Raffle/Silent/Live Auction Items

[Ducks-n-Bucks]

My wife and I serve on a planning committee in charge of auctions and raffles for an annual fundraiser. We are constantly looking for ideas and items to add. What are some items you would want to bid on or have bid on in the past at these types of events? We are always looking for donated items, but we also buy certain items to enhance the item lineup.

Thanks for any input



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[wytex]

Locally made things go over really well at auctions and banquets we go to.
Maybe a custom knife for a big ticket item, I think I've bought 7 knives from a local blade smith at our DU banquets over the years.
If alcohol is not taboo maybe some good bourbon as a raffle, or scotch.

[Das71198]

Fishing or hunting trips, guns, fishing poles, weekend get-away packages (Fredericksburg etc.), sporting event tickets like the Sugarland Skeeters (they may donate them if you call), fire pits or wooden swings or Gliders

[ThisLadyHunts]

Not sure if your organization is large enough to swing this, but we enjoy bidding on hunting packages, particularly if they're out of state/country.

My husband and I attended a Quail Coalition or Ducks Unlimited auction (can't remember which) a couple of years ago. The banquet hall was lined on three sides with tables of "silent auction" items: Yeti products ad nauseum, knives of all kinds, meat-carving sets, *jewelry, gift baskets with BBQ-related food items, an ice chest full of local beer, camo apparel with embroidered logo (hats & shirts mostly), etc. These were all silent auction items. (Oh!...here's another item I've always thought would be cool to include: An original painting by a student of a local high school's art program. You'd be amazed at the level of talent these young people have! Painting could have theme that reflects the mission of your organization.)

The "big ticket" items at this auction included three different rifles (one of which was a 6.5 Creedmoor; can't remember the other two), one of the super-sized Yeti ice chests, one or two smokers, and maybe a couple of other items that currently escape my memory. If I remember correctly, these items were raffled at the end of this particular event.

Big ticket items--say, a car/truck or a European vacation for two--are usually held until the end of the program and are typically sold through a “live” auction, rather than a raffle. These sexy, high-value items serve two purposes: 1) they increase ticket sales because they create excitement and 2) they increase the amount of money raised at the event because the (live) auctioning of these items creates drama. If your organization is small, however, it may be difficult to get big ticket items donated, unless you happen to have business owners in your membership who are in a position to do so.

If this is not the case, you might be able to arrange with local dealers or retailers to purchase these types of items at cost (or dealer invoice) and then hope that they bring an auction price that is at or over MSRP, such that your organization benefits from the margin. Of course, there is always a chance that the item(s) will auction for less than the amount paid; when this happens, the organization may find itself "upside down" in it's fundraising efforts for the evening. To mitigate this risk, I seem to recall that there is insurance available specifically for this purpose. It's been a while since I've volunteered for anything, so things may have changed since then.

Good luck and please feel free to PM me if there is any other information I can provide you.

(*A note about jewelry: I am always surprised to see what seems to me to be a disproportionate amount of women’s jewelry offered at auctions held by organizations of which most of the members are men. It is the one product category that consistently has the greatest number of items offered, in my observations; easily twice that of other product categories. I don’t know if it’s female attendees buying for themselves, male attendees buying for their wives, or whether jewelry is simply easier to get donated. Either way, don’t overlook jewelry.)

[Ducks-n-Bucks]

Thanks for the replies so far, keep them coming


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[captainsling]

Hunting trips, vacations, guns, grills, fire pits, high end coolers, feeders, blinds, and anything custom made do real well in our events. Silent auctions are slowly losing ground and don't usually bring a lot of money anymore as people usually don't spend more than the item is worth.

For raffles we have had very good luck with a key item auction. basically you add 5 like items of value to be auctioned off for a 1 in 5 chance to win the AR-15. LAst year we used some custom made duck calls, and staggered them in our live auction. We got on average about $700 for each call, and the winner of the AR was very happy. We have also used rod and reel combos for the key items. You can use anything. The bids progressively get higher as the chances to get 1 of the 5 raffle tickets go away.

Another idea is a ladies purse raffle. Buy a high end purse. Something over $1000. Sell 100 poker chips that are numbered 1-100. player picks chips out of a bucket and that is the price they pay for their chip or chips. That number is also their raffle number. You wind up bringing in about $5k for that raffle, minus the cost of your purse. You may also contact Kendra Scott on their website and ask for jewelry donations. They will arrange for local pick up at a store near your location.

Would be more than happy to share more ideas if you want to send me a PM.

[ThisLadyHunts]

Hunting trips, vacations, guns, grills, fire pits, high end coolers, feeders, blinds, and anything custom made do real well in our events. Silent auctions are slowly losing ground and don't usually bring a lot of money anymore as people usually don't spend more than the item is worth.

For raffles we have had very good luck with a key item auction. basically you add 5 like items of value to be auctioned off for a 1 in 5 chance to win the AR-15. LAst year we used some custom made duck calls, and staggered them in our live auction. We got on average about $700 for each call, and the winner of the AR was very happy. We have also used rod and reel combos for the key items. You can use anything. The bids progressively get higher as the chances to get 1 of the 5 raffle tickets go away.

Another idea is a ladies purse raffle. Buy a high end purse. Something over $1000. Sell 100 poker chips that are numbered 1-100. player picks chips out of a bucket and that is the price they pay for their chip or chips. That number is also their raffle number. You wind up bringing in about $5k for that raffle, minus the cost of your purse. You may also contact Kendra Scott on their website and ask for jewelry donations. They will arrange for local pick up at a store near your location.

Would be more than happy to share more ideas if you want to send me a PM.

I love these suggestions. All are very different and all are quite clever.

[cva34]

Powder /Primers/Bullets/Ammo.......LOL

Sorry just couldn't resist

[captainsling]

If you are wanting to do silent auction items contact Chuck Darling. He has celebrity and sports collectibles. He will come to your event, set up his stuff, and take payments. He splits half of what he makes with your organization and you don't have a dime in it, or any time. We have had good luck with this in the past.

Chuck Darling - Tyson Fundraising
VP, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX Region
chuckd_75052@yahoo.com

[salth2o]

I'm the raffle chairman for my local Rotary club. Our event is coming up on May 15. Some of our $100 raffle ticket prizes are a Playstation 5 game console and television, restaurant gift card package, deluxe fireworks package, half side of beef from a local FFA and a freezer, whole hog from FFA and freezer, 10,000 watt generator, Houston Texans tickets, Astros tickets, customized hunting golf cart, custom rod/reel and half day bay fishing trip, , iPad/Yeti cooler w/half hog from FFA, custom picnic table, and the grand prize is a Chevy Colorado or Camaro (winners choice).

[wytex]

50/50 cash raffle. Org. keeps half and the winner gets half. Always very popular at our banquets.

We also did a 20 gun raffle for many years. Sell just so many tickets, 200 was our number, and winner's pick as they are drawn. $100 or $50 tickets for the gun raffle. We bought all the guns at cost from local dealer.\

I have to say, you all raffle off some nice prizes from what I see posted on here !

[Honker]

I'll send you a PM about an Argentina dove hunt. Like Wytrex suggested, its a 50/50 split with the donor and it has a reserve price. They usually sell for $5K to $7K and 50% is better than a stick in eye.