When to use “Submit your best bid” for item donations that can’t be sold at the fundraising auction

Earlier this month I wrote about how nonprofits can sell item donations that arrive after the fundraising auction, or arrive before the event, but have a date restriction preventing the item from being sold at the auction itself.  Typically these are donations for a sporting event, concert, or festival.

If you run enough auctions, this situation is likely to happen to you.

There are a few approaches for converting these donations into of these tickets to the highest bidder.

For example, in the other post I shared an email campaign from a school selling Packers tickets in an online auction.

Another method is to email your community, asking interested parties to submit their “best bid” by a given date and time.  The bidder submitting the highest bid by the deadline buys the item donation.

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When should you use this technique instead of an online auction?

• You lack the time to have bidders go back-and-forth in an auction.
• You don’t have an online auction software platform, or don’t want to use it.
• You want to make the sale as easy as possible for bidders.  With this approach, bidders don’t register for the auction or provide credit card information in advance.  In short, you’re trusting that once they win, they’ll pay.

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Here’s an example of a Martha’s Vineyard, MA nonprofit using this approach two weeks ago.

• They sent the email on January 11.
• The deadline for submitting bids was three days later, midnight at January 14.
• The event, which would involve the bidder buying airfare, was on January 27.

Email subject:  “Now accepting bids”

Whatever approach you use, the goal is to quickly convert the item donation into cash that your nonprofit can use.

Have you used this technique?  Any advice to share?

Post it below.