Grand Auction Chair
Sets goals, manages solicitation process and organizes auction events

Operations Chair
Manages the operations of the solicitation process coordinating between chairs,
database and office operations

Live and Premier Silent Auction Co-Chairs
Manage solicitation process for Live and PS items, including recruitment of
volunteers

Silent Auction Co-Chairs
Manage solicitation process for Silent items, including recruitment of volunteers
Manage on-line data entry and in-tent silent auction design

Solicitation Team
Solicits donations, validates donation information in database and ensures
delivery of items to the auction
NOVEMBER
Set-up
  • Co-chairs revise list of business donors to be solicited
  • Chair and Silent Co-chairs revise Silent Categories as needed
  • Co-chairs recruit solicitation teams
  • Chair, Operations Chair and WSF Office Staff set calendar

JANUARY        
Letter Signing Tuesday, January 13
Solicitation Letters (Live, PS & Silent)
  • Letters will be prepared for previous year’s business donors and all
    Woodside families
  • Each letter will list the donor’s previous year’s donations
  • Letters will be signed by solicitation teams
  • A generic letter will be available on the Foundation’s Volunteer webpage at
    www.wsfgrandauction.com
  • Solicitors may pickup WSF letter head from the Foundation Office for more
    personal letters
  • Additional solicitation letters for new donors can be requested by submitting
    a Solicitation Request Form at www.wsfgrandauction.com

Define Catalog Style
  • Chair and editor determine catalog layout and style guidelines

FEBRUARY-MARCH
Bidding Formulas due by Friday, February 27
DEADLINE for advertisement copy Friday, February 27
Progress Luncheon 11:30am Monday, March 2
DEADLINE for donations and catalog write-ups Friday, March 13
Catalog Ordering due by Thursday, March 19
Bidding Value Exceptions Review – Thursday, March 26        
Donation Submission (Live, PS & Silent)
  • Donations will be submitted via the auction website at www.wsfgrandauction.
    com
  • Any donor or auction volunteer may submit a donation
  • Forms must be completely filled out for submission
  • An email confirmation will be sent to each donor acknowledging receipt of
    the donation - this will serve in place of a signature requirement
  • Item coordinators will validate submissions and either send to category
    leaders and co-chairs for further review or enter into the WSF database
  • Items will be assigned a unique “Item Number” that stays with the item
    regardless of bundling or category changes
  • “Catalog Numbers” will be assigned after the items are ordered for the
    catalog
  • Item Coordinators will create the Catalog Description using the donor
    submission and editor style rules
  • Items will be assigned to a category by Auction Chairs and Item
    Coordinators
  • Items will be designated as either online or in-tent based on the Chair's
    guidelines
  • A running list of donations that have been entered into the database will be
    posted to the website daily

Solicitor and Co-Chair Responsibilities:
  • Contact the Item Coordinators if there are any errors or omissions in your
    category
  • Follow up on incomplete or inaccurate donor forms    
  • Update item descriptions/write-ups and titles on an ongoing basis
  • Sanity-check value of items
  • Review online vs in-tent decisions, category placement and bundling
    opportunities

Thank You Letters (School Staff, Community Members and Business Donors)
  • Thank you letters for non-parent donors will be prepared by the WSF Office
    as items are received
  • Co-Chairs and Solicitation Teams will be notified when letters are available
    to pick up, sign and mail

Placement of  Donations in Catalog Order (Live, PS and Silent) Optional task
  • Co-Chairs and Solicitation Team place donations in the order that they will
    appear in the catalog
  • The same order will be used to place items on the tables in the tent auction
    night and in the online auction
  • The catalog will have separate online and in-tent sections - they will be
    ordered separately
  • Item Coordinators will enter the order into the database
  • Item Coordinators may group similar items, if directed

Thank You Letters to Parent Donors
  • Parent donors will receive a Thank you email, listing all auction donations,
    from the WSF Office after all donations are received

