Your gala catalog does more than list lots. It sets the tone for the whole night. Instead of printing hundreds of booklets that go out of date the moment a new item arrives, share one QR code that opens a page-flip catalog on every guest's phone. Add a lot in seconds, link sponsors and bidding pages, and see which items drew the most eyes. Here is how to build one for your next fundraiser.
The night of a charity gala moves fast. Guests mingle, the band warms up, and somewhere in a tote bag sit four hundred printed catalogs that took a week to design and a big check to print. What if every guest could browse every auction lot on their own phone, with the same link working on the ballroom screen and in tomorrow's thank-you email? That small switch can change how much your night raises.
Every dollar you spend at the print shop is a dollar that never reaches the people you are raising money for. Printed gala catalogs have to be finished a week early, so any lot donated at the last minute gets left out. If a sponsor drops out or a table changes, you are stuck with a stack of booklets that are already wrong. A digital catalog fixes all of that. You upload one PDF, share one QR code, and change the pages any time without a single reprint. Flipbooks AI turns your finished catalog into a page-flip book that opens right in the browser, so guests never download an app or squint at a shrunken file.
A good auction flipbook does two jobs at once: it shows off the lots and it walks guests through the evening. Here is how the pieces fit together.
Give every silent auction item its own clear photo, a short story about why it matters, the donor's name, and the starting bid. Guests can flip through at their table, decide what they want, and walk over to bid with a plan. Because the flipbook holds full-color images at real size, that weekend getaway or signed jersey actually looks worth chasing.
The same book can carry your run of show, a welcome letter from the board chair, sponsor thank-you pages, and the live auction lots in bid order. When the auctioneer calls Lot 12, every guest can glance at their phone and see exactly what is up. No more shouting descriptions across a loud room.
| What guests get | Static PDF | Interactive Flipbook |
|---|---|---|
| Opening on a phone | Pinch, zoom, and scroll to read | Real page-turn that fits the screen |
| Adding a last-minute lot | Reprint or resend the whole file | Swap the page, link stays the same |
| Getting it to guests | Email attachment that may bounce | One QR code on every table |
| Seeing what drew the most eyes | No way to know | Built-in analytics per page |
| Sponsor logos | Flat picture, no clicks | Clickable links to sponsor sites |
| Cost per extra guest | More paper, more printing | Zero, it is just a link |
Building your first catalog in Flipbooks AI takes about ten minutes, and the steps stay the same every year.
Show the flipbook right on your fundraiser's web page so people can preview lots before they even buy a ticket. Paste this snippet into your site:
<iframe
src="https://flipbooksai.com/viewer?book=your-flipbook"
width="100%"
height="600"
style="border:0;max-width:100%"
allowfullscreen
title="Charity Auction Catalog">
</iframe>
Pro Tip: Put the QR code on the ballroom screen during dinner and ask guests to scan it before dessert. Early browsing means more bids by the time the silent auction closes.
No. The flipbook opens in any web browser the moment someone scans your QR code or taps the link. There is no app, no login, and no file to download, so even guests who are not great with phones can flip through in seconds.
Yes, and this is the big win. If a lot is added, pulled, or the starting bid changes, you edit the flipbook and the same QR code shows the new version right away. You never reprint table cards or resend links.
You can start for free, which matters when every dollar is meant for your cause. Upload your catalog PDF, share the link, and keep the money you would have handed to the print shop.
Yes. Put a password on the flipbook and only guests who bought a ticket can browse the lots early. Drop the password on gala night so anyone scanning a table card walks straight in.
Yes. Paste the embed snippet onto the event page and people preview the lots before they buy a seat. Nothing to download, and a lot you add later shows up in that same embed.
The page analytics show how many times the catalog opened and which spreads held attention. That tells you which items to move into the live auction next year, and which donors to thank first.
Yes. Pages fit the screen instead of forcing a pinch and scroll, and guests can zoom on any item. Export the catalog at a decent resolution and a signed jersey or a getaway photo still looks worth bidding on.
One book usually works better. Put the silent lots first, then the run of show, then the live lots in bid order, so a guest at a loud table can follow the auctioneer without hunting for a second link.
You can. Swap in next year's catalog PDF and the link and QR code stay the same, or start a fresh flipbook if you want to keep this year's edition as a record for the board.
Paid plans show the catalog with no watermark, so your sponsor pages stay clean. Start free while you test the layout, then move to a paid plan before you print the QR code on table cards.
Ready to save it for your next gala? Go ahead and create your flipbook.