Nonprofits face uncertainty on a scale never seen before. Due to an on-going decrease in donations, combined with a need for social distancing, many traditional fundraising options are no longer viable. The charity auction, long a fundraising mainstay, has changed — possibly forever.
Today, instead of holding an in-person auction, many organizations have taken their auctions online. An online auction is an effective and safe way to raise money for your charity. However, they do pose unique challenges. Here’s a closer look at effective online auctions strategies to help maximize donations and minimize potential problems.
Use Auction Software
Many people think that running an online charity auction requires a high level of technical know-how. Fortunately, that’s not the case. Online auction software helps automate the entire process from initial setup through bidding and beyond.
When selecting software, look for the following features:
- Easy integration with ecommerce sites, social media platforms, and other relevant software
- Automated registration for participants
- Built-in analytic tools to track participant behavior
- Security and privacy tools
- Item tracking and automatic cataloging
Auction software handles the technical aspects of running the auction, allowing you more freedom to handle everything else.
Allow for Mobile Bidding
Optimize your online auction for mobile users. Roughly 68% of American households use their mobile device to access the internet, at least some of the time. In 2020, customers expect mobile optimization for any site they visit.
Additionally, optimizing your site for mobile allows you to increase the overall engagement level with your bidder. Some examples of the types of notifications you can send include:
- Announcements regarding auction deadlines
- Notifications of new items as they become available for auction
- Notifications to a participant if someone has outbid them on an item
Sending messages to a participant’s mobile phone is a direct and easy way to reach them both before and during the auction.
Use Live Elements
When holding an auction online, you have two options. A traditional online auction features photos of the items available for bidding. There’s typically a time limit of some type, although it can vary significantly. Some online auctions only last for a few hours, while others allow bidding for a few days or a week.
The other type of online auction is a live auction. A live online auction features an auctioneer, real-time bids, and many other elements from a traditional in-person auction — only it’s conducted via streaming video.
Live streaming adds fun, excitement, and healthy competition to your auction – all of which can help increase the total bids.
Reallocate Funds
Online auctions are cheaper to run than the traditional type, a significant benefit that’s needed today more than ever before. You can save a considerable amount of money by avoiding costly convention hall rental fees.
However, there are some areas where it makes sense to spend wisely. Typically, you don’t want to cut corners when selecting online auction software, as it plays a crucial role in creating a smooth and secure experience.
Additionally, you’ll want to ensure you have enough in your budget to account for your shipping needs. Unlike many in-person auctions, the winning bidder can’t walk away with their item at the close of the auction. Instead, you’ll need to ship it to them, and you want to make sure it arrives in excellent condition.
Post Clear, Detailed Photos
In a traditional auction, potential bidders typically have time to view the items in person before bidding begins. Viewing an item on a computer screen can diminish a person’s ability to connect with it, so you want to take steps to help ensure that doesn’t happen.
Post high-quality photos of the items. You want enough photos to show all sides of the item, including close-ups, to illustrate any important details.
Additionally, provide plenty of written detail about each item. You can describe its features, history, and any other pertinent or useful information.
Sell Tickets and Require Registration
You don’t have to charge people to attend your online auction. However, you do want to require all participants to sign up. Registration allows you to easily compile a database of pertinent participant data. Once you have someone’s contact info, it’s easy to reach out to them again when you want to promote additional auctions.
Analyze Bidding Metrics
Running an auction online allows you to track the behavior of everyone who visits your site. Analyzing visitor metrics is an essential part of maintaining any website, but it takes on particular importance for online auctions because the information you gather helps you improve each subsequent auction and increase the money you can raise.
Reviewing metrics helps you identify who participates in your auctions and what types of items they like to bid on. It allows you to refine your approach so the way you run your auction, and the items available, appeal to your target demographic.
Gamification
Gamification is a marketing technique designed to increase customer (or, in this case, bidder) engagement. Essentially, you introduce competitive elements to the auction process.
The three most common methods of gamification for an online charity auction are:
- Add a leaderboard to encourage competition among bidders. Award the top bidder a special prize.
- Encourage bidders to post messages, photos, and hashtags on your auction’s social media pages.
- Create progress trackers to help illustrate your fundraising goal
These simple techniques make your auction more fun, which helps increase engagement and bids.
Emphasize the Charity
An online auction provides you with much more space to provide information about your charity. With an in-person auction, you’re limited in the amount of written detail you can provide. However, it’s easy to link your site to a second site dedicated to the charity.
Doing so is often especially effective for online auctions that take place over several hours or days. As participants visit the site, they’ll see a link leading to your charity’s site, and hopefully, click on it to learn more.
Final Thoughts
The need for charity is greater than ever before. Fortunately, as certain avenues of fundraising become impractical and unsafe, other opportunities emerge. An online charity auction is easier to set up and run than many people initially think. Plus, it offers a variety of unique benefits not found in traditional auctions.
Use the strategies above to create an online auction that will appeal to your participants and help you raise tons of money for your charity!
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