Live Auction, Silent Auction or Raffle: Which Raises the Most Money

There is no doubt that fundraising is a tough job. Not only must you create a brand for your nonprofit that resonates with donors, but you also have to approach each fundraising event strategically. With so many fundraising methods available, it can be difficult to know exactly which options are best for your organization.

Live auctions, silent auctions, and raffles are some of the most popular fundraisers in use by nonprofits today. While each of these methods is valuable in certain scenarios, none of them work all of the time. For example, raffles are great for acquiring many small donations, while live auctions often pull in larger sums of money.

There is no clear, definitive answer as to whether live auctions, silent auctions, or raffles raise the most money. Rather, each of these different fundraising methods is more effective at certain times than others.

Live Auctions

Live auctions are the most classic type of auction. These events involve a group of people bidding on different items in real-time. With live auctions, auctioneers oversee things and keep the crowd engaged until the winner takes the prize with the highest bid. Live auctions are traditionally held in person but recently have also transitioned to online and hybrid events.

Because of the high-energy nature of live auctions, as well as the fact that items sold in these events often fetch a hefty price, they make great events on their own. Even more, since many auctions feature high-value items like travel packages, they are attractive for wealthy donors.

Primary benefits of live auctions include:

• High-energy, keep people engaged
• Great marketing tools
• Raise more funds with fewer transactions
• People come prepared to donate
• Make excellent stand-alone events

While there are many benefits to live auctions, they also present a few drawbacks. First and foremost, because they require a venue, an auctioneer, and high-value prizes, live auctions are quite expensive to host. For these same reasons, live auctions also require more planning than many small groups have time for.

Silent Auctions

Like live auctions, donors compete with one another to bid on different items in silent auctions. However, instead of an auctioneer coordinating the event, people bid by way of written pledges. The highest pledges are on display with the item informing people the status of the auction. Silent auctions are held virtually and in person, but work particularly well with the online format.

When comparing silent auctions vs. live auctions, silent auctions are generally much more mellow. Even more, because people bid at their own speed, silent auctions can span the length of an entire day. Silent auctions are a great fit for groups who want to take their time and socialize - as opposed to being totally consumed by the action of a live auction event.

Primary benefits of silent auctions include:

• More affordable than live auctions
• Easy and inexpensive to organize
• Works great for online and hybrid events
• More comfortable for reserved donors
• Affords more social time

Silent auctions also present some challenges. For starters, the process of organizing and displaying auction items can be quite time-consuming and sometimes expensive.

Raffles

Raffles are a great fundraising tool for smaller events or for those donors who don’t want to participate in auctions. With raffles, you sell tickets to donors which will be drawn to select who wins high-value prizes. As such, raffles are a great opportunity for donors to win expensive prizes while only investing a small amount of money in a ticket. Like auctions, raffles are held as in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.

Depending on the size of the crowd and donor demographics, raffles work well as both stand-alone events and add-ons for larger fundraisers. If you opt to include a raffle at your fundraiser, it's recommended you make raffle items easily viewable at the event. Doing so will ensure maximum impact with donors.

Primary benefits of raffles include:

• Affordable for all types of donors
• Simple to organize and run
• Low overhead to get the event going
• Easy to market before and during the event
• Great for small organizations and events.

As seen with other fundraising methods, raffles also present certain challenges. For starters, you need to sell quite a few tickets to raise significant funds with raffles. To make this amount of ticket sales happen, you must go the extra mile to market your event.

Summary: Silent Auction vs. Live Auction vs. Raffle

As we mentioned in the introduction, there are many factors that influence which fundraising method is the best way to raise money. Perhaps the most important element to consider is matching the right type of fundraiser with the appropriate event, as well as the group of donors.

If you are targeting a group of wealthy donors who thrive on the energy and excitement of live auctions, this type of fundraiser might be all you need to meet your goals. In the event that you would like to organize an auction, but don’t have the budget for a venue and auctioneer, silent auctions could be the best bet. Finally, raffles are great for smaller groups and people who aren’t comfortable donating a lot at once.

Depending on the size and scope of your nonprofit, you can also organize a fundraiser that blends live auctions, silent auctions, and raffles. In utilizing all three, you can get maximum impact on donors throughout the fundraiser. Your raffle and silent auction can be used to attract donors and keep them engaged early on, while the live auction will be your main event.

Contact BetterWorld

At BetterWorld, we are firm believers that diversifying your fundraising methods is the best way to raise money. Our online platform seamlessly integrates with live auctions, silent auctions, and raffles to simplify and streamline fundraising.

Please contact us with additional questions about a silent auction vs. a live auction or a raffle.