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Silent auctions serve as an effective fundraising tool for community
groups. The Brushy Fork team from Floyd County, Kentucky, organized
a silent auction to help raise money for their computer gift
project. The Technology Gift Incentive Foundation Team (TGIFT)
donates a computer annually to a deserving student from Floyd
County. Below are some planning steps and issues team members
considered as they organized their silent auction.
Before the auction
1. Schedule your silent auction in conjunction with another
event that will bring in a good-sized crowd of people. For example,
the TGIFT team held their silent auction during a dinner at which
they awarded their first computer.
BID SHEET
Item: Quilted Wall Hanging (hand-made by a local artisan)
Donated by: David Crafts
Opening Bid: $50.00
Bid number ___ Bid amount
1. ___________$50.00
2._____________________
3. ____________________
4._____________________
5. ____________________
6. ____________________
7. ____________________
8. ____________________
9. ____________________
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2. Gather items for the auction from team members, local
businessesand other people who support your work. Items at
the TGIFT auction included gift certificates,
autographed books, art prints, crafted items such as quilts and needlework,
tea sets, food baskets, and curios. You can combine several small items
into a basket to help raise the bidding price. Log items
as you receive them so
you will have an inventory of donations.
3. Create a bid sheet for each item. The bid sheet should provide
a space for bidders to record their bidding number and amount
of bid, recognize who donated the item for the auction and provide
any pertinent information about the item. (See sample bid sheet
at right.)
During the auction
1. Create a sign-in sheet for bidders on which they can record
their name, address and telephone number. This sheet should be
numbered so that each bidder receives a bidding number, which
they place on the bid sheet for items they wish to buy. This
sheet also provides contact information for any winning bidders
not present when the auction closes.
Silent Auction
Sign-In Sheet
Name: _________________1
Telephone: ______________
Address: ________________
Name: _________________2
Telephone: ______________
Address: ________________
Name: _________________3
Telephone: ______________
Address: ________________
Name: _________________4
Telephone: ______________
Address: ________________ |
2. Once a bidder has signed in, he/she uses the assigned bidder
number to bid on items of interest. This simplified bidding process
keeps bids anonymous until the auction is over.
Closing the auction
1. Closing the auction takes some time so the TGIFT group closed
their auction just after dinner and before the keynote speaker
began his address. Attendees at the dinner were able to take
a quick break and make last-minute bids before the speech began.
During the speech three TGIFT members processed the auction bids.
Winners and Bid Amount
Per Item
Item___ Bidder___
Amount
number number
1. _____________________
2. _____________________
3. _____________________
4. _____________________
5. _____________________
6. _____________________
7. _____________________
8. _____________________
9. _____________________
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2. When the silent auction closes, two or three people can
use the bid sheets to determine who receives each item and how
much each person owes. TGIFT used two people--one called off
the winning bidder and amount from each bid sheet and the other
recorded the information on a totals sheet. A third person grouped
auction items by winning bidder and labeled the grouped items
with the winning bidder's number.
3. Each winning bidder's name was then matched to that person's
bid number. The items won and the amounts owed were recorded
on a 3X5 index card and used as a receipt when the person checked
out of the silent auction
Bidder # 7: Alice Crowe
Item 5: lamp...... $25.00
Item 11: photo...... 5.00
Item 16: t-shirt...... 4.00
Item 27: quilt....... 75.00
Total owed....... 109.00 |
Miscellaneous considerations
Get permission to hold a silent
auction if you are using a public area or someone else's property.
Make sure the property owner
does not have any policies against using the space for fundraising
activities.
Gathering items to auction can take a lot of time and energy.
The group holding the auction should plan a work session a few
days before the auction to inventory auction items, log them
in and determine starting bids.
Someone in the group should be responsible for writing thank
you letters to individuals, businesses and organizations that
donated items for the auction.
Gift certificates can be easy to lose at an auction. If your
auction items include gift certificates, keep them in labeled
envelopes in a box during the auction. Just put out the bidding
sheet with pertinent information and pull the gift certificates
for the winning bidders at check out time.
Happy auctioning!
Special thanks to Brushy Fork Associate Delora Kraus from TGIFT
in Floyd County, Kentucky, for providing information for this
toolbox.
Download
this file to print as a handout.
(Acrobat Format)
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