This year's auction was a "Chinese Auction" so I don't know that fund an item would have worked, but next year I'm hoping to ease us into a more traditional auction and I think that's a GREAT idea! I'll have to add it to our file, thanks!
We've always been a lower income, Title I school, but since becoming a Magnet school several years ago our demographics have been slowly changing and now we have an interesting mix of volunteers-half of us are newer and more willing to pursue things that the other half of us (the old timers, lol) automatically hesitate about because we have the mindset that our parents just can't afford to support those ideas.
Most of our fundraisers so far this year have done better than they ever have, so I'm thinking we need to adjust our thinking a bit.

Congratulations on your auction. They sure are alot of work!! We had our Parents Night Out Dinner Auction Nov. 3rd. and raised $5K by just asking people for flat donations. We had two silent auction tables followed by a live auction. The live auction contained 12 big items, dessert and two "fund an item" requests. For the dessert auction, parents make or buy wonderful desserts which a table or individual must purchase (no ther dessert is served). The desserts brought in $700 this year ($900 last year). During the live auction we announced the "fund an item" section. A teacher explained why we wanted a "weather station", how the kids could use it to augment science education, and how much it cost. Those who wanted the weather station were encouraged to write down thier pledge on the papers on the tables and hold them up over thier heads. A runner then collected them. We received $4,375 just by asking for it! We also asked parents to fund speakers for the computerized work stations in 6 classes. We received the $700 it took to make that happen too. We are not a wealthy school by any means. I imagine a silent auciton table could also have a "fund an item" sheet. Just tell people what you want to buy, why the school needs and and how much it costs. I would have never guessed we could bring in that much money by just requesting it!

Well, it's over, lol. We had some last minute snafus (of course) so we couldn't start setting up until more than an hour later than we'd planned and things weren't able to be organized as I'd planned, and attendance wasn't quite as high as I'd been led to believe it would be- I could easily have advertised to the community and probably have still been okay-but at least the room was full.
We received MANY last minute donations on Friday; I spent much time at the computer in the office printing up extra signs, even though I had asked in our letter to have all donations by Nov 1. That was a problem I could live with though, lol.
We ended up making $1692 and our prize values went far beyond that, so it was a good deal for all. The best thing is that this year's event paved the way for next year's event, which I intend to do a little differently; I think people who were there Friday night will remember how big it was and want to come again, and those who weren't there will have heard about it and want to see it for themselves.

I've done multiple auctions for non profit organizations and have found the most effective way to get the word out is via the internet. If you want a cheap website hosting company where you can list the items and market your auction go to the link below. You can do it yourself and the hosting fee is only $3.99 per month. 1&1 Internet Inc. - Web Hosting Services and Domain Name Registration

Is anything else going on with the auction? We have a silent auction during Arts-n-Tarts, which is in the spring and all the students have been working on ark projects to display in the halls. We have a book fair as well. This allows families to raom the halls and gym (book fair) without exceeding cafeteria capacity.
It is very nerve racking to have something you have been planning finally arrive, kind of like your wedding day. It sounds like you have done a great job with donations, hopefully it pays off with money earned for your PTO. Good luck!

I've been working on this since last spring and now it's this Friday night and I'm nervous as all get out, lol. We have lots of donations, we've promoted it (but not as much as I'd have liked because we're worried about exceeding occupancy in our cafeteria), we have refreshments set up, volunteers ready to go...I keep telling myself there's no real reason to be nervous, but it's the 1st time I've been fully in charge of this event and I keep expecting something to go wrong.
Here is a list of our donations:

