Silent auctions are among the most engaging and lucrative events your nonprofit can host. As participants bid on their favorite items, your auction fosters a fun, competitive environment while raising funds for your mission.
To make the most of your silent auction, you’ll need to plan strategically, and one of the most important parts of the process is procuring the right auction items. The best charity auction prizes are unique and align with your target audience’s interests and budgets.
In this guide, you’ll find more than 100 silent auction item ideas to help your procurement team get started and bonus tips on how to secure them more easily. Let’s dive in!
Travel-Based Silent Auction Items
Travel-related items are typically best-sellers in silent auctions. They appeal to a broad audience, add a unique element to your auction experience, and often bring in the largest bids among your prizes! Consider procuring a few big-ticket vacation packages and some smaller travel accessories so all of your auction participants can bid on the items that fit within their budget.
Tropical Resort Getaway
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: +++
Supporters who need a relaxing break will love an all-inclusive stay at a resort in a warm paradise. While they should have plenty of beach time built into their itineraries, make sure your vacation package includes at least one standout activity unique to its location. For example, winning bidders could attend a traditional luau in Hawaii or enjoy bioluminescence kayaking in Puerto Rico’s famous Mosquito Bay.
International City Sightseeing Tour
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: +++
For the travelers in your supporter base who enjoy an action-packed vacation, whisk them away to a city around the world they’ve probably dreamed of visiting. In addition to visiting popular landmarks and museums in that city, let the winning bidders experience other unique aspects of that destination, such as a private gondola ride in Venice or a guided tour of the original Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.
Dream Disney Vacation
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: ++
A trip to the Happiest or Most Magical Place on Earth will appeal to supporters with young children and self-proclaimed “Disney Adults” alike. Your Disneyland or Disney World vacation package should include multi-day tickets, accommodations on or near the Disney properties, and gift cards for food and merchandise at the parks.
Alpine Skiing Adventure
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: +
Supporters who love skiing and snowboarding would likely enjoy a vacation to one of their dream winter sports destinations. Along with transportation and accommodations, include some type of credit that gives the winning bidder the option to cover the cost of equipment rentals at the destination or the additional baggage fees they’ll incur if they’d rather travel with their own gear.
Winners’ Choice Domestic Travel
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +++
This package involves securing two credit-related items: airline tickets that can be used for any domestic flight the winner chooses, and a stay at any U.S. location of a popular hotel chain. You might also throw in a generic gift card that the winning bidder can use for a meal or activity while they’re traveling to make this option more attractive.
High-Flying Thrills
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
If your supporters have ever dreamed of taking a helicopter or hot air balloon ride, give them the opportunity to have that experience through your auction! Choose a location that will offer breathtaking aerial views, and provide transportation to and from the takeoff point if it’s a long way from your facility.
Destination Winery Tours
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: ++
Tours of domestic or international vineyards are a hit with many auction participants. Complete the experience with a wine tasting and a sampling of the vineyard’s most famous wines to take home. (Remember to verify that the winner of any prize involving alcohol is at least 21 years old!)
Quality Luggage Set
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Send your supporters off on their vacations in style with a set of luggage from a well-respected brand. Include a few different sizes of suitcases, ensuring at least one is small enough to carry onto most major airlines’ flights. You might also put in other accessories like a luggage tag, AirTag or similar tracking device, passport holder, and toiletry case to make this bundle even more valuable.
Pet-Sitting or Boarding
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Give supporters with pets peace of mind as they travel by securing a certificate for boarding at a local kennel or in-home pet-sitting services from a bonded, insured company. If the pet-sitting company offers more general house-sitting services, like watering plants and bringing in mail each day that a resident is away, you could also offer that service to make this prize more broadly applicable to your audience.
Community Spotlight Silent Auction Item Ideas
Travel-related auction items cater to faraway locations with wide appeal, but you can also look to your local community for valuable, enticing silent auction ideas. Procuring community spotlight items for your silent auction benefits your nonprofit and the local businesses or organizations that provide the items. Your sponsors receive publicity during your event, and your organization can form lasting partnerships with them while bringing in revenue at the same time.
Historic & Cultural City Site Tour
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
No matter where your nonprofit is located, you likely have a lot of history and culture right at your fingertips. Whether supporters are new to your area or just love learning more about where they live, a day-long private tour of your city’s landmarks, museums, historic homes, and other essential sites can be a hit.
Local Arts Company Performance Tickets
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
If you have a professional dance company, regional theatre group, or symphony orchestra near your organization, support their artistic endeavors by auctioning off great seats at their most popular performances. Consider audience demographics when selecting shows—for instance, older supporters might enjoy an orchestra’s classical concerts, while younger participants may prefer to watch a popular movie where the soundtrack is performed live by the symphony.
Full-Service Spa Day
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Help supporters unwind after a long week by partnering with local spas, nail salons, massage therapy practices, or similar businesses. Curate a standard set of spa services as your auction prize (for example, a Swedish massage, regular-polish mani-pedi, and classic facial), or let the winning bidder choose their experiences within a specific budget.
