Roger Devine's Articles

Roger Devine is a co-founder of Northworld, the developer and distributor of the award-winning SchoolAuction.net auction management software. Roger has 30+ years of experience working in software, website development, and publishing. He has chaired at least 30 auctions over the past 20 years and has served on the boards of several area nonprofits, including K9 Kavalry and the Golden Leaf Education Foundation. Roger currently lives in Portland, OR, and loves all dogs on the planet.

Text that reads: 'The real costs of tips, discover a smarter alternative'

16+ Best Online Auction Software to Raise More in 2024

You’re on the lookout for a lucrative, highly engaging fundraiser—and you’ve decided that hosting an online auction is the perfect solution. Your team can’t wait... Read More

05 Aug 2024

Roger Devine

The title of this piece overlaid on a photo of students in a classroom.

Partner with Local Businesses for School Fundraisers: 4 Tips

As a school fundraiser, you know how much work goes into securing each dollar of funding for your students. While fundraising is hard work, you... Read More

08 Jul 2024

Roger Devine

The title of the article overlaid on an image of people sitting around a table planning a school marketing campaign.

5 Components Your Marketing Plan Needs to Engage Donors

Fundraising and marketing are intertwined. Think about it: donors need to know about your school’s fundraisers to participate. However, some marketing campaigns lead to greater... Read More

05 Apr 2024

Roger Devine

The title of the post featured with an image of someone donating.

4 Dependable and Simple Ways to Boost Donation Amounts

Imagine what your nonprofit could accomplish if every donor increased their contribution by just $10. That could mean the difference between providing food and enrichment... Read More

24 Mar 2024

Roger Devine

Why Emphasize Donor Appreciation? Reasons to Say Thank You

Why Emphasize Donor Appreciation? 5 Reasons to Say Thank You

Thank you: two little words that have the power to strengthen your donor community, foster a reliable giving stream, and improve your nonprofit’s reputation. Read More

19 Jan 2024

Roger Devine

These four interactive fundraising ideas will motivate students to get involved and help your school raise the funds needed to thrive.

4 Interactive Fundraisers that Encourage Student Involvement

Picture your school’s ideal fundraising campaign. Perhaps you put in the work to organize an auction fundraiser, and your students are excited about the event.... Read More

01 Dec 2023

Roger Devine

Learn more about how you can use fundraising events and initiatives to strengthen your association’s sense of community.

How to Strengthen Community Within Your Association

As an association leader, you know that building a sense of community within your organization is an essential, yet challenging, part of running a successful... Read More

20 Oct 2023

Roger Devine

A fundraiser uses a calculator to determine their school’s upcoming auction budget.

Setting Your Fundraising Auction Budget

As the old adage goes, schools need to spend money to raise money. Read More

21 Sep 2023

Roger Devine

In this guide, we will review the basics of silent auction rules and show you how to implement them in your next auction event.

School Auction Planning: 4 Ways to Engage Your Community

Our software elevates your silent auction Start Your Free Trial! Read More

23 May 2023

Roger Devine

In this guide, we will review the basics of silent auction rules and show you how to implement them in your next auction event.

68 Fun Themes for Your Fundraising Gala

Fundraising auctions are about raising money, of course. That’s the primary mission. But you can raise money a bunch of different ways, and if you’re... Read More

05 May 2023

Roger Devine

In this guide, we will review the basics of silent auction rules and show you how to implement them in your next auction event.

Mastering Silent Auction Rules: The Essential Guide

Silent auctions are effective fundraising sources and lots of fun for attendees. When run successfully, either online or in-person, they can create memorable experiences and... Read More

04 Apr 2023

Roger Devine

The article’s title, “How Does a Silent Auction Work? A Quick Start Guide,” overlaid atop an image of someone typing on a laptop.

How Does a Silent Auction Work? A Quick Start Guide

Introducing the most popular auction type: the silent auction. Schools and volunteer-run organizations rely on silent auctions to generate funds to support their missions. Because... Read More

23 Mar 2023

Roger Devine

Here are five ways to simplify your elementary school fundraiser.

