In the months leading up to the event, I had been collecting items for the auction and for the raffle (tips below on how to make your event as successful as possible) and we ended up with 25 fantastic lots for the auction which included:
Mulberry Bag - Worth £925!
JW Training bootcamp and personal training sessions - Worth £470!
Nights away in luxury hotels - Worth £350!
Spa Breaks - Worth £150!
Meals out - Worth £50!
Tickets for the evening were £15 and that included a fish and chip supper. We sold 98 tickets so we were at full capacity which was a fantastic result.
Darren Morris who was our toastmaster for the evening was absolutely fantastic. He donated his time and services to the auction and waived his fee. Very generous! Darren welcomed everybody, read out the auction rules and kicked off with the first lot...
My target for the evening was £1500 but as the auction progressed I soon realised that I may have been a little modest with that target! The Mulberry handbag came around and we all sat there and watched as 2 guests bidded against each other. Bids started at £200 and they crept up until the final bid was £580!! Thank you Georgia!
The luxury raffle followed the auction. We were lucky enough to have some fantastic prizes that were kindly donated, thank you to all those who helped out.
So here was the big moment, how much had we raised? Darren added it all up and announced that we had raised.........£5450!!! Absolutely incredible, I was blown away and couldn't believe everyones generosity.
The auction did take a lot of hard work, a lot of time and lot of commitment but if you plan it in plenty of time then it will be a success.
Below are my Top 10 suggestions to make your Charity auction a success:
1) Leave yourself plenty of time to plan. I would suggest 3-4 months.
2) Write to companies and potential donators, then follow up with a phone call.
3) Look outside the box for donators. Mulberry donated a bag as they have a day centre for Dementia sufferers in their village. Research big companies with links to the charity you are raising money for.
4) Ask friends & family for help on the evening ( bar staff, catering, tickets, packing up, cleaning up etc).
5) Get a toastmaster, ideally for free! Darren was amazing and I know we wouldn't have done as well on the night had he not been there to drum everyone up!
6) Sell raffle tickets before the event. Ask those who can't attend the event so they don't miss out!
7) Write to your local press and tell them all about the event and the reasons behind it
8) Have a bar and make sure you have plenty of drink. We had to pop out during the auction as we were running low!
9) Contact local restaurants/takeaways and see if they will do you a discounted rate for a large order. Our local chippy delivered the meals boxes up separately and straight to the hall, and gave us discount. It was easier than organising the catering on site, and everyone loved it!
10) Produce a programme, give them out to guests before the event and then pop them on the table on the night. People can flick through and choose the items they want to bid on.
Below is a photo from the charity auction.
As long as the evening has been well planned and you have lots of help on the evening, you should be able to have fun and enjoy it! All the hard work you put in will be worth it :)
Good luck!!
For more info on our toastmaster, have a look at www.homecountiestoastmaster.co.uk)
Charity is really a good thing just for the sake of other people. Even everyone must try for the same and help the people in cause through climbing mount kilimanjaro.
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