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
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
Does Your School Fundraising Event Need A COVID Waiver?
Fundraising events are important to schools for many reasons—like raising enough money to throw junior prom, ensuring the orchestra gets to go on an annual... Read More
23 Jul 2021
Daryl McCarl
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
Leveraging Prospect Research for Your Virtual Gala: 4 Tips
The COVID-19 pandemic gave nonprofits an opportunity to explore new ways of engaging donors—most notably, through virtual events such as galas. And now that the... Read More
23 Jul 2021
Sandra Davis
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
School Auction Social Media Strategy Series: Content
You’re on a roll, now. Your SchoolAuction.net website is set up, your social media pages are ready to go, and you have hashtags that are... Read More
03 May 2019
Kelsey Zander
School Auction Social Media Strategy Series: Hashtags
A social media campaign isn’t complete without a catchy hashtag. Hashtags have shown to increase engagement across Instagram by 12.6%, and a tweet with a... Read More
23 Apr 2019
Kelsey Zander
School Auction Social Media Strategy Series: Getting Started
Before we get into the fun content and marketing posts, let’s start by getting comfortable with our auction’s social media accounts. SchoolAuction.net has made it... Read More
12 Apr 2019
Kelsey Zander
School Auction Social Media Strategy Series: Introduction
We know what you’re thinking: “Do I really need a social media strategy for a school auction? Isn’t that a little overkill?” Read More
18 Mar 2019
Kelsey Zander
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
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
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
"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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Getting to the Heart of the matter
It’s a fresh year, and for many of you, this is the time when your plans and strategies for organizing and executing a successful benefit... Read More
11 Jan 2013
Delila
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
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
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
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
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
