If your nonprofit is hosting an auction fundraising event, it’s important to consider how to get participants excited about bidding on your most valuable auction items. Designing a charity auction catalog will help you do just that!

Whether or not you utilize a mobile bidding provider for the silent auction, bid cards are imperative for the two interactive portions of the night: the live auction and special appeal. These fundraising heavy-hitters rely on momentum, peer pressure and emotion, all of which are best evoked through the use of bid cards.

One of the best ways to offset the cost of printing your charity auction catalog, as well as many other elements of your fundraising event, is to get corporate and/or individual sponsors to underwrite different parts of the event in return for recognition in the catalog. First, it's important to note that there is a slight difference between "sponsorship" and "underwriting", even though the terms are often used interchangeably: Underwriting: A donor pays for either all or a portion of an event expense directly. Almost any aspect of an event can be underwritten. An example would be finding a print vendor to pay for ALL printed materials, including banners, tickets, this catalog, forms, invitations, etc. Other sponsorship opportunities include a menu item, like dessert, or other aspects of the event like the centerpieces, the band or the booze. Sponsorship: A donor buys into a sponsorship package offered by the Nonprofit with the funds going directly to the organization to help offset event expenses. Examples include sponsoring a table for 10 or a "presenting sponsorship" where a donor would pay to sponsor - say - the live auction so it would read "The 2015 Live Auctrion, presented by XYZ". In either case, your objective is to defray the costs or expenses of your event by offering donors various incentives - such as verbal recognition or putting a company's logo on event banners or other printed material. You can offer a range of sponsorship and underwriting opportunities, each with its own level of benefits. [FREE TEMPLATE] Download the pre-designed 100% customizable Microsoft Word auction catalog template. One of the best places to offer potential sponsors some exposure during your event is in your auction catalog. If you haven't already, check out our professionally designed 100% customizable Microsoft Word auction catalog template, which includes space for you to recognize donors at the different sponsorship levels discussed below. So how should you structure the sponsorship and recognition options? Sponsorship Levels One option is to establish different sponsorship levels, each of which comes with its own level of benefits.

One of the best ways to ensure plenty of excitement and bidding on your biggest and best charity auction items is by showcasing them in an auction catalog. The goal of an auction catalog is to make your auction items as appealing as possible to entice guests to place more bids, thus generating more revenue from your fundraising event. A well-designed catalog accomplishes this by: Creating a shopping experience: Donors are sophisticated buyers. A professional catalog lets you attractively feature your auction items, giving guests the opportunity to browse and discuss them before and during the live auction. Educating donors: Guests are going to be more comfortable spending large sums of money on an auction item if they have plenty of information about what they are buying. It’s common for charity auction catalogs to also serve as the event program and include information on the organization, its cause and the event itself. Here is a list of essential elements to include in an auction catalog: Cover Welcome Letter Event Agenda Special Thanks/Acknowledgments About Organization Live Auction Introduction Auction Items Sponsor Recognition Depending on the size and scope of your event, the catalog can be something simple with only a few pages or it can be far more extensive, with paid advertising space in a professionally designed booklet. Unfortunately, hiring a graphic designer to create an auction catalog can be prohibitively expensive for most nonprofit organizations... so we want to give you the tools to do it yourself! [FREE TEMPLATE] Download the pre-designed 100% customizable Microsoft Word auction catalog template. If you’re going to give it a go on your own, here are a few tips for how to design an effective catalog...