I am the Event coordinator for the International Studies for my daughter school. I am planning my first Dinner and Silent Auction fundraiser. I would like to know what are some things my community and I need to do before we get started? How do we make this a fun and successful event. Looking for any advice and help!
The Church I belong to has a Private School that has been doing a Dinner Auction for 27 years. Each year this event was hosted at a Country Club, Hotel or Resort. The results of the locations were that only the parishners with lots of excess cash attended. For the 20th annual Dinner Auction we decided to "Bring it Home" We used the Theme "There's No Place Like Home" a spin on the Wizard of Oz. We had a small crew of 5-6 people working on painting a couple scenes from the Wizard of Oz and two people made costumes for the Main characters like Dorthy, Toto, The Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Wicked Witch and Glenda.... We more than doubled the attendance and raised over $40,000 for the school.
In year since we have done a back to the 50's, Country Western, Treasure Island, Under the Big Top -Circus.
Adding a little themed decoration and Silent and Live Auction items that tie in with the Theme go over very well. Don't be afraid to auction off the decorations at the end of the evening - they will sell! Also If you inform the guests what the funds raised are going to be spent on people are more willing to spend big$$$. With a Fund a Need we were able to auction off the entire security system for the school piece by piece, then the nex year all new playground equipment. Even though the people were paying hundreds of dollars for these items they knew they wouldn't get to take them home with them. The names were listed in church bulletin as Thank You to each of the individuals who contributed.
Best of Luck!
I am chairing our first annual Silent/Live auction dinner at our school. I need some help with the theme of the party. We were thinking about incorporating our mascot (Dolphins) into our theme. Maybe doing an "Under the Sea" or "Beach Party" theme if anyone has ever used one of these please let me know! I need some great ideas to get started!!! Thanks in advance!
[This message has been edited by janayoc (edited 08-22-2001).]
