Thursday, January 16, 2014

Fundraising Ideas For A Charity Auction Organizer

By Amanda Bean


The first thing a Charity Auction Organizer should do to succeed is to have goals and a plan. The goal is a specific amount of money to be raised in the event for the listed items. Having this in mind, the auction planner should make a clear plan on reaching the goal that has been set. Device ways to maximize the attendance and sale.

Start by studying the audience so as to know what to give them as bid items. Select items that have a broad appeal in order to attract the bids from a wider part of the audience at all times. From the history of the previous years, go for items that have been selling well and bring more of it leaving aside those that do not attract more bids. Ask the donor to buy sponsorship like ad space instead of donating items; this will give them more exposure.

Go out of your way to attract bidders to the event. A charity organizer may have very good items for bidding but have very few attending to bid. Work on a thorough marketing and awareness campaign early enough before the event day comes. This however should be within budget since the auction is about raising more money and not spending most of it on advertising. Use all available media to have more people excited about the event.

Clearly promote your auction items with adequate descriptions to attract the prospective bidders. Pack enough features and pictures to your online catalog and make people want to buy these items. As you sell the items that were donated, sell the donor too as one package and watch the miracles happening. Make them very appealing by packaging and showcasing.

Time the auction well and have the durations adjusted to make bidders interested till the end. For example have online auctions limited to one week even though you can make the awareness campaign begin even a month before the public sale. Several items should have their opening and closing at different times to keep the activity going and minds active all the time. Create short bidding windows so as to make them feel urgent and hurry to bid on your items.

Be simple in all that you do. The items list and categories should be easy to understand to even a layman. Make the lives of your guests easy and have them interested in the event by eliminating complexities where you can. The online catalog should be straight forward with proper guidance all through the way. Clearly place signs in the auction room to make the process simple. Tablet and Smartphone apps can be used to help in the bidding and checkout hassle free.

Use technology to cut costs in organizing the event. Instead of printing out letters consider emailing the invites. Save on costs as you avoid paperwork all through the process. Mobile bidding has made the process so simple that you will not even have the headaches of managing the event and tens of bids. Avoid papers, files and so on by going digital.

Hiring a professional to handle the public sale is a smart way for a Charity Auction Organizer to make his work less stressing. With their experience, the professional will make the sale very lively and keep the audience attentive all the time. Give them a reason to stay a minute longer at the auction and achieve your goals.




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