Whether as a part of fundraising efforts or to make commercial profits, a silent – or even open – auction is a great way to get people engaged. Unlike the cold, remote auctions online, a silent auction gives your audience the opportunity to get together, socialize and, most importantly, lay eyes on the products they will be bidding on.

To make sure that your next auction is a hit, follow these helpful tips:

Pick your basket items carefully
For fundraising auctions, picking item baskets is a mix of art and science. You want to encourage bids far higher than what you paid for the items and get people excited to buy something that they could most likely find in stores. To really maximize interest, group your baskets into themes and decorate to accentuate.

A few fun theme suggestions, inspired by Winspire, include:

• A traveler’s delight bag, including a high-quality leather suitcase, briefcase, state-of-the-art headphones and travel pillow into a carry-on roller with wheels. Add in a gift card for flights or hotel stays to make it extra luxurious.
• A grill master starter kit, with a cooler or charcoal grill filled with a picnic set, barbecue rubs, marinades and grill accessories like meal thermometers, rotisseries, tongs and an apron. Gift cards to local or national supermarkets can top this off.
• Mixology 101, including a cocktail shaker, two ounce measuring cup, mixers, bitters and recipe booklet. If you are allowed by local regulation and your organization, including the alcohol itself in the form of aged spirits and high-end liquors can be very enticing.
• Suave and chic grooming products, split by by gender (or bundled together to cover all the bases). Include high-end grooming essentials like a shaving kit, shaving cream, an anti-fogging shower mirror and personal care products.
• Home and garden essentials, including a birdhouse, bird feeder, trowels, gardening sheers, a variety of different succulents seeds, gloves and a gift card to a home improvement store or gardening center. Package it all in a ceramic planter with a small (sealed) bag of soil.
• A mystery basket. A sealed, opaque bag can be fun and often gets the most bids – everyone loves a good mystery, after all. You can include virtually anything in the bag, though it still pays to have the contents be exciting and of value so that your winning bidder doesn’t feel cheated. Why not try and embrace the idea of mystery and include some of your favorite detective novels, suspenseful thriller movies, Halloween masks and the board game Clue or Guess Who?

Silent or not, everyone loves an auction!

Play games! 
In addition to bidding on the items themselves, an auction can be a great opportunity to have a little fun while you raise money. One game that is a surefire winner is called “Heads or Tails.”

To play, start by put together an extra luxurious and broad-appeal gift basket – or alternatively, a mystery basket – and have attendees buy a raffle ticket to enter to win the basket. This can be a very effective fundraising technique as, according to Greater Giving, at least 25 percent of your attendees are likely to purchase a ticket, even if the cost exceeds $25.

During the auction, invite those guests who purchased “Heads or Tails” raffle tickets to stand up. After that, each participant chooses either heads or tails (a small, double-sided sign can do the trick for this).

From there, have the auctioneer flip a coin and announce which side it came up. Those who chose the correct side may continue to stand while those who chose wrong sit back down. This continues, slowly whittling down participants until there is a winner who then gets the prize.

Make your auction a ‘can’t miss’ event
The key to the success of an auction is to make it something attendees wont want to miss, for fear of having missed out on a social event. Winspire surveys show that the majority of winning bidders attend four or more fundraising events each year, underscoring the importance of setting your event above the rest.

A quick and simple way to distinguish your auction is a fun theme. Black tie gala, masquerade, Hawaiian luau: Any theme, with the right choice of decor and promotion, can attract your preferred clientele. And while the auction is in session, encourage attendees to take pictures and share them on social media.

Sign Art Etc has plenty of experience providing custom party planning banners and backdrops for any occasion. Give us a call today to learn more.