Silent auction or not?

Nonprofit organizations are always looking for new and innovative ways to raise funds for their causes. Silent auctions have historically been popular fundraising tools for many nonprofits, but they can be costly and time consuming to organize. I am asked on a weekly basis “Do you think silent auctions are worth it?” The answer is maybe. If you are curious about the trend, the trend is much smaller silent auctions or not having one at all. 

For most nonprofit organizations, silent auctions can be the least effective fundraising methods at a gala. Silent auctions require a lot of upfront costs (mostly of time), such as acquiring the items to be auctioned off, advertising the items, and uploading pictures and descriptions into your bidding/event software. 

Silent auctions typically have the lowest rate-of-return of the five main revenue streams of a fundraising gala and require the most amount of time. Reducing or even eliminating your silent auction can be met with resistance so be prepared to have data ready to support your decision. I recently evaluated the silent auction for one of our nonprofit partners and the nonprofit estimated they spent 178 hours on their silent auction (note, this was the total of all volunteers and employees). 178 HOURS!!! How much per hour is the nonprofit paying you to do this task and one that has the lowest rate of return? 

Take a holistic look at your silent auction. Is this something that is the best use of ALL of your resources or are you doing it to just do it? Think strategically about your fundraising event and work with all stakeholders to set goals and expectations.