Can one auction raise enough to fund a mission trip?

Congregations like Religious Community Services, Gabriel’s House, or St. Munchin Parish often have people with money to spend who just need a reason to raise their hand. The challenge is not a lack of generosity. It is finding auction items that match what those people actually want. Standard baskets and gift cards leave money on the table. Travel and experience packages, especially top sporting events and trips, give people something they will bid on with excitement.

A good starting point is to pick packages you know your crowd will love. Golf outings, college football, NCAA basketball, wine trips, and bourbon trips tend to perform well in faith-based settings. You set the starting bid 15 to 20 percent above the package cost, so you make money from the very first bid. Most packages sell for 30 to 50 percent above cost, and a hot package can sell to two families, doubling your profit. You can match the number of packages to your goal and your audience size. There is no minimum and no penalty for trying something new.

This week, pick a few packages from over 140 experiences. Reserve them for free and get marketing materials to use right away. Bring the simple terms to your pastor or leadership: you only pay for an experience if it sells, keep 100 percent over the cost, and can sell experiences multiple times if the bidding gets hot. You are not too late: items can be added the same day as your event. Transparency and zero upfront cost make the ask easy to approve.

After the event, you send winner details to the travel team and they handle the rest. Donors have up to two years to travel for most trips. The mission trip gets funded, leadership sees a clean process, and the congregation gets something they actually want.