A Guide to Choosing the Best Service for your Fundraising Activities

Event organisers often question which auction service is superior for generating funds for their chosen charity or cause. The answer to this is dependent on your specific event and its specifications. There is not one auction service that is ‘better’ than the other; however, there may be one service which is more suitable for your event and needs.

Each of our services offers full access to our auction lots, payment collection capabilities, as well as being fully customisable to your specific branding. You will receive full support throughout your fundraising journey: you will receive advice and assistance from our team in arranging your auction, dedicated event managers during your events to run the auction processes, and both clients and winning bidders will have access to our after-care services after the auction takes place.

The Silent Auction:

The silent auction is a brochure based sealed bidding system, which requires attendees to bid the highest amount they would be happy to pay, in hopes they will be the highest donator on the items bidded for. The silent auction is a free service which can run in the background of your event. This service works for events of any size but may be preferable for ‘smaller’ events or ‘new’ audiences, where you may not be as acquainted with the crowd, and how responsive they will be to the fundraising efforts.

You may incorporate up to 6 donated items into your silent auction brochure, which our team will be happy to collect payments for these items (as well as collection for Fundraising Auction’s items) on your behalf, before transferring the raised funds to you, and liaising with the winning bidders to make arrangements for their items.

The Interactive Service

The interactive auction service is a fully interactive platform, which can be a great source of entertainment on the evening. The interactive auction is an open bidding platform where attendees will make their bids via smartphone or tablets, bidders will be notified when they have been outbid on items. As well as personalised notifications, the leader board will show the amount raised, new bids coming in, and bidding activity- which provides a fun and competitive element to the event!

This service allows organisers to run the auction online beforehand to accumulate funds prior to the event, as well as enabling people who are unable to attend to bid on the day of the event and be involved in the fundraising efforts.

The platform offers the capabilities for pledging activity, bidders may donate a certain amount to the charity without having to bid on a specific auction item, which is a useful tool to utilise in generating funds for your chosen charities or causes.

The interactive auction is well-suited to larger audiences, who event organisers know will want to be involved in raising vital charitable funds. Alternatively, this platform is a great option for those who hold events annually and wish to offer something new to their audiences.

If you have chosen to use any Fundraising Auction’s lots for your auction, our in-house team will arrange delivery of vouchers and items to the winning bidders.

The Online Auction:

The online auction platform allows organisers to hold an auction, without the physical element of holding a charity event. This platform is best utilised by organisers with a large reliable network who they can market the auction to; all you need to do is distribute the weblink!

The online platform can aid as a solution for organisers who have a limited budget, little time, or the desire to arrange a charity event. The auction can be as flexible as needed, and our dedicated team will work with you in implementing your online auction.

For any Fundraising Auction’s lots used in the online auction, the winning bidders will liaise with our in-house admin team, to arrange receipt of their vouchers/items.

For a free consultation on selecting an auction service, contact us on 01273 311433.