Online Auctions
If planning a live auction seems like an overwhelming task, consider an online auction instead. In doing so, you will avoid the logistical work of a physical event. Or, supplement a live auction event, generate bidding excitement, and engage donors who cannot attend the live event.
Online auctions can be run during the school year or during the off-season to raise additional revenue and attract new, potential donors.
Planning an Online Auction
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LET THE PROFESSIONALS HELP YOU
Whether you're planning your first online auction or you want to improve upon the auctions you've done in the past, my best advice would be to let the professionals at Bidding For Good help.
Don't try to re-invent the wheel! BiddingForGood has already built the software for you. They will walk you through the set-up and execution step-by-step.
BUILD AN AUCTION WEB PAGE
Your homepage is where potential bidders, sponsors, and donors will go to learn about your auction. If building a webpage seems like an overwhelming task, consider working with BiddingForGood, a leading provider of charitable online auction services. BiddingForGood provides the web hosting and also customizable homepage, catalog, and email templates that even a novice can follow.
It's important that the first page visitors see be informative, organized, concise, and easy to navigate. It's a careful balance between providing enough information to attract interest without making the page so cluttered it becomes overwhelming. The homepage should include:
- your school/organization name
- how auction proceeds will be used (i.e. fundraising to build a new $40K student computer lab)
- accurate catalog item descriptions
- catalog items recently added
- popular catalog items, bidding wars
- Auction Open!
- a Call to Action (i.e. Bid Now! Only 2 Days Left!)
- Donate Items button - Some people may want to donate money to your event rather than bid on an item. A "Donate an Item" button encourages participation from supporters who otherwise might not have become involved.
- Sponsor Names/Logos/Links
It's a good idea to create and save homepages and emails prior to the start date of your auction. This will help you stay on your promotional plan path and save you time once the auction begins.
BiddingForGood provides you with the tools needed to put together your online information by providing you with OurAuction Pro template software. Why recreate the wheel when they've already created the templates you need...
- Homepage Templates: Create your own web pages with a step-by-step process. CMarket's homepage templates allow spaces for you to include key information or choose from template pages featuring Coming Soon, Auction Open, and Auction Closed.
- Email Templates: Promote your online auction with the included HTML email templates.
- Build Your Participant List: Utilize the Refer a Friend or Guest Book features to build your participant list.
- Donate Buttons: Encourage donations by utilizing the Donate buttons.
- Catalog Management: Printable catalog, bid sheets, Open/Close dates, bid increments, suggested opening bids, and more.
- Reports: cMarket helps you analyze reports which helps you understand things like, What items are selling and which are not? Is the starting bid too high? Is the bid increment set too high? Then you can highlight the best selling items on your homepage to increase interest and make adjustments as necessary.
- Live Event Features: Process online and live-event winning bids through cMarket and provide live-event absentee bidding and bidder registration.
- Bid Booster: Generates automatic emails requesting that winners increase their bids in the name of charity.
- Bid Extension: Prevents auction "sniping" by automatically extending the bid time by 5 minutes if a bid is placed in the last 5 minutes of an online close.
FORM A COMMITTEE
Form a committee of volunteers that can assist you with the planning and execution of the online auction. Committee members may consist of parents, teachers, volunteers, or interns (possibly a high school or college student). You will need assistance creating and updating your online auction web page, contacting potential sponsors, collection and distribution of prizes and donations, and marketing. Be specific when identifying the roles of each committee member so they are aware of their responsibilities. Create a balance to provide appropriate management but minimize micro-management.
- Auction Coordinator - Coordinates and oversees the auction. Assigns roles & responsibilities to committee members. Each member provides status reports back to the coordinator who ensures that all committee members are working cohesively.
- Web Page Management - Develops the online auction pages, inputs data, closes out auction items, processes payments.
- Sponsor Development - Solicits sponsors and develops positive relationships with these supporters.
- Catalog & Donor Development - Builds the catalog of items to be auctioned online and determines their value. Items consist of donations and acquired goods and services.
- Email Marketing - Promotes the online auction through email.
- Advertising - Promotes the auction through newspaper, TV, radio, and signage.
