For the last few weeks, we’ve been advising on how to run a silent auction – check out part 1, part 2 and part 3. Today is the fourth and final part of the series:
After The Silent Auction
1. Unpaid items – At the end of the auction, there could well be some items that haven’t been paid for yet. The most common reason for this is that the winning bidder had to leave before the bidding on the item ended. If that’s the case, you’ll need to contact the winner the next day, using the contact details you collected on the bidder registration form.
There may also be winning bidders who change their minds for whatever reason. Although it’s not an ideal situation, the best option is to contact the next person on the bidding sheet to see if they’re still interested in the item.
2. Items not won – You may also end up with some items that no one bid on. Here are a couple of options of what to do in that scenario:
- Sell the item on eBay – Depending on the item, this might result in greater interest in the item, due to the global nature of this marketplace
- Retain for a future auction – If you do this, make a note of how much you’d set the opening bid at. Next time, lower this starting bid to encourage at least one bid on the item
3. Check money vs winning bids – Total up the value of the winning bids (that have been paid for already) and check this against the amount collected via cash, checks and credit cards to make sure that it all balances.
4. Deposit the money – For cash and checks, deposit these at the bank in the usual way. If you’ve also accepted credit cards, arrange for this money to be deposited by whichever credit card merchant you’ve used.
5. Thank donors – Send a thank you letter to every person, business or organization who donated an item for your silent auction.
Depending on how much the winning bid was, consider also informing the donor of how much their item raised for your youth group/charity. (This may not be such a great idea if an item with a value of $200 only sold for $20)
6. Thank winning bidders – There would be no items without donors, but there would also be no money without the winning bidders. It’s therefore a nice gesture to send them a thank you note too.
If possible, try to provide them with a tangible way that their money has helped support your work. For example:
- Your bid of $240 means that you’ve sent two young people from low-income households to our youth retreat
- Your generous bid of $75 for the movie tickets means that you’ve bought many pieces of sports equipment that we’ve needed for a long time
Put the focus on what the bidder has done, as this will help encourage them to be involved in your next silent auction (or other fundraiser). i.e. “you’ve sent” and “you’ve bought” rather than “we’ve sent” and “we’ve bought”.
This series on how to run a silent auction has also been a part of a larger series on how to plan an evening fundraiser extravaganza. For even more ideas, check out all our youth group fundraisers.
Question: Is there anything we’ve missed from this series on how to run a silent auction? We’d love to hear your additional ideas in the comments below.
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