Bid cards and why they are super duper important

Bid card. Paddle. Bid number. Whatever you call them, it is one of the most important tools for your #auction.

Let’s bust a myth - bid cards are NOT for the bidder/donor, they are for you! What ever do we mean? Let me explain.

Bid numbers is how your auction team tracks how donors spend money! Of course you have to have bid cards for an auction, but why are good ones so critical? In short, good bid cards help your auctioneer keep a consistent tempo so no momentum is lost and ensure numbers do not get misread.

Imagine this: you evening is culminating in the Fund-A-Need request and bid cards are high in the air! Your #donors are eager to support your cause and love to be a part of the Rhythm of the (auction) Night (thanks, DeBarge!) but your auctioneer is squinting to see donors past the second row of tables. The audience’s clapping along dies down after your auctioneer has to call out a misread to the clerk. Even worse, what happens when an auctioneer misreads the number and doesn’t catch it? Say bidder 137 was raising their card for a $500 donation, but was misread for 187. At checkout bidder 187 will not donate, and there is no way of knowing that 137 was the correct number. That’s a $500 donation missed because of unclear bid numbers!

Bonus tip: bid cards can be printed on the back of programs and are a great way to offer sponsorship opportunities! A small logo on the bid card will be seen by every attendee, but can be out of the way of big, bold, numbers. And who doesn’t want to be on every winning bid card?!

Bid cards don’t have to be fancy, but they need to be clear. Keep an eye out for upcoming posts breaking down the best bid card attributes! 

Thank you to our auctioneer, Spencer Howell, for writing this post.