The Silent Auction
Get the most bang for your buck


I am a sucker for silent auction donations. I will tell you why. First off, it gives me a chance to call some of my friends/clients that own businesses or have a set skill and give them an opportunity to partner and put together an even bigger silent auction item.

For example, I have a friend who is a massage therapist, a friend who owns a liquor store and a friend who teaches yoga. I called each of them told them about my cause and I had a basket with a free massage, a bottle of champagne, a free week of yoga and I threw in some fun health and well being items to make the basket look awesome. This increases the value of the donation, gives your friends/clients a way to showcase their businesses and makes for a cool basket.

Additionally, I have gone and shopped the clearance isles at Michaels or Target coupled with a visit to Ross or TJ/MAX and have put together some really neat baskets. One of my favorite baskets to put together is a Food Network basket with a cookbook from one of the food network stars (less than $7.00 from Amazon) and a bunch of small kitchen gadgets thrown in a colorful wok.

A donation is usually less than a sponsorship and will make more of an impression than a logo in a program. It will be bid on by a handful of people and end up in the hands of a potential client.

So next time someone asks for a donation for a silent auction, say yes and have fun with it!