Effective Fundraising with Silent Auction for Charity Events

A popular fundraising element to Charity events such as quiz nights and balls is a silent auction. Guests are invited to place bids for items in a silent manner whereby nobody else knows who has made which bid. Although this can be an extremely lucrative part of the night, it is also one of the most difficult to manage.

Keep your bidders... bidding!

Firstly, guests need to be made aware of what is on offer and have a simple method of being able to place bids. Keeping the steady flow of incoming bids logged in an organised, orderly fashion is almost impossible without a software system in place. Keeping the guests informed of the latest bid updates means keeping them interested– if you fall behind, you run the risk of potential bidders losing interest and getting rather confused in the process.

Qdos have developed a simple and effective application that displays latest bid update information to the guests on projected screens. The application is also quick and easy to update behind the scenes– all that is needed is a laptop and a projector.

Easy-to-use

The software comprises two main elements:

• An easy-to-use control panel to log bidders' names, table numbers and bid amounts and the lot number to which their bid applies
• The display screen that the guests can see

Table ambassadors collect bid forms from each table and pass them to the software operator to enter into the control panel. When the operator is ready, the display screen can be updated at the click of a button. The application displays which the highest bid so far, as well as the lot numbers, title, description and an image of the item and the reserve price (if any).

Raise more money

Because the current bids are updated and relayed back to the guests so quickly, bidders are prompted to place counter bids, adding to the excitement of the occasion, whilst raising more money for the charity.

At the end of the event, the person using the software clicks the ‘Final’ button, which displays a screen of the winning bids and the table number of the bidder. The ambassador for that table can then collect the money raised. After the event, information about every bid can be easily extracted in case it is necessary to chase payments.

The software allows you to customise the look and feel of the displayed screens by changing font, font size and colour and the time interval between each slide. If you would like to incorporate your organisation's brand completely, our design team can amend the look and feel until it's just right. Upon purchase of the software, we can support you as you familiarise yourself with using the program, as well as providing valuable advice with how to make the most of the Silent Auction at the event.

This software has been extremely well received and is a perfect alternative to renting expensive bidding equipment. It allows the event to flow professionally whilst leaving more money in the pot to go to other projects.

Testimonials

The Childrens Society

"I have to say for putting something together at the last minute it was fantastic. I think the software has a good market amongst the smaller charities/ nfp’s who don’t have the size of event or budgets for the interactive bidding systems. We will have raised about $14k on the Silent Auction – given the global financial climate and range of silent auction items this year was very pleasing."

Carrie Elton - Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney

The software has also been used by charities such as Teenage Cancer Trust and Right to Play to enhance their silent auction within their major gala events.