately executed
Harry was an absolute pleasure to work with in organizing our annual British Bash. His enthusiasm for developing creative fundraising strategies, analyzing previous fundraising outcomes, and establishing goals were extremely helpful to our team. The pledge drive was a not only a huge fundraising success, but Harry’s passionately executed his role during the event, while engaging our audience in an entertaining way. Thank you, Harry!
Harbor Country Day School
St George's Society of New York
St George's Society of New York
Venturing into the virtual event space for our school's annual Spring Benefit was concerning, to say the least. However, thanks to Harry Santa-Olalla's pre-event consultations and event day energy and charisma, Harbor Country Day School raised a record-breaking amount of funds and created a sense of community we hadn't seen since before
Venturing into the virtual event space for our school's annual Spring Benefit was concerning, to say the least. However, thanks to Harry Santa-Olalla's pre-event consultations and event day energy and charisma, Harbor Country Day School raised a record-breaking amount of funds and created a sense of community we hadn't seen since before COVID became a household word! Thanks Harry for making our Virtual 'Mask'erade a smashing success!
Urban Arts Partnership
St George's Society of New York
Urban Arts Partnership
We would not have put on a virtual event this year unless we knew Harry was going to be there to guide us through the process. Harry was essential to our team's success. Leading up to the event Harry provided us with real-time, and ever-evolving data to inform our decision-making, built trust with our Board, and on the night, Harry exceed
We would not have put on a virtual event this year unless we knew Harry was going to be there to guide us through the process. Harry was essential to our team's success. Leading up to the event Harry provided us with real-time, and ever-evolving data to inform our decision-making, built trust with our Board, and on the night, Harry exceeded expectations with humor, sincerity, quick-wittedness, and grace. All of our donors loved the tenor he brought to the evening and he turned a potentially lackluster event into one that was dynamic and exciting, where you got the feeling that anything could happen.
Gibney Dance
Anthony Quinn Foundation
Urban Arts Partnership
Harry was a valuable asset throughout the entire process. He was personally invested in our success and that came through both in determining our fundraising strategy and in the execution of the pledge drive on the night of the event. He brought a fantastic energy to our Benefit program that the audience loved! They were completely engaged, leading us to surpass our goal!
Anthony Quinn Foundation
Anthony Quinn Foundation
Anthony Quinn Foundation
Harry thank you again for a job well done. Congratulations! You met all of the criteria and were outstanding and professional from beginning to end. It was a very special night for all of us. I hope we can work together again in the future.
UsAgainstAlzheimer's
Anthony Quinn Foundation
Anthony Quinn Foundation
Thanks to Harry, our organization raised $100,000 more than our previous year onsite at our gala! He took the time to understand our organization and our mission and engaged the audience - making it virtually impossible for them to say no to donating. The pledge drive portion of the evening was short, fun and incredibly effective helping
Thanks to Harry, our organization raised $100,000 more than our previous year onsite at our gala! He took the time to understand our organization and our mission and engaged the audience - making it virtually impossible for them to say no to donating. The pledge drive portion of the evening was short, fun and incredibly effective helping us reach our overall gala fundraising goal. Working with Harry was easy and enjoyable and we would highly recommend him!
The Princess Grace Foundation
The Princess Grace Foundation
The Princess Grace Foundation
Thank you [Harry] so much for the tremendous success we had - it was a record breaking night of fundraising! We look forward to future collaborations - in the meantime I wanted to send a thank you for your wonderful efforts to help make the princess grace gala a success!
Ubuntu Pathways
The Princess Grace Foundation
The Princess Grace Foundation
Harry was an absolute pleasure to work with again this year. He brought such energy to our event, understood our goals, and engaged with everyone in the room with humor and charm. Harry clearly has a knack for fundraising and knows how to excite people about giving. He set the right tone with our guests and helped us create an entertainin
Harry was an absolute pleasure to work with again this year. He brought such energy to our event, understood our goals, and engaged with everyone in the room with humor and charm. Harry clearly has a knack for fundraising and knows how to excite people about giving. He set the right tone with our guests and helped us create an entertaining and successful live auction and pledge moment. Thank you SO much Harry!
