How do you raise money or redirect money for good causes in small communities?
I’ve recently discovered the value of a “local” auction.
My block association produces an annual street party. It’s typically just plain fun. This year was no exception. However, the state of the economy has been caused us to take on some new concerns. We were hoping to raised funds for Youth projects. We experimented with a silent auction. It turned out to be a great way to bring neighbors together, have them offer their time and talents, and raise money for a good cause.
Below I describe how we put that together.
How to organize an auction
1. Form a committee. I recommend at least 4 people that can bring a variety of perspectives.
2. Brainstorm ideas for auctionable items. Set a date for the team to meet. Focus your ideas on
- services your neighbors can provide —- consulting, construction etc. Some things that we auctioned include - resume consultation, acupuncture, personal training, photography lesson and more.
- unused/new/quality goods from neighbors and local merchants. Remember that stuff you bought but never used… donate it to the auction. jewelry, bicycles, clothes.
3. Determine the purpose for the funds raised. We’re sponsoring summer youth projects.
4. Organize ideas. We put together the info and posted it on the popular photo site, flickr. You can see it here http://bit.ly/r1ba-auction . It’s important that
- take pictures of goods
- create descriptions
- set minimum bids
We also set up an email account that allowed folks to bid by email.
5. Share the ideas with your neigbhors to inspire more ideas. Collect and organize.
6. Prepare for auction day.
- Set date. We did ours during our block party.
- Print every item with photo and space to record bids.
- Create Paper tickets with numbers to remind bidders of their number. The number is used to record bid. This will keep bidders anonymous.
- Determine who will watch items and record bids.
7. Promote auction by email, web, posters etc.
8. Execute the Auction
- hand out numbers. Don’t forget to record contact information for each number you hand out.
- record bids… easy, just ticket number and amount. Remember, no one will know who’s bidding.
- thank everyone for participating
- celebrate winners… either by name or number.
- followup with winners to complete transaction
9. Thank committee and volunteers.
10. Of course, put the money to good use.
Tell me about ideas you’ve implemented in your communities.
