The hour before a silent auction opens is always chaotic. Items are still being arranged, volunteers are asking where to stand, and someone just discovered that the Wi-Fi password was changed. Here is a checklist to make that hour less chaotic - and to make sure nothing important falls through the cracks.
Two to three days before
- Confirm all item donations are received or committed in writing
- Enter all items into your auction platform with title, description, fair market value, starting bid, and bid increment
- Set your auction open and close time
- Send a preview email to your community with a few highlight items and the bidder registration link
- Assign volunteers to specific roles: registration table, item display, roaming helper, checkout
Day of - before doors open
- Walk the room and confirm every item is physically present and displayed
- Test the bidder experience from your own phone - register as a new user, browse items, place a test bid
- Confirm Wi-Fi is working in the space and get the password printed on a visible sign or table card
- Set up a registration table near the entrance with a QR code or short URL to the bidder registration page
- Brief your volunteers: what is their role, what questions will they field, where do they send problems
- Identify one person as the "auction lead" for the night - the single point of contact for anything that goes wrong
During the auction
- Announce the auction open time and close time clearly, and repeat the close time at least twice during the event
- Give a 15-minute warning before close, then a 5-minute warning
- Monitor the bid dashboard periodically - are items getting bids? If something has zero bids halfway through, have a volunteer draw attention to it
- Make sure your registration table volunteer is actively helping guests who look confused rather than waiting for people to ask
Closing the auction
- Announce the close clearly - many platforms have a countdown feature; if yours does not, make the verbal announcement prominent
- Close the auction at the stated time, no exceptions - last-minute extensions frustrate bidders who planned around the deadline
- Pull the winner report immediately after close
- Send winner notifications (email or text) so guests can find out what they won before they leave
Checkout
- Have the winner list printed or pulled up on a tablet at the checkout table
- Accept whatever payment methods work for your community - cash, check, Venmo, Zelle
- Mark each winner as paid as you collect
- Arrange item pickup: winners collect their item at checkout, or you designate a pickup area for larger items
After the event
- Send a thank-you email to all bidders within 24 hours - winners and non-winners alike
- Send acknowledgment letters to all item donors for tax purposes
- Record the final totals: items sold, revenue raised, fees paid
- Write down two or three things to do differently next year while they are fresh
The difference between a smooth auction and a chaotic one is almost always preparation, not luck. Run through this list the day before and you will spend event night enjoying the community rather than managing fires.