Dinner With a Local Government Official
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
Especially if your auction participants are interested in local politics, consider setting up a dinner with the mayor, a city council member, or another well-known figure in your city’s government. It’ll provide these supporters with a peek behind the curtain of how your local government functions and a chance to discuss topics that matter to them in a casual environment. You could even reach out to state government officials for this opportunity if they and your supporters would be interested!
Park Bench Sponsorship
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
A park bench plaque is a great way for supporters to honor an individual or organization that’s meaningful to them, or even just to have the experience of seeing “Given by [Their Name]” on a bench they walk past or use regularly. Contact your local parks to see if they have any available benches or plan to install new ones, then auction off the opportunity to sponsor the bench.
Community Rec Center Passes
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Reach out to local rec centers, whether they’re independent organizations or run by your city’s parks and recreation department, to see what kind of passes they’d be willing to auction off for supporters. They might provide access to a gym, community pool, workshops, classes, summer day camps, or other activities—the possibilities are nearly endless!
Certificates for Services
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +++
Your supporters will likely appreciate having some of their daily tasks taken care of if they win certificates for services from locally owned companies. Like with rec center activities, the possibilities for services to auction off are endless, such as:
- Dry cleaning
- House cleaning
- Home improvement
- Landscaping or yard maintenance
- Car washes
- Car maintenance
- Auto detailing
- Childcare
Check with each vendor to see how much work they’re willing to contribute to your auction and to work out the terms of each agreement (e.g., expiration dates or qualifying service options).
Event Venue Rental
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Renting spaces for weddings, anniversary parties, large birthday celebrations, company socials, and other similar events can be expensive and competitive. Give supporters who are planning these events a head start by auctioning off a rental, remembering to check in advance with the venue about any limitations on dates or capacity so participants know if they can use the prize for their intended event.
Food and Beverage Silent Auction Items
In addition to highlighting your nonprofit’s community through experiences and services, you can also showcase the food and beverages unique to your area at your silent auction. Food and drink prizes are often favorites among auction participants, especially those who would rather bid on consumables instead of bringing additional permanent items into their homes. As your supporters likely have different food and beverage preferences, make sure to have a variety of options available.
Bar Crawl
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Give supporters a fun night out with their friends by letting them try some of your city’s top bars and pubs. Include tickets for drinks and snacks at each establishment in the bundle, as well as pre-arranged transportation to keep everyone safe as they enjoy themselves.
Food Truck Tour
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Similar to the bar crawl, let participants get a taste of everything your city has to offer with a tour of its food trucks. You can either let the winning bidder and their friends visit several trucks in one day or have them choose a location for their favorite trucks to come and provide food—whether that’s their birthday party or just another lunch break at the office.
Dinner Date Night
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +++
Partner with a high-end, award-winning restaurant in your city to create a multi-course dining experience for the winning bidder and their date. After dinner, give them tickets to see a movie or show together, and provide wine or champagne and chocolate for them to enjoy when they get home from their night out. Pre-arranged transportation is also highly recommended for this prize.
Professional Cooking Classes
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Allow auction participants to improve their own food preparation skills by participating in professional cooking classes. Try to secure a series of classes to make this prize more lucrative, and see if the organization you go through will let the winning bidder choose the level of class they take so the prize will be more appealing to both experienced chefs and beginners.
Home Chef Starter Kit
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
For home chefs who are ready to jump into making recipes on their own, put together a bundle of herbs, spices, cooking oils, small kitchen utensils, and an apron. To add more value, you can pair this prize with a class as described above or include a high-end kitchen appliance or pot and pan set in the package.
Celebrity Chef Dinner
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Give supporters a memorable and delicious experience by auctioning off a meal of their choice prepared by a celebrity chef or the winner of a TV cooking competition. If the chef owns a restaurant in a different city, you could also make eating at that establishment the focal point of a vacation package.
Themed Restaurant Experience
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Revolving restaurants, dinner trains, dinner-and-a-show events, and other novelty or themed establishments provide a fun eating experience for the whole family. Secure tickets or a gift certificate to one of these restaurants in your area, or incorporate it into a trip to a different city where these establishments are famous.
Afternoon Tea Time
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Find a local tearoom, bakery, or similar establishment that offers a traditional afternoon tea experience, complete with fancy china, finger sandwiches, and an assortment of delicious pastries. You could also move this experience outside to a botanical garden or arboretum in your city if your sponsor allows.
Charcuterie Starter Kit
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +++
Charcuterie boards are popular among many generations for many events, so a kit for creating them will go a long way with various audiences. Start with a quality wooden board, then add a variety of cheeses, meats, crackers, and garnishes, and finish off the package with some small utensils (e.g., a spreader for soft cheeses like brie) and potentially a bottle of wine.
Beverage Samplers
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Supporters who love trying new varieties of coffee, tea, wine, or craft beer will likely enjoy a sampler of different flavors or blends from a specific brand or business. You could also partner with the business to offer a “year’s supply” of that beverage to the winning bidder.
Candy Assortments
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
Participants with a sweet tooth will enjoy bidding on a gourmet chocolate box, a sampler of locally made candy, or another visually appealing display of treats. These items are especially useful if your auction falls close to Valentine’s Day (so a supporter can pick up a gift for their significant other) or Halloween (so the winning bidder can share their prize with the trick-or-treaters who come by their home).
