School Auction Blog

Fundraising is always something big for a school, especially when clubs and societies are looking for funding. A fundraising auction is an excellent way to do just that: make money.

Now school auction projects don’t sound like big-money events, but it all depends on how it’s done. If you know what you’re doing, it sure isn’t impossible for you to rake in $10,000 to $20,000 in one fell swoop. Your child’s club will never have problems with funding as long as you know how to raise money with a school auction:

Planning: Making or Breaking the Auction

Treat a school auction like it’s a business and it’ll be like one. How you plan carefully can turn a school auction into a mere one-time yard sale or an annual money-making event of for your school.

Elements of the planning stage include mining your group for resources and items to auction off, matching items to the audience, acquiring software and hardware for the event. And you have to begin planning for all these factors nearly a year in advance for the auction: treat it like a major event, with all the courtesies and formalities that come with it and you’re going to get one.

Finding the Items to Sell

Creativity is the name of the game here. Although you’ve got the option of asking parents to donate items to set up for auction, you may want to think up alternative options that match the resources available to you.

For example: if you’ve got a parent who owns a luxury yacht, why not auction up a romantic boat ride for two? Or if you’ve got a donator who specializes in furniture making, why not have an auction for a top-notch, hand-built dresser made of fine wood?

Check the people around you, and you’ll be surprised at the options you’ll have to offer in school auction projects.

Matching Items to the Audience

It will be impossible to sell a $10,000 item in a crowd that has only a few hundred dollars in their pockets. Thus, it is essential that your school auction committee be able to assess the financial capabilities of the attending participants.

Carefully study the population of participants that will be attending the auction and divide them into categories: low, mid and high. Make sure low-spenders will be guided to the affordable section of the auctions, while those with more clink in their pockets would be guided to the higher-cost section of the auctions. Do this, and you won’t worry about having the wrong audience for the right auction.

The Art of Auctioneering

Any good auction has to have skilled auctioneers manning it. You don’t want an auctioneer who can’t speak to save his life, and you don’t want an auctioneer who doesn’t have a clue about auctions. You’ll need an auctioneer who knows how to rouse the interest of the crowd; to timely kick in humor and wit in order to keep the crowd entertained, and to inject a certain environment of desire and competitiveness within them.

Plan ahead, be creative, do the proper matching and find a good auctioneer to man the helm. Do it properly, and your fundraising auction will rake in the dollars like no tomorrow.

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Technorati Tags: Auction, Fundraising, fundraising auction, school auction

Ben Lee, Education Director, Soundview School, Building the Future Dinner Auction March 7, 2009 at the Everett Comcast Events Center in Everett, Washington.

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Technorati Tags: April Brown, charity auction, charity auctioneer, Fundraising, school auction, Soundview School

Author: Angela Costas

Does your school hold an auction to raise funds? If not you might want to consider it. Many private schools, and even some public schools, hold dinner/auction nights to raise funds. It’s a fun way for parents to support the school, socialize and even go home with some great prizes.

Schools can have a live auction, silent auction, online auction or any combination of all of them. When there is more than one type of auction going on you are more able to reach out to everyone’s interest and price levels.

A silent auction can provide a way to offer many different auction items. The auction items can be valued anywhere from $20 to $500 or even more. With so many auction items, there can be something for everyone. From sports, to kids, gourmet foods, gift baskets, and many other interests can be included in the silent auctions.

A live auction is a great interactive event, that many attendees will enjoy. The auctioneer interacts with the crowd to make the auction fun and exciting. A professional auctioneer can often drive up the final bid price of the items higher than they would be with a volunteer auctioneer or if the items were on the silent auction table.

Internet based auctions are very popular and many parents are already buying items online on eBay. So why not have one for the school? An online auction can happen during the same dinner/auction night or a week before. You could even have the onine auction instead of an in-person event. If the online auction is stand alone they are often held over a 1-3 week period.

No matter what type of auction or combination of auctions you have, make sure you start planning well in advance. Organize into committees so volunteers can participate in a variety of ways.

Have some really high priced, premium items in the live auction. Big vacation packages, a motorcycle or gourmet dinner party are all good ideas for a live auction. Ticket packages for professional sports teams are also great auction items. Even if it’s not a super high priced item, if it will bring in lots of excitement and bids, put it in a live auction. Also have less fancy items that start at lower prices in the silent auction so everyone has an opportunity to participate.

Auctions can be a fun, great way to raise funds. Consider all of the different auction formats available and how they can fit into your school’s fundraising plans.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/k-12-education-articles/live-silent-and-online-auctions-are-great-school-fundraisers-1239153.html

About the Author:

Angela Costas writes for the Top School Fundraisers blog. The site includes free information about school auctions and other school fundraisers.

Technorati Tags: Ebay, Fundraising, live auction, Online Auction, school auction, School Fundraiser, Silent Auction

In times where financial crisis is a concern of everybody, it is helpful to resort to school auctions for school fund raising needs. Auctions are used as alternative in raising funds to answer for various projects of the students as well as programs for the institution or the university. But since raising money is not as easy as it used to be in the past, school auction projects must be thought of and really planned so that it would make it worthwhile for the buyers.

What are unique ideas that can be productive for a school auction?

Student Art Projects

It is usual for many fundraising auction to be getting donations from known personalities in the community but one nice thing about school auction is that it gives chance for students to make art projects that are uniquely theirs and to have it sold at auction and eventually raise money. Although many people would think this as useless, many people give value to the uniqueness and artistic talents of the students. It provides students the opportunities to enhance and improve on their creativity and to be given credit for it.

Add Excitement

Aside from the usual get together of sorts, the auction can be made into a classy get together. During the said event, you can offer a full meal to the guests and a wine for each table if possible. You can also make the venue more interesting by making an effort to make it pleasant to the eyes of the guests and make the mood festive. This way, more people will be encouraged to join.

Handmade Items

A unique idea would be instead of buying things from the mall, you can think of making some of the auction products specially made for the said event to give a personal touch and make it more memorable for everybody.

Be Creative and Make It Memorable

Use your creativity, think of items that would be most useful for many. Sometimes, the things that are being auctioned need not be expensive so that people will bid on it. There are still people who give worth to sentimental value. You must also offer a variety of items so that many people will be invited to join in.

It is also a great idea to involve the whole community instead of the usual parents and students in the institution. The success of the school auction has greater chances of success if there are more people who will participate and contribute their ideas.

Think of ways to make the event memorable so that they would be reminded of a very momentous event. This would also pave way for the continuous support of the people to this event year after year. You can make the event memorable by starting a tradition that you can truly call it your own. This would spark the interest of the people to keep on coming to the said event.

The idea of a school action is not all about raising funds, but you must also ensure that guests will have fun and take home with them something nice with many good memories attached to it.

Technorati Tags: Art Projects, Auction, Fundraising, school auction

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