Successful Silent Auction
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any fundraising events include a silent auction as part of the organization’s fundraising efforts. A Silent Auction simply means that people bid by writing in an amount they are willing to spend and then raising that bid with another stroke of the pen when outbid by another person. No audible bidding takes
place. The Silent Auction arena allows bidders to shop for the items they are interested in. The bidding becomes competitive as bidders observe each other bidding. The silent auction can be very profitable when the environment, procedures and process is designed with retail buying and selling strategies shoppers naturally respond too. A silent auction is a wonderful opportunity for showcasing products and services. We can increase visibility and stimulate business for donors while raising money and fostering good will for the organization. To do that, we must eliminate confusion and make it easy and fun for people to bid and win. It takes a village I like to think of an auction arena as an exciting shopping experience filled with interesting people, places and things, not the cumbersome setup and confusion that some become. To fully understand the Silent Auction Arena we must view it from the perspective of our guests.
This business donor included plenty of business cards for interested guests.
Try this little exercise. Imagine you are walking through the woods and as you peer through the trees you come upon a beautiful little village filled with laughter and chatter. Music is playing, colorful lights and merriment abounds.
Well‐appointed servants greet you with trays of delicious food and drink. You are surrounded by unique gifts and adventures all different from the other. You are a stranger, but you sense that you are a special guest and somehow everyone is expecting you! With every step your excitement builds as you discover fabulous stores with one amazing item after another to buy. You continue
Guests are prepared to have fun and bid. Notice that none of these bidders are carrying a catalog.
to venture deeper into the village. There is so much to see you begin to feel confused and a bit lost. As you wander about you decide you’d like to return to the beginning of your trek and buy something from the first shop you visited. Although just a few minutes have passed, the village sidewalks are now crowed with hundreds of people obliterating the storefronts. You look for a familiar face, a distinctive color, a sign marking the storefront. Depending on your personality type you may persevere or you might just give up. Bidders must be enticed to bid and then stay engaged with bidding. Our brain searches for clues to navigate. What we see, hear, smell and touch guides us. A silent auction is very much like this imaginary village. The layout of the sales arena from the setup of the tables to the colors and signage we use to merchandise the items gives our brain clues and cues to guide buyers through the discovery and bidding process.
This silent setup utilizes only one side of the table causing congestion and crowding.
Four Keys Too Silent Auction Success •
The Silent Auction Bid Sheet
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The Point of Sale Displays
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The Position of the Display Tables
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The Management Procedures
Four Common Silent Auction Mistakes •
Confusing sales arena
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Crowded displays and isles
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No access to sound
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Poor procedures
Full size bid sheets allow for larger type, making the bid sheets easier to read at a glance.
The Silent Auction Bid Form
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ne of the most important sales tools and the one we have the most control over is the silent auction bid form. This form is not simply a sheet of paper for writing down bids. It is a tool that provides clarity for the bidder, recognition for the donor and it is an
inventory management tool for the volunteers, a financial management tool for the clerks and may event be a tax receipt for the winning bidder. The style and layout of the form, the item description and the mathematical formula and even the type size and physical placement of the form on the display table will influence bidding activity and the final sale. The following lists what I consider to be the best silent bid form. 1. Use full sheet bid forms. 81/2” x 11” 2. Use NCR paper. These forms are layered with white, pink, yellow and blue carbon. 3. Use a simple fonts: Arial, Times New Roman, Claredon, Calibri 4. Use larger a larger type size. 12, 14, or 16 point. 5. Include a descriptive Title Line. 6. Include a short Description 7. Bold the type for the Donor Business Name and Business Location. 8. Include an Opening Bid. 9. Include pre‐determined Bid Increments. 10. Add the actual Retail Value of the item if one exists. 11. Always include an obvious box for the Guaranteed Bid Amount 12. The bidder should bid by Bid Number and Bidder Name only.
What makes a bad silent bid form? 1. Half sheet: horizontal or vertical 2. Fancy fonts 3. Small type 4. Long description 5. No printed bid increments 6. No opening bid 7. Too high opening bid 8. No guaranteed bid 9. Too high guaranteed bid 10. No donor name 11. No donor address 12. No donor contact information 13. No place for the bidders name 14. Vague Title 15. One sheet The look of the form should be simple and easy to read and include important information to help sell the item to the lookers. Use these tips for all printed materials, slide presentations and signage.
Move silent tables away from the wall so guests can bid from both sides and watch each other compete with one another.
Tips for a Great silent Bid form 1. AVOID USING ALL CAPS. The normal use of upper and lowercase characters is easier to read. 2. Use italics rather than underlining to emphasize a point. Underlining makes characters with descenders, e.g., y, g, p difficult to read. 3. Skip proper punctuation. Punctuation marks can be difficult to see and take up space. 4. Use a large font size. Bid sheets are read from a distance of three to four feet and catalogs are often read in dim light by people who left their glasses at home. No less than 12 point or 14 point. 16 point type for title lines. 5. A good rule of thumb for the length of a description for the silent bid sheet is 2 lines and an additional line for listing the neighborhood or restrictions and caveats. 6. Use a simple sans serif font, e.g., Times New Roman or Arial. Avoid using script or hand written information. 7. Leave a border of white space around the text.
