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Although many schools rely upon product sales or events like a school carnival to raise funds, there are times when a significant amount of money is needed in a short period.

In these cases, many schools turn to the idea of holding an auction. Auctions can be great school fundraisers. Whether live, silent or even online, auctions provide a nice incentive for parents and community members to support your school.

5 Reasons For Your School To Hold An Auction

1. Tremendous fundraising potential
2. Great community builder
3. Develops a good reputation in your community
4. Gets many people (volunteers) from your school involved in a meaningful activity
5. One auction can replace multiple smaller fundraising events

There are three kinds of auctions regularly employed by schools today: live, silent and online auctions. In the following paragraphs, we will explore each variety of auction.

A word of forewarning: while auctions do have the potential to generate significant income in a short amount of time, the work that goes into them is great. An auction, of any kind, is not something to be attempted unless you have the commitment and dedication of a seasoned leadership team and a number of volunteer helpers.

However, once you have run a couple of auctions and your team gains experience, the process becomes streamlined and calculated. Eventually, you will develop your own system and be able to regularly train others to take leadership roles in it.

 

Live Auction

A "live auction", in the context of a school fundraiser, is as event during which audience members are presented with and (hopefully) bid upon a series of typically high-end items. The highest bid wins the auctioned item. The items are either donated to the school so there is a 100% profit margin, or they are sold to the school at a greatly reduced price. In this case, the school's profit is whatever is bid above and beyond the initial cost.

Difficulty Level: High

Since a live auction is often the most significant fundraiser a school will undertake each year, there is great pressure for it to be a huge success. And, because there are so many things that can go wrong in a live auction, only your best and most trusted people should be on your leadership team.

Live auctions are also difficult to administer due to the high number of volunteers required to pull the event off well. In the days leading up to the auction, there is a large time demand placed upon all volunteers.

Best Situation

A live auction is often best utilized in combination with another event, such as a silent auction, dinner, or sporting event (like a golf outing). The live auction should be the conclusion of the evening, the main event. Everything else should serve to get the audience in a happy and generous mood.

Income Potential

If you get everything right: good items, a good auctioneer, and a good crowd, the potential to generate significant revenue is very high. However, if any of these three factors is lacking, your profit potential can dramatically decrease.

Also, beware of procuring too many "purchased" items, as they substantially cut down on the amount of profit you make. It's tempting to load up on computers, cars, trips, and high-end electronics, but if you sink a lot of upfront money into them, you may realize very little return on your investment.

Keys to Success

Keep the auction moving along at a fun pace. If the crowd is tight and bidding is slow, the mood can turn sour and your auction will be in trouble. This is where you will depend on the skill and professionalism of your auctioneer. He should be able to get you any lulls or rough patches. Be sure to ask your auctioneer his strategy for such situations before you officially hire him.

Silent Auction

A "silent auction" is a fundraising event during which a large number of items are placed up for bid to an invited audience. There is a time allotment placed on the bidding. While the auction is open, people may write down bids on a sheet placed in front of each item. The highest bid at the end of the allotted time wins the item.

The items are either donated to the school so there is a 100% profit margin, or they are sold to the school at a greatly reduced price. In this case, the school's profit is whatever is bid above and beyond the initial cost.

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

While a silent auction has more room for error than a live auction (since there are generally more items in a silent), the amount of work that goes into planning a successful silent auction is still tremendously high. It requires attention to detail, a commitment from the leadership and volunteer crew, hours of preparation, and a strong effort to procure items for auction.

As with a live auction, only your most proven volunteers should take charge of this event, but should also make sure they are always training the next generation of leaders.

Best Situation

Although a silent auction can stand alone and be successful, it is wise to couple the event with another reason for gathering to increase your potential attendance. This could be a holiday party, a dinner, or a sporting event, like a golf outing.

Income Potential

High. The amount of money you can make at a silent auction can vary greatly, depending on how many items you procure, how many people attend, the quality of the items, and the presentation of each item up for bid. Obviously, the more effort you put into all these areas, the greater your potential income.

Keys to Success

Have an emcee during your silent auction who can generate excitement for items that might not be getting all the bids you had hoped for. With a wireless mic, he can engage the crowd, create buzz, and pump up your profit.

For a true Step by Step Fundraising manual that takes you by hand and shows you exactly how to create a successful fundraiser see the Silent Auction Guide and Toolkit.

 

Online Auction

An online auction is a fundraising event that places a number of items up for bid, but it does so over the Internet. The potential audience for an online auction is the entire world, so it is not limited to your immediate community of supporters.

Large Internet sites like eBay and cMarket, are leaders in providing online auction services.

Difficulty Level: High

The difficulty in managing an online auction comes mainly from the technical nature of the event. The person or the team in charge of the auction needs to have a high comfort level with operating in cyberspace. Many of the traditional tasks required by a live or silent auction do not apply in an online situation.

However, new challenges arise, such as how to properly market online, how to accept payment, how to present your item in a digital manner, how to set your pricing structure, and how to best ship the item to whomever wins the auction. Where a live or silent auction is done on the night of the actual event, the duties required in an online auction can extend over a period of weeks, when you factor in all the payment processing and shipping responsibilities.

Best Situation

Online auctions have the benefit of not being pinned to a particular time or place and they will never be tied to another event like a golf outing. Therefore, the best situation to hold an online auction is whenever you can get great items at low prices (or donated!) and when you have someone who is comfortable heading up your effort.

Income Potential

High. Whenever you open your auction to the world, your chances of making money increase. You will, however, lose various other forms of generating revenue, such as ticket sales, raffles, games of skill, or general donations. On the other hand, you will have very few expenses in the online situation.

Keys to Success

Do a great job of describing and presenting your items. You will be competing with other auctions around the world, so you need to make yours stand out. Also, do a strong marketing effort, so people within your own community know the times when and the web address where your auction is being held.

 

Additional Resources

cMarket online auction software - Designed especially for schools and non profits, this software makes running an online auction much easier.

Silent Auction Guide and Toolkit - ebook provides step by step instructions for planning a silent auction

School auction articles - from our School Fundraising Blog

What’s Your School’s Auction Reputation?