Friends of Hudson River Park
The Princess Grace Foundation
Friends of Hudson River Park
Working with Harry really enhanced our gala and we were thrilled with the overall experience! Having Harry on-stage at our event really engaged our audience and helped us double our pledges in the room (compared to the previous year). He was a fantastic fit with our crowd!
Young People's Chorus
Young People's Chorus
Friends of Hudson River Park
We had the pleasure of working with Harry at our Annual Benefit Dinner and Gala. The strategy meetings with had before our event really helped us to evaluate our past auctions, consider our target audience, and set goals for the evening. Harry most certainly helped move things along, and we not only achieved our fundraising goal for the e
We had the pleasure of working with Harry at our Annual Benefit Dinner and Gala. The strategy meetings with had before our event really helped us to evaluate our past auctions, consider our target audience, and set goals for the evening. Harry most certainly helped move things along, and we not only achieved our fundraising goal for the evening, we reached a higher mark! Our event was a huge success and our guests most certainly enjoyed the interaction.
myFace
Young People's Chorus
Tikva Children's Home
Working with Harry was an exceptional experience. He expertly works a crowd and his fundraising abilities are bolstered by his intimate knowledge of auctions and pledge drives. We exceeded our goal, and he utterly charmed the audience. Thank you, Harry!
Tikva Children's Home
Young People's Chorus
Tikva Children's Home
Harry's performance eased the crowd and readied them for a wonderful night ahead. In particular, the pledge drive benefited hugely from his experience and charm. I felt very comfortable that the event would be handled professionally - and it was. The evening was a great success!
The Joyce Theater Foundation
The Joyce Theater Foundation
The Joyce Theater Foundation
Harry was a true delight to work with leading up to the event and the event itself was a huge success due to his incomparable ability to raise money. Anyone who is a fundraiser will be impressed by his demeanor, professionalism, and charm.
Signature Theatre
The Joyce Theater Foundation
The Joyce Theater Foundation
Harry was a Godsend for our gala. We made a late-game call to change the paddle-raise portion of our evening and Harry was able to come in and put together a fantastic paddle raise in just a few weeks. He raised twice as much as last year’s event and it was the most successful paddle raise in our Gala history. He gave us effective advice
Harry was a Godsend for our gala. We made a late-game call to change the paddle-raise portion of our evening and Harry was able to come in and put together a fantastic paddle raise in just a few weeks. He raised twice as much as last year’s event and it was the most successful paddle raise in our Gala history. He gave us effective advice in an efficient manner and was able to nimbly work within our institution's specific parameters. Harry was very responsive throughout the process which was key given our short timeline. Gala leadership, Board members, and staff all thought Harry's night-of performance was excellent and unanimously decided we had to have him back next year. A true professional, charismatic, responsive, and EFFECTIVE!
BC Women's Health Foundation
The Joyce Theater Foundation
Boys & Girls Club, Martin County
Harry was in one word - electric! He captivated and engaged our GLOW Gala guests with charisma, humour, and infectious energy. We received feedback from so many guests commending Harry’s style of auctioneering and the freshness he brought to this year’s gala.
In the weeks leading up to GLOW, Harry drew from his extensive experience to shar
Harry was in one word - electric! He captivated and engaged our GLOW Gala guests with charisma, humour, and infectious energy. We received feedback from so many guests commending Harry’s style of auctioneering and the freshness he brought to this year’s gala.
In the weeks leading up to GLOW, Harry drew from his extensive experience to share strategies to maximize fundraising potential. As a result, this year we raised an incredible $1.1 million dollars to help expand BC Women’s Hospital’s Provincial Milk Bank – a sum that exceeded our expectations. We are grateful to have worked with Harry and look forward to collaborating with him again next time!
Boys & Girls Club, Martin County
Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra
Boys & Girls Club, Martin County
Harry was a STAR at our Annual Benefit. He was charming, energetic and engaging. Our guests loved him, and showed their support for the organization and Harry with their incredible generosity.
Thank you Harry for making our record breaking event possible!
Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra
Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra
Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra
Harry's poise, style, enthusiasm, and quick wit helped the Philharmonic far surpass its gala fundraising goals and expectations over three consecutive annual events. He skillfully and tastefully entertained our donors, encouraging 100% attendee participation.
Harry was also an integral partner in planning the 2020 hybrid gala, where atten
Harry's poise, style, enthusiasm, and quick wit helped the Philharmonic far surpass its gala fundraising goals and expectations over three consecutive annual events. He skillfully and tastefully entertained our donors, encouraging 100% attendee participation.
Harry was also an integral partner in planning the 2020 hybrid gala, where attendees were both in-person at the concert hall, as well as streaming live from the safety of their home. He helped ensure our messaging was strategic, timely, building momentum and keeping the excitement at a high level. Harry was able to efficiently, seamlessly, and simultaneously connect with a virtual and in-person audience – a real challenge when you don’t have the typical feedback from a live audience – crucial to achieving our event revenue goal!
Harry is a real treasure and clearly has a passion for supporting organizations that are so vital in our community. We look forward to partnering with him again for our spring gala.
Pro Bono Partnership
Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra
Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra
Despite all of the unknowns this year brought, having Harry on board gave us confidence that we would be able to fundraise successfully in a virtual environment. Harry assisted us in the planning and execution of the event, especially the fundraising moments, which were engaging and impactful. His segments gave our virtual gala a live e
Despite all of the unknowns this year brought, having Harry on board gave us confidence that we would be able to fundraise successfully in a virtual environment. Harry assisted us in the planning and execution of the event, especially the fundraising moments, which were engaging and impactful. His segments gave our virtual gala a live element that contributed to what many of our guests told us was the best virtual event they attended this year!
New York Hall of Science
New York Hall of Science
New York Hall of Science
I highly recommend Harry for any fundraising event. Prior to hiring Harry, I did plenty of due diligence. Fortunately, our board approved and ended up loving Harry, as did the clients that I spoke with prior to hiring him. Harry brings a perfect blend of professionalism, wit, humor and competence to a very busy Manhattan crowd.
But most i
I highly recommend Harry for any fundraising event. Prior to hiring Harry, I did plenty of due diligence. Fortunately, our board approved and ended up loving Harry, as did the clients that I spoke with prior to hiring him. Harry brings a perfect blend of professionalism, wit, humor and competence to a very busy Manhattan crowd.
But most importantly, Harry delivers. He takes the time to get to know the organization months prior to the event in order to deliver the best possible results that are optimistic yet realistic. He will not disappoint you, your board or your audience.
Education Through Music
New York Hall of Science
New York Hall of Science
Working with Harry was an absolute pleasure. Not only did he offer sound advice for our annual gala, but he was genuinely excited about our mission and took the time to understand our organization. He made excellent suggestions for how we could improve fundraising at the event and boost donor participation. Our pledge drive at the event
Working with Harry was an absolute pleasure. Not only did he offer sound advice for our annual gala, but he was genuinely excited about our mission and took the time to understand our organization. He made excellent suggestions for how we could improve fundraising at the event and boost donor participation. Our pledge drive at the event was enormously successful, and we owe so much of that to Harry. His charismatic energy kept our audience engaged, and I had attendees coming up to me after the event commenting on how great the pledge drive was. I'm so glad we chose to work with Harry, as it really did make a difference in our fundraising the night of.
ALS Association
New York Hall of Science
North Shore Animal League America
Harry was an absolute pleasure to work within the weeks leading up to, and including our event. He provided key recommendations to maximize our fundraising capabilities and commanded the stage in a charming and professional manner to encourage our guests to give. We were thrilled to surpass our fundraising target!
North Shore Animal League America
North Shore Animal League America
North Shore Animal League America
We were thrilled with Harry's ability to raise significant funds during our annual Gala’s program (double over the previous year!). Harry is able to read the crowd and ask for donations in a way that is energetic, heartfelt, witty, and professional without being pushy. His expertise and suggestions changed the way we look at our evenin
We were thrilled with Harry's ability to raise significant funds during our annual Gala’s program (double over the previous year!). Harry is able to read the crowd and ask for donations in a way that is energetic, heartfelt, witty, and professional without being pushy. His expertise and suggestions changed the way we look at our evening program timeline, making the ask more meaningful to our donors. We were so pleased with his engagement with the audience and his results, that we will be booking him for next year’s Gala!
