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When it comes to auction item ideas, it’s important to be strategic. This means making sure you do your research and being creative. Consider what kinds of items will be of interest to your supporters and entice them to register for your fundraiser. Doing your research and thinking about clever ways to source your items helps ensure you get a bidder for every top-of-the-line gadget, themed basket, and special experience you put up for grabs. If you procure the right items with the right appeal to bidders, you’ll start some serious bidding wars and be well on your way to raising the money you need for your cause!
Check out these awesome auction item ideas and see for yourself!
- Our favorite charity auction item ideas
- Top auction item ideas for nonprofits
- Top silent auction item ideas
- Top auction item ideas for churches
- Top unique auction item ideas
Our favorite charity auction item ideas
Here’s a list of our favorite charity auction items that appeal to a variety of people and can help bring in more revenue for your organization through bids! All of these ideas can work for virtual, hybrid, or in-person silent auctions, as long as you make sure vouchers or gift certificates for experiences have an expiration date well in the future to ensure your bidders have time to use their prize when it’s convenient for them.
Here are some of our favorite charity auction items:
Gift baskets
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Gift baskets are a popular item that can easily appeal to all kinds of supporters and causes. Local businesses can donate gift baskets filled with their products, or your organization can compile a gift basket by collecting items related to your mission or groups of related items from different sources.
Travel packages
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
Travel packages are great auction item ideas that your supporters will be eager to win. These can include hotel stays, airline tickets, and guidebooks or certificates for great local activities. Ask a local business to sponsor the trip in exchange for the promotion of their services.
Event tickets
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
If you’re looking for items to really grab people’s attention, look no further than event tickets! Whether it’s a concert or a sporting event, look for venues willing to donate a pair of seats for a good cause.
Sponsored gift certificates
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Sponsored gift certificates are great charity auction item ideas that cover a variety of experiences or products. For example, you could reach out to a local retailer or company to donate a gift certificate for their products, then advertise them as a sponsor of the event in exchange.
Free lessons
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Offer free lessons as a fun item idea. Whether you partner with a music school for singing lessons or a neighborhood pool for swimming lessons, this idea is sure to make a splash!
Skydiving excursion
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
Bring out the daredevils in your community by offering a skydiving excursion as an item. Partner with a nearby skydiving location to offer a free jump in exchange for publicity at your auction.
Cooking class
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Let your supporters channel their inner chef by offering a free cooking class as an auction item. Reach out to local professional chefs or cooking schools and see if one will offer a free spot in one of their cooking classes.
Premier parking spot
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
This item will surely be popular, especially if you live in a highly trafficked city! Offer to pay for a prime parking spot downtown for one year to one lucky supporter.
Sunset cruise
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
The ideal way to spend an evening, a sunset cruise is a relaxing and enjoyable charity auction item idea. Give away a three-hour ride to the winning bidder.
Comedy night
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Bring out the laughs with this comedy-filled item. Auction off a pair of tickets to a comedy show and raise money for a good cause in the process.
Picnic basket
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Picnics are a great auction item you can put together for your supporters. Theme the picnic basket for a nearby season or holiday to spice it up.
Book collections
- Popularity ✓
- Fundraising Potential $
Book lovers are always looking for new material. You can ask for book donations from your supporters or partner with a local bookstore to encourage reading in your community. Put together themed book collections to auction off.
Landscaping services
- Popularity ✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Give your bidders a break from their household tasks by offering landscaping services as one of your auction items. You can partner with a local landscaping company and advertise their services in exchange for your auction item.
Paint and sip
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
This item is great for wine lovers and art enthusiasts alike. Paint and sip events are a great night out where your winning bidder can take a guest to drink wine while painting with an instructor guiding the way.
Golf day
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Putt your way to bigger bids by offering a golf day for one of your auction items. Reach out to local golf courses and see if one is up to donating a round on their course for your bidders.
Top auction item ideas for nonprofits
For the average nonprofit, it’s important to offer affordable auction items that your sponsorship partners can donate. It’s essential to not overspend on your budget and still maximize your fundraising potential.
Here are our top auction ideas for nonprofits:
Local brewery tour
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Local brewery tours are enjoyable experiences that serve as great auction items. Team up with a local brewery to offer a free tour and serve their beer at the event as free publicity.
Dance class
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Get your supporters moving and offer a free dance class as an item. Whether it’s salsa, tango, or jazz, this is a great way to engage your nonprofit’s supporters in something fun while promoting the arts at the same time!