Custom Cake Certificate
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Contact a local bakery about offering a voucher for a cake with a flavor combination and decorations of the winner’s choice that you can auction off. Make sure to establish a budget and general parameters for the cake beforehand so the winning bidder knows if they’re paying for a multi-tier wedding cake or a more standard treat for a birthday or other smaller celebration.
Food Delivery & Catering Services
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +++
There are tons of possibilities for this category of prizes—you might auction off a gift card for a popular food delivery service, provide the winning bidder with a pizza per month for a year from a local establishment, or partner with a restaurant that will cater a party or workplace lunch for the winning bidder. No matter what you choose, supporters will likely jump at the chance to enjoy a delicious meal they didn’t have to make at their home or office.
Sports and Fitness Silent Auction Ideas
Part of the appeal of many sports is that they rally a community together around a common goal. Some auction participants may want to attend athletic events or own items related to their favorite sport, while others might prefer new ways to be physically active themselves, so try to cater to both audiences as you build your slate of auction prizes.
Local Team Season Tickets
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Sports fans often love to show their spirit for the teams in their area, so season tickets for college or professional sports close to your nonprofit will likely be a big hit. If you have multiple local teams that excel in the same sport—whether they play in different divisions of their leagues or are direct rivals—try to secure equally good seats for both teams to appease all fans in your supporter base.
Major Athletic Event Experience
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: +++
While some of your supporters likely hope to vacation in specific destinations during their lifetimes, others may have attending a major sporting event like the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, World Series, World Cup, or Olympics on their bucket lists. Fulfill their dreams by selling tickets to any of these events that are coming up soon after your auction, along with the required travel arrangements.
Luxury Golf Course Tee Time
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
It’s common to pair a silent auction with a charity golf tournament to increase both events’ fundraising potential. If you’re combining these fundraisers or have many dedicated golfers in your target audience, consider offering them the opportunity to win a day at the nicest golf course in your area or even an overnight trip to a luxury course in a different city.
Golf Supplies & Apparel
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
In addition to getting to play their favorite sport, golf lovers in your audience will also enjoy getting to win other golf-themed prizes, like new clubs, bags, or gift certificates for course apparel from a popular brand. You could even auction off a whole golf cart if you can get one donated or discounted!
Signed Sports Memorabilia
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Some major sports fans will also enjoy signed photos of their favorite athletes or items like balls, helmets, bats, or gloves featuring signatures from legends in the sport. Rare baseball cards—both signed and unsigned—can also be lucrative prizes in a similar vein. (Warning: Always check the legitimacy of any signed memorabilia before featuring it in your auction!)
Sports Broadcast Experience
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Let fans go behind the scenes of their favorite sports broadcasts by touring the TV studio where they’re made or sitting in on a radio show. This experience will be especially memorable if they get to meet a current or former athlete who has a guest spot on that day’s show during their tour.
Lawn & Driveway Games
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Equipment for outdoor games like cornhole, spike ball, ladder ball, tetherball, or horseshoes are sure to please many supporters who enjoy hosting cookouts or otherwise spending time outdoors with family and friends. You could also auction off a driveway basketball hoop in the same vein.
Racket Sport Bundles
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Sports like tennis, racquetball, squash, and badminton have been popular for decades, and pickleball has become one of the trendiest sports of the 2020s. Appeal to supporters who enjoy these pastimes by featuring a bundle of rackets and other supplies for any one of these sports in your silent auction.
Pro Sports Lessons
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Help your audience improve their tennis, golf, softball, or any other type of game by including professional lessons for a sport among your auction prizes. If your audience is especially athletic, this could even extend to entrance into marathon or triathlon training programs.
Water Sports Equipment
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Participants who love nothing more than to be out on the water will be excited to find surfboards, paddleboards, kayaks, canoes, waterskis, and other similar equipment among your auction prizes. If you wanted to turn this option into one of your biggest-ticket items, you could try to secure a sailboat or pontoon boat for your event.
Snow Sports Gear
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
For supporters who prefer winter sports to summer, you could also feature snow skis, snowboards, snowshoes, ice skates, and other related supplies in your auction. Since much of this gear comes in specific sizes, it’s often helpful to provide a gift certificate or voucher rather than the equipment itself so supporters can get the correct size.
Athleticwear Shopping Spree
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +++
Put together a collection of gift certificates for popular athleticwear brands and auction them off as a bundle so the winning bidder can pick out a variety of workout clothes and shoes. This is also a better option than directly selling athletic apparel because supporters can pick the sizes, styles, and even individual items that they need to complete their wardrobes.
Fitness Classes & Training
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Partner with a local fitness center or exercise studio to secure gym access, personal training sessions, or popular workout classes (yoga, spin, Pilates, etc.) for a winning bidder. Depending on the business, the winner might get an annual membership, punch pass, pre-set block, or other structure to their workouts.
Music and Entertainment Silent Auction Item Ideas
There is something for everyone in the world of music and entertainment. In particular, tickets to popular entertainment events are often hard to come by, so these silent auction items tend to bring in a lot of revenue. Just make sure to research upcoming attractions and stay up-to-date on pop culture news so you feature items your supporters will readily use.
