We always have our Carnival/Basket Auction/Silent Auction in February. The month of May definitely has a lot more competition. We also have it on a school night when nothing else in town is going on (no sports, no church, no concerts). Having it on a school night has its ups & downs, but we always have a tremendous turnout. 270 students & we netted about $5,000.
One word of caution, more people does not immediately translate into more money raised. A nearby school raised nearly the same amount we did with this year's auction and they had half the attendance.
Merchandising is a big part of selling, so think it throught, be consistant, and be clear.
Thanks for your reply Shawn...
We auctioned things off by "theme" then item... our theme was simple
Because we live in MI:
All the tables opened at 6
We first silent Auctioned things donated from MI, then Live Auctioned things from MI - at 6:30 we closed the MI table
After that closed we Silent Auctioned things donated from the County, then live auctioned county donations - at 7:00 we closed the County table
After that we silent auctioned things from one school, then live auctioned things from that school K-2 (handpainted crafts, principal for the day etc...) - at 7:30 we closed this table
After that we silent auctioned donations from the other school 3-5 grade(Mostley theme baskets that we asked each class to collect)
and then live auctioned things from that school (principal for a day, some crafts) and then our "big ticket items" Fire truck ride to school. a kayak, a golf package... etc at 8:00 we closed this table
Even though people on the PTO and our Auctioneer was skeptical of this approach.. everyone agreed afterward that this was the only way to go.. it kept people VERY entertained.. and we maxed out our bidders.
We did this for one reason only... lack of a sound system.. the only good sound system is in the GYM and we are cheap.. so didn't want to spend 400 on a sound system... lol
We are a small Christian School with 320 students from Pre-K through 11th (12th grade to be added this year). Our annual auction is held in April but we begin planning in the fall with getting our committee chairs in place. Acquistion chairs are crucial, as well as our inventory chairs.
This year we raised $35,000 through our silent auction, live auction which featured 12 items (we featured a power point through the silent auction and dinner with photos featuring these items such as a vacation get a way, a flight with a pilot in a aerobatic plane, trip to Washington DC/day with a Senator), concluding the evening with our "Fund a Cause". Our HS students prepared a comical video presenting their need for new lockers (many of our classroom space is in portables, with no lockers) and also presented was a need for a cement pad for our playground for basketball, etc.. Participants did not bid against each other for "Fund a Cause", rather raised their paddles to commit to the particular dollar amount our auctioneer was asking. He began with "Who will give $2000?"....acknowledge those who would, then moved to a lesser amount and so on. In 10 minutes we had raised over $10,000 for this cause.
We also had a definite theme this year...a cruise theme which every announcement entailed...from getting your boarding pass, to accomodations, to leaving port, etc... It made for a very fun evening with the decor.
We hold an silent auction in conjunction with a winter carnival. We hold it in February, but we have had some dicey weather issues in the past. We always have a great turn out. Kids come to the carnival and parents stop at the auction. We also hold a raffle for smaller donated issues at the same time. Raffle tickets are sold approximately 4 weeks in advance with a prize list of about 100 items like car wash certificates, free pizza certificates, etc. Our auction has about 75 items - large and small. We have found that some parents would like to participate at the auction but if the prize is too costly they cannot. So we make sure we have small items ranging in the $20 - $40 range and then some larger items in the $100 - $300. range. We also have a kids auction for new toys or items appealing to them.
There are several items that can be incorporated into your auction that are really popular. We ask our teachers to participate in a "Time with the Teacher" auction. They choose an activity that they are willing to do with the winning child bidder (of course the parents are doing the bidding and paying). For example: Mrs. Smith is our beloved Kindergarten teacher who offers to have 1 child to her home accompanied by their parent to bake an apple or cherry pie. Then the child gets to take the homemade pie home. This opportunity sold for $50.00 at our auction. Likewise, the gym teacher who lives on a lake, offered to have 1 child and 2 friends for a day at the beach with lunch, and water fun - this went for $125.00. Other items we have had in the past that were hot items were to auction off 6 front row reserved seats to graduation. This way a family need not rush on graduation day to get to commencement as their seats are ready and waiting for them, and they have a choice seat for pictures. We generally make $9,000.00 on this combined auction/carnival - but it's alot of work and needs lots of volunteers to man carnival games.
I have a friend in a neighboring school district and they do a Spring Fling in April and host their auction at a local restaurant. The restaurant cuts them a deal on the price of using the facility, horderves, punch and coffee (they can probably right the rest off as a donation) and then there is a cash bar. You sell tickets to get in at a minimal price or sponsorships for entire groups and they auction off a variety of items. Some of their items are very big and pricey though - such as a school family donated their time share in Florida and it went for lots. This year they made $37,000.00 and they are a K-12 PTO with about 360 total students. They have done it for so many years and it is a very awaited event.
Congrats! What you raised is great.
I have a few pointers for you that worked great for our auction. Try to get as much stuff donated by vendors and companies (i.e all of our dinner was donated, ask companies to donate gift cards or services that are around the school). Start planning months in advance we started in June. We had our auction in November before Thanksgiving and Christmas mentioning they could start their shopping at the auction. Get the word out any way you can newspapers, community bullentin boards, flyers. Make sure people who live around the school know it is a community event. People who live around the school are almost always looking to help support their local school. Also word of mouth your bidders who attend will tell people about it. Every year it should get better. You just need to be patient.
Let the bidders know what the money will be used for. ( Ours was used for more books for our reading room) If they know what their money is going to be used for the more likely they will attend and help you reach your goal.
Lastly, send out thank you cards if possible to everyone who bid/won or donated an item. Let them know how much you raised and thank them for their contribution.
