Are You Game?
Games are a wonderful way to generate energy, excitement and laughter at an auction. You’ve probably heard of Heads or Tails. Are you familiar with Chicken Bingo? Here are a few more suggestions from theGreater Giving blog. Are there any others you would add?
Jewelry Box Game
Get a local jewelry store to donate a nice necklace and earrings. Display it surrounded by 100 small, beautifully-decorated boxes. Guests purchase a box for a chance at winning the jewelry. Have the “unveiling” later in the auction, so other guests will see the boxes sitting on the dinner tables and be inspired to buy one too. Have some kind of a theme-related memento for the “loser” boxes and a special memento for the “winner” box. If there are unsold boxes, you can auction them off as a group to the highest bidder.
Sponsorship tip : include a coupon or discount to the jewelry store in the losing boxes.
Mystery Boxes
Another variation of the Jewelry Box Game, this one involves prizes of all kinds. Have a stack of 100 red satin boxes (or gold or purple, etc.) at the registration table that people can purchase for $100. Each box contains a ticket for a prize worth at least $100: flat screen TV, plane tickets, laptop, dog grooming, chainsaw, skis, etc. At the end of the evening, guests get to open their boxes and claim their prizes. Again, unsold boxes can be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Banned Word Jar
Decide on an overused word to “ban” for the evening. On each dinner table, have a Banned Word Jar. When someone says the banned word, they have to put $1 in the jar. Guests can pay $5 to ban another word. Or they can pay $20 to unban a word and choose a new one. Everyone has fun trying to remember which words are banned and to catch each other in the act.
10X Envelopes
At registration, give each guest an envelope and invite them to put their name on it and place a cash donation inside (between $1 and $20). When all the envelopes are collected, choose one envelope and pay the winner ten times the amount in the envelope (limit $200). The rest of the money goes to your cause.
