Auctions

Got a fundraising silent auction coming up? Silent auctions are a bit like the story of the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead: When they are good they are very, very good; when they are bad they are horrid. With that, here are the characteristics of the good, the bad, the ugly and the easy in regard to fundraising silent auctions.

This webinar helps you draw up an important checklist for planning, promoting, implementing and even following up your special event.

Charitybuzz, which raises funds for nonprofits around the globe through online auctions with celebrities and brands, released its top 25 celebrity auctions of 2013.

Robert Baird, author of "Everything You Need to Know to Raise Money (and Have Fun) with a Charity Auction," recently spoke with his publisher about charity auctions. GuideStar has published an excerpt from the book, and shares Baird's additional thoughts.

An auction of the contents of philanthropist Brooke Astor's two homes brought in more than $18.8 million, Sotheby's said Tuesday. Sotheby's offered 901 objects in all, including European and Asian furnishings, Old Masters, Qing Dynasty paintings, tea sets, silverware, jewelry, a porcelain menagerie, more than 100 dog paintings and even the uniforms of her domestic staff at a two-day auction that began Monday.

Proceeds will go to institutions and charities, including the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, under a settlement negotiated by the state attorney general's office.

A deep-pocketed anonymous bidder forked over nearly $3.5 million in a Glide Foundation charity auction to dine with billionaire Warren Buffet. The charity event set a record for the Glide Foundation, which helps the homeless, located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.

Ted Hart speaks with fundraising auction expert Jon Carson, founder and CEO of BiddingForGood, on his Nonprofit Coach radio show.

By integrating a live fundraising event with an online auction, you can expand your bidder community and increase participation. By adding mobile bidding, you can bring all the advantages of online auctions to your live event and increase bids to raise more money.

Buffalo Trace Distillery wants to give a piece of history to charities. It’s offering nonprofits 174 bottles of Kentucky straight bourbon aged for 11 years in its Millennium Barrel and bottled on Dec. 31, 1999.

Nonprofits have until midnight New York time tonight, July 26, to request a bottle of Millennium bourbon. If chosen, organizations must auction it off for charity by Dec. 31. More than 150 charities have signed up, and Kris Comstock, Buffalo Trace’s brand manager, said the bottles could fetch bids of $1,000 each or more.

An anonymous bidder agreed Friday to pay more than $2.6 million for a lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, offering a final amount after the auction closed that topped last year’s bid that set a record for the most expensive charity item ever sold on eBay.

All proceeds go to the Glide Foundation, which provides social services to the poor and homeless in San Francisco.