Should the big trip go in the live auction or the silent auction?

A big trip is not like the silent auction items that fill tables. For a Police & Fire Foundation event, the crowd is often supporters who show up because they back the mission, not because they came to bid on everything. The headline package, like Bourbon Trail or a major sports event, needs an auctioneer who can work two bidders against each other. That happens in the live auction. The silent tables are for volume, about one item per seven guests. Putting the trip there hides it.

The scope depends on your room. A benefit dinner with 200 people and a golf outing with 100 use different counts. A live auction with one or two serious trips can move the number your equipment goal needs. Trips like golf and fishing excursions fit the crowd you know. Starting bids set at 15 to 20 percent above cost mean you profit from the very first bid. You pay nothing upfront and nothing if a package does not sell. The same trip can sell to more than one bidder, doubling or tripling what you raise off one certificate.

This week, pick the trip that matches your room and put it in the live auction. Giveback XP can help you reserve the experience and get the marketing materials, even the day of the event. Do not bury the headline package in the silent tables. The auctioneer needs room to build heat, and you need the one format that makes a big number possible.

Once the gavel falls and the winners are sorted, you send the donor details to the Travel Team. The trip is booked, the number hits the total, and you have a live auction that did what it was supposed to do.