One of the most important questions to ask yourselves about auction items is, “Does this item have broad appeal?” Meaning, is this something a lot of people like and would be willing to bid on? If there is one thing that you can guarantee a lot of people could bid on it is….(drumroll please)… alcohol.
There are several different auction packages you can compile around a theme of wine, beer and/or spirits. To see some ideas, check out this post on Alcohol-related auction items or grab my FREE AUCTION ITEM GUIDE below:
Once you brainstorm a bunch of items that you know will get your guests’ hands high in the air, the question remains…
How do you get wine, beer and other forms of alcohol donated to use at a nonprofit auction or for fundraising games?
When I go to events, I see the three different types of donors of wine/beer/alcohol items.
Ask a local, privately owned, Liquor Store to sponsor your auction item or game.
What do I mean by this? Say you are doing a Wine Pull and need 50 bottles of wine. You can pitch this to local liquor store owners and ask if they would be interested in Sponsoring it. You could even name the game after them: “Anderson Liquor’s Wine Pull.”
How does this benefit the liquor store? The same way any sponsorship (either cash or in-kind) benefits a person or company. They get name recognition and advertising at the event. Asking them to sponsor a game is especially appealing because they are typically in a prime area at the event and get a lot of attention. They should also be listed in all other places that sponsors are listed.Ask the board to come together and donate
Alcohol-related items are commonly donated by the board. Things like the “Wall of Wine” or “Wheelbarrow of Booze” that are compiled of several different types of wine, beer and spirits can be pulled together by several different people. Ask the board to contribute one to two bottles of their choice (remind them they need not be stingy 😉). This is a great way to easily collect a wonderful collection that can be used in auction items or for a game like a Wine Pull or Whiskey Pull.
Reach out to restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries in your community.
Similar to reaching out to a liquor store, the local restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries in your community can gain name recognition, advertising and good will with your guests through sponsoring your event by providing beer, wine or spirits. This is a great option if you have a venue that allows you to bring in your own alcohol at the event because they could even sponsor the bar.
Could they sponsor the bar, or offer up one case/keg to sell at the event?
I went to an event recently and a local brewery was willing to donate a keg of a crowd favorite beer. At the event, the organization let everyone know that if they selected that specific beer 100% of the proceeds could go back to the organization. So instead of paying $8 to the venue, they were racking up $8 donations one after another.
Could they donate an alcohol-related experience?
Could they host a tasting or a tour? Could their craft bar tender put on an exclusive cocktail class for 12? If they can add some food to this, even better! This is a great LIVE AUCTION item!
Could they put together a basket or donate a gift card to the silent auction?
I go to a lot of silent auctions… A LOT of them and since my husband loves craft beer, I keep a close watch on the brewery donated items. It will usually be a couple 6-packs, a brewery gift card and some swag (sweatshirts or coozies or anything with the name on it) and even in the silent auction these items go well above retail value because of their broad appeal. It’s a great, low cost way for the breweries, wineries or distilleries to give back and be involved in their community.
Give these a try and watch those donations come in. Keep coming back for more ideas on auction items, fundraising ideas and how to get donations.
