How To Set Up A Bidding Website

Fundraising does not cease during these uncertain times. Instead, your organization must be prepared to adapt to unforeseen and unexpected circumstances that potentially limit fundraising revenue.

Typically, spring fundraising campaigns, events, and initiatives aid nonprofits heighten coin for their programs that take place twelvemonth-round. As those campaigns are canceled, pivoted, and moved with the news of the COVID-19 outbreak, many organizations are now taking their in-person events online.

With then many moving pieces, an in-person event can exist slightly overwhelming to take online. For instance, if you're hosting an auction, how tin can you lot emulate a paddle raise through a webpage? Tin y'all create the same free energy online that you're used to from a crowded room with an open bar? How do people collect their auction items after winning and paying online?

ClickBid has helped many of nonprofits transition from an in-person auction to an online auction. To aid you maximize your fundraising opportunity, we've compiled a few tips from our experience with many of these online events.

one. Take Stock of Your Items

First, inventory all of the items you were planning to include during your in-person auction. It'southward hard to know when certain items like travel and experiences volition be available once again, so consider holding off on excursion items until a fall outcome, or even an adjacent year. This may crave you to make full in some gaps with more fun-from-home items like meal commitment services or online shopping gift cards.

The dazzler of an online sale is that you tin can sell one or 100 items over a period of time. To commencement, we recommend selecting a primal group of about 20 items. So, y'all tin can go back after and brainstorm to add together more items to your auction when you're set. Y'all can also stagger closing times on items to keep your bidders engaged and coming back for more.

2. Set Your Starting Bids Properly

Typically y'all should prepare starting bids for your online auction items at 35% of their proposed value. Your goal here is to get between 80% to 100% of market value, and judge for 12 to 16 bids per item.

For example, an item with a market value of $100 might start at $35 and accept a minimum raise value of $5. With 16 bids that would total $115. This tin can, and should, change based on what price point you lot're comfy selling the detail for.

3. Define the Rules

At an in-person gala it's understood that after the result, winners go to the checkout table to pick up their items. Nevertheless, if y'all're hosting an online auction bidders will likely have questions virtually how they're supposed to secure their items, or what the logistics around shipping might be.

For example, you tin alarm all winners that you'll reach out via email or telephone for commitment options. Alternatively, if shipping is available, define the costs that are passed through to the winner and inform them they'll be charged for this separately. Try to anticipate as many of these questions every bit you can and put the information on your outcome website. Additionally, you can include this information in whatsoever emails you send when you offset announce the online auction.

4. Promote Everything

Now that you are hosting your sale online, it is important to effectively communicate to your donors via email and social media. For example, once you lot have your items online, post the consequence landing page to your social profiles fifty-fifty if the official auction isn't open yet. Be sure to also include a few photos of your key items.

Similar to the example from 21st Century Leaders beneath, you could write a post that says: "Pre-register for our auction now! Browse our growing list of great items."

Post frequently near the auction and items on social media every bit well. Your online sale is a style to stay in front of your donors with updates when y'all add items, open your sale, and characteristic unbid items To make the sharing easier, you can use mass messaging services for text and email within your auction software to continue bidders enlightened of new items. Additionally, encourage your bidders to re-share your posts on their own profiles.

5. Apply Photos

Bidders volition probable look at your items from their laptops, phones, tablets, and other devices. Make certain yous add at to the lowest degree three images per detail. If y'all don't have an epitome bachelor, utilize accurate stock photos that relate, or even logos. Remember that "eye appeal is buy appeal" and no particular should be without a photo.

A business organisation' logo on a white groundwork is an easy add-on and makes the item quickly recognizable. If y'all're offer signed memorabilia, have a photo of the complete item, but besides include a close up of the autograph(s). Stay away from collage photos tough; they lose their bear on on mobile device's smaller screens.

If you're taking your ain photos, ensure that lighting and setting are appropriate. If at that place is something special about the item, ensure that you are capturing information technology; items that include bottles of higher priced wine should have a clear photo of their characterization showing the winemaker and vintage, if applicative, like with the photo below.

