Charity Auctions for Newbies: 7 Key Issues to Know

As a nonprofit skilled, you’ve most likely heard that charity auctions are time-consuming. On prime of the venue particulars, ticketing, and advertising and marketing you’re used to dealing with for common fundraising occasions, there’s merchandise procurement and bid monitoring to think about. The introduction of digital and hybrid choices has additional sophisticated issues, too.

Nevertheless, with a robust fundraising plan, you possibly can maintain a extremely profitable charity public sale that may not solely enhance income however deepen engagement. Charity auctions are a good way to create a sense of group—both in-person or on-line—and interact donors with pleasant competitors. 

Right here’s all the things it’s essential to know to host your first profitable charity public sale:

1. What’s a charity public sale and what does it appear to be?
2. Which kind of public sale do you have to host?
3. How can charity public sale software program assist?
4. Which group members do it’s essential to recruit?
5. Which gadgets do you have to procure, and the way?
6. How do you promote an public sale occasion?
7. How are you going to maximize incoming public sale income?

A charity public sale could also be extra intricate to plan than your different fundraising occasions, however the payoff in fundraising income and donor engagement could be definitely worth the effort. Use this information for all the things it’s essential to get began. 

1. What’s a charity public sale and what does it appear to be?

A charity public sale is a fundraising occasion through which supporters bid on donated gadgets and packages. Your nonprofit is answerable for procuring gadgets or reserving packages (comparable to trip stays or consignment journey) that can get supporters excited to bid. These things could be procured as in-kind donations from sponsors, bought outright by your nonprofit, or by way of public sale merchandise consignment companions.

Through the occasion, your supporters compete to put the best bid on public sale gadgets. The individual with the best bid wins, and your group earns the proceeds. On the whole, all charity auctions observe the same four-step course of. Use the next timeline as a tenet:

1. Open the bidding. When you’re utilizing cellular bidding software program, no matter whether or not it’s a stay, silent, or on-line public sale, bidding opens routinely at your preset time. When you’re internet hosting a conventional paper-based silent public sale or a stay public sale, announce the opening of bidding to the visitors.
2. Start with a beginning bid. Every merchandise is assigned a beginning bid quantity previous to the occasion, normally at 35-50% of the market worth. That is the minimal quantity that the primary bidder can bid.
3. Bid increments. Members will compete to put the best bid. Every consecutive bid on an merchandise should sometimes be 10-15% better than the earlier bid worth. Think about including Purchase Now choices at 150%-200% of the merchandise’s worth to assist drive bidding and make it straightforward for supporters who wish to pay prime greenback.
4. Shut bidding. Whoever positioned the ultimate, highest bid is the winner of that merchandise. The winner pays the agreed funds on to your nonprofit. 

Bid increment directions ought to be given to individuals forward of time or configured into your cellular bidding software program so the public sale can run easily. For extra info on the fundamental outlines of a charity public sale, take a look at this OneCause information to planning a charity public sale. 

2. Which kind of public sale do you have to host? 

Relying in your nonprofit’s finances and dimension, some public sale varieties could also be extra favorable than others. There are 4 several types of charity auctions that your group can host:

• Reside public sale. A stay public sale is the traditional in-person occasion led by an auctioneer. Friends announce their bids by elevating a bidding paddle, calling out quantities, or getting the auctioneer’s consideration in one other approach. For a stay public sale, you have to to lease a venue, rent an auctioneer, and sure provide catering to your visitors as a part of a broader night of leisure. 
• Silent public sale. In contrast to a stay public sale, the bidding at a silent public sale is extra discrete and fewer public. Members write in bids on sheets of paper and may test again to see in the event that they’ve been outbid, then write in a better bid quantity. A silent public sale can even happen with cellular software program. Due to its flexibility, you possibly can host an in-person, digital, or hybrid silent public sale. 
• Digital public sale. A digital public sale incorporates conventional silent public sale parts however takes all the course of on-line. Your nonprofit can attain individuals from throughout. These occasions could be extremely cost-effective whereas nonetheless producing spectacular ultimate income numbers. A digital public sale may also be longer in length than an in-person occasion. To make your on-line public sale extra partaking, you need to use a live-streaming platform to point out off the gadgets and generate bids in actual time. 
• Hybrid public sale. A hybrid public sale combines in-person and digital parts for a memorable event. Sometimes, a hybrid public sale will contain a digital public sale with in-person stay or silent bidding for a smaller viewers. For instance, with a hybrid silent public sale, you might invite a restricted in-person visitor record to a venue and enable a digital viewers to interact in real-time bidding. 

The pliability of codecs permits organizations of any dimension to host an public sale. Take any one in every of these public sale varieties and scale them to your viewers dimension. An internet public sale could be an particularly great tool for smaller nonprofits to develop their attain. 

