How to Run a Silent Auction Fundraiser for Your Club (UK Guide)

A silent auction is one of the most profitable fundraisers a UK club or charity can run, because the prizes are almost always donated and the bidding does the selling for you. Guests browse a row of lots, write their bid on a sheet (or tap it in on their phone), and the highest bid when the clock stops wins. There's no compere needed, no licence to apply for, and it sits neatly alongside a dinner, presentation night or race night. Pair it with a 50/50 draw through Play Fund Win and you give everyone in the room a way to contribute — including the people who'll never win a bidding war.

Why silent auctions work so well for clubs

Three reasons. First, margin: if the lots are donated, close to everything you take is profit. Second, competition: seeing someone else's bid on the sheet pushes people past what they'd have paid for a fixed-price item. Third, the crowd: your members already know each other, and a bit of good-natured rivalry over a signed shirt or a weekend cottage raises far more than a quiet donation ask ever would.

They're also refreshingly simple from a compliance point of view. An auction isn't gambling — the winner is decided by who bid the most, not by chance — so unlike a raffle or lottery it doesn't fall under Gambling Commission or local authority licensing at all. That's one of the few club fundraisers where you genuinely don't have paperwork to worry about.

Step 1: Get the lots right

Lots matter more than anything else. Aim for a spread across price points so nobody feels priced out, and lean towards things people can't simply buy:

• Experiences over objects — a day at a local business, a round of golf for four, a session with a coach, use of a holiday cottage or caravan.
• Club-only lots — mascot for the day, name on the changing room door for a season, first-team shirt sponsorship, a training session run by the senior squad.
• Donated services — a member who's a plumber, photographer, gardener or accountant offering a half-day.
• Signed and sporting memorabilia — approach clubs, players and suppliers early; many have a donation request form.
• Everyday premium items — hampers, spa vouchers, restaurant meals, cases of wine.

Twenty to thirty good lots beats sixty average ones. Anything that looks like it came from a cash-and-carry clearance shelf drags the whole table down.

Step 2: Set sensible starting bids and increments

A common mistake is starting too low. As a rule of thumb, open at roughly a third of the item's realistic value and set a minimum increment big enough to keep things moving — small increments mean forty bids that inch up by almost nothing. Write the increment on the sheet and stick to it. Where a donor has a genuine floor they'd be unhappy to see the lot go below, agree a reserve with them in advance and be upfront about it.

Step 3: Choose paper or online

Paper sheets on clipboards are cheap, tactile and work brilliantly in a room. The downside is that only people in that room can bid, and someone has to chase payment afterwards.

Online bidding widens the pool enormously — friends, family, former players and local businesses who couldn't make the night can still take part, and you can run bidding for a week rather than two hours. It also takes payment automatically instead of leaving your treasurer sending awkward reminders. If you're running an online auction, choose a platform that handles payments and winner notification properly, and check the fees before you commit; some take a far larger slice than clubs realise.

Plenty of clubs run both — lots on the tables on the night, and the bidding open online alongside.

Step 4: Promote it before the doors open

Bidding starts long before the event. Reveal lots one at a time on social media in the fortnight beforehand — a single strong photo and a line about what it is. Tag the donor; they get their thank-you publicly and are far more likely to give again next year. Send the full lot list to members by email or WhatsApp the day before so people arrive already knowing what they want.

Step 5: Close it cleanly

Announce the closing time repeatedly, then actually close on time — the last few minutes are where the money is. Have a volunteer at each table for the final countdown. Take payment on the night wherever possible, with a card reader ready, and hand items over as they're paid for. Anything not collected, log immediately with the winner's name and number.

Afterwards, thank every donor in writing, publish the total raised, and say what it's paying for. That single post is what makes next year's lots easier to source.

Add a draw to catch everyone else

An auction only takes money from the handful of people who win lots. A 50/50 draw running alongside it lets everyone else contribute for a couple of pounds — including people who aren't even at the event. Play Fund Win makes that side of it straightforward: draws and raffles are run compliantly, entries are sold by a link you can share anywhere, and your club keeps its share of every ticket sold.

There's nothing to pay up front and it takes about ten minutes, so you can have a draw live alongside your auction the same evening. Head to playfundwin.com to get started.