Concert Tour of the Summer
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +++
Save fans of popular artists or bands from getting stuck in ticketing website queues while trying to secure nosebleed seats, and instead auction off two to four of the best tickets in the house. Add more value to the concert experience by including free merchandise, vouchers for food and drinks at the venue, and even backstage passes or photo opportunities with the performers to the bundle.
Entertainment Awards Show Experience
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: ++
Music enthusiasts, theatre lovers, or film buffs in your supporter base would probably love to experience the glitz and glam of the Grammys, Tonys, Golden Globes, or other major awards shows. As with any prize that requires out-of-town travel, arrange transportation and accommodations for the winning bidder in addition to securing tickets.
Signed Music Memorabilia
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Just like sports fans, some music lovers enjoy having instruments, records, or concert posters signed by their favorite artists from all generations as decorations for their homes. Playbills or window cards signed by the original Broadway cast of a musical can be appealing as well.
Band Merchandise Bundles
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
In addition to signed memorabilia, you can also put together bundles of merchandise like apparel, drinkware, and records or CDs themed around specific artists or bands. Try to find limited edition releases to make these bundles more valuable to that artist’s top fans.
Performing Arts Center Season Tickets
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
If your nonprofit is located in a city with a performing arts center that hosts the national tours of popular musicals and other shows, auction off two or four season tickets so the winning bidder can attend all of the major productions that come through the center in a particular year. Just remember to check with the venue to see exactly what shows the bundle includes (e.g., if the passes are only valid for theatrical productions or if the winner could also attend comedy, music, or dance shows with them).
Movie Premiere Experience
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: ++
Give a lucky auction participant the opportunity to attend the world or US premiere of a highly anticipated movie, complete with photos on the red carpet (and any necessary transportation and accommodations). You could also secure tickets and travel arrangements for a popular film festival like Sundance or Cannes to put a different spin on this idea.
Film Set & Studio Tours
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Invite supporters behind the scenes of their favorite movies and TV shows by featuring tickets and travel arrangements to tour a popular Hollywood studio (e.g., Paramount or Warner Bros.) or visit the places where a production was filmed on location. The latter option is especially good if your nonprofit’s facility happens to be near the filming locations for a popular franchise (e.g., Stranger Things in Metro Atlanta or Twilight in the Pacific Northwest).
Live Taping Entries
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Give auction participants an inside look at how their favorite talk shows, game shows, or reality competition shows are made with seats in the studio audience. Once you’ve chosen a show, it’s best to reach out to the team or ticketing site to ensure you get the tickets you want since they’re often very limited and competitive (despite sometimes being free).
DJ Services
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Contact a local DJ to see if they’d be interested in offering their services as one of your nonprofit’s auction items for free or at a discounted rate. That way, supporters can bid to hire the DJ for an upcoming party, wedding, or other event (as long as it aligns with the DJ’s stipulations for acceptable dates, hours, and other logistics).
Music & Dance Lessons
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Rather than just being entertained by music and dance, give auction participants the opportunity to learn these skills for themselves! Partner with local instructors to offer lessons in playing instruments like guitar and piano, singing, or different styles of dance that may appeal to your audience (ballroom tends to be a popular choice, especially for couples).
Family-Friendly Silent Auction Items
If your donor base includes families, make sure to feature some family-friendly auction items. These prizes help engage supporters of all ages in your nonprofit’s mission—not only the adults who bid on the prizes, but also the children who benefit from them. Plus, many parents and grandparents are looking for ways to make new memories and enjoy quality time with family.
Zoo, Aquarium, or Children’s Museum Memberships
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
While traditional corporate sponsors are invaluable for procuring auction items, other nonprofits might also be willing to help with your event, especially cultural organizations. See if a zoo, aquarium, or kids’ museum in your area will contribute an annual membership that a family who wants to create fun, educational experiences for their children will be excited to bid on.
Amusement Park Day
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Let families enjoy a day together at your nearest theme park by auctioning off four or more passes as a set. You might also include a gift card for food, locker rentals, and souvenirs at the park or a “survival kit” with a backpack, sunscreen, water bottles, snacks, and towels if there are water rides to round out this prize.
Hot-Button Toys
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Including popular toys in your auction can help busy parents and grandparents check some birthday or holiday gift shopping off their lists. To maximize these prizes’ revenue, try to feature toys that are more expensive and harder to find than the average, such as large Lego sets and American Girl Dolls. If you want to feature smaller, widely available items like stuffed animals or mystery collectibles, bundle several into one prize pack to increase their value.
Birthday Party Package
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
You’ll need to contact a few vendors to put this together—minimally, a bakery to contribute a cake voucher and a party supply store for decorations and games. To increase the prize’s value, you could also get a pizza restaurant to donate a gift certificate for the meal, a company that manages party entertainers to send a magician or performer dressed as an animated character to the party, or even an inflatable rental business to provide bounce houses for the day.
Profession-for-a-Day Experience
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
Let auction participants’ children experience what it’s like to be a firefighter, pilot, school principal, librarian, or in another career for a day in a kid-friendly environment. In addition to businesses, individual donors and local schools that host career days can be good contacts to connect with the professionals who can make these experiences happen.