5 Ways to Simplify Your Elementary School Fundraiser

5 Ways to Simplify Your Elementary School Fundraiser Read More

16 Mar 2023

Roger Devine

The article’s title, 'Silent Auction Software: Best Options to Boost Success,' overlaid atop a person with a keyboard looking at printed data sheets.

Silent Auction Software: 11 Best Options to Boost Success

Running a successful silent auction requires careful planning. There’s a lot to consider before the big day, from your event team to auction items to... Read More

15 Mar 2023

Roger Devine

Add an Online Store<br/>to Your Fundraising Mix

Add an Online Store
to Your Fundraising Mix

There are a multitude of ways to fundraise with a SchoolAuction.net. From galas to online auctions, donation campaigns, and fun runs, there are numerous options... Read More

07 Mar 2023

Roger Devine

37 Must-Have School Auction Ideas to Help You Raise More

37 Must-Have School Auction Ideas to Help You Raise More

Are you a school fundraising newbie looking for some top-notch auction items? If it’s your first time scouting for donated items, we’ve got some gems... Read More

02 Mar 2023

Roger Devine

Coming Soon: Changes To Your Event Site

We update our software every week - usually the updates contain only minor enhancements and bug fixes, and mostly go unnoticed. That won’t be the... Read More

26 Jul 2021

Roger Devine

Explore these three tools that parent volunteers can use to host your school’s next virtual fundraiser.

3 Tools for Parent Volunteers Hosting Virtual Fundraisers

It’s no mystery that students’ parents are busy and virtual tools have made online events easier than ever to host. However, running a virtual event... Read More

23 Jul 2021

Roger Devine

Why Afterschool Programs are Needed Now More Than Ever

Today’s article covers a vital component of many children and parent’s lives - afterschool programs. With the expertise he’s gained as the creator of CommunityPass... Read More

23 Jul 2021

Roger Devine

Marketing for School Fundraising Events: A Crash Course

Whether you’re a parent of a student or a faculty or staff member, you’ve likely faced the stress that comes with running a successful school... Read More

23 Jul 2021

Roger Devine

Procuring During A Pandemic, Part 2

Let’s talk about how procuring auction items has changed in the time of COVID-19. Read More

10 Jun 2020

Roger Devine

Make More Money At Your Auction With Data, Part 2: Supporters

In our last post, we discussed how to use Item data from your previous event(s) to improve your procurement and pricing strategies and make more... Read More

03 Jun 2020

Roger Devine

Make More Money At Your Auction With Data, Part 1: Items

Every auction generates data. You probably already review your sales data to gauge the success of your events. But delving even deeper into your data... Read More

03 Jun 2020

Roger Devine

How To Invite Bidders To Your Online Auction

For obvious reasons (we’re looking at you, Covid-19), we’re focusing our blogging on online auctions these days. Many of you are converting your galas to... Read More

12 May 2020

Roger Devine

Choosing the Right Online Auction Settings for Your Fundraiser

“Are my online auction settings right?” Our support team sees variations of this question a lot. And we’re always glad to take a look at... Read More

24 Apr 2020

Roger Devine

Procurement During a Pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 induced economic downturn, many businesses and families are struggling to make ends meet. And nonprofits are struggling to support their communities... Read More

15 Apr 2020

Roger Devine

New Progress Trackers (aka Fundraising Thermometers)

New Progress Trackers (aka Fundraising Thermometers)

Whether you are holding your fundraiser in-person or online, it’s pretty common to want to show your supporters how close you are to your fundraising... Read More

08 Apr 2020

Roger Devine

Is Your Online Auction Set Up the Way You Want?

If you’ve converted your event to an online auction, or if you were planning to run an online auction to begin with, you may be... Read More

18 Mar 2020

Roger Devine

Converting Your Gala to a Successful Online Auction

Some organizations are considering cancelling their gala events due to the coronavirus. That’s a difficult choice to make. And as we mentioned in the email... Read More

13 Mar 2020

Roger Devine

Promotion: The Key to Online Auction Success

Today, we’d like to focus on a super important factor – one too often overlooked – in the success of your online auction: Promotion. Read More

12 Mar 2020

Roger Devine

It's 2020, and We Need To Talk About Privacy

Update: here is the missing link from the email: https://support.tofinoauctions.com/hc/en-us/articles/205140305-Editing-the-Privacy-Policy-and-Terms- Read More

03 Jan 2020

Roger Devine

What's In A Name?

