The Online Auction Fundraiser

With the development of quality online auction software, running an auction live on the web has become easier and easier!

Obviously, to make it successful, you will still need to put much work and effort into an online auction fundraiser.

I would definitely recommend it to be a part of your fundraising campaign!

There are two big advantages that online charity auctions have over physical ones...

1. There are no geographical boundaries - It doesn't matter where your supporters live, they can still take part in your auction, which is not the case for a physical auction.
2. No time constraints - An online auction can run live on the web 24/7, and for as long as you would like it to run for (2-3 weeks is a good guideline). While a physical auction is very limited time wise.

   This means that all your supporters and potential bidders will have ample opportunity to place their bids and take part, and won't miss out because of some other commitment that would possible keep them from attending a physical event.

These two facts mean that you will be able to reach a wider audience, which will increase the bids and which will therefore increase your earnings!

So here's how you run this very profitable fundraising idea...

Running an Online Auction Fundraiser:

Set Up Your Auction Website:

Most Online Auction companies will provide you with a customizable auction website from where you will run your online charity auction.

Customize your auction homepage and your storefront in a way that further markets and raises awareness for your cause. Educate and convince your visitors that every cent raised is going towards a good cause!

Make it appealing and encouraging for your site visitors to take part in your auction. They must feel that every bid they make isn't just to try buy a product they want, but that it will also be helping a worthwhile cause!

Your next step will be to find products and items to auction off...

Find and Solicit Auction Items:

You should sit down with your fundraising committee and brainstorm what items your supporters and the general public will want the most. Draw up a list of items that would be most desirable for your auction.

The better and more in demand your products are, the more profitable your online auction fundraiser will be.

A great idea to boost bids is to run a themed auction fundraiser using appropriate auction items!

Then get your committee or volunteers to reach out to friends, family, supporters, local businesses, national/international businesses, shops, or to anyone able to donate something, and request donations of auction items from them.

Remember that the donors will receive much better publicity from an online auction than from a live one. An online charity auction can actually be very beneficial to the marketing of products for shops and companies!

So use that point when asking for item donations.

You can also add sponsor ads to your storefront and on the items page which could also be used as another method of fundraising... by getting a company or companies to advertise on your auction site.

Generally items that are relevant to your cause, its supporters, the time of the year (ex. Christmas), or the auctions theme (if you have one) will be most profitable! So consider this when you are trying to find auction items.

Some of the most successful items are vacation trips, major events tickets, discount cards, gift cards and jewellery.

Advertise And Market:

Here is one of the most important things to realize about an Online Auction Fundraiser...

Publicity is the key!

It's not good enough to just get great items that people will go mad to bid on... You actually have to let people know that they are there! You need to raise as much publicity as you can!

So, use all the usual advertising methods and a few others...

• Advertise through your fundraiser website and your newsletter.
• Use word of mouth.
• Send out press releases to local newspapers and online press release sites.
• Use Facebook by announcing it on your Facebook page, setting up an event, and inviting all your Facebook contacts to take part and to forward on that invitation.
• Use Twitter and ask your followers to forward your tweets on about your auction. With both Twitter and Facebook you should continually post updates about how your online auction fundraiser is going.
• Post adverts on high traffic sites like CraigsList.com. A definite must-do.
• And of course, always be creative and look to come up with your own marketing ideas that will really boost your events publicity.

You should also look to advertise specific items and promote items that aren’t doing so well...

Tweak And Adjust For Maximum Results:

Once your online auction begins you will be able to see what items are receiving bids and what items are not!

This is where you must watch and then tweak your auction where necessary by promoting items that aren't doing so well, or by dropping their minimum bids etc.

One of the best advantages of an online auction fundraiser is that you can efficiently track bids and evaluate how well the auction is doing and then make the necessary changes to make it more efficient.

Something which you cannot do at a physical auction!

Ending Notes:

Once your auction is finished you will have a great deal of informative information for your next auction.

What items sold well? What items didn't? What was the best form of marketing? What tweaking worked etc?

So with all this valuable information in your hand, it's the best time to start planning your next online auction fundraiser!

Take what you've learnt and plan for a better and more profitable auction fundraiser next time.

Other Internet Fundraising Ideas:

Magazine Fundraising

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