GiveAuction

Maplewood Elementary School in Austin, Texas had a problem: their 20-year-old playground equipment was outdated and no longer met safety standards. The PTA knew they needed to raise significant funds, but traditional fundraising approaches like bake sales and car washes weren't going to cut it.

A Community Effort

The PTA president, Jennifer Chen, proposed trying an online silent auction. "We had parents who wanted to help but couldn't attend in-person events due to work schedules. An online auction meant everyone could participate, whenever it was convenient for them."

Building the Auction

The PTA spent three weeks collecting donations for the auction:

Teacher experiences (lunch with your favorite teacher, principal for a day)
Local business donations (restaurant gift cards, family entertainment passes)
Parent-offered services (landscaping, tutoring, photography)
Student artwork and class projects
Sports memorabilia and signed items from local teams

The Seven-Day Campaign

The auction ran for seven days, timed to coincide with the school's annual fall festival. Daily email updates kept families engaged, and the PTA shared highlights on the school's social media pages.

$35,400

Total Raised

218/340

Families

Items Sold

$571

Avg Price

$2,500

Highest Bid

64%

Participation

What Made It Work

According to Jennifer, several factors contributed to the auction's success:

1
Clear Goal Communication: Every email and social post included a visual progress bar showing how close they were to the $30,000 goal
2
Student Involvement: Students created artwork specifically for the auction, making families feel personally invested
3
Mobile-First Approach: Parents could bid while waiting in carpool lines or during lunch breaks
4
Friendly Competition: The PTA created "grade level challenges" to see which grade could generate the most bids

The New Playground

Thanks to the funds raised, Maplewood Elementary installed a brand-new, fully-accessible playground in spring 2025. The playground includes adaptive equipment for students with disabilities, shade structures, and modern safety surfacing.

"The best part," Jennifer says, "is that our auction brought the whole community together. Families who had never been involved before participated, and we've maintained that engagement for other school initiatives."

"GiveAuction made it so easy. We didn't need to be tech experts—the platform was intuitive, payment processing was automatic, and parents loved being able to bid from their phones. We'll definitely use it again for future fundraisers."

— Jennifer Chen, PTA President, Maplewood Elementary School

Lessons for Other Schools

Jennifer's advice for other schools considering online auctions:

Start collecting donations early—three to four weeks in advance
Create experiences, not just physical items (parents value unique opportunities)
Set realistic minimum bids to ensure everything sells
Promote daily, especially as items near their closing time
Celebrate publicly when you hit fundraising milestones