After-School Activities
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Help parents and guardians get their kids engaged in fun activities after school by including them in your auction! You could include nearly any recreational sport, swim lessons, dance classes, theater programs, cheerleading, gymnastics, martial arts, or anything else popular with children in your community, depending on what organizations are willing to help you out.
Summer Camp Sessions
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
To keep local kids occupied over the summer, consider auctioning off a week of summer day camp or overnight camp. If you go the sleepaway route, choose a camp that’s well-known, accredited, and fairly close to your facility so local parents feel comfortable enrolling their children. If you want to go with a day camp, keep in mind that many rec centers and museums offer these programs as well as more traditional camps.
Children’s Room Design
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Reach out to a professional interior designer who has experience with children’s room makeovers to contribute this prize. Whether parents are looking to put together a nursery for a baby on the way or redecorate their kids’ rooms as they grow up, these services will likely be popular with many families.
Backyard Play Equipment
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
If parents’ yards need a refresh for their children, they might enjoy bidding on a new jungle gym, swing set, background trampoline, or other home playground equipment. Include installation services along with the prize, and ensure participants are aware of the safety information and certifications of the products you feature so they can make informed decisions.
Family Portraits
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Help families capture memories by contacting a local photographer about contributing a family photo session to your auction. Alternatively, reach out to an artist who could create a painting of the winning bidder’s family for an extra-special keepsake opportunity to feature.
Kids’ Book Readings
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Foster a love of reading in local children by helping them engage more deeply with their favorite books. Allow the winning bidder to set up an in-person or virtual reading for their child’s class or friend group where they can meet the author of a popular kids’ book, hear it read aloud, and participate in relevant activities.
Family Weekend Activities
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +++
Give families the opportunity to make fun memories together on average weekends by securing passes for local attractions. Some activities that will probably be hits with many audience members include:
- Mini golf
- Laser tag
- Go-karting
- Arcade gaming
- Roller skating
- Ice skating
- Trampoline parks
- Bowling
Although these businesses may offer nonprofit discounts, they may not always be well-advertised, so make sure to contact them directly and be prepared to negotiate a low price.
Education-Focused Silent Auction Item Ideas
Education and classroom-related silent auction items are the perfect addition to a school fundraiser. Even if you’re not hosting a school auction, remember that many parents are looking for new ways to enrich their children’s education in and out of the classroom. Also, they’re another vehicle for making the youngest members of your community aware of your organization and its mission.
Class Party Pack
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Help family members celebrate a birthday, holiday, or goal achievement in their child’s class with a party starter kit. Include snacks, craft materials, games, and prizes in the pack, making sure all items are age appropriate for the target audience and adhere to school rules (for example, don’t add candy that contains peanuts if your local elementary school is peanut free).
Back-to-School Shopping Spree
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Make the beginning of the year easier for parents by compiling a pack of gift cards to popular retailers where parents can buy new school supplies, clothes, shoes, and books for their children. As an added bonus, consider arranging transportation for a day and a personal shopping assistant to turn it into a full experience.
Reserved Parking Spot
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
For high school students who drive themselves to school or highly involved parent volunteers, finding a good, legal parking spot on campus day after day can be challenging. Take away the guesswork by reserving a parking spot in front of the school (that isn’t already designated for another purpose) and auctioning off the right to park there for a full school year.
School Play or Sports Tickets
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Give families an easy opportunity to cheer on students as they do what they love by auctioning off tickets for the best seats at school athletic events or performances. Include at least four tickets in the block so several family members can attend together, and consider increasing this prize’s revenue potential by bundling tickets to all of the season’s home games for a sport or providing some school spirit gear along with the tickets.
Prime Graduation Seats
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Especially at high school graduations, tickets are generally limited, and the process of securing them can become contentious. Ensure family members who really want to see their students receive their diplomas can do so by auctioning off a block of tickets at the front of the auditorium, including enough seats so extended family and friends can also attend.
Seasonal and Holiday Silent Auction Items
Theming some of your silent auction items around upcoming holidays or seasons can generate higher bids since they appear very relevant and stir up excitement for that time of year. For example, if your auction is in the fall, you might look ahead to the holiday season in December, while an early spring auction would lend itself to preparation for the summer.
Holiday Lights Tour
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Arrange a minibus or limo ride (complete with warm drinks and festive snacks) for a winning bidder and their family or friends to drive around the neighborhoods in your community that put on the best holiday light displays. Alternatively, if there is a nearby farm, park, botanical garden, or other public venue that creates a large light show each year, secure tickets to that display for your auction.
Seasonal Show Experience
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: ++
Elevate your performing arts-related auction offerings leading up to the holiday season with tickets to local performances of The Nutcracker ballet, the play or musical versions of A Christmas Carol, or a special holiday concert by a popular artist. Or, send supporters on a trip to New York City to experience the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, or the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square in person.
Family Thanksgiving Dinner
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Partner with a restaurant or catering company to take the stress out of Thanksgiving meal preparation for an auction participant. Award them a prepared turkey, an assortment of classic sides like stuffing and green bean casserole, and pies or other fall-themed desserts. Make sure to specify approximately how many people your dinner serves so bidders can plan accordingly.