Online. It’s a word we use a lot in our lives; an adjective that modifies hundreds of our daily activities: shopping, dating, meetings… and auctions,... Read More

18 Feb 2019

Roger Devine

A Strategy for Selling Tickets to Your Auction

When you decide to hold a gala auction fundraiser, you know you have to have to have auction items, and you have to have guests... Read More

29 Jan 2019

Roger Devine

Start Pushing Buttons!

One of the really great things about this business is working with all of you. Really - think about it. By definition, our customers are... Read More

24 Jan 2019

Roger Devine

Why We Include Multiple Events in Our annual plans

The most common conversation I have with prospective customers surrounds one particular aspect of our product design: it’s a annual plan, which allows you to... Read More

14 Jan 2019

Roger Devine

New! Import items from DonationMatch!

Have you checked out DonationMatch yet? I’ll give you a moment. Do come back, though: we have a very cool program going on with them... Read More

07 Jan 2019

Roger Devine

Resolved: Let's Talk Auctions

Happy New Year’s, everyone. Read More

02 Jan 2019

Roger Devine

New Catalog Image Setting Option + more

We’re rolling out new code this afternoon, including an adjustment to our new catalog display. Some of you have been unhappy about the way item... Read More

16 Jan 2018

Roger Devine

Sporadic Outages This Morning

UPDATE : We still don’t have word as to what went wrong at the data center, but all sites are back up and running. For... Read More

16 Jan 2018

Roger Devine

Big Upgrade News: Rolling Out Now

So in my last blog post, I told you about some new code that we have been working on. Most of the time, we release... Read More

04 Oct 2017

Roger Devine

New Product Features Coming Fall 2017

The thing about software is that it’s never done - we have to keep listening to what our customers like and don’t like, what they... Read More

06 Sep 2017

Roger Devine

Should You Use Mobile Bidding For Your Special Appeal?

Special Appeals (aka Paddle Raises or Fund-A-Need) are a staple of fundraising auctions. Mobile Bidding is a popular auction trend. Are they compatible? Read More

30 May 2017

Roger Devine

Auction Night Supply Checklist

Yay for checklists! They are oh so helpful especially on event night. This supply checklist gives you one less thing to worry about while you... Read More

20 Mar 2017

Roger Devine

Add A Selfie Station To Your Auction

Having a photo station at your event can be a fun, entertaining addition to the night. One option for would be to hire a photographer... Read More

13 Mar 2017

Roger Devine

Outages today related to Amazon's AWS

We use Amazon’s AWS service to serve the item images on your auction sites. We also use two other services that rely on it heavily:... Read More

28 Feb 2017

Roger Devine

Selecting a annual plan Level

Last summer, we re-jiggered the feature sets for our annual plan levels, adding significant new mobile-bidding features to our Plus and Premium annual plans. We... Read More

12 Jan 2017

Roger Devine

FAQ: "Limited" Mobile Bidding

From time to time, I’m going to post questions sent to me from auction chairs about our product or company, along with our answers. Read More

14 Nov 2016

Roger Devine

Three Big New Enhancements For All Subscribers - 11/2/2016

Last night, we rolled out three greatly-anticipated upgrades to our software that should make your life as an auction chair easier. We’re excited about these,... Read More

02 Nov 2016

Roger Devine

Introducing Contests

Auction longevity is certainly a sign of success, but it can also lead to stagnation. After a few years of hosting the same event, your... Read More

05 Oct 2016

Roger Devine

New Code Rolling Now - Read About The Changes

It’s time. The changes we’ve teased for a couple of months now are being released. You can read about them and see screenshotson our support... Read More

08 Sep 2016

Roger Devine

Vanco Upgrades - Returns and "Funds"

New! Vanco now allows refunds processed through third party software so you may now issue refunds in a single step, directly from the Order. The... Read More

13 Jul 2016

Roger Devine

Software (and Pricing Changes) Coming...

