School Spirit Auctions

Are you wondering if school spirit auctions might be a good way to raise money? Whether you're looking for a way to bring in funds to support one of your sports teams or band, or if you're spear heading fundraising efforts for a special project or capital improvement, an auction can be a fun and successful way to earn the money needed to reach your goal!

Raising Money Can Be Fun!

There are several ways to approach holding an auction to raise money for your school. You can host a silent auction, a live auction, or an event that includes both silent and live bidding opportunities. Typically, high dollar value items will bring in the largest sums when offered via a live auction, while smaller ticket donations are well suited for inclusion in a silent auction.

It's a good idea to pair the auction itself with a special event, such as a dinner dance, barbecue cookout, or other special event. This will ensure that you are likely to have a captive audience of people who recognize the importance of supporting the school when it's time for the bidding to begin.

The key to enjoying success with an auction lies with the quality and desirability of items available for participants to purchase. If you have a good selection of products and services, there's a good chance that you'll enjoy a successful event. When you decide to hold a school spirit auction, be sure that you pull together a committee of enthusiastic volunteers who will be willing to secure items that can be offered for sale during the event.

Volunteers should approach other parents to request donations, as well as business leaders in the community. Small business owners are often willing to donate items to fundraising auctions for local schools as a way of increasing exposure and giving back to the community. Large corporations doing business in the area are also often willing to participate in these types of fundraisers. Typically, it's best to approach the marketing or public relations departments in big companies, as these types of donations are often considered to be marketing or community relations expenses.

When approaching potential donors to request items to include in the auction, volunteers should be prepared to make arrangements to pick up donations and to provide those who agree to participate with a charitable donation receipt. They should also have easy access to tickets for the special event, as individuals who make donations may also want to attend and participate in the auction.

Once you've gotten a nice selection of items to include in the auction, the focus needs to move on to getting organized for the event.

For silent auctions, you'll need to create a bid sheet for each item that includes the minimum bid accepted, the minimum incremental increase, and rows where bidders can indicate their interest and amount they are willing to pay.

Silent auctions must have a specified beginning and ending time. The time limits need to be clearly communicated to participants, and an announcement should be made 15 minutes before the bidding will draw to a close to give everyone an incentive to re-visit the items they hope to purchase.

There needs to be a designated area and time for winning bidders to pick up and pay for their items. When the auction closes, a volunteer needs to immediately collect the forms, identify the winning bidders, and calculate each person's total. Someone will need to gather the items and sort them by successful bidder, so that the checkout process can flow smoothly.

In order to enjoy a successful live auction, you need a system in place for bidders to register, and volunteers will need to be assigned to work a variety of positions. You'll need someone to serve as the auctioneer, at least one person to spot bidders, and someone to record successful bidding. Instructions for bidding and paying need to be clearly communicated to participants, and volunteers must be on hand to ensure that things go smoothly throughout the event.

It's also essential to have a quality sounds system and assign someone to be in charge of the audio visual equipment. Assign someone to set up and test the A/V system up early, as well as to provide training to the people who will be speaking during the event. The person in charge of sound should also be on hand throughout the auction, in case troubleshooting is necessary.

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