Holiday-Themed Craft Kits
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Curate some packages of craft supplies for various holidays that the whole family can use. For example, you might auction off materials for:
- Carving pumpkins for Halloween
- Painting ornaments for Christmas
- Making heart-shaped cards for Valentine’s Day
- Dyeing eggs for Easter
These prizes aren’t just good for celebrating holidays—they bring families together to make festive decorations and memories they can cherish.
St. Patrick’s Day Dinner
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
If you have a traditional Irish pub or restaurant in your city, consider reaching out to them to ask if they’d donate a gift certificate for a St. Patrick’s Day group dinner (i.e., at least four guests) to your auction. Ensure the voucher is valid for a full meal and at least one alcoholic beverage for every member of the party over 21!
July 4th Fireworks Viewing
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Especially in large cities, it can be tough to get a prime spot for fireworks on Independence Day. Take the guesswork out of a family’s experience by giving one lucky auction participant a reserved space at your area’s most spectacular display, plus some red, white, and blue treats for them to enjoy while they watch.
Holiday Parade Float
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
If your city does a parade for Thanksgiving, Christmas, July 4th, or any other major holiday, give auction participants the chance to ride on a major float in the parade (e.g., the biggest one or one that a public official usually rides on). They might even get the opportunity to be named the parade’s grand marshal or receive another official title in the process!
Technology Silent Auction Item Ideas
Featuring the latest technology—both big-ticket devices and smaller add-ons—can help attract younger participants to your silent auction. Although many of these items can be found at regular stores, they retail for high prices. Supporters will likely be interested in getting them at a slightly lower price at auction, but they’ll still place significant bids if your prizes are brand-new.
Video Game Starter Pack
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Center this bundle around a popular, recent gaming system—the latest versions of the Sony PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch are likely your best bet. To increase the pack’s value, include additional controllers for multi-player gaming and several popular games.
Annual Streaming Subscriptions
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +++
It’s estimated that more than 80 million U.S. households will stop paying for traditional TV and rely only on streaming services by 2026. Help these cord-cutters continue watching their favorite shows by auctioning off annual subscriptions for their favorite platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, and Max. Music streaming service subscriptions, like Spotify or Apple Music, are also an option.
Photography Bundles
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Avid photographers in your supporter base would probably love to buy a high-quality digital camera and accessories (additional lenses, a tripod, etc.) at your auction. Plus, film photography is experiencing a resurgence, so securing a vintage film camera or adding disposable and Polaroid cameras to other packages may also appeal to auction participants.
New Smart Devices
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: ++
If your team can procure a brand-new smartphone, tablet, laptop, or television, it could be one of the most lucrative items in your silent auction lineup! The best way to ensure this investment is profitable is to approach an electronics store directly and try to get them to donate the item or give you a nonprofit discount for it.
Digital Reading Bundle
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Audiobooks and eBooks have grown in popularity in recent years, so some readers in your audience will likely enjoy bidding on reading-related technology prizes. In addition to a new eReader, you might feature a paid membership for a service like Audible, Libro.fm, or Kindle Unlimited so the winner can easily read their favorite books through their favorite medium.
Music Accessories
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +++
High-quality headphones and speakers will likely fly off the tables at your auction, especially if they have Bluetooth connectivity. Plus, records are widely popular today, so including a record player in your silent auction prize selection will appeal to older supporters who want to listen to old favorites and younger participants who need a way to play their special editions of newer albums alike.
Wearable Tech
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
While there are many kinds of wearable technology you could feature in your auction, smart watches and fitness trackers are among the most popular. In addition to essential instruction booklets and chargers, consider providing the winners of these items with additional bands so they can match their tech to different outfits and occasions.
High-End Goods for Silent Auctions
Technological devices aren’t the only luxury items that sell well at silent auctions. Although high-end home goods, personal items, and appliances are more subject to personal preferences than other auction items, chances are they’ll line up with some supporters’ wants, and they also make great gifts if participants want to purchase them for someone else.
Trending Kitchen Appliances
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +++
Many of your supporters would likely be thrilled to find popular kitchen gadgets at your auction, from air fryers to espresso machines to ice cream makers. Increase these prizes’ value by including relevant recipe books or arranging a cooking lesson that uses the appliance for the winning bidder.
Local Antique Furniture
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Antiques are among the most unique physical goods you can feature in silent auctions, and finding locally produced pieces adds an extra-special touch for passionate buyers. Reach out to local antique dealers or shops to secure these pieces, and ask them about the story behind each item so you can share it with interested bidders.
Designer Brand Shopping Spree
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Let supporters who love fashionable clothing shop the top brands to their hearts’ content with a pack of gift certificates. If you have several stores featuring these designer brands at your local mall, consider taking the winning bidder on a guided shopping day as well.
Lawn Care Tools
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: +
Supporters who love keeping their yards looking pristine will likely appreciate larger tools to help them take care of their lawns, such as lawnmowers, leaf or snow blowers, and sprinklers. Like with other technology, make sure these items are brand-new and start their pricing at a discount from the retail cost.
