If you’re part of a PTA looking to raise more at your next school fundraiser, an online auction can be one of the most effective ways to bring parents, local businesses and the wider community together.
But the most successful school auctions do not happen by accident. They need the right prizes, clear promotion, simple bidding and a plan for what happens after the auction closes.
This guide shares seven practical PTA auction tips, using lessons from a real Spring Auction run by a south London primary school PTA on Aucly.
If you are planning your own school fundraiser, see how an Online auction for PTAs works in Aucly.
Case study: a Spring Auction that raised £2,265
A south London primary school PTA ran a 7-day Spring Auction on Aucly in March 2025, raising £2,265 towards a playground refurbishment project.
The auction formed part of a wider funding plan, alongside charity match funding for the refurbishment.
£2,265
7 days
44
63
1,074
Bank transfer
- Fundraising goal: playground refurbishment.
- Wider funding context: auction proceeds used alongside charity match funding.
- Collection method: bank transfer, with the full £2,265 received by the PTA.
Some of the best-performing lots included a Tooting Lido annual membership at £185 with 33 bids, a Fortnum & Mason hamper at £151 with 77 bids, and Exhibit Balham karaoke/cinema hire at £128 with 55 bids.
The PTA sourced prizes through a mixture of local business outreach and parent networks. Asking parents whether their employers or contacts could offer auction prizes helped secure higher-value and more unusual lots, including a round of golf at a high-end golf course and a year’s Xbox Live subscription.
Top-performing auction lots
These were some of the best-performing prizes in the Spring Auction. They show how recognisable, high-interest prizes can attract repeated bidding and help a PTA raise more from a focused 7-day auction.
Tooting Lido annual membership
Fortnum & Mason hamper
Exhibit Balham karaoke/cinema hire
1. Start with prizes people already understand
The easiest prizes to bid on are often the ones people immediately understand.
In the Spring Auction, strong performers included a Tooting Lido annual membership, a Fortnum & Mason hamper, and karaoke/cinema hire at Exhibit Balham. These prizes worked because parents could instantly picture their value.
That matters. If someone needs to work too hard to understand a lot, they are less likely to bid.
Good PTA auction prizes often include:
- local restaurant vouchers
- sports memberships
- children’s activities
- beauty and wellness treatments
- food and drink hampers
- cinema, theatre or experience vouchers
- school-related “money can’t buy” prizes
A clear prize is easier to promote, easier to share in a WhatsApp group, and easier for bidders to justify.
2. Ask local businesses and parent networks for prizes
Local businesses are often the best place to start when collecting auction prizes, but they are not the only source.
Parents can also be a useful route to higher-value or more unusual prizes, especially if they work for larger companies, venues, sports clubs, entertainment brands or employers with community budgets.
For the Spring Auction, the PTA asked parents whether they worked for companies that might be willing to donate a prize. That helped source prizes including a round of golf at a high-end golf course and a year’s Xbox Live subscription.
This kind of request works because parents already understand the school community and may be able to make a warm introduction internally.
Good PTA auction prize sources include:
- local restaurants, cafés and pubs
- children’s activity providers
- gyms, sports clubs and leisure venues
- local shops and independent businesses
- parents’ employers
- companies with community or charity budgets
- family contacts who can offer experiences, tickets or memberships
When approaching local businesses or parent contacts, make the request simple. Explain:
- who the PTA is raising money for
- what the money will support
- when the auction will run
- how the donor will be credited
- what kind of prize would work well
- how easy it is to provide a voucher, membership or experience
A short, specific message usually works better than a long generic request.
We’re running an online auction for our school PTA this spring to raise money towards refurbishing the playground. If you work for, own, or know a business that might be willing to donate a prize, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll credit all donors on the auction page and in our parent communications.
3. Don’t assume face value is the ceiling
One interesting result from the Spring Auction was that some lots with a clear face value still sold for more than that value.
For example, some voucher-style prizes, such as vouchers for a craft beer shop, performed better than expected because bidders were not only buying the item. They were also supporting the school.
This is one of the reasons auctions can work so well for PTAs. A £25 voucher is not always capped at £25 if families understand that the extra money goes back into the school community.
For the Spring Auction, the fundraising purpose was clear: the money raised would go towards refurbishing the school playground. The auction was part of a wider plan that also included charity match funding, so every additional bid helped the PTA move closer to completing the project.