SET A FUNDRAISING GOAL
By setting a goal, you will be better able to put together a program that helps you reach it. How much money do you want to raise and where will the funds be spent? Knowing this will help you decide on a monetary goal, give sponsors and potential buyers a reason to support your efforts, and provide motivation to all committee members.
In addition to obtaining sponsorships and developing an advertising plan, plan to post a quantity (and quality) of catalog items online that are at least double the value of your fundraising goal. For example, if your goal is to raise $10,000, post enough items online totaling a value of at least $20,000.
DETERMINE THE DURATION OF THE AUCTION
An auction can run for 1 to 2 weeks, 3 to 4 weeks, or even several months. Decide if you would like to run an auction continuously throughout the school year or host one that runs for only a few weeks. Promotion methods will be dependent upon the duration you choose.
- Continuous: If your auction will run for several months throughout the school year, plan to advertise constant reminders in school newsletters, newspapers, and other media. Constantly replenish sold items or stagger large catalog items throughout the event - promoting each item with bursts of advertising, as they are placed online.
- Short-Term: If your auction will run for just a few weeks, create hype by planning an advertising bonanza at the beginning and throughout the event, utilize constant reminders, and countdown the days to the close of the auction. Setting a short-term timeframe can create a heightened interest in the event as people will want to participate before the auction ends. Although online auctions running 1 to 2 weeks in length can be successful, most successful, short-term auctions run 3 to 4 weeks, with most bids placed in the last week.
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AUCTION ITEMS
Designate several (5-8) of your committee members to focus solely on catalog & donor development. Building your catalog and gathering auction items is a time-consuming, tedious, and a critical part of planning an auction. Quality auction items will draw a larger crowd to your event.
Analyze the demographics of your target audience in order to build your catalog. What are their needs, wants, interests, lifestyle, and buying habits? This will give you a better idea of the types of items to include in your catalog. Sponsors and donors will also want to know that you have analyzed the demographics and know whom they will reach.
Every item to be auctioned off should be either a sponsored purchase or a donated item. And remember, no donation should be turned away. In fact, you will find that you can pair several smaller items together to make a package item. Do not limit the number of auction items. Obtain as many as you can get in the time allotted.
Be creative when seeking auction donations. Contact all types of businesses and ask for gift certificates, products, and services. Do not limit your request to the local area. Large companies from around the country are supportive of nonprofit fundraising efforts. Ask parents to donate as well. A chef may donate a night of cooking. A landscaper may donate a few hours of Fall or Spring yard clean-up. A season ticket holder may donate their tickets to a professional game. Be creative!
See our Auction Items page for a complete list of creative auction item ideas.
BiddinForGood can also help you obtain catalog items. They offer a catalog of items that you can place in your online auction. These may be items unavailable to you through your current list of donors (i.e. baloon rides, sailing, vacation packages, local & regional dining and attractions, sports memorabilia, etc).
In choosing items from cMarket's catalog, you will also reduce the time spent soliciting items on your own. If the item sells in your auction, a fee is paid to cMarket. If the item doesn't sell, there is no cost obligation to you, the item simply returns to cMarket.
Why not invite 100,000 people to your next fundraiser? Reach an even larger audience through BiddingForGood. By opting in to BiddingForGood.com, your online auction has just multiplied its potential bidder list by the thousands! BiddingForGood.com brings together all of cMarket's charity auctions in one place, supporting hundreds of non-profit causes nationwide with thousands of different items up for bid each day.
RUN A SILENT AUCTION & A LIVE AUCTION TOGETHER
Run an online auction in conjunction with a live auction to give additional exposure to both events. Live auction items can be previewed online prior to the live event, which may assist in selling an increased number of tickets. Use the online bids to elevate your starting bids at the live event. Your catalog can consist of a section of live-auction items and a section of online-auction items.
For more information on live auctions, see our Auctions page.
TAX NOTICES
Tax notices will need to be sent to sponsors and buyers so they have a written record of their donation. Send notices to:
- Sponsors: Specify the value of their donation and that they did not receive anything in return for their contribution. This information can be combined in your Thank You letter. See sample below.
- Buyers: If a guest purchased an item for $1,000 but this item had a value of $200 (i.e. a piece of unfinished furniture decorated by a class), then the $800 difference is considered a charitable contribution to your school.
