2020 St. Jude Auction Recap

It’s been a week since the 44^th annual Minden St. Jude Auction wrapped up with another record-breaking year. The auction raised $1,652,889; which was $13,834 more than last year’s record number. While we made a lot about this year being the year we broke the $20 million mark in all-time funds raised for St. Jude, I felt it was time to update some long-held numbers that are still true, but the amounts have definitely changed. And it is change we can all be happy with.

For years, Minden has been known as raising “more per capita” than any other city in the country. It’s a number we have always been proud of, but this year as I was listening to it over the air, I thought it was time to look and see how much we can update that number.  The amount generally agreed on was that the auction averaged around $40 per person in the city of Minden raised for St. Jude. Now that the auction is over, we have a new all-time total to update against. At the conclusion of this year’s auction, totals stand at a whopping $21,611,015!

Taking that number along with the most recent population report of Minden (based on 2017 numbers provided by US Census) which stands at 12,317, we came up with some very interesting updated numbers.

We can take this information two ways:

1. All-time number, which is a little misleading with population changes. This one was eye-popping for sure: $1,013.80! An incredible amount per person, dividing it out across the population of Minden. Now, with the addition of the internet, we know that this number isn’t accurate, but I would bet a good 80% of the money raised comes from Minden and surrounding communities for sure!
2. 2020 average. Let’s just base it on this year alone. The average is still a healthy $134.20! That’s still an impressive number.

Here are a few random numbers as we wrap up:

• While we are considering averages, the auction totals through this year means that Minden has averaged raising $491,159.43 all time.
• Since Minden broke the $1 million barrier in 2012, that average is $1,372,013.11
• Milestone years based on totals:
  • 1981-$22,000
  • 1984-$47,300
  • 1986-$76,500
  • 1989-$103,000 (first time over $100,000)
  • 1996-$201,000 (first time over $200,000)
  • 2001-$305,641 (first time over $300,000)
  • 2004-$461,375 (first time over $400,000)
  • 2005-$509,179 (first time over $500,000)
  • 2006-$703,000 (first time over $600,000 and $700,000)
  • 2009-$876,264 (first time over $800,000)
  • 2011-$965,000 (first time over $900,000)
  • 2012-$1065,235 (first time over 1,000,000)

As you see, the numbers have increased at a rapid pace since the beginning of the auction. The next question we will ask is when do we hit $2,000,000?

Well done, again, Minden!

Banner photo courtesy of Minden St. Jude Auction’s Facebook page