Thanks to everyone who made our auction a big success. Together we raised $33,069.75 this year to support our ministry, which was above our $30,000 goal. We also raised an additional $10,000 before the live auction to fund a new intern. That's awesome!

Click the Statement link to see what you got and/or who purchased your items/events.

Even with the auction 250 days behind us, you can still make corrections on your statement to your donated item descriptions or event dates. If you do, please remember to contact everyone involved.

Auction Events and CoVid-19 – Rescheduling Recommended

With Governor DeWine’s Stay at Home order replaced by his Ohioans Protecting Ohioans recommendations, please consider the safety of your guests if you are sponsoring an upcoming auction event. First, determine if you are able to hold your event under CDC guidelines (group size 10 or less, social distancing, masks). If you feel you can provide a safe environment, next please contact your guests to determine their comfort level with attending your event. If any guests would prefer not to attend, we encourage you to err on the side of caution and reschedule your event. If you feel you cannot provide a safe environment and your event is coming up, please log in to the auction website, go to your event listing and use the “Email all” option to notify your guests that you will be rescheduling when conditions permit.

You may want to take advantage of Doodle to help pick a new date.

We encourage event hosts to update your event descriptions, especially the date, so that automatic reminder emails don't go out with incorrect info. We can help you do this - just email the auction team and we can make changes for you.

Thanks for your understanding and consider using Zoom or other online means to stay socially connected at a safe physical distance. Ohio's COVID-19 website is a good source of information about when these guidelines may be revised.

Sincerely,
Your First UU Auction Team

auction@firstuucolumbus.org

Email Event Reminders are back

Ohio's COVID-19 website suggests reasonable precautions can be very effective in reducing our risk. So, if you are an event host, we'd like to ask you to consider rescheduling missed events as soon as you feel you can safely do so. With masks and seating farther apart or even outdoors, we can't go back to normal or even nearly-normal yet, but we can carefully find a new 'not-so-nearly' normal. As we do, this will help our auction team start planning for next year.

Welcome!

Our auction is an important fundraising event for the church and a great way to bring people together. Do you have a special talent, skill, or a unique service to offer? Can you host a dinner? Then you've come to the right place. If you have questions about the auction, you can reach us at auction@firstuucolumbus.org.

LESS STUFF, MORE FELLOWSHIP!

We are focusing on services, dinners, excursions, vacations, and fellowship activities. Any items which are added to the website will be considered but may be gently declined so that we may focus our efforts more on donations which build fellowship and community. So please keep the food related services and all the wonderful things that we can share with each other, but save those precious objects for the rummage sale.

"Meals and More" BID SHEETS

It’s easy to bid on multi-seat dinners. If you want two places, write your paddle number NEATLY in two adjacent places. You can skip rows to bid higher if you like, or fill in behind those who have done so. Rows of seats with the HIGHEST bids win, then if a row won’t all fit, earlier bids from LEFT to RIGHT win.

The next auction will be nextAuctionDateTimeString and you can enter donations for it after nextAuctionActiveDateString.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a fair minimum bid? - Based upon previous years, here are some basic pricing guidelines for popular auction items.
• Hikes with snacks – minimum bid, $15 - $20
• Lunches/Brunches – minimum bid, $25 - $40
• Dinners- Informal – minimum bid, $25 - $35
• Dinners – Formal/multi courses/unique, minimum bid, $40 - $75
Things to take into account with setting value and minimum price:

Traveling distance – are you meeting locally and then carpooling or are people having to travel on their own a fairly long distance. Offering to drive people or arrange to carpool will make people want to bid higher.

Uniqueness of the event – when offering an event whether it is a brunch, hike, dinner, game nights, etc. Think about what works for you. A pizza and game night is great fun and a wonderful way to get conversations going but will bring in a lower bidding price, which is fine! An event based upon our travels to an exotic locale where you are sharing your unique experiences and special recipes will bring a higher bidding price because of its uniqueness. However, don’t be unique just to be unique; hosts need to enjoy their own event and be comfortable with what they are serving/offering.

The number of places offered – Offer the number of places that make sense for you however, items with only a few spot will generally have a higher value and minimum bid than items with lots of spots.

Value – We have a tendency to undervalue our offerings. This is a fundraiser and your generous donation is the backbone of this event. You are offering a service or event that includes your time and resources. Make sure your generosity is appreciated by setting an appropriate value. The auction team goes through values and minimum bids and will help you set prices.
Services – Services need to be valued by the time and resources being offered. Remember, your time is valuable and this should be reflected in the price.

Why is a specific date required? - If you are offering a one-on-one item (genealogy, counseling, and handymen services) you can figure out the date with that one person. However if you are offering a dinner for eight, it is akin to herding cats trying to find a date that works for all. By specifying the date in advance, people can check their calendar and know that they are available.

Still not sure what to offer? - Go through the past catalogues that are on-line. See what has been offered in the past. Talk to the auction team or to the host of an event you have attending. Bat around ideas and see what you come up with.

We are fortunate to have Paul Delphia - licensed professional auctioneer who has offered us his services again this year.