130,500 causes · $320M raised · 4.7 since 2009
How much can a cancer support organization raise with a silent auction?
Real numbers from health-cause organizations, and what moves them.
Free for up to 20 items Unlimited bidders No credit card required
Short answer: the size of the event's registration list, and whether team captains promoted individual items, shape the result more than the retail value of the catalogue.
Revenue across cancer support organizations
Working it out from the registration list
The number that matters is not walkers on the day but everyone who registered, donated or followed.
- Registrations for your event, including people who never attend
- Team captains, and the households each could plausibly forward to
- An average winning bid across a mixed community audience
- How many teams would promote an individual item if you sent them one
Registration lists routinely contain two or three times the number who show up. Sizing against turnout rather than registrations is the most common way an event-attached auction is planned too small.
What decides the result
1. The registration list
Not the number of walkers. The number of people who registered, donated or followed, including those who never attend. That list is warm, segmented and already yours.
2. Whether captains promoted items
A team captain forwarding a specific item reaches households the organization has no route to. See teams and auctions together.
3. Timing against the event
Opening a week out and closing at the event gives you two passes at the same list with a real deadline. Running it a month early competes with team fundraising for no gain.
4. A handful of items with no comparable price
A week at someone's lake house, a chef dinner at home, a skilled service. The catalogue can be mostly local certificates as long as a few items give bidders nothing to price-check. See item ideas that actually sell.
Setting the goal
Work from the registration list: people who will open the link, a share of them bidding, an average winning bid you would accept. Then decide whether the auction total is reported inside the event total or beside it, and say which — a supporter who bid should be able to see their money in the number they are watching.
Goal and budget mechanics: fundraising goals and budget.
More guides for Cancer Support Organizations
Riding on an event that already has a date Teams and auctions together
Making them add up instead of compete Item ideas that actually sell
And what lands badly on this audience Getting items donated
Teams first, then the medical community Telling stories with consent
How to ask, and how to let someone stop
Frequently asked questions
Should the auction total be reported inside the event total?
Decide before you launch and say which. A supporter who bid should be able to see their money in the number they are watching, and a separate total that nobody reconciles reads as two campaigns rather than one.
When should bidding open relative to the event?
About a week out, closing at the event. That gives two passes at the registration list with a real deadline attached, without overlapping the final push on team fundraising.
Does a bigger walk raise more at auction?
The registration list matters more than turnout — it includes people who register, donate or follow without attending, and they can all bid.
Set it up before your event
Open bidding a week out and close it at the walk. Free for up to 20 items, no credit card.
Free for up to 20 items · Unlimited bidders · No credit card required