Aaron Rissler Product Marketing Manager
Maximize Your Online Auction & Intro to Mobile Bidding
Ashley Wade Marketing Manager
Tweet this webinar:
#OAsuccess @BiddingForGood
@PTOToday
About Us
Who is BiddingForGood?
Leading online auction solution provider for schools and nonprofits since 2003.
Who is PTO Today?
The #1 resource for PTO & PTA leaders, offering free tools and expert advice to
help your parent group build involvement and run successful fundraisers and events.
4,700 schools
Online fundraising
auctions
Schools have reached 250K
bidders on our platform
Schools have raised over $50 million
We Heart Schools
Is your school ready for an online auction?
We work with all types of schools in the K-12 sector, including public, private, faith-based, vocational, and specialized schools.
Menlo School (Atherton, CA) – independent, college prep Raised over $155K in 2011 with 2 online auctions. Eleven online auctions closed since 2005.
Harbour School Foundation (Annapolis, MD) – public, urban Annual event, online auction raises between $5-10K annually.
Sacred Heart Schools (Chicago, IL) – private, faith-based Online auction revenue by year: $20K $25K $35K $57K 2008 2009 2010 2011
What We Will Discuss
Barriers to auction success
Tips for social media promotion
Why mobile?
Recipe for online success
Q+A
Pros of an Auction Event
Why auctions are a great
option:
Excitement and buzz surrounding your
event
Opportunity to involve family &
friends
Tap the household budget vs. charitable
giving budget
Tried and true method of fundraising
Barriers To Auction Success
Barriers to Auction Success
Non-attendees can’t bid
Combining an auction with a party
Bidders having to fight the crowd
Hard for bidders to find the items they want (esp. with social distractions)
Physically difficult to bid on multiple items in different locations at once
No alerts to bidder when they are outbid
And the most awkward of all..…
8
The Awkward Ending
Challenges in the Room
They come to your party to do this:
Not this:
All add up to…
Auction Technology
Old New
Social distractions Attendance challenging Subject to weather Long checkout lines Limited exposure for sponsors & donors Awkward ending
Broader reach
Anywhere, anytime availability
Suite of planning tools for organization & efficiency
Run multiple auctions
In-room mobile bidding
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Why Online Auctions
Extend your fundraiser beyond one night
Expand your reach beyond event attendees
Branded auction website provides
money-raising features: • Pre-event promotion
• Sponsorships
• Cash donation
• Ticket sales
• Refer-a-friend
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Planning an Online Auction
14
1. Recruiting volunteers 2. Setting a goal 3. Promoting your fundraiser
Project Management Tools
Track your progress
Set goals & milestones
Get new/fresh ideas
Manage your donor relationships
Get sample letters & templates
Centralize your auction data &
processes
Arm your volunteers with resources that will position them for success
Integrating an Online Auction with Your In-Room Event
Data shows that schools that begin at least 90 days
prior to the auction open date perform best.
Online
Auction
Ends
Powering your auction, helping you raise more $$$
B4G Bidding Engine
Online auction
publishing platform
Item acquisition
and volunteer
mgmt tools
Bidder Community
Your live event
Winning Formula: Seamlessly Combine
Online with Silent/Live Auction O
nli
ne
Au
cti
on
Op
en
s
200 items in the auction publicly available to bid O
nli
ne
Au
cti
on
Clo
se
s
100 items close online
Eve
nt
- S
ile
nt
Au
cti
on
90-95 items move from online to in-room
Eve
nt
- L
ive
Au
cti
on
5-10 high-ticket items in live auction
Note: More efficient to close items online – less to carry into the room = more intensive bidding focus on remaining items
December 1 December 12 December 10
Tell Your Story
HINT: As a school, you have the best storytelling assets at your fingertips – the kids!
Compelling storytelling
requires a few key elements:
Authentic tie to school & fundraising
mission
Truly engaged
community
Impassioned “ask”
5 Tips to Getting Social
Don’t over-promote
Don’t get defensive if you get negative feedback
Reward loyalty
Interact with your followers
Prominently display event information & contact info
Did you know? Social networking accounts for 1 of every 6 minutes spent online.
