Online Auctions

I subscribe to a message board about animal welfare fundraising, and a question was posted about online auctions. I've been using online auctions for animal welfare for three years now (going into my fourth auction), so I've been involved in them for quite a while, in relative terms.

I also get questions about them during the National Fundraising School . Here is what I have learned. I hope my experiences are helpful to your work on behalf of animals.

#1. Just because you build it, does not mean they will come. Before you start to consider an online auction, take stock of your online capabilities. Most importantly, how many email addresses do you have in your file, and how many of them are valid addresses? When I first started with an online auction, it was recommended that we have a minimum of 2,000 valid addresses. Now we have more than 12,000 addresses. The more addresses you have, the bigger audience you have, and the more potential bidders you have. Like so much in fundraising, online auctions are a numbers game. The more addresses, the more bidders, the higher the bids, the more you will raise. Marketing the auction is up to you. The more emails you have in your system, the more people you can tell about your auction.

#2. E-bay versus a dedicated auction site. You can use e-Bay, via their Mission Fish nonprofit arm, for your auction. Costs are minimal, and you use a well-known brand. Or, you can go with a dedicated auction site, such as c-Market. There are several other venders that provide a similar service. As I see it, here are the pros and cons. e-Bay has a worldwide reach, which is great if you have items that appeal to anyone everywhere. But, people in San Diego probably aren't interested in a gift certificate for a restaurant in Ohio. So, if you have many items that are specific to your area, e-Bay's huge audience isn't going to be so valuable. If, on the other hand, you have items that appeal to a very narrow audience, such as a hobby or a collectible, e-Bay is great. We once had a number of needlepoint canvases donated that we tried to auction on our c-Market site. They didn't sell, so we posted them on e-Bay. We found an audience for them and sold them quickly.

#3. You can use multiple approaches. As the last paragraph states, you can use multiple auction venues. Don't limit yourself to just one, if you think you can do better using e-Bay's broad audience.

#4. You have to have things people want to buy. This may sound obvious, but I've seen too many online auctions with lots of stuff for sale that is not appealing. Don't feel you have to accept and auction off everything people offer. If it becomes a flea market, your returns will be disappointing. Also, some categories of items sell much better than others. Top sellers include restaurant gift certificates and sports items (tickets, autographed items, etc.). Items that don't sell well are jewelry, artwork, and collectables.

#5. Don't expect to get fair market value for all your items. If you get 50% of the fair market value for the total auction catalog, you have done well. Knowing this, you can benchmark your results.

#6. Approach the auction like any other event. It will take a committee to solicit items, someone to write the descriptions, someone to take the photos, someone to post the descriptions, promote the auction, etc., etc. If you treat the online auction just like you would a live event, you will be much more successful.

If you would like help getting an online auction off the ground for your organization, you can contact me for an individually created auction plan.