130,500 causes · $320M raised · 4.7 since 2009
How much can a Scout troop raise with a silent auction?
Real numbers from Scout units and youth development organizations.
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Short answer: how many households you reach beyond current families, and where the auction sits relative to your product sale, matter more than the retail value of the catalogue.
Revenue across Scout units
Working it out from the unit and its charter
A unit's audience is wider than its roster, and the chartered organization is the part most units forget to count.
- Scouts in the unit, times their families
- The chartered organization's own congregation or membership
- Alumni families and former Scouts still in the area
- An average winning bid families already paying dues and camp fees can add
The chartered organization is usually the largest of these and the least used. One conversation with whoever leads it opens a list a unit could not build in a year.
What decides a unit's result
1. Households reached beyond the roster
Current families, then the chartered organization's membership, then alumni families, then grandparents. The last two are the groups units most often leave out, and grandparents in particular are unusually engaged with a Scout's activities.
2. Distance from your product sale
An auction six weeks after popcorn closes is asking the same households a second time. Put them at opposite ends of the year. See product sales vs auctions.
3. A named trip or piece of equipment
Summer camp, a high adventure trek, tents, a trailer. Publish the cost per Scout or the cost of the item. "Support the troop" asks for something abstract.
4. Whether the chartered organization is involved
A church, post or civic club can supply items, a venue and a whole additional audience through its own bulletin. It is easy to run an auction without ever asking the organization that owns them.
Setting the goal
Work from your own households: who will open the link, a share of them bidding, an average winning bid you would accept. Publish a goal a little above that floor so the progress bar fills, and confirm the purpose matches what your money-earning approval covers.
Goal and budget mechanics: fundraising goals and budget.
More guides for Scouts
The money-earning application, and what it asks Product sales vs auctions
Fitting around the calendar you already have Item ideas that actually sell
What a unit's families and community bid on Getting items donated
Families, the chartered organization, the town Camp & high adventure trips
Funding a trip with a fixed deposit date Eagle project fundraising
Restricted funds, and why they stay separate Tax rules and unit accounts
The chartered organization holds the status Youth protection and rules
What you may publish about a Scout
Frequently asked questions
What should a Scout unit set as its goal?
Work from your own households — current families, the chartered organization's membership, alumni families, grandparents — estimate who will open the link, a share bidding, and an average winning bid you would accept. Confirm the purpose matches your money-earning approval.
How long after a popcorn sale should we run an auction?
As far as the calendar allows. Six weeks after a product sale you are asking the same households a second time, and the result reflects that rather than anything about the auction.
Does a bigger troop raise more?
Households reached matters more than roster size. A smaller unit that reaches the chartered organization's membership, alumni families and grandparents may put more people in front of the auction than a larger one emailing current parents.
Set your number and open bidding
Name it after the trip or the gear and let the progress bar do the work. Free for up to 20 items, no credit card.
Free for up to 20 items · Unlimited bidders · No credit card required