Here at SchoolAuction.net, we’re continuously upgrading our auction software throughout the year, and this summer, we will be rolling out some awesome upgrades. In addition... Read More

20 Jun 2016

Roger Devine

New Feature: Quick-Bid Buttons

This summer, we’re going to be rolling out many improvements to our mobile-bidding system; we’ve received some excellent feedback from the mobile events of this... Read More

13 Jun 2016

Roger Devine

Selling Scrip Online

We’ve been asked often by the schools who use our software how to set it up for online scrip ordering. We used to discourage this,... Read More

24 May 2016

Roger Devine

Auction Checklist - Front Desk Essentials

I love checklists. And with a large, complicated project like planning an auction, they can be incredibly useful. Read More

19 Apr 2016

Roger Devine

How You Can Help Other Auction Teams Find Great Software

So, I’m the marketing guy here. And that means that I’m supposed to find all sorts of ways to advertise and promote us and toot... Read More

14 Apr 2016

Roger Devine

New Feature: Flagging Items for Will Call

This week’s update adds a new field to the Item Edit Screen - the Will Call Flag. This allows you to note whether an item... Read More

22 Mar 2016

Roger Devine

Mid-March 2016 Software Update

This week, we are releasing two new features to the software that we think will make many of our experienced customers very happy. Read More

17 Mar 2016

Roger Devine

Support Desk Outage Today

Update: 2/21/16: It’s all fixed now. You can go back to using the green help widget on the side. Read More

20 Feb 2016

Roger Devine

Read What Other Customers Have To Say About Us

If you have used our software in the past 7 years (and you aren’t based in our hometown of Portland), you probably found us through... Read More

23 Nov 2015

Roger Devine

Application Update 11/2015: Bulk-Edit Donors and More...

Most weeks, we release a code upgrade. We don’t blog about these regularly (although I probably should), because most of the time (at least during... Read More

18 Nov 2015

Roger Devine

Mobile Bidding 101

No doubt about it, Mobile Bidding has been the topic of the past couple of years around here. We spent a lot of time thinking... Read More

31 Oct 2015

Roger Devine

Supported Browsers: Fall 2015 Update

Every SchoolAuction.net, Tofino Auctions, and PartySupporters.com auction website is it’s own e-commerce store. And in the world of e-commerce, we have to stay vigilant with... Read More

11 Sep 2015

Roger Devine

Maintenance Windows This Week

Our servers will be unavailable this Wednesday (9/2) from 12:00 am to 2:00 am and Thursday (9/3) from 12:00 am to 2:00 am (all times... Read More

01 Sep 2015

Roger Devine

"Mobile Bidding-only" Tickets Increase Access To Your Gala

See if this scenario sounds familiar: your school community holds an annual gala auction, at which the classroom projects produced by the students are always... Read More

14 Aug 2015

Roger Devine

Browser Compatibility Update: 6/2015

For many years, we have worked very hard to maintain compatibility with as wide a range of web browsers as possible. We know that many... Read More

02 Jun 2015

Roger Devine

Designing Inclusive School Fundraisers

Frequently, school auction chairs talk to me about the pressure they face to make their fundraisers inclusive - to lower ticket prices, load up the... Read More

20 Dec 2014

Roger Devine

Games For Fundraising Auctions: Chicken Bingo

We love to see our customers include games in their fundraising auctions. There are classics like Heads or Tails, and then there are ones that... Read More

19 Sep 2014

Roger Devine

Mobile Bidding for Small Fundraising Auctions

First of all, my apologies - this is long for a blog post. But I want to put it here, so we can engage in... Read More

06 Sep 2014

Roger Devine

Finding Silent Auction Items

Finding silent auction items is one of those tasks that many auction teams ask for help with. If that includes you, listen up. Read More

19 Aug 2014

Roger Devine

New Catalog Display Options!

We’ve added a setting so you can choose to organize your web catalog by item name, number, category or by designating your items to display... Read More

15 Aug 2014

Roger Devine

Guest Blog: Consignment Items

This is a guest blog, by our friend Mike Hanley. Thanks, Mike! Read More

25 Jul 2014

Roger Devine

Help Us Spread The Word

If you’re already a customer of ours, you probably know a few things about us: Read More

07 Jul 2014

Roger Devine

Update Coming

In the next couple of weeks, we will begin updating all SchoolAuction.net event sites that have been established for future events. This update (two years... Read More

10 Jun 2014

Roger Devine

We Wrote A Book!

