Looking for free publicity in any shape and form? Here are a few places online you can list your gala charity auction so roaming eyeballs can find it. Eventful.com Free to post and the site itself is divided into many categories ... fundraisers, performing arts, concerts, and the like. Users can also sign up for alerts so if you like a particular type of event, they'll let you know when it's available. Vivanista.org In 2010 San Francisco-based Vivanista added calendar functionality to ... Read On >
Benefit Auctions Blog
Venues for benefit auctions expands in Blue Bell, PA (Philadelphia) with Normandy Farm Hotel
Occasionally my clients will ask me about interesting places to hold a fundraiser. I just read about one cool place in Blue Bell, PA (25 miles west of Philadelphia in Montgomery County). I've not yet visited the venue, but reading about it made me want to jump in the car and race north on I-95. Normandy Farm Hotel has two ballrooms, though neither sound particularly large. I think it would work for small benefit auctions as an intriguing venue. (If you've held an auction in the space, please ... Read On >
Getting started with a family reunion auction
This (somewhat) lighthearted post was written in 2009 for readers of my e-zine, Benefit Auction Ideas. Subscribe here. Every two years, I am under contract to conduct an auction in a tiny rural Kansas town. It's terribly unorganized - by far, the worst I conduct. The items have values ranging from $3 to ~$55, no items are marketed in advance, and the displays are plain. Most guests bring their donations directly to the event, throwing them on a table for others to see. Frankly, many of the ... Read On >
VIDEO: My gripe with some mobile silent auction solutions and online auction platforms
As I've talked with more vendors about their mobile silent auction solutions and online auction products, I've become disheartened to learn that most of them do NOT offer a key feature that is generally an accepted standard in the commercial auction world. It's not a "new" feature, but perhaps vendors servicing the charity auction market failed to understand how it can generate more dollars for charities. For whatever reason, it's been missing from most vendors' products. I hope that with ... Read On >
My gripe with some handheld bidding and online auction platforms
Did you attend my teleclass on Best Practices in Mobile Bidding for your Silent Auction? If so, you already heard one of my issues with some online auction and handheld bidding vendors (a variation is also called mobile bidding or electronic bidding). It comes down to functionality. I'm a fan of a feature called "extended bidding" which -- as I type this -- few vendors seem to offer in online auction or handheld bidding products. What is extended bidding? If a bid is placed on an ... Read On >