One-of-a-Kind Artworks
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: +
Although their sales depend heavily on individual tastes, paintings and sculptures can bring in lots of revenue at an auction if they’re high-quality and unique. Partner with local artists and dealers to secure these items, and like with antiques, have information about each item’s creator on hand for interested participants.
Crystal & China
Revenue Potential: $$$
Audience Appeal: +
Whether they’re new and shiny or have a rich history, high-end dish sets, stemware, vases, and other crystal and china pieces can sell for large amounts at auction. Just make sure to package these items thoroughly for each winning bidder and put photos on the table rather than the actual prizes so nothing gets damaged before the winner takes it home!
Silent Auction Gift Basket Ideas
Gift baskets are a silent auction staple! By combining related items into a basket, you can increase the value of even the most commonplace goods to attract high starting bids. Center each basket on a creative theme, package it in a way that looks as appealing to auction participants as possible, and include a listing of all included items to ensure supporters know exactly what they’re bidding on.
Airport Must-Haves
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +++
This basket is great for your frequent flyers looking to replace their supplies and for first-time air travelers. Bundle together a neck pillow, wired earbuds, small paperback books, a portable phone charger, TSA-approved containers for travel toiletries, and an airline gift certificate. Instead of a traditional basket, consider packaging these items in a carry-on suitcase to add value and visual appeal.
Makeup Essentials
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
Supporters who enjoy high-quality makeup often want to stock up on many supplies at once. Include a variety of lipsticks, eye shadow palettes, eyeliners, mascara, and makeup brushes in the basket, plus a gift card to a beauty supply store so the winning bidder can choose face makeup products like foundation and powder that match their skin tone. Also, consider asking the store to set up a consultation with the winner so they can learn new techniques and find the best products for their needs.
Pamper Your Pet
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
Make two versions of this basket: one for dog owners and one for cat owners. Collect a wide selection of toys, treats, essential supplies, and certificates for daycare or grooming services, all geared specifically toward each type of pet. For example, you might include a leash and tennis balls in the dog basket and a scratching post and catnip in the cat basket.
At-Home Spa Day
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +++
If your supporters want to pamper themselves at home, they’ll appreciate a basket filled with facial masks, bath bombs, scented lotion, a neck massager, fluffy slippers, nail care supplies, and other spa-type items. Consider combining this bundle with a certificate for one spa experience like a mani-pedi or massage to level up its value.
Movie Night
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +++
For a different take on a relaxing night in, add microwave popcorn, boxed candy, a comfy throw blanket, and some streaming service gift cards to a basket themed around movies. A movie theater gift card is a great value-add for this bundle.
Game Night
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
Encourage participants to get the whole family or a big group of friends together with a game night basket! Include an assortment of board and card games—some classic and some unique—in this bundle, along with some party-size snacks for everyone to enjoy as they play.
Beach Party
Revenue Potential: $$
Audience Appeal: ++
Give supporters everything they need for a beach day with a bundle of beach towels, sand toys, sunglasses, sunscreen, and tropical beverages. Larger beach supplies like umbrellas, chairs, or boogie boards can be good value-adds here, and you could pair this basket with a beach vacation to make it part of a big-ticket item.
Road Trip Ready
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: ++
For supporters who like to travel by car, you might create a basket of road trip essentials like sunglasses, reusable water bottles, travel snacks, car phone chargers, car games, and gas station gift cards. Packaging this basket in a car trunk organizer or cooler will give it additional visual appeal.
New Baby Needs
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
Chances are, someone in your supporter base knows, is, or will soon be a new parent. Help these families start their time with their little one off right with a basket of essentials like bottles, diapers, blankets, board books, baby-safe toys, bibs, and pacifiers. If you include clothing in the basket, remember that babies tend to outgrow their clothes quickly, so opt for 3-month or 6-month sizes rather than newborn outfits.
Garden in a Box
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
For your plant-loving supporters, curate a basket of gardening gloves, seeds, pots, succulents, a spade, a watering can, and other essential supplies for growing plants. A garden supply store can be a good partner for this basket and may also be willing to contribute a gift card as a value-add.
Aspiring Artist
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
Consider partnering with an art supply store to procure a basket that caters to your more creative audience members. Include paper and canvases, different types of paints, palettes, paintbrushes, colored pencils, and a paint-by-numbers kit or instructional book for some inspiration. You can increase this basket’s value by adding an art class pass or paint-and-sip party package to it.
In Stitches
Revenue Potential: $
Audience Appeal: +
For supporters who express their creative side through needle arts, fill this basket with knitting and sewing needles, crochet hooks, multicolored yarn and thread, cross-stitch and needlepoint kits, and patterns. A gift card to a fabric supply or yarn store is a good value-add here.
BONUS: Procurement Tips for Silent Auction Items
Now that you have plenty of ideas for items to feature in your next silent auction, you’re probably wondering exactly how to procure them. The trick with auction items is to secure the most valuable items you can find at the lowest possible prices. This way, you can manage your budget effectively and put as much of the funding you raise as possible toward your mission.
Let’s walk through a few of our favorite tips for procuring silent auction items.