True facts: I was an English major in college (Trinity University, class of 1988), and after graduating, I moved to New York City to work... Read More

08 Jun 2014

Roger Devine

On Selecting A Benefit Auctioneer

If you are going to hold a Live Auction, you really should hire a professional auctioneer. You may think that there’s not much to it... Read More

14 May 2014

Roger Devine

Alert: Issues with Yahoo! Mail

Yahoo made some changes to their security settings in the past two weeks - which is blocking emails being sent with a Yahoo “from” address,... Read More

29 Apr 2014

Roger Devine

More On High School Auctions

I talked a bit the other day about how in high schools, the auction-team is often a coalition of volunteers supporting specific clubs or teams,... Read More

18 Apr 2014

Roger Devine

The Difference with High-School Auctions

My son (my only child) is a High-School Freshman this year. Which means that this is the first year that I was On The Team... Read More

16 Apr 2014

Roger Devine

Security Update: Heart Bleed

The widely-publicized vulnerability in Open SSL has affected most e-commerce web applications on the Internet, and our software is no exception. We have been working... Read More

10 Apr 2014

Roger Devine

Talking Auctions

I talk to auction chairs just about every day. And although we do talk a lot about the SchoolAuction.net software, we also talk about general... Read More

09 Apr 2014

Roger Devine

Something I Love: Mobile Hotspots

There is really only one downside to web-based auction software - you need an Internet connection at your venue. Most of the time (here in... Read More

17 Feb 2014

Roger Devine

Contact Us | SchoolAuction.net

Every day (weekends included), we are available to our prospects and customers, to answer questions and provide help on a wide variety of fundraising topics.... Read More

03 Feb 2014

Roger Devine

Credit-Card Processing: Planning for the Future

Over the next 20 months or so, most merchants in the United States who accept credit-card transactions will be upgrading their card-reading equipment, to enable... Read More

22 Jan 2014

Roger Devine

Something I Love: Easel Backs

Silent auction tables can get crowded. One solution is to put your description sheets on the table in a standing position. There are many ways... Read More

12 Dec 2013

Roger Devine

Maximizing Results with an Online Auction

Online auctions may appear to be an easy, convenient way to raise money for your school or organization. But the truth is that online auctions,... Read More

26 Nov 2013

Roger Devine

Auction Planning 101: getting the most out of the software

From the moment you purchase our software, we’ll offer you opportunities to learn how to use it. However, we know that regardless of how much... Read More

05 Nov 2013

Roger Devine

Lots of Exciting New Features in 2013!

Running a school fundraiser can be a lot of work – we know; we’ve done it ourselves. We’ve also helped a lot of other fundraising... Read More

24 Oct 2013

Roger Devine

5 Steps to a Great Fundraising Auction

We are big fans of Sherry Truhlar of Red Apple Auctions; she always has worthwhile nuggets to share for the greater good. Read More

19 Oct 2013

Roger Devine

The Story Behind SchoolAuction.net

Our company, and our product, grew out of a desire to make a difference in our school communities, to support quality education; and to offer... Read More

09 Oct 2013

Roger Devine

Kicking Auction Season off right – planning 101

“Come join our team, we’re really making things happen for our kid’s school!” Read More

01 Oct 2013

Roger Devine

Sign-up Parties Boost Results!

Auctions are fun – at least, they should be fun. Buying stuff can be fun as well (there’s a reason we have more of it... Read More

25 Sep 2013

Roger Devine

Connect with your audience, early and often!

It’s a new year and for many of you it’s the time when your benefit auction planning and implementation strategies really start ramping up! In... Read More

20 Sep 2013

Roger Devine

Status Update: 9/11/2013

So, that stunk. Read More

11 Sep 2013

Roger Devine

Status Update: 9/10/2013

Status Update: 9/10/2013 Read More

11 Sep 2013

Roger Devine

Shorter URLs for your Registration pages

This week my son started high school. And naturally, the school that he is going to uses our software to run their auction, and has... Read More

06 Sep 2013

Roger Devine

On Clerking

So… about that person or people you have up on stage, recording live auction bids and paddle raise pledges? You should think about who they... Read More

31 Aug 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Software Lead

This, the last post in our Dream Team series, focuses on a key role which supports the efforts of every other team member: Software Lead.... Read More

04 Jul 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Front Desk Manager

Today’s post picks up where we left off a few weeks ago in the_Building Your School Auction Dream Team_ series, in which we are outlining... Read More

22 Jun 2013

Roger Devine

Announcing our newest feature: Advance Check-in!

