How much can a children's charity raise with a silent auction?

Short answer: where the auction sits in a crowded seasonal calendar, and whether it names provision rather than a general fund.

Revenue across children's and youth-serving organizations

Working it out from families and businesses

The audience is mostly households with children, which shapes both reach and bid size.

• Your donor list, plus volunteers and event committee networks
• Businesses whose own customers are families, who will often share to their audience
• An average winning bid for family households, which argues for accessible price points and a few headline lots
• What else you are asking these households for in the same window

The fourth input decides more than the first three. A December auction competing with a toy drive, a giving day and a year-end appeal is sized by what is left over.

What decides the result

Calendar position

An auction sharing six weeks with a toy drive, a giving day and a year-end appeal is competing with three campaigns you are also running. Moving it out of that window is often the single cheapest change available.

A named programme with a cost

After-school places, counselling hours, transport, beds. Publish what it costs.

Family experiences in the catalogue

This audience bids on days out and things to do together. A catalogue of adult luxury underuses the supporters you have. See item ideas that actually sell.

Whether family-facing businesses shared it

A soft play centre or children's retailer posting their own donated item reaches precisely your audience, and the ask is small.

Setting the goal

Work from the provision: what does a place, an hour or a bed cost, how many is the auction funding. Then report what it funded. A donor who paid for ten after-school places should be told the places happened.

Goal and budget mechanics: fundraising goals and budget.