silent auction

Jun 20

New idea for your silent auction or raffle: Surprise Box

I want to share a new idea for silent auctions or raffles.Let's kick it off with a related story.============================Many years ago, one of my clients was annoyed.She oversaw the fundraising for the local chapter of a national nonprofit. The national management team had recommended she and other fundraisers working in major cities change the model of their silent auction.This new silent auction model was based on the success another major metropolitan area had ... Read On >

Jan 17

No budget? This silent auction activity is free and interactive

One of my last auctions of 2016 was in Honolulu, HI. The fundraiser coincided with two large public events -- the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing, and the Honolulu Marathon, which is the 4th largest marathon in the United States.The marathon was scheduled to be run the day after I left, but a free trade show was taking place at the Hawaii Convention Center down the street from my hotel.I put on my sneakers and drove over there. (lol)One of the displays at the trade ... Read On >

Mar 15

[Video] Model this sound system for a silent auction

One of the most difficult venues to hold an auction is in a gym. Though the venue often offers adequate space, it is a difficult place to control audio. By design, gyms are noisy venues. No one wants to sit through a quiet basketball game, so gyms are designed to deflect the slightest utterance. The shape of the building and the hard surfaces reverberate the sound, bouncing it around the room to make the noise louder and less clear. This presents a problem for fundraising auctions. We ... Read On >

Nov 10

[VIDEO] Silent auction layout when using mobile bidding

I'm in the thick of the fall auction season. Last week I was working all across the country, so expect to see more videos down the road -- as I have time to organize them. :) In this first clip, you'll see an auction layout of an event I worked two weeks ago here in Washington, D.C. The organization, Chris4Life Colon Cancer Foundation, is only five years old. Yet the group has already raised a whopping $7 million dollars to fight colon cancer. (Impressive!) They have three core ... Read On >

Aug 25

An alternative to the silent auction

Last week I received an email. A benefit auction volunteer was reaching out. Her charity-of-choice raises money for schools in overseas countries. They have a smaller auction (~120-150 guests) managed in a walk-around food station-styled event. She wrote:We have begun discussions about next spring fundraiser. We have found that the silent auction route has not given us much in return for all the work it takes. We want to keep the live auction, but are looking for an alternative to the ... Read On >