How to Conduct a Fundraiser Auction
Looking to stage an auction to raise funds for your favorite charity? You’ll need to decide whether a live or silent auction is in the best interest of your cause. Silent auctions often require additional activities to keep guests happy while bids are being gathered throughout the event, but live auctions are lively enough to stand on their own.
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Things You'll Need
- Venue
- Merchandise
- Tables
- Programs
- Bid sheet
- Credit card machines
- Cash boxes
- Pens/pencils
- Auctioneer
Instructions
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How to Conduct a Silent Auction
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Recruit volunteers to staff the silent auction, gather merchandise, set the auction up, process winning bids, collect funds and close out the event. Ask the committee to pick a venue and have volunteers decide whether having another form of entertainment, such as a disc jockey, on the program while the bidding is underway makes sense.
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Design a program and a bid sheet. Assign tracking numbers to donations as they’re received. Load each item’s description and tracking number into a database and tag the item with that number. Use data collected on the spreadsheet to create the event program. Compile a bid sheet. Include as many lines as the sheet of paper will permit.
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3
Set up the silent auction tables along one wall on the day of the event. Decorate the tables so the bid items are showcased nicely. Tape down a bid sheet in front of each one. Hand write a minimum bid on the top line of each sheet to give bidders a starting point. Stack programs, pencils and pens at various locations.
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4
Monitor tables as the event progresses. Warn bidders when the auction is coming to a close. Once the auction ends, gather volunteers to match donations with successful bidders. Convert display tables to checkout stations equipped with cash boxes and credit card machines. Have winners sign their bid sheet to verify receipt of the item(s).
How to Conduct a Live Auction
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Hire or recruit a professional auctioneer with experience in fundraiser auctions. Find an art dealer or manufacturer willing to provide merchandise at cost. Plan to pay the auctioneer five to 15 percent of the total amount generated from the auction.
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Book a venue. Arrange chairs in rows facing a podium on a riser from which the auctioneer will conduct business. Create a program listing everything up for bid so guests can study it beforehand. Establish low to reasonable minimum bids for every item on the auction block.
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Give active bidders preferred seating at the live auction. Assign volunteers the jobs of matching successful bidders with merchandise, accepting payment, running the event, and closing it down after the last bid is won. Write a check to the auctioneer for his or her services and another to cover the items that had been put up for bid.
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Tips & Warnings
Regardless of the type of auction you conduct, ask your state’s charitable gaming division (see link below) about paying sales tax on auction items. Find out whether you'll need one or more licenses to solicit donations or hold the fundraiser.
