stepsToSuccess
1. Establish a Clear Goal and Budget
Before planning your auction, determine your primary goal. Are you looking to drive brand awareness, create awareness of a new product or generate as much money as possible? Keep that goal in mind throughout the entire process to ensure you never lose sight of what you are trying to accomplish.
Once you’ve set a goal, it is time to start thinking about budget. Your budget needs to include staff, invitations, marketing, space rental, entertainment and anything else required to make your event successful. When developing your budget, remember that the overall goal for fundraising is to raise more money than you spend.
If you don’t establish your goals up front, you can’t really develop a plan. If you don’t have a plan, you are planning to fail.
2. Create a Plan to Drive Traffic
Online auctions have ability to reach out to millions of bidders worldwide, a major advantage over traditional live or silent auctions. However, this advantage means nothing unless you make people aware of the opportunity. Generating publicity for your event is critical for success – if no one knows about it, it didn’t happen.
Three common tactics used to promote online auctions are:
- Media partnerships
- Celebrity endorsement
- Outreach to cause supporters
3. Manage Your Mechandising Mix
Offering a high-profile item (a car, a celebrity’s clothing, etc.) can be a great incentive. However, offering a wider variety of merchandise at low, mid and high price points is often a better strategy, as it enables a wider spectrum of consumers to participate.
When developing a merchandising mix, it is important to know the audience and both their interests and spending power. What items do they want? Sit down and create a ‘wish list’ for merchandise. Look for opportunities everywhere, and don’t be afraid to ask – it’s not for you, it’s for your cause. Many organizations are very receptive to supporting auctions through merchandise donations.
Incorporating consignment items into your merchandising mix can provide an ease of mind and a boost in profits. When using consignment items, first know the vendor and verify the pricing and any restrictions that may come with the item.
Used properly, consignment items can be a large draw. Consider how to present and promote the item(s) to maximize the auction exposure, and be creative! Some items can be combined to create an even more enticing package.
One of the most important things to remember when using consignment items is to set a minimum bid. A good rule of thumb is to set the minimum at 10% to 20% of the items cost, to ensure that you make a profit.
4. Practice Good Customer Service
A successful auction depends on bidders. To increase the chances of receiving higher bids, it is important that all potential bidders receive excellent customer service. This builds bidder confidence that they will be treated fairly, and that the item they are bidding on will be delivered as described. Building trust with bidders also increases the chance that they will participate in your next fundraising event.
5. Assemble a Strong Auction Team
Experience is everything. Depending on internal resources, and the level of publicity expected, auction expertise can come from:
- In-house expert
- Experience, trusted trading assistant
- Auction management services from Elevate Auctions