It’s no secret that auctions are an excellent way to raise money. And using the right online auction platform for nonprofits can mean the difference between meeting your fundraising goals or missing the mark.
But how can you determine the best online auction software for nonprofits? What features should you insist upon having, and why? We’ve created this guide to help you find the right software for your organization (and it may be easier than you think).
Picking the best auction software for nonprofits: The must-haves
When you are looking for software for your nonprofit auction, you want it to be flexible, easy to use, and secure. You want to choose software that your constituents can easily understand and that your team can easily manage both before and after the auction.
Flexibility
As we’ve discussed in our resource guide, “Auctions can take shape in many different forms—from online to in-person and from rowdy live auctions to quiet silent auctions. Each nonprofit auction type comes with its own set of benefits and challenges. Some nonprofits may opt for a combination of types to meet their goals.”
Make sure you pick a platform that can handle a variety of types of fundraising events, including:
- Virtual events
- In-person charity auction events
- Hybrid events (with both online and in-person bidding)
- Silent auctions
If you choose software that can only handle online auctions for nonprofits, but not in-person ones, or software that isn’t designed for nonprofits at all, it will take much more work on your end.
Nonprofit specific
There are a number of things that you will need your software to handle that an average person selling items online does not. Make sure that your software features auction packages for nonprofits specifically. You’ll want your system to generate tax receipts for auction items. Your organization should also have the ability to set “overhead” costs, which is an amount that is NOT tax-deductible on said tax receipts.
Easy set-up
If your fundraising software isn’t designed to handle auction events, it can complicate the set-up process. Your fundraising team is busy, so it’s best to have a system that can:
- Automatically assign bidder numbers to participants
- Automatically assign lot numbers to the items being sold
- Manage notifications before, during, and after the auction
- Make advance bidding easy to manage and track
- Permit batch uploading for lot items
- Create bid sheets that include pictures, a blurb, a name, and a bid amount.
- Easily include QR codes for scanning
- Track and apply sales tax when required by law
Speaking of the law, it can also be helpful if your software can help you track local laws surrounding charity auctions and help keep your compliance paperwork in order.
Many ways to bid
The best online auction software for nonprofits will allow your donors to bid for items in a variety of ways. Giveffect, for example, will allow you to accept bids:
- In person
- On a mobile device
- From a computer
- In advance
- Via SMS text-to-bid
Remember, the more ways someone can bid on an auction donation to nonprofits, the more likely they are to bid.
In-auction notifications
During the auction, your bidders want to be notified if they get outbid. This will also help your nonprofit, as they may choose to raise their stakes. But your fundraising staff or volunteers can’t be expected to keep up with every bid on every lot number, especially in an online auction scenario. That is why the best online auction platforms for nonprofits will include automated notifications for every bidder throughout the auction.
User-friendly
You want your nonprofit auction software to be easy to use. We’ve already discussed the importance of easy setup for your team, but you’ll want a system that is easy for your bidders, too.
With Giveffect, your bidders can visit a website (that you can easily create), that is clearly branded to your organization. They will be able to:
- navigate the lots
- determine their bids
- create an account (or log into their existing account)
- verify their identities (for your security and theirs)
- place a bid
- track their bid with notifications
- complete their payment either online or offline
And speaking of that payment, your bidders will know their exact winning bid right up front. Some of the major online auction websites allow you to bid, and if you win, you’ll pay the second highest bid, plus a fee. That means you won’t know the exact amount until the very last minute.
With Giveffect’s online auction platform for nonprofits, the winning bid (and the tax deduction that may follow) will be in the amount of the winning bid itself. This allows your constituents to come with their best foot forward. There’s even a buy-it-now feature if you choose to utilize it.
Integration with your CRM
But the VERY best online auction software for nonprofits will also SEAMLESSLY integrate with your CRM, which is something online competitors can’t offer.
If you use Giveffect’s 10-in-1 nonprofit software solution, our auction platform is built to integrate with your database. There’s no need for multiple softwares. Because all of your data is in one place, each user has their credit card information stored. This provides a seamless process for givers.
Any bidder who verifies their identity is automatically added to your CRM database, which means that they are easy to follow up with for future fundraising. You’ll know what they bid on and have a sense of their interests and priorities, and you can leverage this information to be dynamic and targeted with your campaign/workflows through segmentation.
Learn more about how Giveffect can help you to maximize your nonprofit auctions and the rest of your operation as well. Book a demo today.
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