Choosing the Right Software and Price to Run Your Online Charity Auctions

Obviously when choosing what type of software to use to manage your online charity auctions, pricing is a serious factory.  Yes, there are many other important factors such as functionality, easy of use, customer service, implementation, and more.  So, in effect as  charity organizer you are looking for the best value and est fit for your charity.

A few points to keep note of, and to be aware of when looking at online charity auction software are:

Total price: do not be fooled by cheap entry prices, and then end up having to pay hundreds or thousands in commissions.  The sales pitch of ” you only pay if you sell” sounds great, but in truth, the auction platform, unless terrible, is not going to determine if you sell or not, so why give away 6-30% or more of your charity’s profits

Customer support: Make sure that you have a dedicated line to call your account rep as well as a direct email.  You do not want to get stuck in a 24-36 hour holding pattern if you have questions and need an answer before you can proceed. My recommendation, is pick up the phone and talk to this person BEFORE you buy, so you know they are there for you

No hidden charges: Make sure there are not a  lot of hidden upsells.  When a software says they can/will provide various functionality, make sure that is included in the price you agree  upon, and are not hidden up charges once you sign on.

Good relationships and support: Look for a software company that has relationships with vendors who can help you supply more offerings at your fundraising events.  Many times you might get a couple great donations from generous donors, but you need more than just a small handful of items to really generate a buzz and get people psyched up to attend an event or auction, live or online.   There are charity auction software companies who will let you offer items and vacation packages on consignment, which means there is no risk to your charity, and if they sell, your charity simply collects  the difference between the auction price, and the cost of the item or package.

CharityAuctionsToday.com has some great resources and offerings for charity auction software. They also have a nice report and outline prepared that you can take right ot the board to explain the bottom line offerings and prices, so there are no surprises, and you save a ton of time researching.  Plus they have live support and personal account reps.

There are more resources at:

www.charityauctionstoday.com

and download free report: Charity Auction Download