Creating Silent Auction Packages
Combining and Creatively Naming Items Can Increase Fundraising
Mar 29, 2009
When auction donations start arriving, it is tempting to start pricing items. However, it is first necessary to think about overall auction organization. See the article Organizing a Silent Auction on creating categories and themes to increase participation and bidding.
Once items are in categories, it's time to start packaging. Items of more than $50-$100 value can usually be offered independently. For events with wealthier attendees, that threshold might be raised. Items of less than threshold value can be combined together in packages. For auctions with attendees of moderate or varied wealth, it makes sense to include some lower-priced items to make the auction more accessible to all participants.
Organizing Silent Auction Items into Packages
There are a few reasons to combine items into auction packages:
- Items are Unlikely to Sell on Their Own – This is sometimes true of logo merchandise, questionable fashion, jewelry or accessories, or some personal services where attendees might be hesitant to try a new provider. Packaging such items along with a really desirable item is a great way to make the desirable item sell for above actual value because the other item is also included in the overall package value.
- Too Many Small Items – Too many items can make an auction overwhelming, as well as make it hard for bidders to decide and track what they really want. Combining lower value items is a great way to reduce the number of items but raise the quality of the items at the same time.
- Lower-End Donors – Sometimes the companies who give regularly are not necessarily the ones that will "class up" a silent auction. For example, several drive-thru fast food restaurants could be combined together into a "Lunch on the Run" package.
- Creating Featured Items – A local hotel stay, a high-end restaurant, a bottle of wine and a certificate to a local chocolate shop, for example, can be combined together to create a "Romantic In-Town Getaway Package." While none of these items alone may be incredibly compelling – together they create not just items, but an "experience." Once someone has their heart set on a featured item, it's hard not to try hard to win it.
Creative Auction Item Marketing
Even for ungrouped items, naming an offering makes it more than just, for example, a hotel stay, but a "package." A "Weekend Family Escape" may be just providing a hotel in a nearby metropolitan area, but is actually selling a whole vacation. Even without attractions or restaurants bundled in, buying the core item to benefit charity may give a family license to treat themselves to a weekend away where they would be less likely to call and book a hotel on their own. They can do without a "Stay at the XXX Marriot," but a "Weekend Family Escape" they may not be able to resist.
Don't go crazy – not every item needs a big theme. The title of some items can simply be a short item description or donor. Hotel stays and restaurant categories can usually be made more exciting by this method. Sports, entertainment, and other miscellaneous items can be named on a case-by-case basis. Remember, descriptive and illustrative name beat clever but less clear names every time.
Putting some thought into limiting the overall number of items offered at a silent auction and creatively creating and/or naming packages and items can greatly increase interest in auction items – raising overall participation and competitive bidding for higher overall fundraising success. For details on pricing items strategically, see the article Pricing Silent Auction Items.
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