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You are here: Home / Blog Post / What fall auctions SHOULD be selling in home decor silent auction sections
Nov 05

What fall auctions SHOULD be selling in home decor silent auction sections

Sherry Truhlar Leave a Comment

holiday silent auction signageYou may not realize it, but if you’re holding your charity auction in October, November or December, you have two natural advantages over those galas held in the spring.

1. Holiday spirit

Of all the United States’ widely celebrated holidays, Americans seem to get most enthused about decorating their home for Halloween and Christmas. How convenient for you that both of these holidays are in the fall! For your autumnal or winter auction, be sure to include some home decorations tied to these two events.

2. Shop ’til you drop

When it comes to wide-scale gift-giving, you can’t beat Christmas. This is the time for you to unabashedly target holiday shoppers. When a guest buys an item at your auction, your charity gets a donation … the guest receives a tax deduction … and their mother-in-law gets a gorgeous spa day gift basket. It’s a win-win-win.

Today I want to offer you some procurement ideas for the home decor silent auction table.

I should preface this by saying that home decor items are not usually a high performing section. But with holiday items, guests often take more of an interest.

I think it’s because of the aforementioned reasons: 1) Americans love to decorate for Halloween and Christmas, and 2) many of your guests are in the mindset of buying gifts because of the impending gift-giving season.

(I’ll be heading to Wisconsin for a school auction this Saturday. They do a great job of playing on this concept. They emphasize it to their community, saying, “This is where you should come to shop for Christmas presents.”)

Here are some holiday-themed home decor silent auction items to share with your procurement team.

Wreaths

wreath home decor silent auction displayYou can put a number of these on your silent auction table, as long as they are different. Typically these will be on display for guests to take home, but sometimes the donation is a gift card. In that case, the guest often gets to have a wreath custom-designed, with their choice of colors and theme.

Sometimes these companies will including shipping as part of their donation, which makes the wreath an attractive gift to purchase for someone not living in the immediate area.

Wall hangings

Holiday calendars and other “pretties” are in this realm.

Theme-inspired plates and serving utensils

It’s not necessary to have a 12-piece service. Four plates or some cool utensils with an appropriate theme will grab the interest of guests.

Remember that guests aren’t looking for fine china when they’re buying holiday-inspired plates. They’re really just wanting a little something fun that will dress up their cheeseball.

Outdoor decor

Got a handy Dad among your supporters? See if he’ll make a plywood cut-out of a pumpkin, angel, or Santa to stand tall in someone’s yard.

Silent auction item penguin

A 3′ tall penguin in the silent auction looks striking. Especially if you add a bow and a “to/from” card around his neck.

Statuettes 

These might be concrete, plastic, wooden, or stuffed, like an oversized stuffed animal. 

What is it about those oversized stuffed animals and extra large toy soldiers that is so appealing? They are as fetching in your silent auction as they are in a home.

A box filled with kids dress-up clothes 

This is a great auction item for a school fundraiser held in early October (before Halloween), but it’s also a fun item year-round.

Many kids love to play “dress-up” and it’s usually easier to find costumes in October. Even if you have a spring auction, now is a good time to seek donations from costume stores. 

Here in Washington, D.C., we seem to have a number of costume stores that sprout up overnight in strip malls in early October. They are usually set up in the same space as some other store that has just gone out of business. These stores seem to disappear on November 1!  They vanish shortly after Halloween is over. 

If they’re still open, you’ve only got a few days left! Ask and pick-up the donation now, before they close their doors.

Knick-knacks

Think small holiday trees with dainty lights, elegant sleighs, battery-operated jack-o-lanterns, and scary witches. The classier it looks, the better it will sell.

Knick-knacks might not sell well at spring auctions, but when they are themed to the impending holiday, watch your guests take more interest.

Pillows, candles, table runners, napkins, etc.

Guests can buy these for themselves or as gifts. Some make great stocking stuffers.

P.S. If this blog was helpful to you, you’ll also love my complementary Auction Item Guide™, which lists best-selling auction items, across various categories.  It’s sent to you immediately, just provide your email address.

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Copyright © 2012 Red Apple Auctions Co. All Rights Reserved

About Sherry Truhlar

Fundraising auctioneer and educator, helping schools and nonprofits plan more profitable benefit auctions. A prolific writer for her own blog and other fundraising sites, she’s been covered in The Beacon-News, Town & Country Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Northern Virginia Magazine, Wiley's Special Events Galore!, AUCTIONEER, and other publications.

