ademom74;129040 wrote: TLGinTN - we had approx. 500 people at our auction. Admission was $10. Prizes were in 3 catagories, <$40, $40-$200 and >$200 for grand prizes. We sold $16,000 presale, 403 attendees and then took in another $16,000/100 attendee that night.

Here is what I learned:
If you don't sell out and are selling tickets at the door, number the tickets/programs so that once it's all over, you know exactly how many people you had.
Never outsource your food. Always have a PTO member oversee that aspect.
Don't count on other schools to get you what you need. If you need tables, make sure they know what time they need to arrive. If you need a coffee pot, have your PTO buy one.
Stationary 50/50 doesn't work, you need to roam around to get more people to buy them.
Lead by example and always take the high road when things/women get ugly/mean/spiteful.
You need to spend money to make money. Don't let PTO officers undermine/second guess you.
A few key players can get mountains of work accomplished but be sure thank every single person who made the slightest effort. Good will goes a long way.

For some reason, this really cracked me up.

Congrats! It is wonderful to be done and feel good about how you did, and if you don't at the moment, you will in a few weeks when you get a little distance I have 2 auctions this year, I work with private schools and we raise between 75 for one school and should do 120 for the other. We don't have the restrictionson amount of money we can raise.

I will add to your to do list.

keep a spread sheet with all of your donations, write ups, donor and value/how much it sold for to pass on to next year and have from year to year. you know who to call and who not to call

Package to make 2 or 3 items 1 really good item. less items intice more bidding

Go for items that cost you nothing so everything is profit.

Cover the cost of your event with ticket sales.
i
nvest in an auction program this goes with the spend to make. it takes less time to process an item, programs do the bid sheets, make auction certificates and will do tax letters along with bid numbers, check in/out etc....
And last but not least to all of your above HAVE FUN!!!!

TLGinTN - we had approx. 500 people at our auction. Admission was $10. Prizes were in 3 catagories, <$40, $40-$200 and >$200 for grand prizes. We sold $16,000 presale, 403 attendees and then took in another $16,000/100 attendee that night.

Here is what I learned:
If you don't sell out and are selling tickets at the door, number the tickets/programs so that once it's all over, you know exactly how many people you had.
Never outsource your food. Always have a PTO member oversee that aspect.
Don't count on other schools to get you what you need. If you need tables, make sure they know what time they need to arrive. If you need a coffee pot, have your PTO buy one.
Stationary 50/50 doesn't work, you need to roam around to get more people to buy them.
Lead by example and always take the high road when things/women get ugly/mean/spiteful.
You need to spend money to make money. Don't let PTO officers undermine/second guess you.
A few key players can get mountains of work accomplished but be sure thank every single person who made the slightest effort. Good will goes a long way.
Start on time and finish at a reasonable hour.
Always tip (custodians, drivers, deliverers) generously.
Get teachers and staff on board early.
Utilize the internet at all costs. One broadcast e-mail is much more effecient than 20 phone calls.
When you attend other events, always save the programs. They are a powerful resource in finding donations.
And most importantly: No one remembers things from year to year. Therefore, debrief right after the event. Ask all your key people to come together at a restaurant/your home, feed them (as a way of saying thanks) and ask for feedback, both good and bad. Write it all down, save it to your computer and file it where you can find it for your kick off meeting next year.

WOW! How did y'all raise so much??? That's awesome! Our's is over too, and we had a very successful auction, but we didn't raise as much as you did. Like you, we did a lot of great things, but we can always see how we can improve.

haha - what free time? Don't you still have Thank You cards to handle?

j/k

I'm jealous because I still have 5 weeks left and am trying to live by the verse of changing the things I can, accepting the things I can't and having the wisdom to know the difference!

Although, lessons learned might make for a good addition to another similar thread.
Congratulations on your success!

what am I going to do with all this free time I have now? First thing might be to reaquaint myself to my family.

Gross revenue were $32,000.
397 prizes were auctioned off. No major glitches were encountered apart from teeming rain while we were trying to transport the prizes to the school.

We did alot of things right but also learned some lessons for next years event.

Good luck to all others who are still working feverishly on their auctions.
....This too shall pass.