How

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A BiddingForGood Webinar

Presented by:Perry Allison, VP Marketing

How to Avoid Auction

Nightmares

Who is BiddingForGood?

The leader in fundraising auctions for organizations of every size and shape.

• Over 19,000 auctions run

• Raised over $185 million and counting…

• 360,000 + community of cause-minded shoppers

• $15 million invested in our bidding platform

• Founded in 2003

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The Anytime, Anywhere Auction

A fundraising auction that allows bidders to bid on any device from anywhere.

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• Online• At school events• At galas • At golf tournaments• In stadiums

It’s all about…

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Let’s start with some inspiration…“Organize, don't agonize.” ― Nancy Pelosi

“By failing to prepare,

you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin

“He who is best prepared can best serve his moment of inspiration.” ― Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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What we’ve learned

Almost all auction nightmares

are avoidable

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#1 Herding Cats

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• Missed meetings • Chaos• Missed deadlines• Poor communication• No one is setting priorities

Organizing your volunteers is a lot like managing a family

• Checklists

• Collaboration tools• Volunteer log in

• Reporting

• Item Donation Status

• Tickets sold

• $$ raised to date

• Cash Donations

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#2 Your auction chair deserts you

• Have a succession plan

• Have a repository for all of your work and data.

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#3 Acts of God

• An online auction is the best insurance policy of all

• Other strategies:• Extend your auction• Run a second auction to

auction off unsold items

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#4 No one shows up at the party

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It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to…

• Send emails to your entire list• Sell tickets on your auction

homepage

Promote, Promote, Promote

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• Share your auction URL on your social media sites• Pin items to pinterest• Run adds on local media

#5 Great party, but no one is bidding

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Where are the bidders?

• Have music blasting all night long• Have a casino competing with your auction• Isolate the bidding area from the party• Serve too much alcohol before the bidding

begins….

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Don’t:

Where are the bidders?

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Do:• Make sure you can make auction announcements • Encourage volunteers to help bidders • Sell tickets online so people arrive ready to bid• Put bidding station near the items • Use the leaderboard to keep

bidders engaged

#6 Lots of bidders, but no bids

There is an art to pricing your auction items:

• Set your opening bids • Recommendation - set at

1/3 value of the item• You know your community

best and what prices will fly

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#7 A little tipsy, and very unhappy

Managing unruly folks is a bit of an art:

• Assign the right people for the job

• Defer any issues to the next day if possible

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What are your nightmares?

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Let us try and help with ideas and solutions