How to hold a charity auction: tips and real examples

On 24 August 2023, an auction at a charity breakfast in Riga for Ukraine raised €72,009. Up for bidding were a flag signed by Valery Zaluzhny, a tie belonging to Krišjānis Kariņš and cufflinks belonging to Edgars Rinkēvičs. A charity auction is an auction where donated items go to the highest bidder and the money raised goes to a charitable cause. Below we explain how an association, sports club, school or company can hold one, when you need a licence and what to know about tax.

Charity auctions in Latvia

In Latvia, charity auctions are held both at big events and online:

The Riga auction was organised by the Ukrainian Embassy and Agendum, the organisation known as Twitterconvoy. The price of the wine cabinet was published by jauns.lv. Agendum planned to spend the money on repairing cars and fuelling them so they could be driven to Ukraine (LSM). The 2020 Dod pieci! auction raised money for a crisis fund for people who want to leave violent relationships.

On 18 December 2025 the Saeima (Latvia's parliament), together with Ziedot.lv and the association Ukrainas studiju centrs, held a Christmas auction for Ukrainian children and raised €4,520.

An auction doesn't need a hall or an evening programme. In December 2022 the former Latvia international footballer Jurijs Žigajevs auctioned one shirt a day from his collection on Twitter to support young footballers.

Why an auction suits charity

Auctions of one-of-a-kind items can boost turnout at a charity event and bring in extra donations.

For a musician, an artist or another well-known person, signing a shirt or an album cover takes little effort and costs little, but to fans and collectors the item is worth far more.

If an item turns out to be in high demand, the price at auction climbs as high as bidders are willing to pay. Every new bid means more money for the cause. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis (US) compared identical items in eBay auctions. Those linked to a charity sold for about 5% more on average than the same items without one.

Online or in the room

In the room, only people who decided to come can bid, and the auction ends when the event does. Online, an auction can run for several days, and anyone can join when it suits them. But it's harder to create the excitement of a live room online, as WildApricot, a company that makes software for nonprofits, admits in its guide.

You can also combine the two. Open the auction online a few days before the charity event. Close it on a live stream during the event, when the most people are watching.

Online, the rules need to be clear from the very first bid. At the 2020 Dod pieci! auction, they were:

• a one-off €5 donation to register
• a minimum bid step of €1
• a bid in the last five minutes extended the auction by another five minutes
• if the winner didn't pay for the item within 24 hours, the next highest bidder could buy it

The rules also affect how many people take part. In the US state of Vermont, economists tried out several auction formats at charity events for preschools. The auction where only the winner pays their bid raised the most. Of the people who could have taken part, 53% did. This is a common auction format. In auctions where every bidder had to pay their bid even if they didn't win, only about 14% took part (Carpenter, Holmes, Matthews, 2004). Bear in mind these were sealed-bid auctions: each bidder submitted one bid, and the highest won.

How to run a charity auction

The steps are much the same for a small auction and a big event:

1. First, decide what the money is for, which organisation will run the auction and which will receive the payments. If tax relief matters, the money has to go into the account of a public benefit organisation or a public body, such as a municipal school (more in the tax section).
2. Next, find the items to auction. Items you can't buy in a shop work best: shirts signed by athletes, artworks, experiences (a tour, a dinner, a masterclass) and services from companies. A few items or ideas are enough. The story is what matters.
3. Photograph and describe each item well. You don't need professional lighting, daylight is enough. Say who donated the item, what makes it special and what condition it's in. If the item is signed, say who signed it.
4. Keep the starting price low. The lower it is, the more bidders will join in. The final price often depends on how many people bid. If the starting price is high, nobody may bid at all. WildApricot suggests starting at about 35% of the item's market value.
5. Let the auction run for a few days, with a clear end date and time. Then people will have time to hear about it and plan to be there for the finish.
6. Post about each item on your Facebook page or Instagram account, with a link to the auction. Ask supporters and followers to share the posts. Remind everyone again the day before the auction ends.
7. When the auction is over, agree on payment and collection as soon as you can. If you wait, the buyer may stop responding.
8. Announce the total raised straight after the auction, and later what the money was spent on. It builds trust between participants, followers and the organiser.

When you need a licence

Under the law, a charity auction doesn't need a licence, but a raffle does. The Law on Gambling and Lotteries describes a lottery as a game in which the prize depends wholly or partly on chance (Section 1, Clause 7). At an auction the highest bid wins, and the law doesn't mention auctions at all. Bear in mind this is our team's reading, not a legal opinion.

Nobody may run a raffle without a licence (Section 3). Associations, trade unions and religious organisations can get a licence from the State Revenue Service (VID) only for a local one-off raffle at a public event (Section 63, Paragraph 3). The application must be submitted at least 40 days before the raffle (Cabinet Regulation No. 741). Tickets may be sold only at the event, they may not be worth more than €720 in total, and the prize must not be money (Section 62).

When organising an auction or a raffle, it's well worth asking VID or a lawyer.

What to know about tax

The winning bidder usually doesn't get tax relief for the item they buy. Under the tax laws, a donation is something the donor gets nothing back for. At an auction, the winner receives the item they bid for.

Relief goes to people who donate money or items to a public benefit organisation or a public body, such as a municipal school. You can check whether an organisation has public benefit status on VID's list.

Companies can get relief under Section 12 of the Enterprise Income Tax Law, but there are several exceptions. For example, there's no relief if the recipient has put up public signs showing the donor's brand (a shared list of donors is allowed). Individuals can claim donations as eligible expenses (Section 10 of the law On Personal Income Tax).

What izsolis.lv offers

Izsolis.lv is an auction platform and mobile app in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia where anyone can create an online auction. Auctions with secure payment can be listed free of charge. You can also set up a company profile. The How it works page shows how an auction runs from start to finish.

Features that help at a charity auction:

• secure payment: the buyer can pay for the item straight away by card, just like in any online shop
• registration with Smart-ID or eParaksts: it encourages more responsible bidding and gives confidence that every bidder is a real person
• auction extension: if someone bids at the last moment, the other bidders can respond
• scheduled auctions: you can announce an auction in advance, so bidders have time to sign up and get notifications
• built-in Omniva delivery: you can send parcels via parcel lockers and track them on the platform

The buyer pays a small secure payment fee that covers payment processing costs.

We offer charity organisations advice and technical help at no extra cost, and make the changes to the platform needed to run their auctions. Get in touch to talk about working together.