Nonprofit Auction Software: A Worthy Investment?

Auctions. Live, silent, or virtual auctions are a flexible, fun way to engage your donors, support your community, and raise a ton of money for your nonprofit. Whether auctions are a pillar of your year-end campaign or you’re thinking about dipping your toe into the water, tools are available to make these events easier.

One of those tools is auction software. While CharityEngine offers auction software as part of our complete fundraising platform, it’s not always the right choice for every organization.

Let’s take a moment to talk about auctions and how they can fit in with your fundraising plans, then explore the pros and cons of investing in software. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to answer our title question for your unique organization.

The Lowdown on Nonprofit Auctions

In case you’re a toe-dipper, all auctions are not the same, and you have choices that will fit any budget. The one common thread is that in all of them, items or packages are donated to your nonprofit, and then supporters bid on them. The highest bid wins—the bidder gets the item, and your nonprofit gets all the proceeds.

There are corollary benefits, too, such as increased donor engagement and loyalty and deeper ties to your community and local sponsors. You can also easily identify engaged supporters and use targeted outreach; even the second- and third-place bidders are valuable supporters of your cause.

This fundraising mechanism has little downside; the only question is what resources you want to put behind it.

Virtual Auctions

The most flexible, easiest auction to execute is a virtual or online auction. Photos and descriptions of items are posted on a website. When the auction opens, bidders have a specified amount of time to bid on items. When the auction closes, the highest bidders win.

Silent Auctions

A silent auction is in person, with items and packages placed on tables. Attendees are often asked to write their name and phone number and bid on a piece of paper. If someone wants to outbid the highest bidder, they just enter that information. The papers are collected at close, and the winners are notified.

Live Auctions

Live auctions are what you might imagine when you consider events. They’re energized, and an auctioneer usually calls out a bid as paddles or hands are raised. These events are often elaborate and part of a gala that might include dinner and dancing.

For silent and live auctions, your nonprofit sells tickets to offset the cost of the event. If there are additional proceeds, they can count toward the fundraising totals.

What is Nonprofit Auction Software?

Growing nonprofits have likely already invested in a nonprofit CRM (if you need a new one, here’s a really popular list of 14 great options). You know that advanced technology can make donor management and fundraising much easier and more efficient, and many common tools in nonprofit CRMs can be used to support fundraising auctions.

For example, you can segment audiences and pull lists in many CRMs. You can email invitations and create a form to solicit donations. What, then, is so special about specific software?

To begin, it offers specialized digital tools designed to manage and facilitate the entire auction process. Here are some ways auction software can help you plan events and manage bids:

• Create optimized forms for everything from ticket sales to item donations
• Manage registrations
• Track volunteer signups and hours worked
• Mobile bidding helps increase bids with a frictionless experience for your supporters
• Promote your event through different channels, such as email, phone, direct mail
• Catalog items and automatically track bids

Any tasks associated with the event can be made easier, more efficient, or automated using auction software.

Benefits of CharityEngine’s Nonprofit Auction Software

CharityEngine offers powerful donor management and fundraising software with the advantage of built-in tools. Adding the auction module enhances the 360-degree, real-time view you always have of your registrants and their engagement.

And when operations are streamlined and more efficient, it is, of course, a benefit. Let’s look a little deeper at how this software might be able to help your nonprofit.

• Eliminate the potential for human error: When ticket sales, item donations, bids, and payment processing are managed with one platform, the potential for error (think paper bidding forms!) is almost nonexistent.
• Text alerts allow supporters to monitor the auction with a quick phone call and spend more time soaking up the fun. Texts for top bidders and outbid alerts keep everyone in the know, and mobile bidding means warring bidders can fight it out on their smartphones.
• Attendees can also set a maximum bid, knowing they’ll be alerted if the price rises above that number. This means higher bids over the course of your event and higher returns on the success of your auction fundraiser!
• Donor portals on your auction site allow donors to update their payment information and communication preferences in real time. They can also download and print their tax forms with the click of a button.
• Your nonprofit can quickly run a detailed report showing you everything from which volunteers showed up to who bid on what items and who won.
• When it’s time to close out the auction, you can pull a list of winners and bulk charge them, creating a seamless experience for you and your supporters and lessening the chance of an error.
• Advanced reporting that leverages donor giving across channels in one place gives you data insights at your fingertips when you need it: think of the highly personalized and targeted outreach for top bidders after the event.

Then you can use the software to help keep auction attendees coming back!

Who Might Not Benefit from Auction Software?

We’ll always be honest! We sell it, and many of our clients swear by it, but it’s not the right investment for every nonprofit. Can you relate to any of these?

• Sometimes, just buying a CRM is a heavy lift. If that’s even stretching your budget, maximize your use of broad fundraising strategies like email before you double down on auction software.
• Smaller organizations might lack the human resources to learn and use a new program.
• The system isn't vulnerable to glitches when you’re walking around picking up paper bid sheets. Being dependent on technology carries a different risk.
• Nonprofits with one small auction every year probably don’t need advanced software. Organizations with larger or more frequent events could benefit more.
• If your paper bids and spreadsheets meet your needs, wait a bit before investing in more software.

This isn’t a “never” list; it’s a “maybe not right now” list. Pay attention to more than a system's cost...check the ROI!..., but make sure functionality's benefits are worth that cost. 

Worthy or Waste?

It's never a waste! Technology is only advancing, and it’s advancing faster than humans can keep up with it. Embrace new and specialized tools, but only as your resources allow and as your needs dictate.

As always, if you want to talk about nonprofit CRMs or auction software, give us a call. If you’re a client and are curious about adding auction functionality to your account, chat with Customer Success. We are always delighted to help nonprofits find new success!