Silent auctions can be a lucrative way for your charitable organization to earn money. Silent auctions offer a win/win for everyone involved. Those who donate items to auction get a tax write off; those who bid for auctioned items usually receive those items at a great discount. All the while, your charity earns money to support its programs or endeavors.
Instructions
1. Find donors. You’ll need a good number of businesses in your community to donate a service or item to your auction. Request the items by calling the businesses in your community and asking to speak with the owner or manager. Make sure you have a script to follow that gives all the information- what your charity is, that it is a recognized charity, what the proceeds will be used for. You should also work in how it will benefit the company to donate. Let the company know how many attendees you expect and then offer to hang a banner of theirs on a table or have their logo printed in your event booklet.
2. Set terms for the auction. You will need to decide if you want to create a starting bid for each of the items, or if you will let the bidders start wherever they see fit. You can put spreadsheets on a table in front of the item or service they are bidding for and post the starting bid. You also need to decide what bid increments to allow for increases. Some charities like to make their silent auctions private so bidders can not see each other’s bids. You can do this by putting a box in front of the item or service and many cut pieces of paper for bids to be written on.
3. Prepare advertising. You must advertise your event. Many of your donors will want to know what advertising you have planned before they agree to donate anything. TV and radio ads are fantastic, but can be pricey. Fliers, direct mail, newspaper ads and local magazine ads can be more affordable. You may even get some of the periodicals to donate advertising space to you.
4. Prepare materials. You need to design and print event booklets that outline the timeline of events and the items up for auction, prepare and print the bid sheets, and prepare the cards that explain what each of the items for auction include and how much they normally retail for.
5. Announce winners. You can announce winners during the event if you end the bidding early enough. You can also announce winners via mail or telephone at a later time. Make sure it is clearly stated in all your materials how and when you will announce winners.
