I am an e-Commerce consultant using online auctions to raise money for some of my clients, and so far it has been a great success. However, I think that a lot of non-profits do not have the expertise or a dedicated staff member to properly run an online auction and are under-utilizing them or missing out on some great opportunities.
The great thing about online auctions is that charities get access to bidders from all over the country, not just their local bidders, so they can expand their focus, their mailing lists and gain donations from people who otherwise would never have heard of them. These auctions can be incorporated into a live auction, or simply used as a supplement to traditional fundraising efforts.
Maybe I am excited by online auctions because the Internet is my career, but I definitely see this as having huge potential for small organizations with limited budgets.
Last edit: 13 years 9 months ago by Lisa @ PTO Today.
I have run an online auction for my son's school, as an adjunct to our main gala auction (which I also chaired). Here's what I believe, pretty strongly, about online fundraising auctions for schools:
1) Your bidders are your parents, and the extended families of your students. The idea that there is a pool of philanthropic folks out there that are just waiting to go bid in a fundraiser for a school that they have no connection to sounds really good, I know. But give it a sniff test before you start counting on it.
2) Online auctions look like less work and less trouble than a gala auction, and that is true. No need to worry about a caterer or decorations or a liquor license. BUT... there is specialized work that these require that galas don't. Most importantly, you need a dedicated, funny, talented writer with a knack for email marketing to promote your online auction every day that it is active, to a good list of family members that you have permission to contact (see point #1). Having someone with some web-design skills to personalize your online-auction platform helps, too.
3) Online auctions are much cheaper to produce, but also tend to raise less money than a gala. The reason is pretty simple: gala auctions are fundraiser-as-spectator-sport; the social aspect of a gala reduces the inhibition guests might otherwise feel about spending money. The gala is a night out, dressed in fancy clothes; the online auction is a few minutes stolen from an otherwise-normal week, while you are home in your sweats or at your office in work clothes.
4) Online auctions make a tremendous supplement to a gala, if you run them a week or two after your main event, and spring them on your community as a surprise (you don't want to give guests a reason to not buy a ticket to your event). You can clean up unsold items and give people who were out-of-town or couldn't afford a ticket another chance to contribute.
This is my general advice; I can also talk about specific platforms for running an online auction on. But for that, please contact me through my profile here.
Roger Devine
Last edit: 13 years 10 months ago by Lisa @ PTO Today.
I was hoping that someone had some direct experience with running an online auction at their school but in the meantime thought this blog post might help:
I noticed that a few of you mentioned online auctions for your fundraising. Do you find it effective? And how do you set something like that up? Looking to shake things up and thought this could be our answer!
