How to Run a Silent Auction: In-Person and Online Guide

Last spring, the PTA's silent auction filled three long tables with donated items. Several sold for half their value, a weekend cabin stay drew no bids at all, and three winners left without paying. The volunteers spent the following two weeks chasing payments and writing receipts by hand.

A silent auction is a fundraiser in which supporters bid in writing or on their phones on donated items during a set window, and the highest bid when bidding closes wins. It can run at an in-person event with paper bid sheets, at an event with mobile bidding, or entirely online over several days. The money comes from three things: items people genuinely want, opening bids set with care, and a checkout that collects every payment before guests go home.

This guide covers each step for US nonprofits, schools, clubs and associations: team and goal, item procurement, bid sheets, online auctions, closing and checkout, and the IRS rules on valuation and acknowledgments for auction buyers and item donors.

How a Silent Auction Works

Bidders write their bidder number and amount on a bid sheet or online listing, each bid higher than the last by at least the minimum increment. At a published time bidding closes, the last valid bid wins, and winners pay and collect their items. There are four common formats:

A silent auction can be the main event or one part of a larger one. If it's part of a dinner, see our guide to planning a fundraising gala, which places the auction within the evening's program and budget.

Set a Goal, Budget and Team

Start With a Realistic Goal

Base your goal on items, not hope. Add up the fair market value of the items you expect, then assume the auction will bring in only part of that total until your own results show otherwise. Track the percentage you actually achieve each year; it's your most useful planning number.

For example, a PTA expects 70 items with a combined fair market value of $24,000. If it plans conservatively for about 60% of value, its goal is around $14,000.

Keep the Budget Small

Most auction items are donated, so costs are modest:

Avoid buying items for resale unless you know they sell; donated items carry no risk, purchased ones do.

Build the Team

Start procurement three to four months before the event and set an item deadline four weeks before, so you have time to package, value and list everything.

Procure Items People Want

What Tends to Sell

Strong silent auction items are things your specific audience can't easily buy, or wouldn't buy for themselves:

• Experiences: a cooking class with a local chef, a sailing afternoon, a behind-the-scenes tour, a weekend cabin stay
• Local services: landscaping, house cleaning, photography sessions, car detailing
• Community favorites: a principal for a day, a reserved parking spot, a front-row seat at graduation (check school rules)
• Packages: themed bundles like "date night" (restaurant certificate, movie passes, babysitting) or "backyard weekend" (grill tools, local meats, outdoor games)
• Sports and recreation: lessons, club passes, signed memorabilia with proof of authenticity

Bundle small items into packages. Six $20 gift cards scattered across a table draw little attention; one $120 "Main Street Favorites" basket gets a bidding war.

Make It Easy to Donate

Send procurement requests with a simple item donation form. Ask members, board members, parents and local businesses, and give each solicitor a short list of targets.

ITEM DONATION FORM

Donor name / business name:
Contact person, phone, email:
How you'd like to be listed (or "anonymous"):
Item or service description:
Donor's estimate of retail value: $
Restrictions (dates, blackout periods, location, number of people):
Expiration date (for certificates and services):
Delivery: [ ] I'll drop it off by ____  [ ] Please pick it up
May we include your logo in event materials? [ ] Yes  [ ] No
Signature and date:

Thank every item donor in writing within a week of receiving the item, and again after the auction with the result. Recording these gifts properly is covered in our guide to in-kind donations.

Value Each Item in Good Faith

You'll display a fair market value for each item, and it matters for buyers' tax treatment (see below). Use a reasonable method and apply it consistently:

• New goods: the regular retail price, not a sale price
• Gift certificates and services: the face value or the provider's published price
• Experiences: the price of a comparable commercial experience
• Unique items: the price of comparable items, documented in your records

The IRS quid pro quo guidance gives useful examples: a one-hour lesson with a professional who charges $100 is valued at $100, while a museum tour led by a well-known artist who doesn't sell tours commercially is valued at $0.

Items to Avoid or Handle Carefully

• Alcohol: Selling and shipping alcohol is regulated by state law. Make wine lots pickup-only, check age and permit rules, or skip them.
• Items requiring licenses or background checks: Leave them out unless you've confirmed the legal requirements.
• Certificates without clear terms: Get expiration dates and restrictions in writing before you list them.
• Anything you can't describe honestly: Unverified memorabilia, uncertain dates, unclear condition.