Automated Forms Charity auction software offers the ability to create a silent auction bid form from an existing data base. Forms can also be created in Word or Access and by importing data from Excel. It is worth the time and effort to find software that fits into your budget to meet the most basic requirements suggested above. Silent auction sales are a completely visual transaction and the decision to place a bid is made in 3‐6 seconds. For this reason, the form needs to be simple, easy to read and give all the details in few words to provoke action. Full size bid forms allow for the larger type size and enough space to print the information in the format our brain needs to absorb information at a glance. Again, the Silent Auction is a shopping experience. People need to know immediately what is being offered for sale. Tangible items are easier to sell than items that require an imagination, like services and trips. Buyers want quick information.
I once bought an auto detail by a business 30 miles from my home. Redeeming the certificate was so inconvenient we will never go back. More importantly, had the address been on the signage, another bidder living in the neighborhood may have bought the service and become a good customer for that detailer.
Always include the donor’s name or brand on the silent auction bid sheet. The donors’ name adds cache motivates bidding. Make sure to include the location of the business i.e. physical location and/or web address. People tend to bid on items in the neighborhoods they work and live in. If you want to create an alliance with the business community put the location or neighborhood as part of the title line for every item donated by a business. The bid sheet then becomes an advertisement for that donor.
Here is an sample Title Line of a donation from the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, Washington. “Romantic Getaway in Bellevue”. This Title Line requires the bidder’s eyes to drop down to the descriptive line to get more information and tells the buyer nothing other than they might get lucky. This description immediately announces the most important parts of the donation. It is for 3 nights at a world renowned hotel. “Two nights 3 days and Brunch Hyatt Regency Bellevue”. The buyer will envision how this package will fit into their life. The description can include the caveats: Monday through Friday. Excludes New Year’s Eve. Expires one year from auction date. Here are a few examples of title lines commonly used. I’ve modified the wording to reflect what is actually being sold. Weak
Strong
Pamper your wife with a weekday getaway
Snoqualmie Falls Lodge Weekend for two
Queen for the Day
Bridgewater Spa Massage, Lunch, Manicure
Car Care Package
Jim’s Auto Detail, Lube, Oil, Filter
Girls Night Out
Scotts Bar & Grill for 6 ladies
In the description field think business card marketing‐use about as many words as you will find on a typical business card. Do not use any clever or colorful wording to describe silent auction items, experiences or services. Shoppers take approx 4 seconds to read the bid sheet and view the display.
Pre‐printed bid increments make the bidding process simple and predictable. Bidders cannot decipher and do math, period. Before you purchase software make sure it offers pre‐printed increments, opening bids and guaranteed bids. Without those sales tools a silent bid sheet is worthless to the sales process. The opening bid will either stimulate bidding or turn bidders away. I think it’s a good idea to start with a low opening bid at about 25% of value and a guaranteed bid amount of varying values. The opening bid should be low enough that one person starts the bidding just because they can. A low opening Open boxes and display contents.
bid says “Gee this is so cheap, I might win if nobody else catches on”. Now that item is
“on sale” or discounted in the buyer’s mind. The bidder is engaged and invested in the auction game and hoping to get a deal. There is nothing wrong with wanting to get a bargain. We all have stuff around our house that we’ve purchased just because it was on sale, even if the savings was just 10%. If the item has broad appeal other buyers will bid and compete and before you know it a bidding war has started and the item will sell at value or higher. The guaranteed bid was created with the idea that some items are more desirable than others and for the sake of the cause, bidders will pay much more than value in order to win the item. Rare items and experiences along with items with broad appeal usually will sell on the guaranteed bid. Sometimes a buyer will use the guaranteed bid out of frustration, simply because their desire fuels their determination to win. The sale amount may bring in double or triple value and therefore guaranteed bids are set usually 50 to 200% over value. Usually only a small percentage of items will sell at the guaranteed bid. Examine the sales records from previous years and find out how many items sold on the guaranteed bid along with the total amount paid over value. Next, look at how many items sold under value and the total value of
those items. Those numbers will tell you if setting the guaranteed bid over value is working for your buying demographic. Let’s go back to the village for a moment. 300 people enter any store anywhere and have just 2 hours to peruse the entire inventory of the store. Factor in that hardly any two items are alike and all the merchandise is overpriced. As you can see, there is no other retail shopping experience like this. For buyers to pay overvalue they have to be convinced quickly to make an immediate purchase. Keep in mind 70% of shoppers pay retail for most purchases, 20% want a deal and 10% pay the marked price. So plan your sales strategy around the way the public is conditioned to buy and adjust the opening bids, bid increments
Cover cardboard boxes and use for display risers.
and guaranteed bid around the timeline and type of inventory being sold. The Guaranteed Bid is a Sales Tool. It can be under value, over value or at value. Think of setting the guaranteed bid undervalue for Silent Number 1 as part of the Early Bird Hour. Set Silent Number 2 guaranteed bid at value and the final closing over value. The goal is to sell items immediately which moves inventory out of the buying process into the reconciliation process, saving the clerking team time. By reducing available product early, bidders tend to buy remaining items at a higher price. Items rarely remain unsold.