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Sherry, oh, Sherry! You were an invaluable asset to this year’s gala. With your assistance we were able to add so many new elements that truly made a difference in taking our event to another level. This year was the most successful yet! Everyone loved you and the amazing energy that you brought to the event. We look forward to having you again in 2018!

Krystal Fenwick

Thank you so much for the outstanding job you did for us on April 1! I have received so much positive feedback from so many who attended. You even earned Sister Suzan’s (our Vice-Principal) seal of approval! Safe travels to all your many events and thank you for making our biggest fundraiser of the year our best ever!

Diane Albano, Director of Development
St. Joseph Academy Catholic High School (St. Augustine, FL)

Sherry is flexible and easy to work with. She gives honest feedback and advice throughout the planning and implementation process. Without a doubt, Sherry and Red Apple Auctions has helped take our annual fundraising event to the next level.

Beckie Middendorf, Development Director and Janet Gulla, Development Coordinator
St. Henry District High School (Erlanger, KY)

Sherry is “on board” from day one of auction planning, works closely with our steering committee and is only just a phone call away. The night of the auction, we toss her the keys and let her drive the event! We are never disappointed!

Charly Ryan, Director of Institutional Advancement
The Academy of the Holy Cross (Kensington, MD)

I was very fortunate to have Red Apple on board for my first auction. Working with Sherry was invaluable. She provided guidance at every phase of planning, from procurement on forward – and she challenged us to make our event more ambitious and more successful at every stage. Thank you, Sherry!

Pete Goldlust, Director of Development
Oak Hill School (Eugene, OR)

If your auction needs to upgrade, call any auctioneer you find on Google. But if you want your auction to be impressive, meaningful, and profitable, you need to call Sherry.

Erin Banda
2016 NYUMBANI Board member

The auction was entertaining .. proactive … the crowd was involved and felt a part of it,” he said, emphasizing, “The entertainment value was huge.

Darrell, a long-time attendee

We plan on booking Red Apple Auctions much earlier for our next event so we can take advantage of more of the pre-event offerings.

Nicole Carr, Director of Grants and Special Events
The Ivymount School (Rockville, MD)

2012 Oakcrest Anne and CarolinaSherry, personally, I can’t even begin to tell you the immense amount of positive feedback that I received having YOU (and Darby) there with is this… Read The Rest “Anne Livaudais Knudsen, 5th year gala co-chair”

Aren’t KK and Michael a cute couple? PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiIHNyYz0iaHR0cDovL3JlZGFwcGxlLmV2c3VpdGUuY29tL3BsYXllci9NakF4TWkxSGRXVnpkSE10UW5Wc2JHbHpMVXRMTFdGdVpDMU5hV05vWVdWc0xVcHZjMlZ3YUM1dGNEUT0vP2NvbnRhaW5lcj1ldnAtV0JBVTkwTlVBUyI+PC9zY3JpcHQ+PGRpdiBpZD0iZXZwLVdCQVU5ME5VQVMiIGRhdGEtcm9sZT0iZXZwLXZpZGVvIiBkYXRhLWV2cC1pZD0iTWpBeE1pMUhkV1Z6ZEhNdFFuVnNiR2x6TFV0TExXRnVaQzFOYVdOb1lXVnNMVXB2YzJWd2FDNXRjRFE9Ij48L2Rpdj4= They liked that I “moved the crowd along … kept the crowd engaged but wasn’t obtrusive or invasive. We were able to talk but still keep track of what was going on.”

Staci Meruvia 150 ptYou have NO idea of how many people came up to me (I know Julie as well) and said, ‘That auctioneer was incredible … she engaged the crowd, … Read The Rest “Staci Meruvia”

Geri said: “Great job of getting potential donors in the room to step up to the plate and not feel guilty or bad about it. They actually wanted to give more … and that’s not something I’ve seen in many other auctioneers.” 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 The following… Read The Rest “Geri”

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Most product & consulting remarks are found on their respective webpages, but I’ve listed two below so you’re assured my products are as spot-on as my auctioneering.   Not only was our 2013 auction a blast, but our Washington, D.C. public school raised $67,000 — that’s $25,000 more than last year! The evening went… Read The Rest “Carolyn Kahn-Hall and Andrea Del Vecchio”

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