| Writing Fundraising Letters - Online Auctions Can Be a Great Charity Fundraiser
By Darrell Laurant
Whenever non-profit boards hunker down to discuss fund-raising options, one suggestion invariably floats to the surface. “Hey,” someone always says, “why don’t we have an auction?”
A good idea, on its face. Get some items donated, invite the public, then hope that spirited bidding sends the prices soaring.
The devil, however, is in the details. Auctions can be volunteer-intensive, especially if a lot of items need to be moved into a central area. An auction on a given day or night must be publicized, and is then at the mercy of how many people decide to show up.
In the case of the Ethel Walker School of Simsbury, CT, a traditional auction just wasn’t feasible — the school was trying to target its alums, who were scattered all over the country. That’s when board member Donya Nagib Sabet, acting on a friend’s recommendation, decided to try an auction online.
“We were looking for something new,” Sabet said later, “a fundraising event that could engage Walker’s geographically diverse community. Something that would be accessible to everyone, and would be exciting, different and fun.”
And it worked. School supporters not only bid but donated items on-line — 153 of them. Over 1,000 bids were placed, and the school wound up raising $62,500.
“We had some nail-biting about midway through,” Sabet said, “but we stayed the course, and the last week, it just exploded.”
Meanwhile, in Boca Raton, Fla., the Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center tried a different wrinkle. The group continued to hold its annual ball and live auction, a perennially successful tradition used to attract scholarship money, but augmented that with an earlier on-line auction. As it turned out, according to group member Janet Oppenheimer, the on-line auction outperformed the live one.
On-line, the pressure is off. You bid at your convenience — and if decide to back off your bid, you won’t look like a coward in public.
Then, there’s the convenience aspect. As Janet Oppenheimer put it: “We wanted to reach people who might not be interested in a $500-a-plate dinner.”
There are a variety of companies that can assist your group in holding its own online auction. Some organizations purchase customized software, but for many small organizations an online service provider is more cost effective and easier to manage. The two most popular services are cMarket and MissionFish/eBay.
Find out more about these auction services:
cMarket Delivers Online Auction Services for Charities
Missionfish and eBay Team Up for Online Auction Success
Darrell Laurant is a journalist with 30 years experience writing about a variety of topics. He is a regular contributor to StepbyStepFundraising.com, a site which provides information on a variety of fundraising strategies including events, products and direct mail. Visit the website today to get your copy of the free report
The 5 Keys to Successful Fundraising.
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