Closet cleanout
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Offer a service to help one of your bidders clean out their closet, and then encourage them to donate their unwanted clothes to a worthy charity! This is a great auction item for your organization because you’ll raise money, and the clothing can benefit those in need.
Dining club membership
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Offer a dining club membership as an exclusive auction item idea. See if a local dining club will offer a discounted membership for a year to demonstrate their support toward your nonprofit, then raise money to cover the cost and put the rest toward your mission!
Name dedication
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$$
If you’re looking to build a new wing at your nonprofit’s headquarters, offer a name dedication as a meaningful item. The winning bidder will have the wing named after them, and you’ll be able to raise the funds needed to make the build happen.
Private art gallery tour
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
If your organization is a supporter of the arts, why not offer a private art gallery tour as an auction item idea? Team up with a local art gallery and ask a curator to provide an insightful tour.
Fitness class
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Get your supporters back on their feet by offering a fitness class as an item. If your nonprofit promotes fitness and being active, this is a great way to tie the item to your mission and keep your community healthy.
Photography class
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Capture those precious moments with some impressive photography skills. Offering a photography class could result in your organization adding a great in-house photographer to your team!
Animal encounters
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
For an exciting auction item idea, offer an animal encounter at a local zoo or aquarium. If your nonprofit supports animal rights, this is a great way to build awareness around the value of animal lives.
High-end kitchen gadgets
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Many people covet high-end kitchen goodies like KitchenAid mixers or Le Creuset Dutch ovens, but they can be expensive. Depending on your target audience and how established their households are, high-end household goods should bring in much needed donations. Alternatively, you could offer a gift certificate to Williams Sonoma or a similar home goods store.
Date-night package
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Give your donors a chance to reconnect with a date-night package. Include items like a gift certificate to a romantic restaurant, a bottle of wine, and a gift certificate for a babysitter who’s willing to donate their time to a good cause.
Workout tech
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Over the years, there’s been an increasing popularity of high-end workout equipment that offers a way to work out with a trainer from the comfort of your own home. Peloton alone doubled their sales, but they aren’t the only major player in this market. The Mirror, NordicTrack Vault, Echelon Reflect, and Tonal have also seen an increase in popularity over the past year. Consider asking a local business to sponsor one of these popular tools and watch the bids roll in!
Dinner boat tour
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
If you live near the water, there may be several local boat tours in your area that could provide a fun auction item for your bidders. Offer a certificate for a nice dinner on the water with a donner boat tour.
Eco-friendly gift basket
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
For organizations that focus on environmental causes, an eco-friendly gift basket is a great auction item idea to directly tie-in with your cause. Create a basket filled with eco-friendly replacements for everyday household items.
Spices of the world
- Popularity ✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Cooking can get repetitive over time, and if your nonprofit works to feed others, a collection of spices from around the world can be a fun way to remind your supporters of your mission while raising funds.
Top silent auction item ideas
Some items are better suited for silent auctions because they don’t require an auctioneer to engage people and get them to place bids. These items can stand on their own and help raise money for your cause.
Check out our top picks for silent auction item ideas:
Art
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
Art is a great silent auction item idea because bidders can carefully view the work without feeling rushed. Ask artists from around the community to donate their work in exchange for recognition as a sponsor and tickets to your event.
Tech
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
People are always going after the newest technology, whether it’s a tablet, computer, smartphone, or flat-screen TV. The desire to always have the best gadgets makes tech products an exciting auction item.
Restaurant gift card
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Partner with a local restaurant to offer a gift card as an item for your event. As with sponsored gift certificates, they can be listed as a sponsor of your event for extra publicity.
Electric bicycle
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
Electric bicycles have integrated electric motors and are great auction item ideas. Keep your bidders’ eyes on the prize with the bike display front and center and get everyone excited about it!
Wine
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Good wine isn’t always easy (or cheap) to come by. Team up with a local wine shop and offer a few wine bottles as a silent auction item. This is a nice alternative to larger and flashier items at a live auction.
Spa day
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
While a spa gift certificate may not be front-and-center at a live auction, it’s perfect as a silent auction item idea and will appeal to many bidders. Give away a massage and facial package or a manicure and pedicure. Any combination will be popular!
Museum tickets
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Give your supporters a taste of culture by offering museum tickets as an item. Keep an eye out for new and popular local exhibits that people want to see and help promote culture and museums at the same time.
Theme park tickets
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Theme park tickets are great ideas for auctions because they offer a memorable experience rather than a physical product. Offer a pair of tickets to a local theme park and let your bidders have some fun!
