BetterWorld

Unique Auction Prizes Guaranteed To Make an Impact

By Whit Hunter

Want to build an effective fundraising campaign?

Our team is here to give you more details and guides on how to grow your fundraiser.

Book a Demo with Us →

Online auctions are popular and engaging fundraisers, and they are even more successful when they offer exciting and unique prizes. To ensure your auction is a hit, secure tempting auction prizes that will attract donors and encourage them to place winning bids.

Streamline your efforts to organize, advertise, and host your next auction event with the help of BetterWorld. Our online fundraising platform has everything you need to host a well-run and successful event. Sign up for free at BetterWorld today!

Top Auction Items That Sell Well

Everyone wants to secure the best and most exciting auction items for their fundraiser, but some of the best and top-selling auction items are also the simplest.

Gift Baskets

As you gather donated items for your auction or raffle, you may accumulate a variety of lower-value items, such as gift certificates from local restaurants, movie tickets, and boutique-style items like stationery sets or candles.

Although these smaller-value items may not generate significant funds when sold individually, their value can increase when bundled with similar items. For example, pair movie tickets with a restaurant gift certificate to make a date night package. If you have many boutique items like planners, stationery sets, or fancy pens, pull them together in an eye-catching gift basket.

Child-Related Donations

If a ton of parents with young children are planning to attend your auction, work hard to secure child-friendly donations. Auction items that sell well in this category include dance lessons, music lessons, babysitting certificates, summer camp certificates, or museum memberships.

Parents have to pay a lot to keep their children in extracurricular activities, so they'll appreciate it if you can offer some lessons or gift certificates to cover those expenses!

Travel Packages

Everyone loves a good vacation, and travel packages are always a popular auction item. Keep it simple by auctioning off an overnight stay at a local bed and breakfast, or turn it up a notch with a week-long tropical vacation. Add guidebooks, airfare, and other gift certificates for local attractions to make the package even more enticing.

If you don’t have access to someone who can donate a free stay at a vacation home or airline miles for a flight, there are other ways to secure these unique and popular auction items.

When you host your auction on the BetterWorld platform, you can access a variety of Instant Auction Items. These once-in-a-lifetime trips and experiences will add excitement to your auction that you can’t get anywhere else. The best part is that these auction items are available at a low cost to your organization!

Auction Items for Nonprofits

When planning an auction for a nonprofit organization, obtaining as many donated items as possible is crucial to minimizing expenses and ensuring that most proceeds go directly to the charity.

Popular auction items for nonprofits include signed sports memorabilia, themed gift baskets, event tickets, and travel packages. Think outside the box and offer things like a closet cleanout with a professional organizer, a winery tour, or dinner with a private chef—the more creative, the better when it comes to great ideas for auction items.

At nonprofit events, attendees are often willing to spend more on charity auction items, so make sure you have some high-value auction items available for bidding. If your items are enticing, someone will bid on them!

Best Silent Auction Item Ideas

Whether you're hosting an auction for a nonprofit or a little league team, the best auction items will resonate with your audience. While it’s important to source donated items, it's also essential to carefully select and curate items and packages that will attract your target audience and align with their interests.

For example, if you host an online auction for a little league team, consider baseball-themed items such as tickets to a major league game, a trip to the Little League Hall of Fame, or professional baseball memorabilia. Always match your auction items' themes to your organization's interests.

When organizing an event for a school's PTO, your church's youth group, or your child's sports team, there's always the possibility of creating a customized auction that fits the needs of your group.

Want to raise more from your auction? Try BetterWorld’s Auction Tool for FREE!

  • Seamless online and in-person actions that raise more

  • Incredibly easy to set up, backed by an amazing support team

  • Thoughtful automations that save you dozens of hours 

  • Thousands of dollars of “Instant Items” you can use in your auction at no cost

Start Your Auction Now!

Auction Item Ideas for Schools

If you’re looking for ideas for a PTO auction, look no further than your own staff. Unique auction items such as lunch with the principal, a trip to the museum with the art teacher, or a week of reading the morning announcements are fun and interesting auction items.

The key is to tap into your students’ interests. Auction prizes that resonate with the elementary school crowd will probably crash and burn with high schoolers, so know your audience.

Auction Ideas for Churches

Auctions are a great way to fundraise for your church. If you’re raising money for a youth group trip, consider auctioning off babysitting services from a youth group member or tap into your praise band by auctioning off musical instrument lessons.

Your congregation has a wealth of information, skills, and talent, so use those talents to help raise money for your church.

Auction Ideas for Youth Sports Teams

If you have kids in sports, you know there always seems to be some fee to pay. With tournament entry fees, a new uniform, or field costs, there is always a need for a solid fundraising effort.

Create fun and interesting auction prizes for your next fundraiser by tapping into your community and its interests. High school football coach? Auction off an afternoon catch with the team. Youth dance team? Auction off tickets to The Nutcracker. Whatever type of team you are, use that interest to curate unique auction items that will excite your donors.

Take Your Auction to the Next Level with BetterWorld

With BetterWorld, you can be confident that your auction will run smoothly, regardless of the type of auction items you secure. From our user-friendly fundraising dashboard to easy-to-share donation websites, we have everything you need for an entertaining and profitable auction. Reach out to our team to schedule your customized demonstration of our free platform today!

Join 100,000+ amazing nonprofits, organizations, and fundraisers on BetterWorld

Let our FREE fundraising tools help you raise more funds with less effort

Start a Fundraiser →

Get started on your next campaign

Join 100,000+ amazing nonprofits, organizations, and fundraisers on BetterWorld

Sign up now →
Whit Hunter
AUTHOR

About Whit Hunter

Whit Hunter is the co-founder of BetterWorld, the free, easy-to-use online fundraising platform. His passion for empowering nonprofits and tech expertise have shaped BetterWorld’s mission to make fundraising more accessible and efficient.

Whit's innovative vision has helped countless organizations raise more funds and reach their goals, driving BetterWorld’s ongoing success.

Related posts

Start a Fundraiser

Auctions

BetterWorld provides an intuitive and easy-to-use mobile bidding and online silent auction platform. By utilizing our free online tools, you will save both time and money so you can focus on doing good in the world. Create a beautiful and highly-effective fundraiser using our simple auction fundraising software.

Continue reading
Sign up for free Request a demo
© 2025 BetterWorld
Terms Privacy