For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been showing you how to run a silent auction – check out part 1 and part 2. Today is the third part of the series:

At The Silent Auction

1. Check up on volunteers – Volunteers should have been advised before the silent auction what tasks they were responsible for. Check on them during the night though to make sure everything’s going OK and to find out if they have any questions.

2. Monitor the bidding sheets – If possible, have one or two volunteers monitor each table. That may not be feasible depending on the number of volunteers you have, so at least ensure that there’s one close to every table. These volunteers are there to answer any questions, to make sure the bidding sheets are completed correctly and to gather up any bidding sheets where someone has bid the amount to guarantee that they win the item.

3. Communicate when each item is going to end – This is a job for the emcee. Depending on the number of items being auctioned, it can be a good idea to end the bidding on an item every few minutes. This has a number of benefits:

• It helps create a sense of urgency throughout the evening
• It means additional items can be auctioned if there isn’t space for them to all be displayed originally
• Payments can be processed throughout the night, rather than there being a mad rush at the end

4. Process payments – After the bidding has ended for each item, have the emcee announce the winning bidder’s number. Ask them to go to the payment table, where a volunteer should have already taken the winning bid sheet. Check with the winning bidder to see if they’ve bid on any other items (or are still planning to). If so, check to see if they’d prefer to pay for each item as they go along, or if they’d rather wait until the end of the evening to pay for all items they’ve won in one batch.

5. Provide a receipt – Once the winning bidder has paid, they should be given a receipt. The receipt should detail who won the item, what the item was, how much they paid and their payment method. To make this process easier, consider using something like these receipt books. These work especially well as you can retain a copy of the receipt for your own records.

6. Collect the items – While people are paying for the auction(s) they’ve won, have your volunteers gather the items for the bidders to collect once payment has been taken.

Come back next week for the final part in the series on how to run a silent auction – what to do after the auction has ended.

Question: What other tips would you give people for how to run things at the silent auction? Share your ideas in the comments below.

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Last week was the first part of our guide on how to run a silent auction. Here’s part 2:

Day of the silent auction

1. Set out bidding sheets – Set up tables around the outside of the room. Place the bidding sheets (attached to a clipboard) on the tables, along with a number of pens for each sheet. Also set up a sign for each item so people can easily find what items they wish to bid on – this should display both the item number and what the item is.

Consider mentioning the name of the donor on the sign, along with their logo if the item or service was donated by a company. This is another way of thanking the donor for their generosity.

2. Display items next to bidding sheets – Set out tangible items (like gift baskets, movie tickets, etc) on display next to their respective bidding sheets. For services (like helicopter trips, gardening, hotel stay, etc), try to display something anyway – perhaps a picture of the helicopter or hotel, as this will act as a visual draw.

3. Set up refreshments – If you’re running the silent auction as part of the evening fundraiser extravaganza, this will already be covered. If not, make sure there are snacks and beverages available for attendees.

4. Set up payment tables – At one end of the room (or perhaps a side room if there’s not enough space), set up three tables for people dealing with payments – one for checks, one for cash and one for credit cards.

Alternatively, if you’re expecting most payments to be made by credit card, set up two tables for that payment method and one table for people paying by cash or check.

5. Provide a lock box with cash – As you’ll probably have some people wanting to pay with cash, provide the volunteer on that payment table with a lock box that has different denominations of notes.

If you’ve set it up so that bids will be in multiples of 5s or 10s, there’s no need to have any $1 bills. Instead, have on hand some $5, $10 and $20 bills to provide change to successful bidders.

6. Larger silent auctions – If you have dozens of items for people to bid on, it may not be feasible to set out all of the bidding sheets at the same time. In that scenario, consider setting out half the bidding sheets initially, with the other half set out later during the auction once the bidding time on the initial items has ended.

Selecting which items to display initially can be done in one of two ways:

• Auction lower value items first – This means that the more expensive (and more exciting) items will be auctioned off later in the evening, encouraging people to stick around
• Auction items with different values – Some people may not wish to spend all evening at the silent auction though. By having higher value items available to bid on at the beginning in addition to lower value ones, you’ll be able to accommodate all of the auction attendees

If you’re not going to have all the items on display at the same time, ensure the bidding sheets and signs for the later items are organized so that they’re easy to set out as the evening goes on. Consider delegating this job to a volunteer whose sole responsibility is to set up the new items as the bidding time on previous items ends.

7. Set up a registration table – This is one of the most important parts of the preparation, as this will be where the attendees will be allocated a bidder number to identify themselves.

Print off a silent auction bidder registration form(s) that already has bidder numbers entered (see below for a free template you can download). This will make it easier for the registration table volunteers, as they’ll then only have to enter people’s names and contact details next to each number.