1) Pollo Tropical-10 $5 gift certificates (5 drawings)
2) Hamill Tire-$75 gift certificate, inspect, rotate & balance tires, lube, oil & filter
3) Incredibly Edible Delites-mega basket of fruit flowers
4) Sally O’Brien’s- $50 gift certificate
5) Miami Dolphins- Banner, bumper sticker, sticker
6) Sweet Tomatoes- 2 $10 gift certificates
7) Mai Kai- $25 gift certificate
8) Wannado City-2 gift certificates for 1 child/1 adult
9) Simply Delish- $25 gift certificate
10) Red Lobster- $25 gift certificate
11) Museum of Art- family/dual membership
12) Ft Laud Stars Gymnastics- gift certificate, one week of summer camp
13) Muvico Theaters- 4 $9 movie passes
14) Flagler Museum-4 admission passes
15) Flagler Museum-book
16) Bridal Headpiece Collection-4 necklaces, 2 sets of cuff links (1 drawing each)
17) British Swim School- Birthday party for 12
18) Bass Museum of Art- family/dual membership
19) Bed Bath & Beyond- $20 gift certificate
20) Old Florida Seafood House- $40 gift certificate
21) Sam Ash Music- $25 gift certificate
22) Butterfly World- 4 Free admissions
23) Palm Beach Zoo- 4 VIP guest passes
24) Laffing Matterz- dinner & show for 2
25) Ft Laud Historical Society- family membership
26) Cort’s Massage- free massage
27) Islamorada Fish Co- $50 gift certificate
28) Glacier Ice & Snow Arena- birthday party for 15
29) Tropical Acres- $25 gift certificate
30) Vizcaya- 2 free admissions
31) Jungle Queen- 2 gift certificates
32) MetroZoo- 4 passes
33) South FL Science Museum- 4 passes
34) Karen Foster Scrapbooking- Seat Case
35) Petals Panache- gift basket
36) Eric Carle- poster
37) Highlights Magazine-subscription
38) High Five Magazine-subscription
39) Highlights Magazine Toy Catalog- $20 gift certificate
40) Highlights Hidden Pictures Book Set
41) TY Beanie Babies- 9 Beanie Babies (1 drawing each)
42) G & R Billiards- 2 pool cues (1 drawing each)
43) G & R Billiards- Poker set
44) McIlhenny Co- Tabasco gift basket
45) Wheel of Fortune- tote bag, 4 tickets to show, pen, keychain, autographed wheel space
46) Cracker Barrel- 2 gift certificates
47) Lion Country Safari- 2 VIP passes
48) Coby Stereo
49) Mona Vie-2 bottles
50) Elan Vital-1 hour massage
51) Kimling’s Academy-1 month Karateclasses
52) Kimling’s Academy- 1 week Boxing class with gloves
53) Kimling’s Academy- 1 month Cardio Kickboxing
54)Smart Bodies Fitness- Gift basket, including 30 fitness makeover, 2 30 min training sessions w/trainer X 4 weeks, unlimited use of cardio equipment, nutritional counseling
55) Smiley Kidz- dental gift basket, including $250 gift certificate
56) FL Panthers- autographed Stanlet bobblehead
57) Cheesecake Factory- $50 gift certificate
58) Bed Post Furniture- twin bed
59) Friends of the library- collection of children’s books
60) Friends of the Library- collection of adult books
61) Contour Day Spa- 2 gift packages, complimentary hand paraffin treatment, $10 off facial or massage, $10 off any hair chemical treatment, $15 off any spa boutique item at Hard Rock Casino (2 drawings)
62) Sunshine Wicker- decorative plate, candlesticks & vase

1) Walt Disney World- 4 Park Hopper Passses (2 drawings for 2 each)
2) Lake Buena Vista Resort- 2 bedroom/2 bath suite, transportation to WDW
3) American Girl- “Julie” doll & book
4) Lady of America Fitness- 1 year membership
5) Discovery Cruise- 2 1 day cruises
6) Mederos School of Language-12 week language course
7) Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede- 2 for 1 admission
8) Green Meadows Petting Farm-(Kissimmee) 4 free admissions
9) FL Panthers-autographed hockey puck
10) FL Panthers-4 Tickets to Dec 1 game + Club Parking Pass (2 drawings?)

STAFF PRIZES



1) Looney Lunch- Lunch & laughs with Mr XXXX

2) “Specials” Breakfast- breakfast & fun with Ms XXXX, Ms XXXX and Ms XXXX

3) Story Time- read aloud story & snacks with Ms XXXX

4) Principal for a Day-with Mr XXXX