The Silent Auction Setup The layout of the silent auction area influences how people move through the venue. They are typically set in place by the venue staff and commonly arranged in long sections in the center of the room with tables along the perimeter of the room. This arrangement does not take advantage of the retail real estate and sales flow and works against competitive bidding. It is important to remember that an auction is a competitive buying experience and requires a visual sizing up of the competition. The way the tables and sections are setup will impact the sales process. Tables positioned against the wall do not allow for cross table viewing. Buyers need to see each other bidding and respond quickly to the competitor. They need to discover and retain a visual destination and then return to bid again and again and again. Tables positi oned end to end in long rows block the ability to make a quick return and place a bid. It is more fun to group draped banquet tables in sets of four to 6 tables in
Display by department. Use big signs to identify silent sections.
varied configurations. These smaller configurations offer versatile display space, cross table viewing of the bidding competition. Shortening the linear path allows the buyer to move quickly from section to section and from item to item. These groupings also create another visual checkpoint so the bidder is able to find their way back to the items they are bidding on. Color to code each silent section with linens, signs and props. Retail statistics show shoppers spend more money when they shop alone and in the department of their choice. Departments flush out a buyer’s
interests, speed up the bidding process and entice couples to split up and purchase separately. Use table configurations that compliment the items and create the feeling of separation or departments. The Super Silent and Last Chance Table Sometimes the acquisition process goes so well that there are more items than time to shop. Those mountains of really cool stuff can be placed in another silent ‐ The Super Silent. The Super Silent is usually made up of items that are good enough for the live but there simply is not enough time to sell them during the Live Auction timeline. Those items can be positioned just inside the entrance to the live auction arena. The closing for this silent is held immediately following the Paddle Raise during the dessert dash. Items of lower value can be placed on The Last Chance table is setup next to checkout or in the silent auction arena near checkout. Unsold items can also be placed in this section. These items can be sold at a set price or bargain price and picked up as people begin checking out. Title cards are the display signs placed directly behind the item to draw a bidders’ attention to the item and the silent bid form. They do not have to be identical in size and should be color coded to match the corresponding silent section. The text should be at least 36 point type and list the name of the donation and the donor’s name. If possible, do not crowd title cards and bid forms or the displays. A legible Title Card will guide bidders back to the item during the competitive bidding process. Once again, the goal is to make it fast and easy for people to bid repeatedly during countdown to close. Make sure the silent auction area is free of tripping hazards. Tape down electrical cords and avoid using shaky tables and displays. Use table easels for art rather than floor easels and avoid placing items on the floor.
Point‐of‐sale displays are the actual displays that accompany the donated items. Encourage donors to provide product displays, risers, forms, hangers, whatever is needed to give their donation pizzazz. Invite donors to include 10 brochures, 10 business cards and coupons and anything that might entice people to take a closer look at the donation. Those sales tools will increase buyer interest and bidding activity. Auction Powerhouse Tip Place “This Item Sold” sign on each silent bid sheet when the guaranteed bid is placed. Auction Powerhouse Tip 10 minutes before each silent countdown place a distinctive helium filled balloon in front of any bid sheet that has none to one bid. The auctioneer will announce “Look for the striped balloons. These items have none to one bid. Hurry, you could win on just one bid!” Auction Powerhouse Tip Color code each silent auction. Use distinctive colors: red, purple, blue. Colors closely associated like silver, copper, gold can be difficult to visually sort out when balloons are filled with air. Muted colors can be accentuated with a bright copper, silver or gold ribbon accent.
This display is crowded and confusing and difficult for buyers to identify the dishes that belong together. It is better to place a different pattern between these dishes with space on both sides..
April Brown is an 18 year veteran auctioneer and specializes in fundraising auctions. She is also the founder and Director of Whisker City, a feline rescue organization located in Shoreline, Washington. Brown also hosts April Brown’s Charity Auction World, the only internet television show designed to showcase the world of charity auctions. She is the author of Money is Marvelous and The Foundation - Secrets to A Successful Charity Auction. April has a long history of dramatically increasing revenue for charities with a goal of $30,000 to $500,000 and higher. The Auction Powerhouse Training Method has helped thousands of volunteer and professional fundraisers attract new donors, develop profitable demographic and put together memorable auctions. Brown’s innovative strategies and concepts are used by auctioneers, development officers and volunteers throughout North America. She is a skilled auctioneer and combines her passion for business and love for charity by training others to do great things. April’s clients include private and public schools, hospital foundations and guilds, business and community service organizations and individuals