How to Plan Your Charity Auction (Plus Pre-Auction Checklist)

Imagine attending an event where the energy is high, the venue is spotless, and everything runs smoothly. You had fun—and maybe even supported a great cause.

Events like that don’t happen by accident. They’re the result of hours of thoughtful planning.

So where do you begin prepping for an event like a charity auction? Maybe you’re the first in your small nonprofit to tackle this task and you feel like a writer staring at a blank page. You know the success of your event will determine whether donors will want to return year after year.

Whether you're planning a silent auction, gala dinner, or golf tournament, we’ve made event planning easy with our step-by-step guide.

And to make things even easier, we’ve put together a Pre-Auction Checklist to ensure you haven’t missed a thing. 

1. Plan Your Auction Early

We recommend you begin prepping for your charity auction 6 months in advance. This may sound early, but planning ahead helps you avoid common mistakes like:

• Scrambling for last-minute items that don’t fit your audience.
• Overloading staff and volunteers with unclear responsibilities.
• Blowing your budget on unplanned expenses.
• Losing donor trust if your auction feels disorganized.

To stay on track, build a detailed milestone schedule and don’t forget to add buffer time for delays. Issues will always come up—whether it’s a sponsor not communicating or technology gone awry—so set yourself up for success.

2. Set Clear Fundraising Goals

Before you choose a venue or draft an email invite, decide what success looks like for your nonprofit. A vague goal like “raise more than last year” won’t inspire your team or your donors. Instead, be specific about the amount you want to raise and what project the event will fund.

For example, you might set a goal of:

• $20,000 to expand after-school programs for 200 students
• $50,000 to open 2 new food pantries
• $100,000 to continue funding leukemia research

Donors care more about outcomes over outputs. They want to know how their donations will make a difference, so emphasize the impact your fundraiser will make while setting goals.

3. Build Your Auction Team

It’s tempting for small nonprofits, but we don’t recommend leaving event planning to one person (you’ll risk burning out your event planner).

Break down responsibilities into a few roles, and delegate those responsibilities to different volunteers or staff.

Your event planning team roles might include:

• Event Planning Lead: oversees the full event
• Item Procurement Lead: secures items and experiences
• Marketing Coordinator: manages email, flyers, and social media
• Volunteer Manager: recruits and trains volunteers
• Finance/Checkout Coordinator: oversees payments

Just as important is communication with your team. Regular check-ins keep everyone on track and prevent issues from falling through the cracks. For a six-month timeline, you might hold monthly meetings at first, and shift to weekly check-ins as the auction approaches.

4. Budget Early and Wisely

If your budget is tight, early preparation is again your key to keeping expenses low.

As you prepare your budget with your board, don’t forget to account for:

• Venue or platform costs
• Catering and vendors
• Marketing and printing
• Auction software fees
• Volunteer training and staff time
• Shipping for auction items

To keep your budget low, look for areas where you can save:

• Local businesses may donate catering.
• Printers might offer nonprofit discounts.
• Corporate sponsors can offset big-ticket expenses like venues or tech. 

The more you save or secure upfront, the higher your net revenue will be on auction night. An event that brings in $75,000 but costs $50,000 to run only nets $25,000. A reasonable goal to set for your team is to keep fundraising expenses at under 35% of total funds raised.

5. Use an Event Planner

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when planning your fundraiser event or charity auction. Many fundraising software come with built-in tools to streamline event prep.

CharityAuctions.com has the best, most user-friendly Event Planner built into its auction software. The Event Planner lets you:

• Create event timelines
• Assign and prioritize tasks
• Communicate with your team inside the platform
• Track your budget and expenses

Plus, CharityAuctions.com only charges fees if your event succeeds—so you can start planning for free.

6. Document Your Steps

Planning your first charity auction is a big job. But imagine starting from square one yet again when your organization decides to host another auction next year.

As you’re preparing your very first charity auction, don’t forget about your future self (or the next event planner after you). Document your steps and start establishing systems to make next year’s auction prep much faster.

Good documentation also lets you improve your auction prep over time—you’ll be able to spot what worked, what didn’t, and where you can trim costs.

Pre-Auction Checklist

Our charity auction checklist will be your secret weapon to save time during auction prep and to “wow” your donors. 

Check off each of the following tasks as you build your auction:

Logistics:

✔ Create budget

✔ Set auction date

✔ Decide on auction format (live vs online vs hybrid)

✔ Define goals

Items:

✔ Secure auction items

✔ Plan item shipping/pick-up for winning bidders

✔ Set item start bids and increments

Technology:

✔ Secure auction software

✔ Set up auction page and upload auction items

✔ Set up payment processing

✔ Test auction software

✔ Test event-day technology (wi-fi, projectors, cameras, etc.)

Program: 

✔ Create event program

Sponsors:

✔ Secure sponsors

✔ Prepare sponsor materials

Venue:

✔ Secure venue

✔ Arrange catering services

✔ Prepare event-day materials (item displays, paddles, tables, speakers, etc.)

Team:

✔ Assign roles

✔ Recruit volunteers

✔ Coordinate volunteer schedule

✔ Book and brief auctioneer

Communications:

✔ Promote your auction 

✔ Communicate with promotional partners

✔ Send invitations

✔ Prepare post-auction communications

Start Your Auction Today

Running an auction is always a big lift—and we’re here to help you organize your auction quickly and efficiently.

If you’re ready to plan smarter (not harder), check out our free CharityAuctions demo.

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.