6. Use Buy At present and Max Bidding

Two great values of online auctions are Max Bidding and Purchase Now. Max bidding allows a bidder to set a "non-to-exceed" amount and allow the system bid on their behalf. When someone bids a higher amount, the organisation will check for a max. If one exists, the organisation sets the college amount and the detail sells for more money.

Purchase Now allows you to prepare a peak price that y'all are willing to sell the detail for. Typically, if a applicant chooses to purchase with the buy now characteristic, bidding stops on that item and the item is sold to that bidder for the purchase now toll. If yous let a buy now option for an particular, exist certain to set the price xx% to 30% higher than the market value.

vii. Host a Multi-Twenty-four hour period Auction

When y'all transition from an in-person auction to an online auction, you lot're no longer locked into a single dark to capture all of your bids. Yous can host your sale over a multi-day flow, and you can even consider opening the auction a calendar week early. Those extra days allow you to send multiple emails and social media posts promoting the event, your items, and driving donors to your site.

8. Atomic number 82 Into a Virtual Issue

Opening your auction a few days early tin create a natural span that leads into a full-fledged virtual event or alive stream. You lot can utilize your virtual upshot to recreate certain elements of an in-person auction past live streaming a pocket-sized group of people sharing the experience with viewers. Services like Facebook and YouTube make alive streaming readily available and reliable.

For additional aid, contact a local sound/visual company. Many are starting to offering live streaming packages to supersede their presence at ballroom events.

From an internal perspective, your virtual event should be scripted. Create a run-of-bear witness timeline, plans for who will speak to specific topics, and for how long each person will speak. It's fourth dimension to channel your inner QVC host to describe items that are upwardly for bid! Pictured beneath, ClickBid'due south public leaderboard and appeal display can assist bring the spirit of a live event to the virtual.

Broadcasting your virtual event allows your bidders to see yous in existent life, and it's a bully style to connect with your donors. To go far even more than fun and engaging, you lot might consider asking winning bidders to post selfies to celebrate their wins and bear witness off their at-home party attire, cocktail recipes, and drinks. You tin can then feature these posts in the alive broadcast or in mail-auction email and social media letters.

9. Keep Everyone Motivated

Remember, with an online sale you lot're competing for a donor's attention online, then give them a reason to pay attention to you lot. For instance, you tin can consider holding dorsum a few primal items from auction and instead use them equally a giveaway to anyone who places a bid or shares a picture to social media.

Exist certain to communicate when these incentives are happening so your audience is aware and tin accept role. This also becomes yet another touchpoint to connect with your donors and continue them engaged.

10. Inquire for Donations

No affair how you make up one's mind to orchestrate and host your online auction, you should e'er ask for donations throughout. Fix up a fund-a-need item, or create a whole category of donation items every bit a 'wish list'. You lot can as well take reward of ClickBid'due south online donation or text-to-give capabilities to bulldoze in-the-moment donations. If someone was outbid, suggest that they make a donation instead.

Regardless, make the enquire to donate clear, curtailed, and compelling. You should too take the time to add some photos, a story, even a video explaining what this is all for so the donor knows they can still help.

These are extraordinary times, and many activities that have typically been in-person are at present beingness conducted online. At ClickBid, our reputation has been built on helping charities leverage the internet to raise funds, stay connected with donors, and ensure that their mission critical piece of work can continue. We've earned the trust of thousands of organizations by helping them heighten over $200 million for their causes with scalable infrastructure, PCI compliant credit processing, and a dedicated team to assist you achieve your fundraising goals.

Swish also offers an integration with ClickBid that your nonprofit can employ to get an online auction upwardly and running. Reach out to our team today and learn how you tin can go it gear up today.

Matthew Burnell is the founder and CEO of ClickBid Mobile Behest. Matt has spent his career, spanning more than than two decades, blending applied science with fundraising around the world. Near recently, he has helped start a ride sharing nonprofit for individuals with special needs chosen GoLou. He has a degree in Computer science and Film Studies from M Valley Land University. Matt lives on the Westward Michigan lakeshore with his wife, son and sleepy dog Blu.

Source: https://www.classy.org/blog/host-a-successful-online-auction/

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