I'll be working a wine auction later this month in Texas and thought I'd share a wine silent auction idea I witnessed at another event. If you've got a lot of wine in your auction, why not have a sommelier onsite to educate guests and "talk up" your packages? At a school auction earlier this year, one entire silent auction section was devoted to wine. Large formats. Hard-to-find wines. Rare vintages. Some were sold as cases or collections; others were sold as single bottles. Though many of ... Read On >
silent auction
Part 3: The raging debate on silent auction bid numbers versus names
This is a 3-part blog post, explaining why benefit auctions should identify guests with bid numbers instead of names. The first post looked at the benefits of using numbers in a Fund a Need. The second post examined the use of numbers in the live auction. Today we'll turn to the silent auction. +++++++++++++++++ Why you should use silent auction bid numbers (not names) on your bidding sheets. Why do this? It's an easy answer. Because you'll raise more money. A big ... Read On >
Should you put that trip in the silent auction or live auction?
Ever worked and worked and worked to get a great beach house / ski lodge / overseas trip donated, only to have two of them show up as donations in the same year? When it rains, it pours. Or maybe you’re challenged in that two donors have similar homes, and you’re not sure if it makes sense to sell both them in the live auction. Here are some suggestions for determining which vacation home should be sold in the live auction. A home within driving distance. All other things being relatively ... Read On >
Silent auction display ideas for concerts and sporting events
If you’re selling great tickets to a desirable concert or sporting event, what is one of the key pieces of information a bidder would want to know? The location of the seats. Given that most of your bidders are visually-oriented, you’ll want to include a diagram indicating where those seats are, in relation to the action. Though you can and should tell bidders that the tickets are in Section 120, row J, seats 1-4, it’s just as important to show them that location. Showing is ... Read On >
What’s the BEST number of auction items? (Silent auction)
Enjoy this series on determining the best number of auction items for your event. This post, on how many silent auction items are best. How many live auction items are ideal. How many online auction items are good. The influence of mobile bidding on terminology. On February 7, my company is working multiple school auctions. That means that last week I was visiting with several of them about which items should be live auction and which should be silent. Here are some tips for ... Read On >