1. Assemble a Procurement Committee
If your nonprofit is on the larger side and fairly well-established, you may have one or more staff members whose entire job is focused on event planning. These employees will have their hands full with many other aspects of organizing your auction on top of securing prizes, like managing logistics and securing fiscal sponsorships. To take some work off their hands (or the rest of your team if your nonprofit is too small or new to have a dedicated event planner), create a procurement committee to focus on this one aspect of planning.
Your procurement committee should consist of a mix of staff members, board members, and volunteers. In addition to providing unique insights from their interactions with supporters or experiences at your events, board members and volunteers may have community connections that they can leverage for procurement. For instance, a volunteer who is involved in your city’s art scene might know artists they can ask to donate original works, or a board member may be friends with some local business owners who could contribute gift baskets of their products.
2. Brainstorm an Auction Item Wishlist
Once you have your procurement committee in place, schedule a brainstorming session to collaboratively create your item wishlist. To make this meeting successful, make sure to:
- Set clear expectations for your overall procurement process (committee member involvement, target prize totals, etc.).
- Have team members introduce themselves, not only to break the ice but also to get a sense of everyone’s relevant skills and connections.
- Focus on quantity first, then quality—no idea is too outlandish to throw out there!
After you finish brainstorming, select the best ideas as a group and rank their importance, referring to the Revenue Potential and Audience Appeal metrics in this guide as needed. Your most popular and valuable items should be marked as high priority, prizes you want to include in the auction but that might not attract as much attention should be medium priority, and low-priority items should be your backups and “only if we have time”-type prizes.
3. Craft a Strong Donation Request Letter
Everyone you approach for a silent auction item donation—individual, company, or nonprofit—should receive a personalized letter asking for their support. Create a donation request letter template that your committee members can modify for each potential donor, featuring the following elements:
- Your nonprofit’s branding (logo, color scheme, fonts, tagline, etc.) to establish a professional look and feel
- Storytelling to illustrate your mission-related fundraising needs
- Mission information to contextualize your story and why you’re hosting your event
- A specific ask that the donor could fulfill with their personal or business resources
- Donor recognition and benefits to show what’s in it for the supporter if they contribute
- A return date to ensure you get their response and the item in a timely manner
- A hand-drawn signature to reinforce the letter’s credibility
Whenever possible, committee members should meet with potential donors in person or via video chat so the solicitation can be a conversation. In these cases, the donation request letter will guide the discussion and serve as a leave-behind if the donor needs more time to make their decision. However, there may be times when potential donors can’t or don’t want to have a live meeting, so the letter will have to stand alone as the request when sent via email or direct mail.
4. Understand the Best Ways to Procure Auction Items
Generally speaking, there are three methods your committee members could use to procure auction items. Here is a quick rundown of your options and the prizes they’re best suited to:
- In-kind donations. Since these gifts cost your organization nothing, try to procure as many of your smaller auction items (i.e., physical goods and gift certificates) as possible through this method. This is where you’ll use your donation request letter template to approach individual donors and corporate sponsors.
- Nonprofit discounts. If you can’t get a business to contribute an auction item for free, at least negotiate a reduced price with them. Many event venues and other locations that sell tickets for experiences offer nonprofit discounts, but they aren’t always well advertised, so you may need to contact the company directly to confirm if they’re offered.
- Consignment. Experiential auction items involving travel are typically the most difficult to procure for little to no cost. After all, it isn’t often that a company has the resources to simply give your nonprofit transportation, accommodations, and unique activities. Fortunately, there is another option: going through consignment auction travel providers like Winspire!
How Winspire Works
Winspire provides unique, curated charity vacation packages to nonprofits across North America to use as prizes for fundraising auctions and raffles. Your organization can get started with Winspire in four easy steps:
- Choose from Winspire’s list of 200+ vacation packages, or Experiences, based on what you think will appeal most to your supporters.
- Promote these Experiences to your supporters—Winspire will provide relevant photos for each vacation package that you can use in your event marketing materials.
- Offer the items at your event with no risk, because you only pay for what you sell at your event.
- Provide a voucher to each winning bidder so they can book their vacation through Winspire—there is no additional work required for your nonprofit!
When you sell our Experiences at your silent auction, every dollar you raise above the Nonprofit Cost (list price) goes directly to your organization, allowing you to easily maximize your event revenue. Since Winspire’s founding in 2008, we’ve helped our nonprofit clients raise more than $110 million for their missions!
Wrapping Up: Additional Resources on Silent Auction Items
No matter which silent auction items you offer at your event, the key is understanding participants’ preferences. Consider surveying some loyal supporters in your target demographic(s) to see what item ideas appeal most to them. Then, lay out a plan for which items you’ll feature and how you’ll procure them by asking for individual donations, partnering with local businesses, and seeking out dedicated auction item providers like Winspire. Happy fundraising!
For more information on silent auctions, check out these resources:
- How to Procure Auction Items: The Complete Nonprofit Guide. Dive deeper into our favorite strategies for procuring a wide range of items for your nonprofit’s silent auction.
- Donor Stewardship: How to Foster Lasting Relationships. Discover the best ways to thank silent auction item donors and participants after your event.
- Silent Auction Display Ideas: Complete Guide + Template. Once you’ve procured all of your silent auction prizes, learn how to display them so they catch participants’ attention.
