How Much Should You Start a Silent Auction Item for?
Silent auctions can be good ways to generate funds for a nonprofit organization. Everything from rental space and food to entertainment and auction items can be donated for the event, meaning more proceeds to directly benefit an agency and its cause. A knowledgeable planner can put together a successful auction that can grow in future years.
Identification
A silent auction is a fund-raising technique often used by nonprofit organizations. Items are displayed on tables along with brief descriptions and bidding sheets. A minimum bid typically is listed, as are guidelines for increasing the bid. A silent auction differs from the more common English auction, in which an item is put on display and bidders openly vie for it.
Determining the Price of an Item
One way to determine the price of an auction item is to simply ask. When you solicit donations, create a donor form with a section where donors can indicate the value of their items. If no value is known, use eBay and other online-auction websites to ascertain the item's worth. Start the bidding at about 40 percent of the item's retail price, using a round number.
Bidding Guidelines
Be sure to guide your bidding with incremental prices. Smaller, less expensive items can have bid increases of $1 or $5, while larger ones should have larger increments. You also can group smaller related items together in the hope that they will be more attractive as a package and bring a higher price.
Acquiring Items
Corporations are excellent sources for silent auction items. Airline and cruise tickets, wine and sports memorabilia, clothes and gift baskets are routinely donated to nonprofits with a worthy cause. A visit to a company's website often has guidelines for requesting a donation. If there are none, a persuasive letter on an organization's letterhead is often enough. Start early, though, because many companyies require notice months in advance.
Tips
Often, silent auction attendees will have bags or other items in their hands. Make bidding easy on them by taping the bid sheet to the table, attaching a pen nearby and assuring that these items can't slide.
Consider adding a buy-it-now option, in case a bidder is particularly drawn to an item and is willing to pay the retail price to win it immediately.
If your event is fortunate enough to have an emcee, give him talking points on each item to generate interest and higher bids.
