Fundraising
For silent auctions there are no licensing requirements, however you should bear in mind the Sale of Goods Act when providing descriptions and stating the value of each item. Parents provide their contact details voluntarily, but these should be destroyed at the end of the event.
What kind of auction? n Paper-based: Make an
information and bidding sheet for each lot and attach it to a noticeboard or clipboard. Include a recommended retail price and ‘sell-by date’, if appropriate. Leave room for people to write their name, contact details and bid amount. For higher value items,
suggest an opening bid as a guide. n Blind auction: If bidders would
prefer to remain anonymous, invite them to register for a unique number
they can use instead of their names. n Sealed bids: Make up a bid box and get bidders to write their highest bid on a sheet of paper and
place in the box. n Online auction: Set up an online silent auction as a fundraiser in its own right or to attract bids before a live event. Post each lot on Facebook and use the comments section for bids, turning this off before the event. Sites such as PTA Events provide an easy way for people to view lots, do some research and start bidding.
CALL IN THE EXPERTS
If you are organising a big-ticket event, you could hire a specialist company who will run the whole auction for you. Kamran Tirmizey, managing director of fundraising at charity fundraiser D&G Group says: ‘A specialist company should produce a brochure (or provide auction tech), source prizes tailored to your audience, provide an event manager and support staff and even chase up payments for you. ‘At D&G, we charge no fee and shoulder all the financial exposure. Reserves for our supplied items in the auctions include a modest, fixed supply margin per item, which only applies when an item actually sells. Most of the prizes we supply generate hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds, so schools can expect to raise a significant sum.
Personal
fragrance design
Oil painting
‘We’ll discuss the client’s requirements on a video call or at a meeting before producing a proposal. We’ll then advise on either a paper-based auction or, if appropriate, a technology solution. For a paper auction, we produce a glossy brochure highlighting any prizes the school has sourced and supplementing these with a selection of carefully selected prizes from our own range. With the tech option, we’ll set up a digital leader board that shows each bid as it is placed – an excellent way to encourage engagement and healthy competition between peer groups. Guests are able to browse through the brochure/tech interface, select items of interest and make a bid. All bids are processed in accordance with Data Protection and GDPR regulations. At the end of the night, we communicate with all the winners and take payments on behalf of our clients. We then chase up any remaining payments and the account should be settled within five days.’
CASE STUDY ‘OUR SMALL SCHOOL AUCTION RAISED OVER £2,000’
‘We began planning our silent auction in January by posting on local Facebook groups and also asking parents for donations using Classlist. Our auction was held as part of the summer fair so we advertised it on the same posters. We listed the lots in the fair programme to raise levels of excitement. We had 23 lots in total, the star prize
being two Wimbledon Centre Court tickets with access to the Debentures lounge. We don’t usually use reserve
38 AUTUMN 2019 FundEd
prices but for that one we did. If prizes weren’t big enough to be auctioned individually, we put them together to make them more attractive. Where possible, we attempted to make the lots compatible, for example dinner for two combined with a babysitting voucher. The silent auction had its own tent
at the fair. Each prize was listed on a piece of paper along with a description and the recommended retail price, if known. People wrote their bids
underneath. We called time half an hour before the end and our compere read out the winners, but not how much they paid. Most people were still at the fair and claimed their prizes straight away, paying cash. We also allowed BACS transfers, but prize envelopes weren’t handed over until payment had been made. We raised a total of £2,092.’ Mikayla Ellmer, PTA co-chair, Kemsing Primary School PTA, Kemsing, Kent (196 pupils)
LOT 6
LOT 5
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