3 Tips to Run a Great Online Auction
Online auction software | How to run an auction at my golf tournament
Holding an auction at your charity event is a great way to generate extra revenue and engage your attendees in an exciting way.
Auctions are a great option to make your event feel more robust, and can help you build strong relationships with sponsors. They can also be a lot of fun!
From an online auction format to in-person bid sheets, there are a number of ways for you to introduce auction items to your event to further your fundraising efforts and make the event more fun for everyone involved!
Here are 3 tips to ensure you’re hosting your best auction possible!
Tip #1: Reach out to potential sponsors early & offer them visibility
Item donations from sponsors are key. When requesting auction items from a specific organization or company, you want to be sure to highlight the benefits of donating an item: how much exposure will the company get once they decide to donate? What will be included in their day of golf that will set them apart from any other registrant?
With an online auction, you could display your sponsors’ logos on a dedicated website. You can also showcase them on signs across the course and at post-tournament proceedings. There is tremendous value in exposure for a company, and the more you make them feel important, the better the relationship will be.
Golf tournaments are often annual, so building strong, ongoing relationships with corporate sponsors is key.
Tip #2: Advertise your items
From in-person auctions to online bidding opportunities, there are plenty of ways to showcase your auction items and get your attendees excited to participate.
Even in the more traditional paper bid sheet format of silent auctions, you can still showcase the items that will be available on an online registration platform like BirdEase. You can add a dedicated page to show off photos and details of the items you have available.
To take things to the next level, you might consider implementing a complete online auction (which comes included with the BirdEase platform). This would allow you to not only attach sponsor logos to each item, ensuring that your bidders see who provided it before they make a bid, but it also opens up the opportunities for auction participation!
Tip #3: Embrace the Opportunities of an Online Auction
Online auctions are a great way to get people more engaged. By allowing your tournament-goers to bid online, you actually open up possibilities beyond the confines of your in-person event itself.
Imagine the reach you can achieve by having your own auction page to link to, and allowing people at home who won’t be in attendance to golf the opportunity to win!
Beyond this, dedicated all-in-one platforms like BirdEase can take not only the auction, but the entirety of your event to the next level. Imagine a tool that would allow people to learn about and bid on all of your available items in one place, while also notifying auction participants when they’re outbid, and compiling auction reports for you automatically on the back-end of the system.
Sounds great, right? Fill out the form below, and let’s get started on your most successful event to date.
