Each year, the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa has supported Rotary International’s fight to eradicate polio by holding live and silent auctions at our club. While these efforts have always been successful, we have been getting feedback from our members that they would like us to think of ideas to expand our fundraising beyond our own club members and invite the broader community to join the cause.
We continued our high-energy live auction during a regular club meeting, since these auction items tend to be more personally curated items, where fellow Rotarians bid on special experiences generously hosted by our club members. These auction items included a stay at a vacation home in Bass Lake, small-group ladies’ poker nights, and a Morro Bay harbor cruise with lunch on the sand spit. These items reflect the camaraderie and fellowship enjoyed within our club.
Then we tried something new with our silent auction, taking it to a much bigger stage -- our annual major fundraiser at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo.
This year’s event featured comedian Demetri Martin and drew a crowd of more than 800 attendees, dramatically expanding our audience beyond our Rotary membership. The event created the perfect opportunity to introduce community members to Rotary, and also to our PolioPlus fundraising efforts.
We created a silent auction area in the lobby with signage to drive interest. Our 12 auction packages included donated automotive repair gift cards, a festive basket of Mexican-themed items and restaurant gift cards, a two-night Morro Bay getaway with a harbor cruise, and exclusive behind-the-scenes experiences at the Performing Arts Center, along with many more fun items.
The result was an exciting new model for community engagement and fundraising. At this first time pop-up auction, with only one hour allotted for the auction bidding, we raised $2,750 for PolioPlus, with the majority of contributions coming from nonmembers.
By bringing our mission into the broader community, we not only raised funds, but also raised awareness about Rotary’s ongoing work to end polio worldwide.
