School Auction Blog

Especially for private schools, there are many ways to gain profits and earn enough funds for different school activities and events. All fundraising programs come with great fun and excitement, but one that is most profitable is a school auction. The success of school auction projects relies on proper planning and organizing. If you see a school auction as one of the most effective possibilities of raising funds, be sure to plan ahead of time to give you sufficient time to make it more successful.

To make your event more upscale and highly innovative, the planning committee must develop wise, creative concepts that can inject excitement into your fundraising auction. Well of course, there are better ways of improving this particular activity each year, and bringing it to the top of your list will not just make it memorable but also a complete sell-out.

There are many things that you should do such as planning, organizing, and running the auction on the day itself. However, there is also a list of important things that you should NOT do for a school auction:

Do not make hasty decisions

Make sure you recruit and gather strong, efficient volunteers that can help you deal with different issues and challenges. Do not underestimate the tasks you have to do. Learn to delegate and involve every participating member, even the less experienced helpers, to make the load much easier and lighter.

Do not forget to send solicitation and invite sponsors as early as possible

They are the most important persons in the school auction and informing them early can help your team gather plenty of donations that will be used for whatever purpose it may serve.

Do not bypass the significance of every individual in your school-students, family, teachers

All of them can provide contributions like making baskets of artworks, donating old stuff, and promoting the fundraising auction to friends and relatives. The marketing part usually depends on them so you have to encourage and challenge each one to engage in the activity.

Do not overprice the value of the items

Once you have gathered all the items for bidding, it is important that you consider the value of each, without overpricing. Make the audience feel comfortable in making a donation, even from the very start of the auction. Do not make it appear that everything on the counter is available to those who are high bidders exclusively. Remember that not everyone in the crowd can afford it. If there are many expensive items, however, do not pile them one on top of each other. The same goes for the lower-priced items. That is why the auctioneer should know how to offer a variety of values throughout the event so everyone gets the chance to take part and enjoy.

Do not overlap two or three fundraising projects in one day

Your school may be after huge profits; nevertheless, this will distract and divide the bidders’ attention compromising the school auction project.

Do not forget those who helped and participated in the school auction

After an exhausting, yet successful activity, it is mandatory that you do not forget to thank the sponsors, donors, and those who willfully offered their dedication to make the day meaningful possible.

Technorati Tags: Auction, Bidding, Donation, Fundraising, Marketing, Private school, school auction

Your school is in need of a certain amount of money for projects and special events.  Your focus turns on how to accumulate that specific amount in a particular timeframe. In cases like these, when a school carnival or product sales are not the best means to raise funds, the idea of holding a school auction becomes the main solution to the need.

School auction projects are fun and exciting especially if you have done it for many times and you have already mastered the flow of events.  For newbie’s however, they can be exhausting and complicated in terms of planning, organizing and executing.  These steps are all important to make a school auction profitable and helpful.

Regardless if it is a small or large auction, whether you plan to do it live, silent or online, you must be well aware of the “what’s and how’s” to make it effective and worth your time.  You may want to consider these tips to make it a real hit:

1. Start planning ahead of time.  In fact, the earlier you start, the better you can organize the details and the processes.  Most private schools prefer to begin six months in advance.  But if you want to take advantage of solicitation to gain more donations, you can plan several months in advance.
2. Create a work plan and stay well organized.  This is necessary to make the tasks a lot easier and systematized.  Follow your project calendar and call for meetings if there are additional works to do.
3. Recruit and delegate.  The school cannot do it all alone.  Gather a strong team of volunteers whom you can trust and delegate each of them a role and a responsibility they need to perform.
4. Advertise and gather plenty of donations. Send out solicitations through mail or door-to-door, involve the students by making artworks and ask parents to collect items or secure at least one donation per family.  You may advertise big items earlier so people can plan their bidding the earliest possible.  Good advertisement is also a key to good promotions to lure as many bidders as you can.
5. Make your school auction the focus of your event.  Do not complicate it with other school activities such as carnival and game shows on the same day to get your bidders’ full attention.
6. Hire a professional auctioneer.  Especially on a live auction, a properly trained auctioneer can greatly contribute in making the event fun, lively, and moving up.  He knows how to build anticipation, stimulate bidding wars, and when it is time to close bidding. He is one of the tools in making your school auction project a real standout.  If possible, you can invite a local celebrity as the master of the ceremonies.
7. Offer special recognition to corporate sponsors.  Make table signs, ad placement in the auction catalog, online recognition through the school’s website, and/or acknowledgment during the on-going event.

When all things are said and done, you will realize that fundraising auctions profited from not just the money earned, but most importantly, the teamwork established by all who were involved.

photo credit: runneralan2004

Technorati Tags: Auction, Auction catalog, Bidding, Business, Fundraising, school auction