Silent Auction Ideas

I think though you have to try to keep it evenly sized with a sprinkling of big baskets and special items, the smaller items seemed to be getting the most attention this year so, a little bit of everything is good.

Don't forget POWER TOOLS!

No, really! I went to one and a local hardware store had donated a $600 table saw. Mebbe someplace like Home Depot or Lowe's would consider donating something...

Oh yes, and what about those big local corporations.....sponsor some of the printing, get tickets for employees in exchange? Reserved tables, etc. always good to make the big guys feel bigger...so, when you contact sporting arenas and get names...keep going further, offer them options to donate, you never know what will tickle each ones fancy.

Quinn is right again. Put out things that appeal to a wide range of pocketbooks.

Yes, dont forget about those gentlemen. Golf is a big hitter.

Power tools, indeed! I was thinking the gadgetry + sports paraphernalia would cover guys, but that's an awesome idea.

Agreed about a range of items, too.

Lemme ask you guys HOW much stuff I should be shooting for. There will be probably more like 150 people there. I don't really want to have a lot of stuff left over. (That is presumably the appeal of these auctions, in part, the idea of getting something fabulous for 1/10th of what its worth just because nobody else happens to have bid on it.) Right now I'm going for... as much as I can get. But I see some of these run-downs of other auctions and that's way beyond what I expect to get. How big were they?

(Btw the silent auction is not the main event... we will be having entertainment, hors d'oeurves, etc.)

Love those power tools.

I've donated items that I had around the house which have never been opened or used. For instance, once a hand made sweater that I bought on impulse and never wore. Still had the tags on it. Maybe your members have stuff like that. Clothes, appliances, CD's, books, toys....

And can y'all give me some how-tos? I have NO problem with the organizations that have specific channels for this sort of thing... love the sports teams, for example. (Go to their site, look around, get just the contact info you need.) But I just haven't been having much luck at the cold call/ contact level. People are friendly enough, but kinda nod and smile and wait until I'm finished. Any tips?

fealoloa, yeah, that's a good point about donations from committee members. I have several things along those lines, like a glass chess set, still in the box, that we were given as a gift. (At the time we had a one-year-old, but things aren't much better now that we have a three-year-old. And we have another chess set.)

I don't want it to get too crappy and yard-saley, though. (Have explained all of this, will see what people comeup with.)

The one I went to had about 300 people at it. They auctioned off a LOT of stuff but after a while people started just getting tired of it (it went on for about 3 hours). They did auction off just about everything though - Dinner gift certifs, car wash coupons, etc. They'd auction off a big ticket item and then do 3 or 4 little ($15-$20) items.

But, get as many small-ticket items as you can. You can auction off the best of them and you can always do a free raffle with the others. That way even if someone doesn't buy an auction item they still may walk away with something.

As far as your numbers of persons going, if you do get some corporate sponsorship you should send them tickets to use if they'd like, you sell tickets, you give them away, it usually ends up at about 300-500 and you hope 250 show up. With 250 you have about 175-200 items, not too many, not too few. Sometimes you will end up with items that dont go at all but, thats unusual as when the night goes on, people become more generous...wine and food and hand shaking and all that.
What are you looking for specifically for contact...corporate or small business...small business is the toughest and easier to get to once you have corporate sponsors and more ideas as to what hot items might be up for grabs, having a pair of tickets to the event in trade also helps. Corporate depends on the company, and sometimes take a while to build up a relationship with but, the more information on what you are offering and with who else, with options for a flat out donation, an auction item or sponsorship and a range of sponsoship ideas is good to get across right off the bat.

Dont forget to invite your local officials as well

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too... the auction is a fundraiser for an event in May. So was thinking of having door prizes/ raffles for whatever is left over in May.

Anybody want to guess at a good attendee/ stuff ratio? Like if there are 150 people, there should be ___ items, 1/4 of 'em pretty cheap, 1/2 of 'em modestly priced, 1/4 of 'em expensive?

Oooh, missed quinn there with some good stuff, thanks.

Basically, the bigger they are, the more comfortable I am. I have no problem asking T-Mobile for a Sidekick, or Sprint for a $10,000 sponsorship, but I have a harder time asking the local jeweler if they could donate something.

Beauty Parlors: Wash and Set, Styling, Fingernails, Toenails.

Driveway shoveling.

Mystery boxes, guaranteed to be worth at least $X. Make them easy to open and put a cheapo practical joke on top.

Lessons in signing.

Carpet shampooing.

Thats where a multitude of offerings comes in handy, as well as bribes
Cash, tickets, small donation, item donation, sponsorship levels....having a wide array makes the decision maker think a bit...always helps, eh, couldnt hurt.

How's it going, sozobe?

Be careful that you've got most of the people there before the first part of the silent auction starts. A lot of people come late and you don't want them "missing out" on some of the stuff.

A couple of cute baskets that went over well that I remember -- Bird Feeding baskets with different kinds of food, feeders and maybe a bird ID book. ANother one that was really popular with young kids was a S'mores basket -- chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows, sticks, checkered napkins.
Presentation is everything, 'course.

A puppy is usually a huge crowd pleaser. Kind of sad, but there you go.

What about hearing aids or hearing checks from the local pharmacy and/or specialists?

You can sometimes ask at big stores if they have any slightly damaged or out of the box merchandise that they'd donate. Often, the damage can be cleaned up or fixed easily.

Good Luck.

Hi, sozobe...
I am certainly not knocking your effort, but can I offer a few comments?
I have certainly been on the business-donor end of the contributor list. 3 or 4 a week, so donor fatigue does set in (plus we get some groups that want stuff donated. Groups that could buy from us every once in a awhile; but they don't. They buy everything via mailorder).
Soz, I've also been on the "attendee" list at many of these events. I won't say I was dragged, kicking and screaming from my house, to these affairs once or twice a week but...
Anyway, it seems to me that the 150-250 folks who are going to come to your event will have already decided how much money they are going to be contributing to your worthy cause. The silent auction is so very overdone.
I apologize for making this post too much longer, but: when I was about 12 my dad retained a very, very large man to dig fence post holes. He and I became friends and our family was invited to join his family at a fund-raiser at his church. No boring silent auction. Rather, the black preacher hosted a spelling bee with me, my mom, two members of the congregataion and (to his great credit) the sheriff.
I would suggest that you try to think outside the box in coming up with an event. And, whatever you do, when you have finished toting up the results, take the time to thank the donors again.
Good luck.

Nice idea, RJB. I think Sozobe is pretty much locked into the Silent Auction thing this go round though. But how true to thank the donors again. I've become friends with the people who run the Wild Bird Nature Company that provided me with so many feeders and free food. I'm in there practically every week, a loyal customer. I don't know how you can do this all yourself, Sozobe. When I was participating in stuff like this, everybody in the group was SUPPOSED to bring at least two donations to the auction.

Thought of another thing, btw. Musical instruments. Somebody gave their old flute and it went for a really good price.