Post open-ended questions that solicit follower feedback
Ask for opinions
Thank followers
Always reply to comments
Jump in on trending convos on Twitter
Ask them to post a review on your page
Post photos, reviews, and results from your event
Engaging Your Audience
Why Mobile?
Ability To Bid Anytime, Anywhere = More Bids = More $$$
And It’s Becoming a Mobile, Mobile World
89% of US online consumers age 15+ own a cell phone
• 41% smartphone (higher among high income segment)
• 48% cell phone with text messaging
Sources: ExactTarget, comScore, IDC
It’s Becoming a Mobile, Mobile World
# of US smartphone users expected to increase 49.6% this year
150MM US consumers will have smartphones by 2015
Your supporters are ready to embrace mobile bidding
B4G Bidder Survey:
• 97% own a mobile phone
• 55% own smartphones (schools much higher)
• iPad fastest growing BFG segment
Non-Profit Client Survey:
• 81% own smartphones
The Most Important Features of an In-Room Mobile Bidding Solution
Reliable mobile enabled bidding engine
Training and support (process, technical, access to rental equipment)
Turn-key registration and checkout
Mobile Bidding Survey, Nonprofit Clients, June 2011
Proven, Reliable Technology
Bidding Engine
99.9% uptime
Able to process
5,000+ bids per hour
5.2 MM bids processed
Over $5 MM invested in back-end
infrastructure
Redundant servers co-located in
secure, controlled environments
Supported by Akamai -largest content delivery
network in the world
8 years of software
development
PCI-compliant
If you are a
techie, here’s
what you need
to know
It Won’t Break If you are not a
techie, here’s what
you need to know
How Does Mobile Bidding Address In-Room Challenges?
Before Mobile:
Online
Auction
Ends
Powering your auction, helping you raise more $$$
Bidding Engine
Online auction
publishing platform
Item acquisition
and volunteer
mgmt tools
Bidder Community
Your live event
Mobile Enables Online Bidding In the Room
Mobile Enabled In-Room:
Bidding Engine
Online auction platform
Item acquisition
tools
Bidder Community
Your live event
After your event
Powering your auction, helping you raise more $$$
Everyone Can Participate
Leveling the Playing Field
Smartphone Solution: HTML5 (all platforms) + iPhone app
Text Message / SMS
Recipe For Success: Volunteers
Volunteers available at the event
Ready to help attendees with:
Registration
One-bid learning curve to use device to bid, checkout, etc.
Proxy bids (absentee bids)
Recipe for Success: Technology
Good wireless connectivity at the venue
Venue staff help with network setup, if needed
A few laptops on site
A few loaner devices
Backup power cords
LCD projector
Recipe for Success: More Bidders & More Bidding
• Mobile enabled bidding = less time fighting the crowd = easier to find/bid items
• Proxy bidding
• Bid extension
• Enable your non-attendees to bid
• Enable Bidder Community
(250,000+ members) to bid
Recipe for Success: Service
• Evening/weekend live support
• Registration checklist, volunteer training webinars
• Checkout integration
• Volunteer training, checklists
• Access to equipment
Mobile Enabled Silent Auctions Can Now Be Everywhere
Stadium
38
Golf
Walk
What are the benefits to you?
Raise more money – 10-30% more
Add new level of excitement to your fundraiser event
Streamline your event – no long lines, no frustrated attendees, easier closeout
Be a hero at the cutting edge of innovative fundraising
Questions? #OAsuccess
@BiddingForGood @PTOToday
Get Your Free Mobile Bidding Overview! www.biddingforgood.com/oasuccess
Thank you for joining us!
Connect with PTO Today:
http://www.ptotoday.com/auctions http://www.facebook.com/PTOToday
Connect with BiddingForGood:
http://www.biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services http://www.facebook.com/bidding4good