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Fundraising Auction

One of the most fun and rewarding fundraisers that an organization can put together is a fundraising auction. These can be typical, live auctions or they can be online auctions using websites like E-Bay.

The premise behind the auction is simple, participants bid on prizes and the money received goes to the fundraiser. Many charities hold fundraising auctions as do private schools and other organizations that have the necessary volunteers to help put it together.

An online fundraising auction doesn't require a group of volunteers to put it together, with the exception of gathering the articles that will be auctioned off. These items usually come from businesses in the community and can vary in their value. In fact, it is often to the auction's advantage to have some lower valued items so that more people can participate. Higher valued items like artwork or services will ultimately bring in more money but will have a limited number of people who are able to afford to bid.

Hosting an online fundraising auction requires the organization to market their event to the community and also through the site that is hosting the auction for them. Otherwise, no one will realize there is an auction and it won't be a success.

Marketing for this type of auction could be newspaper ads, email alerts and any of the many social networks where millions of people would see the event posting. Twitter and Facebook are two of the best examples of how to get the word out about an upcoming event. The news spreads virally throughout these communities and helps to assure some measure of participation.

During the marketing phase of the event it is important that awareness for the cause is raised. It is not enough to simply advertise an online auction for the ABC School. The precise reason that funds are being raised must be a major part of the marketing campaign. The community, including the Internet community, will respond to the auction more favorably if they know for instance that the school needs new uniforms. Generically marketed auctions tend to appear as scams or ploys to raise money that is not needed.

Once the items that are being auctioned off are acquired and the marketing for the event is in place the team should appoint someone to oversee the online process. This person must be diligent in keeping up with questions that may arise during the auction. This means they need to be able to dedicate time to check their e-mail and the auction site on a regular basis.

The team must also decide how long they want the auction to run. Typically, the choices are either a three-day or a seven-day auction. Three-day auctions are much quicker but do not allow much time for competitive bidding to occur. Better results are generally seen with a seven-day auction.

Once the auction has ended it is important that all prizes be shipped as expeditiously as possible so that participants will not lose faith in the integrity of the organization.

Finally, someone in the organization should be responsible for record keeping and paying the fees to the auction site. After the auction has ended this person should make a complete report of fund spent on the auction and money raised in order to get an accurate picture of the project's success.

Lastly, donors to the auction should be sent a thank-you note for their donations. This helps to build a positive relationship and possibly keep them as viable donors for future events.

Online fundraising auctions are a great way to raise money that can reach many more people than a live auction. Choose a reputable online auction company and watch as the fundraiser collects as much money or more than a live one with half the work involved.