I am finishing a large queen size quilt that I will be donating to a silent auction for a charitable organization. I have upwards of $250.00 in materials. None of my time is involved in that amount. Can anyone give me an idea of the starting value of this quilt for the auction? I have never done this before and I need help

Good question. I have made a patchwork quilt to donate to CASA Corridor of East Tennessee (Court-Appointed Special Advocate) and don't have any idea how to start. I'll be interested to see what folks suggest.

Thanks. I am really hoping someone will come up with some answers or suggestions. The director of the charitable organization was going to start the auction at $100. Ouch!

Is there any possibility you can change it from a silent auction to a raffle? A raffle would be likely to raise much more money.

Good suggestion. I will present it to the director. That would make a lot of sense. Thanks.

according to the tax laws you are allowed to claim the cost of materials (pattern everything included) so i would say go ahead and start it at $100 but can you put a minimum on it? if so the $250 you have into it would be appropriate. the thing about auctions is if you start high no one bids, there is a better chance of getting a good price if it starts low enough to get bidding started. i had one once that i had $200 into... it was to be raffled...the group did n't (bother) very much with selling tickets...they made $45 on it...i was so ticked i have refused to ever make them another one...but i had one that sold for $1800 so you just never know...but the rule really is, once you donate it...it's not yours anymore, so what ever they do with it is their gain (or loss) you get to claim the $250 you put into it on your taxes (if you itemize)

I have never auctioned a quilt for charity but I have done a queen size for a raffle. It was for the Catholic School I went to. They made over $3000.00 in raffle tickets. I think I would start at $200.00 if you can. I donate all work, materials, etc but the school has offered to pay but I figure I received a wonderful education there so what the heck!

I no longer donate a quilt unless it ia a raffle. The first one I donated I had $275.00 into not counting my time. The silent auction winner paid $125.00 for my quilt!!!! I also have conditions on the raffle, they have to sell ahead of time a certain number of tickets and also at the event. So far that has worked. When it doesn't I will no longer donate quilts with so much of my $ in it.

I think requiring pre-selling of a certain number of tickets is a great idea! At the time of the raffle, if the number hasn't been reached, a request can be made for people to step up and buy more so the winner can be announced. People are often happy to step up and purchase $5 or $10 or $25 worth of raffle tickets. This is one of the reasons why a raffle quilt will typically make a lot more money for the charity than a silent auction.

I believe that you can claim a charitable contribution for fair market value (FMV). You will want to document your sources for determining FMV.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p561.pdf
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526...link1000229745

And don't forget, it must have been given to a registered charitable organization