3. How can charity public sale software program assist?

Planning and internet hosting a charity public sale is time, useful resource, and manpower-intensive. There are a ton of transferring elements and managing all of them can simply get overwhelming. Nevertheless, working with charity public sale software program from the beginning of your planning course of drastically eases the effort. This software program will help you:

• Elevate more cash. This software program takes the bidding course of on-line, so these bodily in attendance and people who aren’t can each take part. Additional, you’re in a position to present visitors with extra channels to donate exterior of shopping for auctioned gadgets. For instance, you possibly can add a “Donate” button to your public sale webpage so supporters can merely donate any quantity to your trigger.
• Simplify the planning course of. All logistics are automated and run by way of the identical platform, eradicating a lot of the stress of coordination. Plus, as soon as your public sale is up and operating, your supporters received’t have to fret about navigating to a number of totally different websites to take part, which helps to maintain them engaged. 
• Add comfort for individuals. Donors should buy tickets, place and monitor bids, and checkout on-line. This simplifies the donor expertise and eliminates the effort of ready in lengthy strains to take a look at after the very fact.
• Entry beneficial metrics. Software program brings all your planning into one platform, so you possibly can simply entry a whole view of your occasion’s success and assessment alternatives for enchancment. 

Internet hosting a charity public sale is a good way to spice up income and engagement, however you additionally have to make the planning straightforward in your employees. That is the place public sale software program can come in useful, particularly to streamline the behind-the-scenes group and execution. Plus, when you select the precise software program it may be tailored for every type of public sale occasions you host sooner or later.

4. Which group members do it’s essential to recruit?

Simply as with every different fundraising occasion, charity auctions require a devoted group of staffers and volunteers to run easily. You’ll want helpers earlier than, throughout, and after the occasion to ensure it goes off with no hitch. Delegate duties throughout your group, making certain you’ve gotten people or teams to deal with the next elements of your public sale:

• Occasion planning. This group plans the occasion, together with selecting the date, reserving the venue, recruiting volunteers, and even spreading the phrase. Your group will want a robust nonprofit advertising and marketing plan to draw as many individuals as doable to your public sale (thereby rising the quantity of income it is going to generate!). When you’re internet hosting a digital or hybrid public sale, you’ll profit from having a devoted sub-team or committee for dealing with expertise, as properly.
• Merchandise procurement. This group solicits public sale gadgets for the occasion. Every member must be snug soliciting donations and acquainted with which sorts of presents would do properly amongst your nonprofit’s viewers. 
• Occasion volunteers. Volunteers are important to pulling off any in-person public sale occasions, whether or not they’re serving to with arrange or tear down, helping as public sale spotters/screens, or operating registration and checkout.
• Emcee or auctioneer. You’ll have to recruit an emcee or an auctioneer, relying on which kind of occasion you’re internet hosting. An emcee retains an in-person or digital silent public sale on monitor whereas an auctioneer is the ringleader of a stay public sale.

To make your public sale as profitable as doable, remember to plan early. Selecting and organising the precise software program and procuring gadgets could be a very prolonged course of. The easiest way to keep away from overwhelming your group is by getting ready as quickly as doable. 

5. Which gadgets do you have to procure, and the way?

The charity public sale gadgets you procure will rely largely on what your donors are prepared to pay and the place their pursuits could lie. Brainstorm which gadgets may enchantment most to your particular donors utilizing the next suggestions: 

• When you’ve held an public sale previously, mirror on its success. Evaluate which gadgets have been widespread sellers and contemplate bringing them again or related gadgets that will equally entice curiosity. 
• Think about your visitors’ worth vary. Don’t procure costly spa weekends in case your donors could be extra more likely to bid on reasonably priced restaurant reward playing cards and even nonprofit merchandise like t-shirts.
• Perceive your visitors’ pursuits. Think about what’s widespread in your group and what would genuinely be desired. For instance, when you’re an animal rescue nonprofit, your supporters would most likely get pleasure from a day hanging with puppies or kittens! 
• Keep in mind provide and demand. Public sale gadgets which might be uncommon or distinctive are more likely to be of curiosity to most audiences.
• Range your gadgets. Keep away from procuring gadgets that each one fall in a single class, comparable to solely expertise packages or solely merchandise. 

Begin with asking coworkers, associates, members of the family, and another private {and professional} connections to donate gadgets. Flip to native companies and retailers to see in the event that they’ll donate services or products as in-kind presents. When looking for company presents, you’ll have to do your analysis on potential company companions and decide a enterprise with related values. 