Here are a couple of ways to allocate bidder numbers:

• Random sequential numbers – This simply involves making a list of numbers in order, such as 201, 202, 203, etc. If you go with this option, also pre-prepare some sticky labels with the numbers already written down. The labels can then be given to each bidder as they register – this will save time and help the bidders remember their number
• Raffle tickets – Although you’re running an auction, raffle tickets can be perfect for allocating random bidder numbers. This has the added benefit of each bidder getting a ticket with their number on it, helping them remember what it is

Download a free silent auction bidder registration form.

Come back the next couple of weeks for part 3 and part 4 of how to run a silent auction, or check out part 1 here.

Question: What other planning and setting up needs to be done on the day of a silent auction? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Now that you have some ideas for silent auction items, it’s time to learn how to run a silent auction.

Each silent auction is different, so some of these steps may not be necessary for yours, while others may need to add extra steps. This guide will provide a good basis on all the elements involved though.

How To Run A Silent Auction

1. Track the donations – As soon as you start receiving items for the auction, log the details in a spreadsheet. This should include the following information:

• Item details
• Retail value
• Starting bid for auction (usually around 20% of the retail value)
• Who it was donated by (individual, company, organization, etc)
• Contact name & number of donor
• Unique reference number (to use during auction)

Once a reference number has been allocated for an item, attach a sticky label to the item with the number written on it – these labels work perfectly as they’re removable. This will help ensure there’s no confusion with any of the items.

2. Print bidding sheets for each item – These sheets will contain much of the same information that you’ve collated on the spreadsheet when tracking the donations:

• Unique reference number
• Information about the item, focusing on the benefits. For example, the exclusivity of a behind-the-scenes tour of a museum, the 5* food that would be served at a restaurant or that the tickets to the theater are front-row seats
• Who donated the item – this provides some free advertising for the donor as a reward for their generosity
• Minimum bid value
• Table with two columns – one for the bidder’s number and one for the bid value (pre-entered)
• Section advising of the guarantee purchase amount, along with space for the bidder’s number

Download a free sample silent auction bid sheet template for an example of what this might look like.

3. Produce list of silent auction items – This list is for all of the auction attendees, so they can see at a glance a list of the items available for auction, along with their item numbers. This sheet should then be handed to each attendee when they register.

Also consider including a leaflet about your youth group/charity with the list. This can highlight the work you do and how the silent auction will help you achieve that, as well as providing the attendees with information on how they can support your organization further if they want to.

4. Get supplies – Purchase (or see if anyone can also donate) clipboards to attach each auction bid sheet to, along with lots of pens.

Also get some sticky labels or a raffle tickets – these will be used on the welcome table.

5. Arrange to accept credit cards – If you expect the people attending your silent auction to only be able to pay by cash or check, you’ll be greatly reducing the amount you’re able to fundraise. It’s now easy and cheap for charities and other organizations to accept credit cards, so order your own Square card reader as soon as possible.

6. Set up a website – Once you have a list of items for your silent auction, set up a website to help promote it – this can be done for free using Blogger or WordPress. The website should list details of each item, along with photos if applicable.

To give a better sense of professionalism, consider buying a domain name for the website – this should cost less than $10 through GoDaddy. This will mean you can choose a website address like youthsilentauction.com instead of youthsilentauction.wordpress.com

7. Promote the silent auction – This can be done in many ways:

• Via a website
• Social media
• Flyers and posters
• Word of mouth
• At your church (if applicable)
• At your school (if applicable)
• Ask businesses who donated items to help promote the event
• Local newspapers, TV and radio stations
• Regular supporters of your charity/organization

Your promotional material should include the following details:

• Date, time and address of where the silent auction will be held
• Who/what the fundraiser is for
• Contact details in case there are any questions, or for people who would like to donate further items for the auction
• Website address (if you set one up)
• Some of the items that will be on offer at the auction. Mention expensive items along with some that are lower cost to encourage anyone and everyone to attend
• Whether food and drink will be available (which might be the case if organizing an evening fundraiser extravaganza)
• Whether credit cards are accepted

Don’t forget to invite donors to the auction. This will not only be another way of expressing gratitude, but will also encourage them to donate items of services the next time you run a silent auction.

 8. Recruit volunteers – If this is being organized as a youth group fundraiser, involve your young people in the planning and organization – this will help give them gain skills and the knowledge of how to run a silent auction.

If the silent auction is going to be a standalone event instead, the volunteers will be needed for a variety of tasks:

• Setting up
• Helping at the tables to ensure bid sheets are completed correctly
• Answering questions
• Someone to emcee the event (if that’s not going to be you)
• Registering attendees
• Taking payment
• Collecting items for winning bidders
• Cleaning up after the event

Check back over the next few weeks for How To Run A Silent Auction – Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Question: What additional tips would you give for someone running a silent auction? Share your ideas in the comments below.

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