How to Organize a Charity Dinner Auction

Charity dinner auctions have become very popular and highly effective charity fund raising events. These dinner auctions combine the social aspect of a formal dinner with the opportunity to bid on donated items. A well run charity dinner auction can raise tens of thousands of dollars; it's no wonder so many organizations are using this fund raising tool as a way to generate funds.

Dinners auctions are more than just dinner and some donated items. It's really an extravaganza with raffles, no host bars, live and silent auction items, dessert auctions, games of chance, door prizes and so much more.

How to prepare

Organizing a dinner auction is an incredible undertaking, and can take up to a year of preparation. The first step will be to assemble an auction committee of at least 15-20 people, each who will tackle one element of the auction. At first meeting of the committee, set the date and the location, then reserve the space. Dinner auctions are most commonly held in hotel banquet rooms or convention centers; more informal events can be held in a school gymnasium or church fellowship hall.

The next step will be to determine the components of the dinner auction.

Your guests know that the money earned through this event goes to a good cause. The goal of the dinner auction is to encourage your guests to spend as much money as possible in a way that is fun.

The dinner itself is one fund raising tool. Most dinner auctions serve up a prime rib dinner, with either rice or potatoes, green salad or roll. For an informal event, spaghetti or chili feeds are typical. Dinner tickets are usually tax deductible above the cost of the meal itself.

No host bar is another venue for making money. If the event is being held in a private facility, volunteers can staff the bar and sell wine and beer with a special temporary wine & beer license issued by the state.

Instead of serving up dessert with the meal, some charities raise funds with a Dessert Auction. Donated desserts can fetch upwards of $100 or more and are highly profitable.

With every ticket purchased, offer up a chance to win a door prize. Door prizes are usually wonderful prizes, such as weekend getaways, laptops, or plasma television sets.

Raffle tickets are another popular component of dinner auctions. For those who can't afford to bid on an item, a $5 ticket for a chance to win a prize is certainly in most people's budgets.

Table centerpieces can be money makers, especially when paired with a set of tickets to a show or sporting event. Offer up the centerpieces as door prizes, a raffle, or a final auctioned item.

Don't forget the Silent Auction items. Silent auctions items are usually arranged on tables with blank bid sheets placed in front of them. Guest record their highest bid, and the highest bid purchases the item at the bid price.

Wheels of Chance Some of the dinner auctions I've attended offer up a wheel of chance for donated items that are a little off beat ~ such as golf balls, or a single baseball ticket, or a fishing pole. For a $1 a spin, guests have the chance to win a prize of their choice.

The Live Auction is the single most profitable event at the dinner auction. People bid in a live auction setting for a chance to buy some fabulous items. These prizes can range for a week at a summer cabin, vehicles, Bowl games with executive seating, and more.

The Reverse Auction is the usually the last event of the evening. Unlike a regular auction where the guests are bidding to buy something for themselves, they will be buying a specific item for the charity. I attended one school auction in which people bid on fence sections for the baseball field.

Forming the committees

Once the Auction Committee has decided on the components of the dinner auction, it is time to organize committees to coordinate a specific activity. Each committee should at least one person who reports back to the Dinner Auction Coordinator. To give you some idea how to form the committees, let's borrow some ideas from the charity dinners I used to coordinate.

Advertising & media: This group of people were in charge of writing press releases, contacting the media, purchasing adverting, distributing handbills & posters, printing the auction book, and writing thank you cards.

Dinner: this committee can be managed with one person who works with the caterer, arranges table rental, and finds volunteers to set up & staff the beverage tables & the bar.

Entertainment: This group coordinates the evening's entertainment, locates both a Master of Ceremonies and a professional auctioneer, coordinates the sound system, organizes the games, and makes arrangements for souvenir photographs.

Donations: This is the most time consuming auction committee of all. We divided this group into 4 sub committees with one group tackling beer & wine donations, another soliciting live auction donations, a third for dessert donations, and the final group soliciting silent auction items, raffle prizes, door prizes, and items for the centerpieces.

Financial: Someone who is familiar with bookkeeping and cashiering should be put in charge of this group. This group is in charge of tickets and raffle sales, organizes & collects the bid sheets during the auction, staffs the register during the event, and presents the Auction Committee with a final accounting.

Decoration: This group of people is in charge of all the decorations including the centerpieces. They are also responsible for arranging the donated items into silent auction baskets, and setting the tables for dinner.

Clean up & Set Up: All events need a group of people to set up the tables, clean up the mess when it's over, and lock up the building after everyone has left.

Auction: This committee organizes the actual auction. They write descriptions of the auction items, arrange them on the tables, pull bid sheets, work with the auctioneer, act as spotters during the auction, and then deliver the sold merchandise to the evening's winning bidders.

Volunteer Coordinator: One person should be in charge of finding volunteers for both the committees and to work the auction, tend bar, coat check, and to provide valet parking.

The final step

Now that you have an idea of how you want to plan your auction, and have assembled your committees, the work can now begin!

Dinner auctions take months to plan and can use thousands of volunteer hours. But, whether your dinner auction is a star studded extravaganza or a spaghetti dinner, all you really need is great food, great entertainment and unique auction items for a fun and profitable evening.