Insights
How fundraising evenings actually work.
The arithmetic, the mechanics, and the decisions that quietly decide your total. Written for a fundraising director with a target and a board — every piece argues something.
The silent auction series
Run yours in-house, and keep the money
Silent auction ideas that keep the money
21 ideas that cost your charity nothing to source — because a donated lot keeps every pound, and a bought-in lot pays a supplier first.
Read →Silent auction items: what actually sells
How many lots you need, how to spread the price points, and which items reliably attract bids — and which sit at their opening price all night.
Read →Silent auction bid sheet template
The eight things every bid sheet needs — and an honest look at where paper hits its ceiling.
Read →How to get silent auction prizes donated
Who to ask, how to ask so they say yes, and why an afternoon of sourcing is the highest-value fundraising work of the month.
Read →Live auction vs silent auction
What each is actually for, how they work together across an evening — and the thing neither of them can do.
Read →The full guide
How to run a silent auction that keeps the money — the complete pillar guide, from items and starting bids to timing, phones and Gift Aid.
Read the guide →Running the night
Mechanics, money and the UK rules
Gift Aid on charity auctions
Gift Aid rarely applies to a winning bid, because the winner receives goods. The HMRC split that does work — and how to build it into the night.
Read →How to run a live pledge
A tiered pledge lets the whole room give, not just the ten people who won lots. How to structure, script and place it.
Read →Charity auction payments and fees
Whose merchant account the money lands in, who owns the donor data, and what a platform fee really costs on a six-figure evening.
Read →Do you need a raffle licence?
The UK rules on raffles, lotteries and prize draws at charity events — what needs a licence and what does not.
Read →Starting bids and reserve prices
Why a high opening bid is the most common reason a lot gets no bids at all, and how to set prices that climb.
Read →Mobile bidding explained
How mobile bidding works, why outbid alerts move the total, and what changes when guests can bid from their seat.
Read →Sealed-bid auctions
What a sealed-bid auction is, when it beats a silent or live auction, and how to run one without losing the tension.
Read →Silent auction vs raffle
What each does for an evening, how they differ in reach and effort, and why most galas should run both.
Read →How to promote a charity auction
Getting bidders engaged before the doors open, so your silent auction arrives with momentum instead of starting cold.
Read →Running an online charity auction
Timings, lots, promotion, closing mechanics — and taking payment without chasing people for a fortnight.
Read →How much can a charity auction raise?
What UK charity auctions actually raise, what drives the number, and why the mix matters more than the size of the lots.
Read →The whole evening, designed
Four phases and the Giving Curve — where every giving moment sits across the night, and why the pledge always follows the auction.
The Banked Method →Start with the argument
Everything on this site follows from one belief: the generosity is already in the room, and the evening either releases it or wastes it. The manifesto sets out the whole case — the arithmetic of bought-in lots, the Gift Aid rules, and the number nobody publishes.
No obligation — and never a percentage of what you raise
Let’s talk about your number.
A conversation about your event, your room, and what the night should be raising.
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