Online Auction for US-based non-profit

June 18, 2020 5:27 PM

The US-based 501c3 non-profit I work for will be holding an online fundraising gala this year and would like to include an auction. My cursory googling gives me lots of options but no real sense of functionality or trustworthiness.

Our website is done using Weebly which doesn’t seem to support any auction plugins. We have a connection at a major international auction house if that’s the best way to do it.

The substance of the gala will be prerecorded so we are not aspiring to something incredibly fancy and real-time.

Please suggest products that you know are well done and trustworthy.

Thank you

posted by sciencegeek to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

I can't recommend anything specific, but in your shoes I would try reaching out to the development departments of other nonprofits in your geographic or subject area who have done auctions recently, and asking what they used and whether they liked it. If any of your funders have galas, maybe ask them too.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:30 PM on June 18, 2020

I "attended" an auction (for Samaritan House in San Mateo, Calif.) in April that seemed pretty smooth. They did it via Greater Giving. They were also live on YouTube. I'm pretty sure I can supply a contact if you want to ask them nitty-gritty about how it went. Memail me.
posted by purpleclover at 6:50 PM on June 18, 2020

I am on the board of a nonprofit and also involved in its annual fundraiser gala. We have used Greater Giving to run our in-person silent auction for several years now, as well as a virtual post-event sale for items that didn't sell the night of.

Because it allows for mobile bidding via just a regular browser, no app required, we are going to continue to use it for our next auction, which will be virtual.
posted by bedhead at 5:36 AM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]