Create Packages from Several Smaller Gifts

• It can be easy to get so involved in planning your auction that you forget about the presentation and marketing of the donated items. Marketing is crucial to making your gifts exciting to the bidders. In particular, think about luxury packages with themes. For example, you could get a gift certificate for a clothing store, two movie tickets and a meal at a restaurant donated from separate businesses and tie them all together. Then, title this package, "Old-Fashioned Date Night." Get a breakfast, haircut and pedicure donated and you have a day many women would vie to buy.
  
  

Call Your Board

• Your board's job is to be the team of major fund-raisers every non-profit needs. When it comes time for finding silent auction ideas, they should be willing and able to look at their own assets as items that can be auctioned. No, they don't have to sell their homes, but many of them probably have items such as vacation houses, timeshares, and boats. Why not auction a week at their vacation home? If it's a plane ride away the board member can easily donate two tickets as part of the package. A day on their boat with a picnic lunch is another lovely gift that anyone would be happy to receive. Perhaps your board member has a ranch where they hunt, or a fishing cabin. These are all adventures waiting to be auctioned off.
  
  

Big Ticket Items

• It can seem intimidating, but one big ticket item can make your event successful. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, it is not unusual to find a car dealer who is willing to donate a car to a non-profit for a raffle. While this is not a traditional silent auction item, you can have people pay a dollar per ticket to enter a raffle for a car at your auction. People think nothing of spending hundreds of dollars to increase their chances of winning a car, and this money is on top of the actual silent auction items that will bring in cash. Remember to check the laws concerning raffles in your state, since you don't want to fall under the classification of gambling. Other than cars, you can also look for boats or computers. When planning a silent auction, the key to moving items is to present them as a story, which is what the best advertisers understand. Good luck!