The short answer. Start planning a charity silent auction three to four months before the event. In order:
- Set a goal and a format: silent, live, or both, in person, online or hybrid.
- Build a small committee with clear jobs, including one person who owns item procurement.
- Ask for items early, and get each item's value and details in writing.
- Price every item with a starting bid well below its value and a sensible increment.
- Test everything two weeks out: the auction, the venue's phone signal and the volunteers' roles.
A silent auction can be the most profitable part of a charity event, or the most stressful. The difference is almost always planning. This guide gives you a timeline, a checklist and practical advice on the decisions that matter most: what format to choose, who does what, how to get good items donated, and how to set starting bids and increments. It's written for Canadian charities, schools and nonprofits, whether this is your first auction or your twentieth.
Live, silent or both?
Your format should fit your goal, your guests and your budget. Many events combine formats.
| Format | How it works | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silent auction | Many items, bid on at guests' own pace, closing at a set time | Any event, any budget; lets every guest bid at their comfort level | Paper bid sheets make the close slow; mobile bidding fixes that |
| Live auction | An auctioneer sells a few items from the stage, one at a time | A handful of high-value items: trips, experiences, art | A good auctioneer costs money; it needs a room that's paying attention |
| Both | Silent auction through the evening, a short live auction at its peak | Galas and large dinners | Keeping the live portion short, with only your best items |
You also need to decide where bidders will be: in the room, online, or both. Our guide to online and hybrid charity auctions covers the options. In MobilBid, live auction items, items with several winners and donations can all sit in the same auction as your silent items.
Planning timeline and checklist
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 3 to 4 months before | Set a fundraising goal. Confirm the date, venue and format. Recruit the committee. Choose your auction software and open an account. |
| 2 to 3 months before | Start item procurement: write your ask, build a list of businesses and supporters to approach, and assign each to a committee member. |
| 6 weeks before | Collect item details, values and photos as they come in. Set starting bids and increments. Load items into the auction, or import them from a spreadsheet. |
| 3 to 4 weeks before | Recruit volunteers and give each a role. Promote the auction to your guest list. Open a preview so guests can browse. |
| 2 weeks before | Test the auction from a phone. Check the phone signal at the venue. Schedule your messages. Print table cards and item display cards. |
| Event day | Set up the item displays and the leaderboard. Brief volunteers and the MC. Close on time, then run the pickup table. |
| The week after | Thank bidders, donors and volunteers. Follow up unpaid invoices. Issue tax receipts for donated goods. Review which items did well. |
Your committee and volunteers
A silent auction committee can be small, but every job needs an owner. Write your goal down first; it makes recruiting easier. Then cover these roles:
- Chair: keeps the plan on schedule and the team focused on the goal.
- Procurement lead: owns the list of items and who is asking whom.
- Finance: tracks money raised and spent, and handles receipts.
- Communications: promotes the event and the auction, and brings the bidders.
- Volunteer lead: recruits, schedules and briefs volunteers for the night.
On the night, volunteers are needed at the entrance to help guests register, near the item displays to answer questions, and at the pickup table after the close. With mobile bidding, nobody has to collect bid sheets or tally results, so you need fewer people at the end of the night.
“Staff and volunteers found it much easier than a traditional silent auction and the customer support was fantastic.”
Getting items donated
Good items raise money; filler items take up table space. Aim for fewer, better items over a long list of small ones.
Who to ask
- Your own community first: board members, parents, volunteers and past bidders often have access to cottages, sports tickets and services.
- Local businesses: restaurants, spas, golf clubs, hotels, fitness studios and shops. Ask in person where you can.
- Your sponsors, who may donate a signature item in addition to their sponsorship.
What sells
- Experiences: a chef's dinner, a private tour, a day with a local athlete or artist.
- Travel and getaways: cottage weekends, hotel stays and vacation rentals are perennial favourites.
- Packages: bundle small items into one themed lot, such as a date night or a family day out.
