"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery" — Mark Van Dorena

So you're agreed to run an auction! Maybe you've run raffles before, or white elephant sales, or other fundraisers, or not. But what the heck is a silent auction, and how do you run that. It *IS* different from the other fundraisers in several ways, and the same in several ways.

You'll be needing folks and artists to donate items for the sale, just like a raffle or a white sale. You'll need folks to help with the fundraiser, as will all the others. You'll need lots of pens or pencils like with a raffle. You'll need to make sure everyone knows it's happening and is prepared and excited to spend money at your fundraiser.

You won't need raffle tickets, or price tags, or baked goods. You'll need bid sheets, and signs, and pens, Oh My!

I've run a few auctions so far, watched how a few others were run, and stolen ideas from several folks. My goal here is to share the info I've collected so that we don't all need to reinvent the wheel over and over again.

You will probably find that Your Milage Will Vary, you'll find other ways to do what I talk about here. You'll find or create new methods, forms, signs, etc. Please use this as a spring board to get you going, then fly along your own path. But also, please share your ideas and changes and info!!! Let's all work together in creating fun, useful, and well run auctions!

Download How To Run A Silent Auction Handout (PDF)