The Gateway School
North Shore Animal League America
Physicians for Human Rights
Our guests raved about him! He instinctively knew how to read our crowd and was instrumental in helping our school raise over 25% in overall revenue from our event over the prior year. I have been fundraising for NYC independent schools for the past 17 years and have worked on numerous Galas. This was the first year we worked with Harry,
Our guests raved about him! He instinctively knew how to read our crowd and was instrumental in helping our school raise over 25% in overall revenue from our event over the prior year. I have been fundraising for NYC independent schools for the past 17 years and have worked on numerous Galas. This was the first year we worked with Harry, and he proved to be an incredibly astute, sharp, witty, and engaging auctioneer. Thank you, Harry.
Physicians for Human Rights
North Shore Animal League America
Physicians for Human Rights
Harry single-handedly transformed our annual gala. It was incredible how many people came over to me during the event to rave about Harry and how entertaining the auction was (which is something in my almost 15-year history of galas I have never heard.) Even long-term donors, who are normally shy and reluctant to participate publicly, wer
Harry single-handedly transformed our annual gala. It was incredible how many people came over to me during the event to rave about Harry and how entertaining the auction was (which is something in my almost 15-year history of galas I have never heard.) Even long-term donors, who are normally shy and reluctant to participate publicly, were waving their hands in the air bidding more than they ever had in the past because they were swept away with the fun of giving. It was amazing to watch. We are definitely using Harry again next year and will actually select a date for our gala to make sure he can participate.
Right To Play
Justice & Mercy Legal Aid Center
Justice & Mercy Legal Aid Center
Harry’s experience and expertise helped us re-imagine our program for the evening; he knew exactly the best time to start the pledge drive and his edits really paid off! Even during the event, many of our guests complimented us on finding such a dynamic auctioneer who helped us raise those important dollars! One guest even said he was so
Harry’s experience and expertise helped us re-imagine our program for the evening; he knew exactly the best time to start the pledge drive and his edits really paid off! Even during the event, many of our guests complimented us on finding such a dynamic auctioneer who helped us raise those important dollars! One guest even said he was so charming that he never felt like he was being pressured into giving money. We could not have done this without you, Harry!
Justice & Mercy Legal Aid Center
Justice & Mercy Legal Aid Center
Justice & Mercy Legal Aid Center
Even virtually, Harry captures the audience and makes them WANT to give! Those who were skeptical about our virtual event loved watching because Harry made it fun and exciting!Harry made also made a huge impact with the guidance and advice he gave before the event which lead to success. He met with, and encouraged our Board and event comm
Even virtually, Harry captures the audience and makes them WANT to give! Those who were skeptical about our virtual event loved watching because Harry made it fun and exciting!Harry made also made a huge impact with the guidance and advice he gave before the event which lead to success. He met with, and encouraged our Board and event committee to set goals and gave tips on how to increase attendance. He walked our team through action items and pushed us to do the effective preparation to make our event beyond successful.
City Year, New York
City Year, New York
City Year, New York
Harry was an exceptional speaker at City Year’s Gala at The New York Public Library this year! His enthusiasm and humor leading our Night of Ask, was enjoyed by over 400 of our guests and staff. It is no easy task asking for money, but Harry was professional and charming and motivated everyone in the room to give to our cause. As a res
Harry was an exceptional speaker at City Year’s Gala at The New York Public Library this year! His enthusiasm and humor leading our Night of Ask, was enjoyed by over 400 of our guests and staff. It is no easy task asking for money, but Harry was professional and charming and motivated everyone in the room to give to our cause. As a result, we more than surpassed our goal for the evening, we had our guests leaving the event smiling and wanting to learn more about City Year!
Her Justice
City Year, New York
City Year, New York
Harry handled a large, difficult room – nearly 1,000 guests – with confidence and humor. He helped us identify exactly what was needed to make our paddle-raise succeed, and brought it in 25% over goal. I can’t imagine doing this again without him!