Are Charity Auctions Worth the Investment? The Data Says Yes

It’s your annual fundraising board meeting. You’re brainstorming new fundraising ideas, and a board member suggests, “We should host an auction at our next gala.” 

But you’re skeptical, and rightfully so. You’ll be the one putting in the work or investing the upfront costs, and you want to know if you’ll get a solid ROI. 

The research should put your doubts to rest. The latest fundraising data shows that you can achieve a fantastic ROI with your nonprofit or school’s auction, whether you’re adding it to a gala or hosting a standalone auction.

We’ve compiled the 20 best auction statistics proving charity auction ROI from the 2024 Fundraising Outlook and 2025 State of Nonprofit Auctions Report. We’ll analyze what the data means and how it can help you earn the highest returns at your next auction.

Are Fundraising Events Still Worth It?

Chances are, you’ve been handed a pretty small budget. You may be wondering if hosting any type of fundraising event—especially costly in-person ones—is even worth it, or if you should stick to asking for direct donations.

According to the surveys and reports, the vast majority of nonprofits still rely on events to raise money.

The reason most organizations continue to host fundraising events is simple—they work. Events will propel your organization closer to its mission and goals.

It’s not just the million-dollar organizations with thousands of attendees that are meeting their goals. Many small, local nonprofits see great success with events:

So don’t let the size of your budget or your organization discourage you. You can still earn a high fundraising ROI with events.

Beyond raising funds for your cause, fundraising events can give you a return on your investment through other avenues.

Events have a huge social component, and many donors are what we call social donors, meaning their motivation to give is strongly connected to seeing their friends and community donate and interacting in-person with the organization. Events give you access to those social donors and the major gifts that come with their participation.

Events are also a great opportunity to show your donors the impact they’re making. Many donors aren’t watching all your social media updates, so live events are the perfect time to share behind-the-scenes videos, testimonials from those you’ve helped, and the latest heartwarming stories. Donors look forward to this every year and love seeing how they’re making a difference!

Do Auction Fundraisers Provide a Good ROI?

What about auctions specifically? What’s the ROI on those?

The ROI varies drastically between organizations. But you can expect to raise $10,000+ with an auction if you play your cards right. And we’ve seen auctions raise much more than that—from $50,000 to over $100,000.

The fundraising research tells the same story about auctions—this kind of event can raise a lot of money for your organization. 

When comparing the revenue from in-person auctions, online giving campaigns, in-person donation events, virtual events, runs/walks/rides events, DIY peer-to-peer campaigns, ticket sales, and golf outings, can you guess which event came out on top?

It’s clear that organizations are overwhelmingly happy with their auction results and are raising a consistent amount of money from auctions.

Social donors in this report were defined as “a group that contributes through a variety of channels like galas, golf tournaments, peer-to-peer fundraising, and auctions.”

But as we stated earlier, there’s more to ROI than dollars raised. One valuable return on investment from auctions comes from recruiting long-term, loyal donors.

Lastly, the reports show us the donor’s side of things. Looking at the feedback attendees gave, we can see that their experience was nothing but positive.

Of course, your ROI will depend on how well you run your auction. Let’s look at what the data says about how to get amazing returns from your auction.

How Can You Maximize Your Auction ROI?

The data revealed what makes an auction effective by tracking what donors found the most engaging (meaning what influenced them to give).

Here are the top answers donors provided.

When we see what really matters to donors, we can form an auction strategy to increase donations and raise auction ROI:

• Put the focus on your beneficiaries. Include plenty of stories, videos, and testimonials to demonstrate donors’ impact.
• Add an in-person component to your event to incorporate the social aspect of giving.
• Hire an amazing auctioneer who can maintain positive energy throughout your event.
• Diversify your auction items to appeal to both major donors and smaller donors.

Technology also plays a key role in keeping your donors engaged, happy, and willing to donate. Features like mobile bidding are becoming more popular at fundraising events and can make the bidding experience more convenient.

Other statistics from the report show that including a live donation appeal can increase your auction revenue. A live donation appeal is a short, direct ask for donations at an event, paired with emotional storytelling to raise money for a specific need.

How Can You Mitigate Risk for a First-Time Auction?

We understand if you’re still worried about making your time and money worthwhile when hosting an auction. It’s not a small investment, and when you’re just starting, you’re putting a lot on the line to get the ball rolling.

Here are the best precautions you can take to mitigate risk and ensure you don’t lose out with a charity auction:

• Attend another organization’s auction first. You’ll see how it’s done so you’re not going in blind.
• Take event planning seriously. Luck doesn’t determine which auctions succeed versus which auctions fail—the organizations that reach their fundraising goals put in the time required to create a great experience for donors.
• Recruit a seasoned event planner or a volunteer who’s set up an auction before.
• Start online. Online auctions involve far fewer expenses and less time, giving you more room to experiment and find out what works for your organization.
• Choose fundraising software with percentage-based fees instead of flat fees. This pricing model guarantees that the money invested into software is less than the amount you raise, so you don’t burn through your budget trying to get started.
• Attract as many attendees as you can. Even if many guests don’t bid, you’ll have more chances of people placing bids.

Which Auction Software is Best for First-Time Auctions?

For beginners and small nonprofits, we recommend starting with something simple: CharityAuctions.com. The auction platform has helped raise over $1 billion for nonprofits and schools.

With CharityAuctions, you get charged a small percentage of your winnings, meaning you only get charged when you succeed. You can customize how much you pay in fees as well.

For more auction strategies, see our complete Auction Best Practices Guide.

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly, TEDx speaker and CEO of CharityAuctions.com, helps nonprofits raise millions through auctions and AI. He hosts The Million Dollar Nonprofit podcast and inspires leaders to live their legacy, not just leave it.