Angela’s Events

I have mentioned before, that our PTO doesn’t like to do a lot of selling type fundraisers. Some of the fundraisers that we have done or are still doing include Read-a-thons, dinners, the school fair, and the much anticipated Silent Auction. This auction is something that our community looks forward to every year. We have done it for 4 continuous years. But let me tell you….it is a LOT of work. First off, let me start by saying that our school is a K-12 school with a combined enrollment of around 270 students. It is VERY small. We only have a couple businesses in our area, so we have to go out into the surrounding areas to try and get businesses to donate either items or money for our auction. This is a little disappointing, because many businesses will not donate to a school that is not in their district.

I will say, that going from place to place, asking for items, is not one of my best qualities. I am an outgoing personality, but I also am not the type of person to set myself up for rejection. And rejection happens over and over again. I will say it again….rejection happens over and over and over again. But in the end, when you see all the items that your PTO team has collected, it is very satisfying.

We have come to the conclusion, that it tends to be WHO you know and not WHERE you go. This does not always hold true, but many times does. So, if you are going to do a silent auction, the best thing to do first, is hit up the people who work in a place that you would like to donate. We also send letters out to all the students’ parents encouraging them to make their own family basket to donate to the auction. We do not get many donations this way, but it also serves as an advertisement for the auction day. Each elementary classroom also does a themed basket. The teacher picks a theme, and the students bring in items that have to do with that theme. As an incentive for this, the class that has the highest selling basket, gets to keep ALL proceeds of that basket for their OWN classroom.

One of the best things that we do, is send letters to pro sports teams and colleges. You would be surprised who donates….and who does not. We have gotten things from the Browns, the Bengals, Ohio State, Cavaliers, Cincinnati Reds and others. It costs only a stamp to send the letter (and in some cases you need to email them, which cost nothing) and you get nice items that bring in high bids. I like this the best, because I only get rejection through a letter, NOT face to face! It is much better on the ego!

This part of the whole auction process is only a small part of the work. I will do a part 2 of our silent auction in a different post. So, if you are interested in making money for your organization, this is a great way to it. Plus, seeing people having fun as they participate in the donating, is an extra benefit that is well worth all the work!

If you have done a silent auction in the past, how have you gone about collecting items? I would love to hear from you!