ADVERTISING, SPONSORS, COMMITTEES, THEMES, & MORE
Advertise 3-4 months in advance. Focus your attention on reaching the parents, townspeople, and local businesses.
Sign-in for Free, immediate access to Fundraising: Success is in the Details
- Planning
- Forming a Committee
- Selecting a Location
- Advertising
- Sponsorships
- Conducting Meetings
- Being a Great Leader & Thanking Your Supporters
- Developing a Theme
- Maintaining Accurate Records
NOTE: An access link will appear every time you login.
cMARKET
CLICK HERE For more information on BidingForGood's products and services.
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SAMPLE THANK YOU LETTER TO SPONSORS
Date
Company Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Dear Company Name:
We would like to express our sincere thanks for your generous support of the (School Name) School's Fundraising Auction that took place on (date). This event was a huge success. We were able to surpass our goal of $18,000 and raise over $20,000 purchase a new playground for our children.
The commitment and generosity of our community continue to amaze me. We hope you will join us when our auction re-opens again on September 15, 2006.
Please let this letter serve as a receipt for your donation for which you did not receive anything in return:
__________________(state donation here)___________________
Thank you again for your generous support. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (phone) or (email).
Sincerely,
Your Name
Auction Coordinator
SAMPLE THANK YOU LETTER TO BUYERS
Date
Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Dear Name:
We would like to express our sincere thanks for your generous support of the (School Name) School's Fundraising Auction that took place on (date). This event was a huge success. We were able to surpass our goal of $18,000 and raise over $20,000 to purchase new playground for our children.
The commitment and generosity of our community continue to amaze me. We hope you will join us when our auction re-opens again on September 15, 2006.
Please let this letter serve as a receipt for your purchase and generous donation. Your purchase included:
Item / Value / Purchase Amount
____________________________/$______________/$_______________
____________________________/$______________/$_______________
____________________________/$______________/$_______________
Thank you again for your generous support. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (phone) or (email).
Sincerely,
Your Name
Auction Coordinator
SAMPLE SPONSORSHIP REQUEST LETTER
Date
Company Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Dear Company Name
The (school name) of (city, state) will be hosting a benefit Online Auction beginning (date). We are working toward raising funds for a new, state-of-the-art playground that will consist of swings, slides, monkey bars and other amenities for our children.
The state of the current playground area is in disrepair, as it is now 26 years old. Our fundraising goal to purchase new equipment is $20,000. This includes equipment, installation, and playground mulch, a requirement for a safe play environment. This auction will bring us one step closer to providing a safe environment for our children. We are asking for the assistance of our community to make this happen. We are asking for your help by becoming a sponsor. Your generosity would be greatly appreciated and acknowledged at our event.
- Platinum Sponsorship - a donation of money, product, or services worth $3,000 or more: Platinum sponsors will be highlighted with a logo promotional display on our auction homepage, including a link to your website.
- Gold Sponsorship - a donation of money, products, or services worth $1,000 to $2,999: Gold sponsors will be acknowledged with a listing on our website, including a logo.
- Silver Sponsorship - a donation of money, products, or services worth up to $999: Silver sponsors will be acknowledged with a listing on our website.
We are asking for donations in the form of cash, gift certificates, products, and services. Anything that your company can contribute would be greatly appreciated. The auction is being marketed to men and women, primarily ages 25 to 65 with children or grandchildren in the school system. However, the auction is also open to anyone in the United States through online search engines. We would love to make this a successful event but we need your help to make this happen and ultimately raise the funds for our school.
Please return your tax-deductible contribution to the School Name, Street, City, State, Zip, Attn: Auction Coordinator Name, Auction Coordinator. If you have any questions, I can be reached by phone at (phone) or by email at (email). Thank you, in advance, for your support.
Very Truly Yours,
Your Name
Auction Coordinator
PTO Ideas has provided you with ideas for planning an online auction. This information should not be used as a legal reference and may not be all-inclusive. We suggest consulting with the head of your school, an accountant, or any other essential professional.
Information pertaining to cMarket has been provided by cMarket, should be confirmed by cMarket, and is subject to change.
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