6. How do you promote an public sale occasion?

Start with compiling a visitor record, preserving the dimensions of your venue in thoughts. Ship out invitations and, when you’re utilizing public sale software program, deliver the ticketing course of on-line for comfort. It may be useful to faucet into a number of advertising and marketing channels to deliver consideration to your occasion, comparable to:

• Social Media. Social media is a strong software to develop your nonprofit’s attain and get a whole bunch (and even hundreds) of individuals to find out about your occasion. Determine on which platform could also be handiest to unfold the phrase about your occasion. This might be primarily based in your meant viewers’s demographic and which platform they’d be almost definitely to make use of. Then, create partaking graphics or video content material creating pleasure round your public sale with directions on how to enroll. 
• Electronic mail. Ship out an electronic mail to your supporters highlighting your occasion with a hyperlink on to your registration web page. Your electronic mail ought to emphasize a very powerful info and embody a number of visuals to interrupt up lengthy paragraphs. 
• Textual content. When you’ve got your supporters’ telephone numbers and a text-to-give platform arrange, texting is a good way to achieve out to supporters and ensure they see the message. In line with 360MatchPro’s fundraising statistics, textual content message audiences grew by 26% final 12 months, which signifies that texting is a good alternative to market your public sale. You possibly can even embody an possibility in your message to donate earlier than the occasion. 

By giving visitors a style of what your public sale will maintain prematurely, you’ll have the ability to successfully drum up pleasure. You too can arrange a web-based public sale web site by way of your public sale software program to function a catalog for the occasion, providing you with one other beneficial advertising and marketing asset.

Embody all important details about the occasion itself on the web site. This features a quick introduction to your group, the occasion title or theme, the schedule, what the proceeds will profit, the foundations for bidding, and directions for utilizing your cellular bidding platform if relevant.

7. How are you going to maximize incoming public sale income? 

Public sale occasions are inclined to get donors within the temper to present, so put together to profit from this momentum whereas it exists!

Think about the next methods to maximise income at your subsequent charity public sale: 

• Make a stay enchantment. Your emcee or auctioneer asks visitors for donations, reminding them of a fundraising objective your group hopes to achieve by the top of the evening. Show a fundraising thermometer all through the occasion so visitors can monitor how shut you’re attending to the objective.
• Promote mounted priced gadgets. These are gadgets which might be bought, not auctioned, for a set worth. This consists of further occasion actions (comparable to reward playing cards or a thriller field drawing) and even occasion merchandise and equipment.
• Create get together sign-ups. Plan a enjoyable occasion and promote visitor spots on the occasion. Examples of this might be a film evening, a gaggle cooking class, or perhaps a themed get together. These work properly for digital or hybrid occasions and could be led by volunteer ambassadors.
• Use a donation sales space. It is a great way to offer a giving alternative to those that don’t find yourself leaving with an merchandise. As an alternative of ready in an extended checkout line, visitors may give shortly and simply. When you’re utilizing cellular bidding software program, there’s no want for a bodily sales space as donors may give by way of their telephones.
• Goal your audiences. When you’re internet hosting a hybrid public sale, you’ll have to develop methods that can interact each in-person and distant attendees. For instance, invite a smaller group of main donors to the in-person occasion and everybody to the digital occasion. Then, goal your totally different gadgets to every viewers as wanted—stay bidding for luxurious trip packages, hybrid bidding for the fuller vary of things in your catalog, and many others. This helps you fundraise extra effectively and lower your expenses on the in-person logistics.
• Promote adverts in your catalog. Each attendee will browse your public sale catalog whether or not it’s a printed model or on-line, and that’s an enormous promoting level! Present merchandise donors and native companies with the choice to purchase an advert in your catalog (digital or paper) and have their brand featured someplace inside.

These are just a few methods you possibly can maximize income at your subsequent public sale. You recognize your viewers finest, so tailor your fundraising methods to your supporters to extend your occasion’s success. 

Wrapping Up

Auctions could be a lot to plan, however the fundraising potential of those occasions is excessive. Whether or not you intend to host your public sale in-person or just about, you possibly can successfully interact your viewers with pleasant competitors, enjoyable gadgets, and alternatives to present again to your nonprofit. With the assistance of charity public sale software program, the planning course of might be a lot smoother in your group. 

In regards to the Writer

Kelly Velasquez-Hague

Kelly Velasquez-Hague brings over 20 years of fundraising, nonprofit administration, and gross sales/advertising and marketing expertise to her function because the Director of Content material Advertising and marketing for OneCause. As a member of the OneCause gross sales and advertising and marketing group, Kelly manages the entire firm’s content material technique and execution. She is captivated with empowering nice missions and loves that her present function permits her to proceed to assist nonprofits attain new donors and lift extra funds for his or her trigger.