“Do we need to purchase auction software programs?” “How do we keep up with the data?” These are some of the most frequently asked questions about silent auctions. Handling the data is, by far, the most complex part about an auction but it’s also one of the most important decisions to get right!

There are several ways to handle all of the data associated with a silent auction: You can:

1. Purchase one of several available silent auction software programs.
2. Have a Programmer custom-build your own software program.
3. Keep up with the data in auction spreadsheets, such as Excel.
4. Build auction databases, in something like MS Access.
5. Not use a computer at all.

I strongly recommend against not using a computer at all. Hand-writing everything, even for the smallest of auctions will look unprofessional, has the greatest potential for error, and is just not worth the effort when several of the other solutions are relatively easy.

Many auction committees either have or can find someone with some computer skills. A computer-savvy person can create a spreadsheet to handle the data or build a simple database if they have enough time to devote. The problem is this: The initial guess of what data will be needed at the start of the process is often fairly different from the desired data by the end of the auction. We’ve learned, the hard way, that it’s much better to really think this through and get the data structure just right before starting any data entry. We think this is so important that we’ll share our expertise and give you the data structure from our own auction software programs for free.

For our first silent auction, I created my own, custom silent auction software. Having never even been to a silent auction at the time, I guessed at what fields would be necessary and did a pretty good job at that, if I might say so myself. Of course, along the way, after we had entered several hundred donated items along with the donor’s information, we decided that we needed another piece of information on each item. It wasn’t absolutely necessary, but we knew it would make our lives easier the night of the auction. Since we hadn’t asked the volunteers going out and requesting donations for this extra piece of information, they had to help us find the info for each item, sometimes even needing to contact the donor again. Then, our computer committee (made up of myself and one other,) had to go into each donated item record and enter this new piece of information. Not fun!! Had we known we’d want this information from the start, everyone’s lives would have been much easier and we would have looked more professional to the donors we had to recontact.

Luckily for you, I’m sharing what I’ve learned with you about auction databases!

Now that I’ve attended many auctions, both as guest and as database administrator / auction software designer, I can wholeheartedly recommend that you use a full silent auction software program rather than just a spreadsheet or simple database. There’s a lot of data involved with a silent auction and your ability to enter it quickly and easily will really pay off. Making your guests wait at the end of the evening while data entry and/or printing invoices takes place is the worst mistake many silent auction committees make. These same guests might be less likely to attend the following year or, if they do attend, they might not bid later in the evening if they know they haven’t won anything yet. Having enough data entry volunteers, several networked computers to use, fast printer(s), and an easy auction software program designed for quick data entry are the best ways to ensure no long waiting lines at the end of the evening.

With good auction systems, there will be no need to re-enter this information each year. Over the years, the data entry job will get easier and easier since many of the donors and guests will repeat from year to year.

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