Silent auctions are held without an auctioneer, usually to raise funds for some charitable events or organizations. Many people who do not like to go to regular online silent auction ideas auctions wish to attend silent auctions, because they support some noble causes. Sometimes, running a silent auction may be tricky, so it is important to know how to run it effectively. Planning the auction perfectly surely helps you to maximize money.
o Prepare a list:
The first important step in the silent auction is to prepare a list of all the items, their estimated fair market value and the donors of those items. It is worth to approach same people every year. While preparing the list, be sure to include columns for the names of various donors, address, phone number, item number and description of the item.
o Bid sheets:
The question how to run silent auction successfully relies greatly on how you prepare the bid sheets. You need to include the name of the item, a brief, yet effective description of the item, value of the item, minimum bid and minimum bid increase increments. Generally, 20% of the real value of the item is fixed as minimum bid. It is also crucial to provide space for including the name of the bidder, contact details, bidding amount and so on.
o Pay attention to small things:
You can make a list of supplies and buy them from a nearby warehouse store. It is worth to buy a lot of pens and markets, extra bid sheets etc, so that you can avoid people waiting to write down their bids.
o Volunteer service:
The most important tip for how to run silent auction effectively is to utilize the volunteer service to set up the auction, judge the bids and close tables at the right time. You can select volunteers after analyzing their skills. The volunteers take the role of officials need to know the rules of silent auction and must be able to answer the questions of the bidders.
o Arrange items attractively:
You need to arrange all the items in an attractive manner, so that you can raise funds easily. Place the bid sheets next to each item. Make a volunteer to stand near the items. People would have some questions about the items, so prepare the volunteers to answer them correctly.
o Give plenty of warning before closing:
It is important to make announcements at least five or ten minutes before closing. This encourages the people to make bids at the last time. Understand some simple techniques for how to make silent auction successful can help you in your fundraising program a lot.
It is also important to know how to avoid conflicts in the silent auction. If two persons quote the same bid for an item, you need to find an alternative to select the winner. If the person who wins the bid does not present, you can select the second highest bidder as winner. You can also contact the winning bidder to confirm whether he can come to pick up the prize.