To make this more likely, remind bidders what the fundraising is for. For example:
- new books
- playground equipment
- classroom resources
- school trips
- enrichment activities
- hardship support
- PTA-funded events
The clearer the purpose, the easier it is for people to bid generously.
4. Promote the auction before launch and throughout the week
Promotion is one of the biggest factors in auction performance.
The Spring Auction ran for 7 days, and promotion did not stop once the auction went live. The PTA sent messages before and during the auction, then used Aucly’s live metrics to see how those messages affected traffic.
After each communication, they could see spikes in visitors and bidders. That made it easier to understand what was working and when to send the next reminder.
A simple promotion plan could look like this:
- 1 week before launch: announce the auction and preview a few headline prizes
- launch day: share the live auction link
- mid-auction: highlight popular lots and hidden gems
- 48 hours before close: remind people that bidding is still open
- final day: create urgency with a closing-soon message
- final few hours: use Aucly’s bidder reminder email feature to prompt active bidders to return before the auction closes
The key is not to rely on one announcement. People are busy. They need reminders across different points in the auction.
5. Make bidding easy on mobile
Most parents will not sit down at a laptop to browse a PTA auction. They are more likely to open the link from WhatsApp, email or a school newsletter while doing something else.
That means the bidding experience needs to work well on a phone.
The Spring Auction received 1,074 bids from 63 unique bidders. That level of repeat bidding is much easier to achieve when people can quickly check lots, increase bids and come back later.
To make mobile bidding easier:
- use clear lot titles
- add strong images
- keep descriptions concise
- include the retail value where useful
- group similar prizes logically
- make the auction link easy to find
- repeat the link in every reminder
If parents have to search for the auction link, create an account repeatedly, or message someone manually to place a bid, participation will drop.
6. Keep momentum going near the deadline
Auction activity often increases near the end, but only if people remember the deadline.
The final 24–48 hours are especially important. This is when you can remind people about:
- lots with no bids
- lots that are still below expected value
- popular prizes with active bidding
- “ending soon” urgency
- the fundraising purpose
Aucly helps with this by letting you send a reminder email to bidders involved in the auction a set number of hours before the auction closes. This gives people a final prompt to take another look, check whether they are still winning the lots they care about, and consider bidding on other items.
Aucly also sends outbid notification emails when someone is no longer the highest bidder on an item. These notifications can bring bidders back into the auction and help create the kind of competitive momentum that makes online auctions work well.
You do not need complicated messaging. A simple reminder can work well:
Final day to bid. Our Spring Auction closes tonight, and there are still some brilliant prizes available. Every bid helps raise money for the school playground refurbishment.
You can also highlight specific lots:
Still available: local food vouchers, children’s activities, hampers and experience prizes. Some lots are still below their usual value.
The goal is to bring people back before the auction closes.
7. Plan for payment collection and alternate winners
The auction is not finished when bidding closes.
One common PTA challenge is collecting payment from winners. Sometimes people are slow to pay. Occasionally, a winning bidder drops out completely.
The Spring Auction collected payment by bank transfer and the PTA received the full £2,265 raised. It also handled drop-outs using Aucly’s select alternate winner workflow. This meant the PTA could move to the next eligible bidder rather than manually untangling the process.
That matters because post-auction admin can be one of the most time-consuming parts of a fundraiser.
Before your auction closes, decide:
- how winners will be contacted
- how payment will be collected
- how long winners have to pay
- what happens if someone does not respond
- who is responsible for distributing prizes
- how donors will be thanked
A good auction process should cover both the exciting bidding stage and the less glamorous collection stage.
Final thoughts
A successful PTA auction does not need hundreds of prizes or months of planning.
The Spring Auction showed that a focused 7-day auction, with 44 well-chosen lots and consistent promotion, could raise £2,265 towards a playground refurbishment project.
It also showed how an auction can support a wider funding plan. In this case, the PTA used the auction proceeds alongside charity match funding to help pay for the playground work.
The most important lessons are simple:
- collect prizes people understand
- involve local businesses
- ask parents whether their employers or contacts can donate prizes
- explain what the money is for
- promote before and during the auction
- make mobile bidding easy
- build momentum near the deadline
- plan for payment collection after the auction closes
If your PTA is planning a school auction, Aucly gives you a simple way to create your auction, list prizes, track bidding, monitor live activity and manage winners.