- Repeatable items: ten rounds of golf or twenty cooking class seats can go to several winners at a set price.
Get the details in writing
For every item, collect the donor's name, the item's value, a description, photos, any restrictions and expiry dates, and how the winner will receive it. Good descriptions sell items, especially to bidders who aren't in the room.
Tax receipts for donated items
A registered charity can issue a tax receipt to a donor of goods for the goods' fair market value, but not for donated services, such as a lawyer's time or a contractor's labour. The buyer of an auction item generally can't get a receipt for the price paid, except possibly for any amount above the item's fair market value. Check the Canada Revenue Agency's guidance or ask your accountant before you promise receipts.
Pricing items: starting bids and increments
Two numbers decide how bidding goes on each item: the starting bid, which is the first bid allowed, and the increment, the smallest amount by which each new bid must beat the last.
- Start well below value. A low starting bid gets the first bid placed, and an item with one bid attracts more. An item nobody bids on raises nothing.
- Don't start so low that you give it away. If an item is likely to draw only one or two bidders, a higher starting bid protects its value.
- Make the increment meaningful but easy. Too small and bidding drags; too large and bidders drop out early. Round numbers are easiest to bid.
- Show the value. Put the item's value in its description so bidders know what they're bidding on.
Here is one way to set them, as an example rather than a rule:
| Item | Value | Starting bid | Increment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant gift card | $100 | $40 | $5 |
| Spa day for two | $500 | $200 | $20 |
| Cottage weekend | $1,500 | $600 | $50 |
| Signed jersey, framed | $800 | $320 | $25 |
If you use mobile bidding, guests can set a maximum bid and let the software bid for them one increment at a time, so the increment also sets the pace of automatic bidding. See proxy bidding explained.
Tell the story of your cause
People bid more generously when they know what their money will do. Say it plainly in your welcome message, on your table cards and from the stage: what the auction is raising money for, and what a specific amount pays for. After the event, report back on what was raised and what it achieved. Supporters who see results come back next year and bring friends.
Choose your tools
Decide early whether you'll use paper bid sheets or mobile bidding, because it changes how you prepare items, volunteers and the close. Our guides compare paper and mobile bidding and explain how to choose silent auction software. If you run the same auction every year, choose a tool that lets you start from last year's: in MobilBid, a new auction can start from an old one, with its items and settings.
MobilBid costs 5.5% of silent auction sales and 1.5% of donations and live auction items, with a $220 minimum and a $2,500 maximum per event, and opening an account is free. See pricing, or the features included in every account.
“The auction last night was wildly successful – we raised almost twice what we had budgeted.”
Common questions
How far in advance should we plan a silent auction?
Start three to four months before the event. Item procurement takes the longest, so begin asking for donations two to three months ahead, and have items loaded and priced about six weeks before.
How many items should a silent auction have?
It depends on how many guests will bid. Fewer, better items usually do better than a long list of small ones, because bids concentrate and items sell closer to their value. Bundle small donations into themed packages.
What should the starting bid be for a silent auction item?
Set it well below the item's value so the first bid is easy to place, but not so low that the item could sell for far less than it's worth. Show the item's value in its description.
What is a good bid increment?
An increment that is meaningful but easy to bid, in round numbers, such as $5 on a $100 item or $20 to $25 on a $500 to $800 item. Too small and bidding drags; too large and bidders drop out.
Can a charity issue a tax receipt for an auction item?
A registered charity can receipt donors of goods for their fair market value, but not donated services. Buyers generally can't get a receipt for an auction purchase, except possibly for any amount paid above the item's fair market value. Check the Canada Revenue Agency's guidance.
Should we run a live auction, a silent auction or both?
A silent auction suits almost any event and lets every guest bid at their own level. Add a short live auction if you have a few high-value items and a room that will pay attention to an auctioneer.
Run your next auction on MobilBid
Open a free account and build a test auction, or talk it through with us. You only pay when you run a real event: 5.5% of silent auction sales, $220 minimum, $2,500 maximum.