Signed memorabilia
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Depending on your location, signed memorabilia could drive a lot of donation revenue. For example, if you live in a big baseball town, you can have your local team’s star player sign a baseball bat to contribute to your cause.
Car detailing
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Get all the details with this silent auction item idea. Offer a carwash, vacuum, and wax to the highest bidder. We all need to clean our cars eventually!
Musical instruments
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Musical instruments are easy to market to music lovers. Either look for local musicians to donate a signed instrument or partner with a local music store to excite musicians at your auction.
Beach getaway
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
Beaches are a fun auction item idea for your supporters looking for a nice getaway. Talk with local travel agents to see how to add a beach getaway to your next silent auction.
Charcuterie board
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
For a unique silent auction item idea, offer a charcuterie board to bid on. Include a nice wooden charcuterie board with a selection of items from your local deli.
Pottery class
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Pottery class is a great item for all age groups. Excite your bidders with a spot in a pottery class where they can make a fun vase or bowl to add to their home decor.
Designer bag
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
For silent auctions, designer bags are a nice auction item idea for guests to bid on. Designer bags are a luxury many people want but might not be willing to purchase on their own. At your auction, they’ll have the opportunity to get that designer bag they’ve been eyeing while funding a good cause.
Top auction item ideas for churches
Churches usually have a more limited budget, so it’s important to procure items that members of your church could donate easily. They can be family-focused or more general, but all will contribute to your bottom line.
Here are our top ideas for auction items for churches:
Free childcare
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
This is one of the most popular auction items for churches! Offer free childcare for a set time period. Do a good deed and let the parents have a day or night off!
Dedicated tree
- Popularity ✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
If your church wants to plant trees and refresh the landscaping on its grounds, offer to dedicate a tree to the highest bidder as an auction item.
Parents date night
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Offer a date night, such as dinner and a movie, to a set of parents in your congregation. It’s sure to be popular, and you’ll collect contributions for your church in the process!
Christmas card photoshoot
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
When the holidays are around the corner, everyone starts scrambling to take family photos for their yearly cards and letters. Make it easy by offering a photoshoot as an auction item for your church.
Pew with a view
- Popularity ✓
- Fundraising Potential $
Some congregants might prefer one of the better seats during services. Offer a pew with a view as an item for your church and let your congregants enjoy their time there even more.
House decorating
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
If your congregants don’t have the time, energy, or money to deck their halls for the holidays, offer a service that will do it for them! This is a great auction item idea for churches that will make it easier on those who can’t decorate and allow your community members to step up and offer the service.
Holiday dinner with a chef
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
If your town has a well-known chef, see if this local celebrity will cook a special dinner at their restaurant around the holidays. This is sure to be a hit with your congregants.
Christmas cookie basket
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $
Encourage your congregants to bake batches upon batches of Christmas cookies as an item idea. Include them all in baskets and let everyone taste the sweetness of the holidays!
Visit from Santa
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Perfect for families, this item will help parents and guardians make sure their children are on their best behavior! Bid on a visit from Santa at home just in time for Christmas.
Game night
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Game night packages are a great family-friendly auction item. You can either put together a fun selection of board games that will appeal to the whole family or get a couple of in-demand video games that are great for family time.
Garden tool set
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Around springtime, it’s very popular for people to do garden work around the house and around the church. Why not include a high-quality garden tool set as an item for congregants to bid on? Ask the local gardening shop if they’ll donate a set as a contribution to your church.
Day trip
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$
Offering day trips for families (or parents!) can be a cute and creative package for a church fundraiser. All you need to do is pick a gorgeous, local outdoor activity that many people have on their bucket lists but never seem to get to. You can put together a package for bioluminescent kayaking in Florida or a trip to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Every state has breathtaking natural landmarks to check out, so you can put together a package that includes the cost of a tour, a tank of gas, and a nice picnic set with a gift card to a local grocery store, and you’re good to go.
Art supply set
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
For a family-friendly auction item idea, your church can have parents bid on a nice art supply set for their little artists at home. Check out local art supply stores for different options.
Child play set
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Keeping with the theme of family, many families are unable to buy a brand-new play set for their children, making this a great auction item idea to drive bids at your next auction. Kids and parents alike will be excited by a small slide or swing set for their backyard.
Church retreat
- Popularity ✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
Many church groups have retreats to help congregants reconnect with their spirituality. If your church has a retreat coming up, offer up a spot on the trip for members to bid on at your auction.
