The Silent Auction TRAP

Everyone walks into a fundraiser with a donation number in their head. So let’s talk about Dave. Every event has a Dave. Dave arrives ready to give £2,000. Lovely bloke. Generous. Heart of gold.

In a perfect world, that £2,000 goes to your charity, through the live auction, the pledge, or because Dave gets emotional after two glasses of Prosecco.

But enter: The Silent Auction Company.
(Imagine dramatic music.)

Dave thinks he’s donating £2,000…..

Dave picks up the silent auction brochure early in the night. He spots a villa in Spain with a reserve price of £2,000 (its cost price is £995). Exactly his donation budget. Dave thinks, “Brilliant! I’ll chuck in my £2,000 and get a holiday out of it. Charity wins, I win, everyone wins.”
Ah… no. No they don’t and here’s why.

Dave is now “emotionally unavailable” for the rest of your fundraising.
He’s already spent his £2,000. Live auction? He’s out. Pledge? He’s out. Any opportunity to give again? Sorry, Dave is spiritually in Spain already.

It’s not about your charity, it’s about their profits

Silent auction companies love to tell you that “the longer the auction stays open, the more money it will make.” Sounds logical, right? In reality, it’s one of their oldest tricks.

By opening early and staying open late, they’re not trying to boost your fundraising, they’re trying to catch donors like Dave before you do. Their strategy isn’t about maximising generosity for the charity; it’s about locking in profit for themselves before the real fundraising even begins.

 If Dave actually wins the villa, the charity gets… crumbs.

Let’s break it down, assuming that the cost price of the villa is £995:

• Silent auction company: £1,000 profit (most operate on profit margins between 40-60%)

• Charity: £5 (or £55 if they’re feeling unusually generous)

That’s it. From Dave’s £2,000 of goodwill, your charity gets the financial equivalent of a Tesco meal deal (or a Nandos meal for two if you’re lucky).

Meanwhile, the silent auction company leaves the building with the confidence of a man who just robbed a bank but calls it “providing a service.” This is how inflated reserves silently siphon off thousands before your fundraising even gets going.