Our one-of-a-kind fundraising software is designed to make guests happier and results better for hard-working volunteer teams. To that end, we are excited to announce... Read More

15 Jun 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Theme and Decorations Chair

Who doesn’t love a good party? Read More

01 Jun 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Ticket Sales Captain

Auction items are procured, decorations are up, the band is at the ready… but without people in those seats, all this preparation is for naught.... Read More

24 May 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Limiting and Defining Roles

If you’ve been following this blog series, by now you’ve filled several sections in your teambuilding binder with job descriptions for key positions in the... Read More

22 May 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Sign-up Party Procurement

It’s our 5th in the Building Your (School Auction) Dream Team blog series, and today we’ll focus on filling the position of_Sign-up Party Procurement Chair._... Read More

10 May 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Live Auction Procurement Chair

This series – Building Your School Auction Dream Team- is intended to help you identify WHO are the people in your community who have the... Read More

07 May 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Silent Auction Procurement Chair

Auction season is winding down. Rather than packing away those event notebooks prematurely; however, remember that next year’s momentum is built upon this year’s organizational... Read More

30 Apr 2013

Roger Devine

The Dream Team: Event Chair

Today’s post, the third in our series titled Building Your School Auction Dream Team, will outline a key position in your overall Auction Committee Organization... Read More

23 Apr 2013

Roger Devine

Building a Dream Team: the Org Chart

If you are reading this blog, chances are you are already one of the 20% who makes 80% of the action happen. If you’re in... Read More

17 Apr 2013

Roger Devine

Building your School Auction Dream Team

For many of you auction night has come and gone… and you’re already looking ahead to next year. Read More

13 Apr 2013

Roger Devine

Many Ways to Use our Software

We’ve developed software that will effectively support you in carrying off a successful school auction fundraiser. And… it has lots of other wonderful bells and... Read More

11 Apr 2013

Roger Devine

Smoothing out Auction Night Snags

In our last blog we talked about the most important pieces of information to have with you on Auction night. In today’s post, we’re adding... Read More

06 Apr 2013

Roger Devine

Online Auctions Boost Results

The Auction is over… but what about the leftover items? Read More

03 Apr 2013

Roger Devine

Auction Night 911: The List

It’s event night. Read More

29 Mar 2013

Roger Devine

Plan for Success… by planning your succession

Chairing an auction is a huge commitment and an even bigger job - you are a hero for stepping up! Read More

20 Mar 2013

Roger Devine

Putting the Magic Rolodex to work

How much time is typically spent by new auction volunteers calling, emailing and digging through binders and notes to find important contacts and information? Read More

13 Mar 2013

Roger Devine

Debrief: Setting the Stage for Success

Remember what it was like, the first time you got involved in the auction planning process? If you recall the process being easy and seamless,... Read More

08 Mar 2013

Roger Devine

Creating a Structure for School Auction Success

“Come join our team, we’re really making things happen for our kid’s school!” Read More

05 Mar 2013

Roger Devine

New Features: February 2013

This week, along with several security- and performance-enhancements, we’ve enabled the following: Read More

27 Feb 2013

Roger Devine

Upgrade Issue: 2/21/2103

This week, we applied a security upgrade to some of the code libraries that SchoolAuction.net and Tofino Auctions are built on. It was an important... Read More

22 Feb 2013

Roger Devine

A Noble Profession…

As much as volunteerism can leave us feeling alone and overwhelmed, there is nobility in the labors of love we undertake on behalf of children,... Read More

13 Feb 2013

Roger Devine

Our way of saying Thanks for your Referrals…

A great measure of our success is when you tell other schools and organizations about your success with our software. Read More

08 Feb 2013

Roger Devine

Guests Love Experiences… and Parties!

