Silent auctions can be effective charity fundraising tool at big events: Will Ferguson

Our involvement was not only sourcing and providing the prizes, saving them time, but also providing options they would not necessarily have had access to, and also being there on the night to provide a professional service for guests.

We set up a display on the evening, highlighting some of the exciting prizes available, which plays a significant part in improving the fundraising engagement amongst guests. Our displays include six to eight items with a mix of signed sports memorabilia and signed TV/Film memorabilia.

We also include two to four boards which highlight some of the experiences on offer, which range from dining experiences, sports hospitality, bucket list trips, spa weekends and even bespoke suit tailoring (to name a few!).

At events, we meet a huge number of people who ultimately all have different tastes. Taking a display with a range of options means that we grasp that attention from as many people as possible.

We find that many people really enjoy the carefully curated experiences that we have on offer, so whilst the signed memorabilia are the showstoppers on the display and initially draws people in, having some experiences on display really shows we do have something for everyone.

The display is attractive, exciting and is an extra visual for the guests to enjoy during their drinks reception and in turn has a huge impact on the uptake of the silent auction.

We always get a positive response from guests about the display, and we constantly thrive to improve it year on year. We handle the whole process on the evening of events, ensuring our involvement is no additional hassle for event organisers – just a streamline addition that will improve overall funds raised.

The outcome of working with this hospice resulted in a huge increase in fundraising engagement across their 400 guests. There was £4,000 profit generated by donated prizes from the charity itself, but an additional £21,000 profit generated from the additional prizes provided by us.

We sometimes hear ‘we have enough prizes’ as a reason not to utilise a silent auction however more often than not, the ratio of ‘prizes to guests’ is far lower than it needs to be to maximise what is raised. With our years of experience, we can handle the silent auction process from start to finish, enabling charities to focus on looking after their guests and generating income through other fundraising activity.

Whether it is working directly with a charity, or supporting a company that is raising money for a charity, either way we can support your event to maximise the monies raised and the experience for your guests on the evening.

With the current economic climate impacting how much people are able to spend, and rises in National Insurance impacting companies and charities, it really is time to collaborate as much as possible across the corporate world, to support each other and make a difference wherever we can.

Will Ferguson is Director of Fundraising at Impulse Decisions