1. Maximizing Your Auction
Alyson Culin
Development & Marketing Director
Orange County Rape Crisis Center
alyson@ocrcc.org | 919-968-4647

2. Committee
• Structure: 1 Staff, 1 or 2 Auction Chair(s),
Sub-Committees. If small group, a sub-
committee may be one point-person.
• Assign specific roles & responsibilities.
• Go to other events. Make note of what you
like & don’t like. Try to think from both
perspectives – planner and guest.

3. Board & Volunteers
• Board participation is vital. They should bring
guests, sell raffle tickets, find sponsors, solicit
items, etc.
• Create roles & responsibilities for Board
members. Set clear expectations.
• Increase participation:
– Incentives/awards
– Competition
– Make it fun!

4. Increase Ticket Sales
• Host Committee. Consists of local celebrities who
draw guests in with their name AND/OR outgoing
people who will personally invite a lot of people.
Give them clear expectations (i.e. We expect you to
fill 1 table with your personal guests.)
• Goals/Expectations
– i.e. Each Board member, volunteer, staff member is
responsible for selling ## tickets.
– For most agencies, personal invitations to personal
connections is going to be most effective.
• Marketing & Publicity – Ask local media for free
advertising as an event sponsorship.

5. Marketing
• In-kind sponsors: Radio, Newspaper, etc. Ask
for free ads as a sponsorship.
• Invitation + multiple e-mails + website +
personal calls/emails: People need multiple
reminders. Get your Board to help out.
• Word-of-mouth (Board, volunteers, staff)
• Make sure sponsors are mentioned on
marketing materials, press releases, etc.

6. Venue & Food/Bev
• In-kind sponsors. Ask your venue or caterer to cut
costs in exchange for a sponsorship.
• Going with a full package venue (like at a hotel)
can sometimes mean saving more money than
booking vendors piecemeal (separate
venue, caterer, etc) because if you’re spending a
ton of money at that one place, they may be
more willing to donate some portion of the bill.
• DO NOT RUN OUT OF FOOD! Also, know your
audience: serve food they want.
• Parking is important.

7. Sponsorships
• This should be your MAIN focus! This is where
the money is!
• Develop sponsorship levels. Review them
regularly. Ask sponsors for their input.
• Sponsor recognition before, during & after event:
marketing materials, website, event
invitation, signage, etc.
• Just like regular donations, sponsorships rely on
personal connections. You will have more luck
with getting your Board Treasurer to ask their
dentist than you will with applying to the Gates
Foundation.

8. Program Schedule
• Short, sweet, to the point. As much as you love your
agency, and your donors do too, people still don’t want
to be there all night.
• Think about it from your guests’ perspective: length;
topic; speaker/video/etc
• Fund A Need / Raise the Paddle
– After hearing about your program, have your auctioneer
ask people to donate $100 right now. The emotional tie
makes it a great time to ask.
– Side note: Always use a professional auctioneer.
• Make sure that by the end of the event, you haven’t
left any money on the table. Create more opportunities
to give.

9. Something Unique
• Think of something you offer that other
events don’t – a draw that will keep your
donors coming back year after year.
• Come up with a unique activity or fundraiser
that guests will associate specifically with your
agency.

10. Raffle
• Sell tickets before and during.
– Make sure that wherever people purchase event
tickets, they are prompted to also purchase raffle
tickets.
– Have friendly, outgoing, super nice volunteers
circulate during your event to sell more tickets.
But make sure you leave time to enter them and
draw the raffle!
• Considerations: Travel, availability, other costs.
Don’t offer a trip to the Bahamas without also
offering airfare.

11. Items
• Categories that do well: unique experiences (play golf
with Woody Durham and Freddie Kiger!), travel (a
mountain cabin or a beach house). Know your
audience: certain categories may do well with your
crowd. Analyze sales in previous years to find out what
works for you.
• At the event:
– Slash prices of items w/o bids.
– First Buyer Frenzy. The first bidder for each item is entered
into a separate raffle to be drawn at the end of the night.
• Consider software (like Greater Giving) for item
management, tracking, registration, and check-out.
Can be very helpful, but make sure it’s worth it.

12. Keys
• Ask yourself: What is the goal?
• Can’t decide? Always go where the money is.
• Customer Service
– Make people happy, not just because of this year, but
for next year too.
– The FIRST and LAST impression of your event is most
important. That means get it together for registration
and check-out. Try ending with something fun!
• Remember your audience
• HAVE FUN
• After: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!