Top unique auction item ideas
Procuring unique auction items is an important part of running an auction in general. If your items aren’t interesting, you won’t raise nearly as much revenue as you could if you truly put on your creative hat and came up with something special.
Get creative and check out these top ideas for unique auction items:
Personal trainer
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
If you’re looking for a fun auction item, a personal trainer would fit the bill! A step beyond a regular fitness class, a one-on-one approach will appeal to many bidders who want a more personalized workout experience.
Movie ticket subscription
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
What better way to grab people’s attention than with a movie ticket subscription? With movie ticket prices constantly rising, this is a unique item that will definitely raise money, and most of the popular movie theaters—including Regal, AMC, and Cinemark—offer their own subscription passes.
Backstage passes
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Backstage passes are a unique auction item that will appeal to a variety of audiences. Choose a local concert and reach out about getting a pair of backstage passes that can be donated to your auction!
Staycation package
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Ever wanted to take a staycation? A staycation package is a great way to raise funds that’s sure to be a hit. Combine a spa day, restaurant gift card, and/or local event tickets that will give the winning bidder a great vacation at home.
Lunch with a local celebrity
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Does your town have a local celebrity? Reach out to them and ask if they’d be willing to support a worthy cause by having lunch with a winning bidder. This unique item is sure to collect a lot of bids!
Custom artwork
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$$$
If you’re looking for a unique auction item, look into local artists who can offer custom artwork to the winning bidder. This can include a family portrait or another personalized piece that will be meaningful and help support a good cause.
Hot air balloon ride
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Forget your fear of heights! Offer a hot air balloon ride as an item that will stand out from the crowd. An experience like no other, find local hot air balloon festivals and offer a pair of tickets for a great experience.
Whitewater rafting excursion
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
For the adventurous types, a whitewater rafting excursion will definitely make a splash! As a unique auction item that will make you one with the wilderness, this will be sure to help you raise money for your cause.
Create an ice cream flavor
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
A popular choice among children, try out this unique idea. Instead of reaching out to ice cream parlors simply for a gift card, let a child create a brand-new ice cream flavor and test it out for a day.
Subscription packages
- Popularity ✓✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
You can get a subscription for everything from high-end make-up and skincare (Birchbox, Ipsy, and Boxycharm are popular) to crafting kits aimed at adults (Adults & Crafts has great reviews). Cratejoy offers subscription options that appeal to everyone from book lovers to self-care aficionados, meaning you can find the perfect subscription kit to go with the theme of your auction.
Camping gear
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
With many people looking for fun ways to get out of the house when the weather warms up, a camping kit could be the perfect package for your attendees to get excited about, especially if it includes gear just a step up from what your donors might normally purchase for themselves.
Famous for a day
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Have you ever wanted your 15 minutes of fame? How about an entire day or evening? Let your winning bidder become famous for a day in your town. Arrange to have them conduct an orchestra performance with your local symphony, throw out the first pitch at a baseball game, or find other unique ways to make them famous for a day!
Fishing gear
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
Fishing has become even more popular in the past few years as a great way for families to spend time together. A nice rod and a variety of lures would make a great package.
Craft and DIY kits
- Popularity ✓✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$$
It’s no secret that we’ve all become more creatively inclined with the increase of online resources. Help your supporters explore their creative side with craft and DIY kits for everything from learning how to embroider to how to make a charcuterie board. This is another idea where the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
Mystery box
- Popularity ✓✓
- Fundraising Potential $$
People love a good mystery! Mystery boxes have been increasing in popularity online over the years, so why not add one to your next auction? Excite your supporters by offering a gift basket without revealing what’s inside. You can even theme the mystery to match your auction or your cause!
Additional resources
Planning an auction can feel stressful, but with the right items for your attendees, your next auction can exceed your fundraising goals. If you’re looking for more information about charity auctions or fundraising in general, check out these additional resources below!
- How to Obtain In-Kind Donations for Auctions and What Auction Items Work. Auctions require items that will encourage attendees to bid on them. Learn how to obtain donations and what items work.
- Easy, Breezy Bidding: How to Create a Bid Sheet. Keep track of bids on your auction items with bid sheets. Check out our guide to designing an effective bid sheet.
- How to Announce Your Silent Auction. Get your supporters excited for your auction ahead of time. Use these tips to announce your next silent auction.
- Hosting Hybrid Auctions: A How-To for Nonprofits. Don’t limit your auctions to just in-person events. Host a hybrid auction to reach more bidders.