Create Bid Sheets That Raise More

What Every Bid Sheet Needs

• Item number and title
• A short, appealing description with restrictions and expiration date
• Donor credit (if the donor agreed)
• Fair market value
• Opening bid
• Minimum raise (increment)
• Optional "buy it now" price
• Numbered lines for bidder number and bid amount
• The closing time for that table section

Set Opening Bids and Increments

As a starting point, set opening bids at about 30% to 40% of fair market value. Low enough to start the bidding, high enough that the item can't sell for almost nothing. Set increments at roughly 10% of the opening bid, rounded to a clean number. Then adjust each year based on what actually happened.

A buy it now price lets a determined bidder end the bidding early. Set it high enough that you're happy if someone takes it; 1.4 to 1.5 times the fair market value is a reasonable starting point.

Sample Bid Sheet Layout

ITEM #24   WEEKEND CABIN STAY, 2 NIGHTS
Two nights for up to six guests at a lakeside cabin near Hayward.
Valid November 1, 2026 to October 31, 2027; holiday weekends excluded.
Donated by the Peterson family

Fair market value: $600     Opening bid: $200     Minimum raise: $25
Buy it now: $850 (write "BUY IT NOW" with your bidder number)
Bidding in Section B closes at 8:10 PM

Bidder #     Bid amount
_______      $200
_______      $
_______      $
...

Display Tips

• Group items by theme or price range, number them to match the catalog, and leave room to stand and write.
• Close sections at staggered times, such as Section A at 8:00 PM and Section B at 8:10 PM, so volunteers can manage closing and guests return to bid again.
• Place your strongest items where guests walk first, not in a back corner.
• Use photos or a representative object for experiences and services.

Running an Online Silent Auction

Online auctions remove the venue and extend the bidding window, which helps schools, alumni groups and national associations. They need more preparation on photos, descriptions and delivery.

Choose Tools With the Right Features

Whatever platform you choose, check for:

• Mobile-friendly bidding without a complicated sign-up
• Outbid notifications by email or text
• Maximum (proxy) bidding, where the system bids for a bidder up to their limit
• An automatic extension when bids arrive in the last minutes, which prevents last-second sniping
• Fair market value displayed on each item
• Payment collection and winner reports you can export

Ask for the full fee structure in writing, including per-transaction fees and any fees charged to bidders.

Photograph and Describe Items Well

• Use natural light and a plain background, and show the item at its real size, for example next to a common object.
• Show several angles for physical items, and a strong representative photo for experiences.
• Write descriptions that answer the bidder's questions: what exactly is included, value, restrictions, expiration, and how the winner receives it.

Plan the Timeline

Promote with targeted emails to members, parents or alumni, and highlight a few items at a time. In campai, communication features let you send scheduled emails to saved segments, such as all families of one school or all members of a chapter, and follow delivery status.

Publish Clear Rules

Post rules on the auction page and in the confirmation email: all sales final, items sold as described, payment due within 24 hours of winning, pickup or shipping deadline, what happens with unpaid winning bids, and the tax note on fair market value.

Close the Auction and Check Out Every Winner

At an In-Person Close

1. Announce closing warnings at 10, 5 and 1 minute.
2. At the exact closing time, volunteers draw a line under the last bid and collect sheets.
3. Resolve problems with written rules: an illegible or invalid entry is skipped, and the last valid bid wins.
4. Enter winners into the checkout list right away.

Make Checkout Fast

• Register every bidder in advance with name, phone and email, so you can reach winners who leave early.
• Post or announce winning bidder numbers within 15 minutes of closing.
• Open several checkout stations and keep items behind the counter until they are paid for.
• Hand each buyer a receipt showing the item, the amount paid and the item's fair market value.

Handle Unpaid Winning Bids

State the policy in your rules and follow it. One workable approach: contact the winner the next morning, allow 48 hours, and then offer the item to the next-highest bidder at their bid. For online auctions and late payers, send an invoice with a payment link. In campai, finances and accounting let you create invoices, share an online payment link, set reminder stages for overdue invoices and follow each balance until it is settled.

Valuation, Tax and Acknowledgment Rules

This section summarizes federal rules for organizations that can receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. It's not tax advice; state rules and individual situations vary.

Auction Buyers

A winning bid is usually mostly a purchase. According to IRS Publication 526, a buyer can deduct only the amount paid above the item's fair market value, and only if the buyer intended the excess as a gift. The publication's own example: a buyer who pays $600 for a week at a beach house, no more than its fair rental value, hasn't made a deductible contribution.

When a winning bid is more than $75 and is partly a gift, it's a quid pro quo contribution. IRS Publication 1771 requires organizations to give a written disclosure statement for such payments, telling the donor that the deductible amount is limited to the excess over the value of goods or services and giving a good faith estimate of that value. The penalty is $10 per contribution, up to $5,000 per fundraising event or mailing. The practical solution is to show the fair market value on every bid sheet, in the catalog or online listing, and again on the buyer's receipt with a short note.

