Home auctions bring in funds

Red Cross Western Australia has become one of the few WA not-forprofit organisations to raise funds through a charity auction home, with a new home completed and ready to be auctioned next month in Tapping.

Red Cross representative Joanna Keenan said the idea to auction a house came about because they wanted to do something new.

“The father of one of our staff members was in the industry and we thought ‘okay, let’s give it a shot’,” she said.

Although Red Cross is new to the scheme, several other organisations have recognised the benefits of holding house auctions.

Another example includes auctions run jointly by the Department of Housing and Works and property developer the Beeliar Partnership Pty Ltd.

Their first auction in 2005 contributed funds to the Fremantle Hospital Medical Research Foundation, while the 2007 auction raised funds for the cord blood bank.

The West Coast Eagles’ run an annual charity home auction and Telethon has run annual home auctions for 18 years.

Home auctions can be big business for charities, with the West Coast Eagle’s charity home selling for $1.35 million last year.

Telethon’s metropolitan auction sale reached $620,000 last year, and it hopes to raise over $1.5 million this year from its metropolitan and regional homes combined.

Ms Keenan said the task of organising the Red Cross house auction was simplified because coordination was outsourced on a probono basis.

She said the organisation has only really had to step in over the past two months to support the marketing of the home.

“Broadway Homes co-ordinated [the design and construction]; they arranged everything from sourcing the labourers, to organising the painting and carpets, to designing and creating the landscaping.” “We used First National to organise the selling of the home as they are a national humanity partner with Red Cross.” Broadway Homes’ sales and marketing manager Peter Gobetti said that the generosity of a combination of trades and companies enabled the Red Cross to secure the land and building materials at very little or no cost.

Telethon representative Tina Roberts agreed that it was not difficult to get people to volunteer their services for free, because supporters were able to gain more than good karma from donating their services.

“[Donating services] is a very valuable tool for both advertising and marketing, as businesses are able to get exposure through marketing,” she said.

The Red Cross Charity Home is based on Broadway Homes’ Colorado design, and will be auctioned on April 5, 2008 at 7 Triller Bend in Tapping.

The funds raised from the sale of the home will stay in WA and assist local community and emergency services.