130,500 causes · $320M raised · 4.7 since 2009
How much can a youth sports organization raise with a silent auction?
Real numbers from community leagues and youth sports organizations.
Free for up to 20 items Unlimited bidders No credit card required
Short answer: how many families you mailed. A league that mails the current roster and a league that mails every age group plus five years of alumni families are running different campaigns with the same catalogue.
Revenue across community leagues
Working it out from the registration database
A league's list is multi-year and segmented, and most boards use one season of it.
- Families registered this season, across every age group
- Families from the last three to five seasons who have not re-registered
- An average winning bid for households already paying fees — modest, and the reason fee assistance is the honest goal
- Banner sponsors, current and declined
The second input is usually as large as the first and has no current fee obligation, which makes it the easiest group on the list to ask.
What decides a league's result
Families mailed, across every age group
The registration database is multi-year and segmented. Using one season of it is the most common self-imposed limit in this kind of fundraising.
Timing against registration
An auction running while families are already logging in to pay fees has their attention without buying it. See season kickoff auctions.
Access items in the catalogue
A reserved parking spot, coach-for-a-day, the banner position at the tournament. Nothing to price-check. See item ideas that actually sell.
Whether banner sponsors were asked for anything else
Most leagues have a banner sponsor list and have never extended the relationship past it.
Setting the goal
Work from the purchase or the number of fee-assisted places, publish the cost, and check the bylaws allow it before you name it. Then report what it funded — a business that paid for goals should be told the goals went up.
Goal and budget mechanics: fundraising goals and budget.
More guides for Youth Sports
Running it when everyone is already registering Coach and parent roles
Who does what, when everyone is a volunteer Item ideas that actually sell
What league families bid on Getting items donated
Sponsors you already have, and the ones you don't Equipment and uniform funds
Naming what the money buys Tournament weekend logistics
An auction across three days and four fields
Frequently asked questions
What limits a league auction most?
How many families were mailed. The registration database is multi-year and segmented, and using one season of it is the most common self-imposed limit in this kind of fundraising.
Should the goal be equipment or fee assistance?
Whichever is true, named with a cost. Fee assistance is what a large share of youth sports fundraising actually does, and saying so is a stronger ask than a general one.
Does timing against registration matter?
An auction running while families are already logging in to pay has their attention without buying it.
Set your number and open bidding
Name what the league is funding. Free for up to 20 items, no credit card.
Free for up to 20 items · Unlimited bidders · No credit card required