Sample receipt note, written in your own words:

Thank you for your winning bid of $320 for Item #31, a signed team jersey. Its estimated fair market value is $200. Only the amount you paid above that value, $120, may be deductible as a charitable contribution for federal income tax purposes.

The Form 990 instructions use a similar case: a donated item with a fair market value of $5,000, displayed to bidders before the auction, sells for $7,500; the $2,500 above the value is reported as a contribution.

Item Donors

• Acknowledgments: For donated items of $250 or more, the donor needs a written acknowledgment. Publication 1771 states that it should include a description of the property, but not its value, plus whether you provided goods or services in return.
• Donated services and use of property: Publication 526 says donors can't deduct the value of their time or services, and that donating the right to use property, such as a week in a vacation home, isn't deductible.
• Items sold rather than used: When a charity sells donated tangible personal property instead of using it for its exempt purpose, Publication 526 treats that as an "unrelated use," which can limit the donor's deduction. Let item donors know the item will be auctioned, and point them to their own tax adviser.
• High-value items: If a donor claims more than $5,000 for an item and you sign Section B of their Form 8283, then sell the item within three years, you generally must file Form 8282 within 125 days of the sale.

In campai, donations and fundraising let you record in-kind gifts with the item and its origin, and create acknowledgment PDFs from your own template. Set up the template for item donors to describe the item rather than state its value, because your organization is responsible for the wording.

Your Organization's Books

• Unrelated business income: IRS Publication 598 states that selling merchandise substantially all of which the organization received as gifts isn't an unrelated trade or business.
• Form 990: Auctions count as fundraising events. If combined fundraising event revenue and contributions exceed $15,000, Schedule G, Part II is required.
• Sales tax: Some states tax sales at charity auctions. Check with your state's department of revenue.
• Organizations that can't receive deductible gifts: Booster clubs, chambers and other groups that aren't eligible should not describe auction purchases as tax-deductible.

For detailed acknowledgment wording, see our guide to donation receipts.

After the Auction

• Thank item donors with results: "Your cabin weekend raised $780 for the music program."
• Thank buyers: Send a short message with the total raised and what it will fund.
• Review the numbers: total raised, percentage of fair market value achieved overall and by category, unsold items and the number of active bidders.
• Keep notes: which items sold above value, which didn't sell, and which donors to ask again.

Recognize your most generous item donors the way you'd recognize any major supporter; our guide to donor recognition has ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a silent auction and how does it work?

A silent auction is a fundraiser where items are displayed with bid sheets or online listings, and supporters write or enter increasing bids during a set window. When bidding closes, the highest valid bid wins, and the winner pays and collects the item.

How do you set starting bids for a silent auction?

A practical starting point is 30% to 40% of the item's fair market value, with increments of about 10% of the opening bid. Track what each category actually sells for and adjust the following year.

Are silent auction purchases tax-deductible?

Only the amount paid above the item's fair market value may be deductible, and only if the buyer intended to give that excess and the organization can receive deductible contributions. For payments over $75 that include a gift element, the organization must provide a written disclosure with a good faith estimate of the item's value.

Do you need a license to hold a silent auction?

It depends on your state and city. Some states license auctioneers or require charities to register before soliciting, and sales tax and alcohol rules can apply. Raffles held alongside an auction are a form of gaming, which many states and localities regulate. Check with your state attorney general's charities office, your department of revenue and your city or county clerk.

What's the difference between a silent auction, a live auction and an online auction?

In a silent auction, bidders write or enter bids over a period of time without an auctioneer. A live auction is led by an auctioneer who takes spoken bids on a few high-value lots. An online auction is a silent auction run on a website or app, often over several days.

How long should an online auction run?

We suggest five to seven days. That gives supporters time to browse and return, while the closing date still creates urgency. Use automatic extensions for bids placed in the final minutes.

Next Steps

1. Set your goal from expected items and the share of value you plan to achieve.
2. Recruit a procurement lead, send the donation form and set an item deadline four weeks before the auction.
3. Value every item in good faith and put the fair market value on bid sheets, listings and receipts.
4. Choose your format, and test the bidding process yourself before guests do.
5. Write and publish your rules, including the policy for unpaid winning bids.
6. Within a week of the auction, thank every item donor and buyer and record what sold, so next year starts with better information.

School and parent groups can find more on organizing fundraising and member communication on our page for PTAs and booster clubs.