Silent Auctions- Can Beggars Be Choosers?
During my years at Trio I have had the fun and challenging task of organizing silent auctions for many of our clients. It has become a running joke around the office that I am the queen of silent auctions. And oh how they all know how much I love being a “queen”! And I truly enjoy doing them. That being said, I feel that is ok for me to share one of my biggest pet peeves. Here it is…why do people find it necessary to donate junk to a silent auction? Is it because they feel bad they aren’t giving money and feel that they must give something? Or perhaps they use it as a good excuse to get rid of unsold merchandise? Regardless, you know the saying “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all?” Well today I am coining a new saying, “if you can’t donate anything nice, then don’t donate anything at all”. This may sound harsh, but a silent auction is not a garage sale. This is not an instance where one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Essentially your junk becomes our junk. And we have the fun task of finding a way to flavorfully describe it AND put a value on it. So, in response to my question, when it comes to silent auctions, beggars can and should be choosers. You should work toward collecting a good mix of items. These can range from high dollar items such as a vacation, as well as gift baskets from local stores and other fun packages. You want all of your guests to feel like there is something they can bid on should they choose. And I don’t think you should ever feel bad turning away a someones donation. There are plenty of organizations that would love to have the donated item, just not plenty of attendees that would want to buy it.