If you’re like many of us, you attend at least one benefit auction – in addition to the one you are helping to plan –... Read More

05 Feb 2013

Roger Devine

How did we do last year? And other common questions…

Because school auctions are generally run by volunteers, record keeping systems are often makeshift and handed down through loose leaf binders and sticky notes. Sound... Read More

01 Feb 2013

Roger Devine

4 Tasks that Waste Volunteer’s Time… for low returns

Let’s face it, there’s a lot to do to make your fundraising event a success. Chances are, right now you’re up to your armpits in... Read More

27 Jan 2013

Roger Devine

5 Steps To A Great Fundraising Auction

I’m a big fan of Sherry Truhlar of Red Apple Auctions, and today the Nonprofit Spark podcast featured this interview with her. It is really... Read More

22 Jan 2013

Roger Devine

Introducing our newest team member

Hi, I’m Delila Olsson and, along with being a mother and small business owner, I am a professional volunteer and the newest member of the... Read More

08 Jan 2013

Roger Devine

SchoolAuction.net Application Update September 2012

You may have noticed a few new changes on your site: Read More

09 Sep 2012

Roger Devine

Square & SchoolAuction.net, Pt. 2

A couple of weeks ago, there was news that Square, the innovative payments processor that makes those iPhone-based card-readers one sees at coffee shops everywhere,... Read More

29 Aug 2012

Roger Devine

Square & SchoolAuction.net, Pt. 1

Square has been a disruptive force in the merchant-processing business since its emergence a couple of years ago. And since you can use just about... Read More

17 Aug 2012

Roger Devine

Using QR Codes with SchoolAuction.net

If you print posters or postcards or flyers to advertise your auction, you probably already print the URL for your SchoolAuction.net website on them. Consider... Read More

31 Jul 2012

Roger Devine

Guest Blog: Don't Pay Commissions

As a profession, auctioneering has long had performance tied to compensation. Auctioneers have based their worth, literally, on their ability to market and sell assets... Read More

18 Jul 2012

Roger Devine

Top Product!

We got some very exciting news this week - SchoolAuction.net was named a Top Product of 2012 by Christian School Products magazine. Read More

12 Jul 2012

Roger Devine

5 reasons nonprofits SHOULDN'T hold an auction

Most people reading this blog are helping with the planning of an auction. Read More

11 Jul 2012

Roger Devine

Support Issues: 3/7 - 3/12

We need to apologize to all of you who were working on your auctions this past week, and tried to get help by emailing us.... Read More

14 Mar 2012

Roger Devine

Fundraising Auctions at Colleges and Universities

Holding an auction is an effective and fun way to raise money. For colleges and universities, it can be a great way to get the... Read More

06 Mar 2012

Roger Devine

Finding Item Descriptions With Your Smartphone

This one may be something everyone other than me figured out long ago, but I’m still pretty excited to have discovered it. Read More

06 Feb 2012

Roger Devine

Maintenance Alert: Zendesk Support System

We use a support-desk system called Zendesk, here at SchoolAuction.net World HQ. Today (1/21/12), they have scheduled maintenance from 4PM-6PM PST (00:00 - 02:00 GMT... Read More

22 Jan 2012

Roger Devine

Getting Auction Donations: A List of Resources

It’s THE perennial topic - getting items for your silent auction. People who have done it a few times have a list, a letter that... Read More

09 Jan 2012

Roger Devine

NAJDS 2012

Are you coming to the North American Jewish Day School Conference? If so, stop by and see us in the Marketplace - we’ll be running... Read More

05 Jan 2012

Roger Devine

School Auction Themes: Nights (Of The Round Tables?)

More ideas from our incredibly creative, fun, customers. Have any Nights of your own to add? Add a comment below… Read More

31 Dec 2011

Roger Devine

About Online Auctions

Many of our customers are either gung-ho about doing an online auction, or curious about it. It’s one of the reasons they like our software... Read More

30 Dec 2011

Roger Devine

Finding Auction Items

“Procuring auction items” is often seen as the biggest challenge for a school auction team. Here are three tips that can reduce the stress of... Read More

28 Dec 2011

Roger Devine

School Auction Themes: Evoking Exotic Locales

Picking the right school auction theme can inspire your volunteers, give you an focal point for your procurement, and even help sell tickets. So it’s... Read More

27 Dec 2011

Roger Devine

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