Often the spring means it’s auction season—live and/or silent—at private-independent schools. The auction is not only a fund raiser but also usually a fun celebration for everyone. With eBay as a household word, more and more, schools are using an online auction options for their silent auctions.
We’ve pulled together a list of online auction resources culled from suggestions on the ISM Advancement listserv. This list does not indicate that we recommend this software; rather, it is a start for your research if you are looking at different resources. We have included testimonials from users.
Bidding for Good
Bidding for Good’s tagline is “shopping for a cause” and, in general, allows organizations to post auctions that are then open to the general public. We did a “Browse Auctions” search and discovered a long list of private-independent schools currently running their auctions there. The site includes information on how online auctions work, the ability to build a sample auction, and a chance to schedule a 15-minute call to ask questions. There are also tips for K-12 school auctions.
Mary Vrabel, Director of Development, Lake Country School (MN), says of Bidding for Good: "We've been sufficiently happy with the ease of use and the customer support."
Greater Giving Online Auctions
Greater Giving Online Auctions provides you with all the tools to build, publish, and manage an online auction. AuctionPay, part of Greater Giving, is an online auction payment processing system designed to reduce the time-consuming check-out line.
You can download a free, 14-day trial of Greater Giving Event Software for the PC or take advantage of the free Event Software online. Greater Giving also has a resource library you can explore, including an article on “Online Auctions: Fundraising 24/7” and “Auction Math” as well as guides and Webinars.
"We use AuctionPay with great results. We highly recommend it,” says Stephanie Bash-Soudry, Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Golda Och Academy (NJ). “Their support is especially excellent. Volunteers have managed with it very well."
This is the site for Auction! a Windows software package for auction management. According to the Web site, it supports both silent and live auctions, and includes features such as bid sheets, an event catalog, donation receipts, bidder invoices, reservations and ticket sales, spreadsheet views, item categories and much more. While it does not have a site-specific online auction system, it links to Bidding for Good’s system.
"We have used Auction, by Auction Systems for quite some time,” says Jennifer Fortin, Coordinator of Campaign & Research Development at Kents Hill School (ME). “It is very user-friendly and handles packages, silent and live items, cash donations, attendees, sponsors, donors, table assignments, etc."
Auction-Tracker Live!
Auction-Tracker by Northwest Software is another fund-raising event application suite, offering a range of software services for event management. Auction-Tracker Live!, for online auctions, integrates with Auction-Tracker software on you local computer, letting you manage the online auction with the your live events. You can check out demos of both Auction-Tracker and Auction-Tracker Live! On the Web site and get both e-mail and live chat support to answer your questions.
The Bear Creek School uses Auction-Tracker. Linda Sheppard, Director of Development Affairs, says, “It is a great auction tool that manages guests, donors, sponsorships, and the tracking of items of all kinds from procurement to sale. They host online auctions too and integrate with third-party products. They’ve been serving the auction fund-raising community for 25 years.”
