To get started with this idea, contact a few celebrities from the area or local industries to see if they'd be willing to participate. They might also be up for donating some autographed memorabilia to further boost your organization's coffers.
You can also try and set up interactive sessions around each celebrity's speciality — batting practice with a local baseball player, for example, or contributing to a radio show with a local DJ. A chef could give a cookery lesson; an artist could paint a caricature of the auction winner; there are plenty of ideas you can use, and many different ways local celebrities can donate their time and talents.
If there's going to be a large get-together, combine an auction with another event: you could have an autograph table, for example, where people can pay a fixed price for an autograph from a celebrity.
You'll find that many well-known faces who find themselves out of the spotlight will be only too glad to sign autographs at an event in return for a percentage of the proceeds. You might also want to consider having a celebrity speak at an event, charging audience members a fee to come and hear the talk. Finally: don't forget the concessions for those in the lengthy autograph lines!