Opening Bids, Bidding Increments and Closeouts (PS and Silent)
  • Co-Chairs review formulas for generating opening bidding values and
    closeout multipliers by category
  • Co-Chairs and Solicitation Team meet to review formula generated bidding
    start values and close-out values for exceptions
  • Bidding increments on items with closeouts are auto-generated to ensure
    bidding is restricted to one page
  • Item Coordinators will input exceptions into the database.  Auction Chairs
    review prior to WSF office staff printing bid sheets

APRIL
Catalog to print Friday, April 3
Online Auction Input April 3-30
Online Auction Input
  • Online Auction Coordinator will populate the online auction with items and
    add appropriate photos

MAY
Bidder Instructions Review by Monday, May 1
Print Plexi Inserts by Monday May 1
ONLINE AUCTION - Open Friday May 1 to Friday May 8
Donation Check-in Wildcats Room Friday, May 15
AUCTION DAY – SATURDAY, MAY 16
Wildcats Room Cleared by noon Tuesday, May19
Winner’s Certificate Bidder Instructions (Live, PS and Silent)
  • Co-Chairs and Solicitation Team will review accuracy of Bidder Instructions to
    be printed on the Winner’s Certificate for each item

Plexi Preparation (PS and Silent)
  • WSF Office will print plexi inserts for donations that will not have a physical
    item in the tent
  • Solicitation Teams are welcome, but not required, to embellish their plexi
    inserts
  • Co-Chairs will be responsible for plexis and inserts- due to space
    limitations, plexis need to be kept offsite until check-in

Auction Item Check-In and Display (PS and Silent)
  • All physical items and plexis must be delivered to Woodside School Wildcats
    Room for check-in on Friday before the auction - this includes gift
    certificates that are part of a physical item (like a basket)
  • Exceptions: Large garden items and wine will be delivered directly to tent on
    Saturday
  • Co-Chairs will check in all items

Set-Up
  • Co-Chairs and Solicitation Teams will be responsible for setting up their
    items for display in the morning
  • Props and décor related to the theme may be available to add to your table
    display
  • On auction night, Co-Chairs and Solicitation Team secure “valuable” items
    by giving them to concierge desk area as categories close

Clean-Up
  • Solicitation Teams will clear any personal belongings used for table displays
    on the night of auction.
  • WSF Board Members will return any unclaimed auction items to the Wildcats
    Room at the end of the Live Auction
  • Co-Chairs need to empty the Wildcats Room

POST AUCTION
Volunteer Thank You and Wrap-Up
  • The Grand Auction Chair will host a wrap-up party
Auction Website
www.wsfgrandauction.com

Auction Email
info@wsfgrandauction.com
2009 WSF Grand Auction Solicitation Process Overview
Item Coordinators
Responsible for managing the donor submissions through the database
process

On-Line Coordinator
Responsible for managing the on-line auction process

Editor
Provide style sheet for catalog write-ups and edit final catalog copy

Office Staff
Responsibilities include database programming, website setup and
management, reports generation, management of financial transactions,
management of printing requirements including catalog production
JANUARY
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
        1 2 3
     
 
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
             
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
    Letter Signing        
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
      Auction Brainstorming Session      
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
             
FEBRUARY
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
             
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
             
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
  SKI WEEK  
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
          Bidding Formulas Due  
DEADLINE for advertisement copy
MARCH
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
  Progress Luncheon 11:30am          
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
          DEADLINE for Donations & Catalog Write-ups  
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
        CONF. MINIMUM DAYS  
Ordering of Items for Catalog Due  
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
        Bidding Value Exceptions Review    
29 30 31
     
 
APRIL
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
      1 2 3 4
          Catalog sent to Printer  
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  SPRING BREAK  
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
  Begin Online Auction Input Online Auction Input
         
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Online Auction Input
             
26 27 28 29 30
Online Auction Input End Online Auction Input
         
MAY
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
          1 2
  Online Opens at 8am
Plexis Printed		  
 
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Online Auction Open Online Closes 9pm  
         
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
          Donation Check-in Wildcats Room GRAND MASQUERADE
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    Wildcats Room Cleared by Noon     NO SCHOOL  
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  NO SCHOOL          
31
   
Woodside School Foundation Office
Tel: 851 2206
Fax: 851-3239
wsf@woodsideschoolfoundation.org
Roles & Responsibilities