The answer
to this question is found in the amount of guests you have attending your
event. We normally base the size of the
silent on 1/3 of the guests. However,
when the goes above 300, the number will drop to 1/4.
Many
charities misunderstand the size of a Silent Auction. They commonly feel that if they have less
items, the bidding will be higher – this is not the case. Charities should understand that their guests
do not blindly bid on the items available, basically continually bidding to
support the charity. This is a common
misconception across many of the 104 million charities in the U.S. today.
On items
that have a known retail price, the bidding will only go to 1/2 the value. In a perfect world, the bids would go to the
suggested retail, however, across North America this is not the case. Unfortunately, especially if you are a fan of
my blogs, we have already discussed “Local People attending a Local Charity
Fundraiser with items donated by Local Businesses.” In order to be successful, it’s imperative
that your guests are treated to items they do not regularly see or can find on
their own.
Another way
to understand this question is to think about what will attract the attention
of your guests. A small Silent Auction
is much less appealing than one that is larger with more variety of items
available. People are attracted to a
Silent Auction which has a range of items available.
Continuing
on this same process, items that have no theme or are basically a “Hodge Podge”
of donated items begin to have a “Flea Market” or "Garage Sale" affect.
Another
important aspect of a successful Silent Auction is positioning it correctly in your event
venue. On many occasions, charities will
break up a silent auction with different items in different areas. This practice will negatively affect the
financial outcome based on your guests not knowing there are items available in
different areas. Furthermore, the
negatively affects the “Draw” to the Silent Auction. We must also remember a crowd draws far much
more attention than a few people standing in different areas. The crowd of people walking through your
Silent Auction will draw the most attention from your other guests. Everything should have its place in your event.
On another
note, we have seen this time and time again.
Having high quality items, such as our No Risk Charity Auction Items,
will greatly influence the bids on the donated items. Charities that use these items, will see much
higher bids on the items that are mixed in.
Also, when
planning the set-up of the Silent Auction, having different items on different
levels is another major attractant. By
using boxes, standing easels and other ways of displaying your items, it become
far more appealing then all of your items on the exact same level.
In summary,
if you want to host a successful silent auction, here are a few tips to ensure
its successful:
1 – Enough items
available (1/3 the amount of guests)
2 – Have items
which match a theme
3 – High quality
Charity Auction items influence and spurs on higher bids.
4 – Do not
place your similar items all together – see “Heard of Zebras”
We hope these tips help you and your charity host a very successful Silent Auction at your next Charity Fundraising event. If you would
like to learn more proven strategies, either read through our blogs or contact
us today at www.BWUnlimited.com, we
would love to help.
BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American Charity Fundraising leader in a “One
Stop Shop” convenient setting. The
expert fundraisers at BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising can guide you and your
charity through the myriad of fundraising pitfalls to ensure that you host a
highly successful, highly profitable charity fundraising event. Contact BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising at www.BWUnlimited.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment