6 Fall Auction Item Trends and Best Practices to Raise More
Auctions are a tried-and-true way for nonprofits to engage with donors and raise vital funds for their missions. To truly make your fall auction successful, intentional planning is key, including securing items that excite your audience.
We gathered insights from a few of our auction partners that reveal top trends for auction items and best practices to help you maximize your success. Let’s get started!
Fall Auction Trends
First, let’s dive into the six emerging fall auction trends you won’t want to miss! From an emphasis on experiences to utilizing consignment partners, following these trends can help make your auction a hit with bidders.
1. Offer Experience Packages
From the moment a supporter wins a package, the story of their adventure begins. Offering a compelling and exciting experience can kickstart a donor’s engagement with your cause and provide a memory they can cherish for the rest of their lives.
Consider packages that will capture imagination and excitement, such as:
- Attending a college or professional football game
- Seeing a Broadway show in the Big Apple
- Golfing at Torrey Pines above the Pacific Ocean in San Diego or internationally at Old Head in Scotland
- VIP concert tickets for a popular artist
The more creative you can get with these packages, the better! You’ll want your donors to relive the excitement of their donation – and build some serious FOMO for other bidders.
2. Curate a Travel Shop
A travel shop allows your nonprofit to create a digital storefront for your supporters to book their travel on your website, whether for business or leisure, knowing that a piece of their booking goes toward your cause.
“Creating a dedicated travel shop offers nonprofits a sustainable revenue stream by allowing supporters to book their travel through curated experiences,” says Jason Champion, VP of National Partnerships, Winspire, and a OneCause Choose Now Pack Later partner. “This innovative approach not only generates funds year-round but also engages key groups like board members, volunteers, and the community. Every time someone books a trip, whether for business or leisure, they support your cause. It’s travel for good, turning everyday travel purchases into impactful donations.”
3. Provide Quality Fall Auction Items Over Quantity
When it comes to choosing packages, it’s important to offer a variety of items, both big-ticket packages and experiences for those on a budget. However, even with a variety of price-range offerings, you should keep storytelling in mind.
Focus on offering unique experiences rather than just a long list of luxurious items to take home. For instance, create an incredible memory for donors by offering a cooking class with a professional chef or a meet-and-greet with a local sports icon!
Sharing the story behind each experience can spark excitement and engagement, ultimately leading to greater success for your auction. By highlighting the story behind your package, you’ll paint a vivid picture that helps your audience form a deeper emotional connection. Make it personal, make it memorable, and watch your auction thrive!
4. Include International Packages
According to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, global tourism bounced back to 88% of pre-pandemic levels last year and is expected to grow with an estimated 1.3 billion people traveling internationally across the globe. Why not capitalize on this trend and offer your donors their next international adventure?
“Just in the last six to eight months, we’ve seen a huge increase in our international travel, especially Italy. It’s now one of our top destinations,” Jason says.
Sending your donors abroad can kickstart an incredible story they can tell for the rest of their lives. Think about what destinations may be enticing to your donors, such as a personalized guided tour of Paris and cruise on the Seine River or Portugal for golf enthusiasts and wine lovers.
5. Leverage Travel Consignment Providers to Offer Donor Choice Packages
Drawing from their extensive inventory, consignment travel providers can curate packages that give supporters the opportunity to choose unique trips they might not otherwise experience. From luxury resort stays and adventure excursions to cultural immersion trips, these travel packages create unforgettable memories and lasting impressions for winning bidders – and they give donors the choice to pick where they want to go!
Working with consignment items also offers significant benefits to your nonprofit, including a no-risk opportunity to generate larger revenue. Bidders often see the value of these packages as greater than their actual cost, resulting in lots of buzz, competitive bidding, and higher final sale prices!
Once you have a sale, you can manage the offerings with ease on the OneCause Fundraising Platform, which offers streamlined minimum bid management and obligation tracking.
6. Offer a Sweepstakes For Your Next Fall Auction
Sweepstakes are an excellent way to continue to generate revenue both during and outside of auction season.
“Sweepstakes are giveaways where nonprofits choose a cool prize, and donors make a donation for the chance to win,” says Annie Tukman, Director of Sales, TapKat Solutions, an online sweepstakes fundraising expert. “In that sense, it’s like a raffle in that donors are contributing to win a prize. The main difference here is that with a sweepstakes, there is no need to make a donation for a chance to win, which is called an alternative method of entry (AMOE). Because sweepstakes have AMOE, they are not considered gambling.”
Because of AMOE, sweepstakes often don’t require permits or licenses, making them more accessible and easier to implement. They can run for extended periods online, allowing for greater outreach and ticket sales.
By setting clear disclaimers, such as “if we sell 100 tickets or more…” your nonprofit can create a sense of urgency and excitement among participants. This engaging format not only helps raise funds but also broadens awareness of the organization’s cause, ultimately driving support and involvement from your community!
Fall Auction Best Practices
Now that we’ve explored some of the latest trends for fall auctions, let’s dive into how you can implement them with these best practices. From polling your audience to strategizing for your next big event, follow these steps for a successful evening of fundraising!
Poll Your Audience for a Successful Fall Auction
To host a successful auction, it’s important to offer items that appeal to your event guests’ interests. Collect information about what your guests want to see by running a poll, either at registration or after your event to inform your next one. Polling can help you tailor the auction to what your audience likes, which can lead to higher revenue for your nonprofit!
Your poll questions should also help you gauge what price range your audience is comfortable with. Leverage all the data from your polling to build an auction that truly resonates with your audience. Remember, if you only offer trips to Cancun and that doesn’t appeal to your supporters, your auction may not be as successful as you hope.
Once you gather feedback, use the information to curate a variety of packages at different price points. From there, your donors can choose what they want to spend their money.
Strategically Offer Multiples
Imagine you’re at an auction and the hot item everyone wanted has already sold. Wouldn’t it be exciting to find out there’s another identical package available as a surprise to keep the bidding lively?
That’s the power of offering multiples! Pay attention to which items are generating the most attention online. If you notice a package has gained a lot of buzz, keep an extra version of that popular package ready to be revealed during the live auction. This strategy can energize your event, keep bids high, and show your audience that you’re tuned into their interests.
The OneCause Fundraising Platform makes this strategy simple to execute by allowing you to clone a package and hide it from the participant-facing view. When you’re ready for a reveal, you can make it visible in real time, surprising and delighting your participants!
Plan for Your Whole Event
While live auctions are often the main attraction at a gala, they’re not the only way to raise funds. It’s a great idea to develop strategies for your silent auctions and raffles to boost engagement and increase your revenue with unique offerings.
For example, you might host a raffle for a set of professionally signed golf clubs, available only to the first 150 people who register for your upcoming golf event. This creates urgency and adds excitement, helping guests feel like they have an opportunity they don’t want to miss out on! Keep in mind that raffle laws vary from state to state. Please check your state’s regulations before offering a raffle.
You can even run your silent auction online rather than in person to keep revenue flowing and reach a wider audience.
“Maximize your fundraising by incorporating an online auction running seamlessly over several months. Perfect for a holiday campaign!” says Courtney Syrett, Fundraising Consultant, CharityACE , and a OneCause Choose Now Pack Later partner.
By diversifying your fundraising approach with raffles and online opportunities, you can significantly enhance engagement and revenue at your gala and turn your event into a smashing success!
Maximizing ROI Through Consignment
Working with consignment partners is a smart, cost-effective way for nonprofits to maximize their return on investment. While there’s a reserve fee to access travel experiences, the benefits far outweigh the costs. You can offer your donors incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experiences without having to manage it, which saves you time.
With consignment, you don’t have to worry about sourcing items yourself and remove yourself from potential risks involving the property or logistics. This means your organization can focus on raising funds for your mission while providing fantastic experiences for your donors!
Monitor Your Bid History
It’s essential to keep track of which donors win your big packages, but don’t forget about the second and third-highest bidders too. If a package sells for $10,000 and someone is ready to bid $9,500, there’s a good chance they might be interested in supporting your organization in a big way!
“Enlist a volunteer to note anyone who bids over $2K, regardless of winning, then build relationships with these supporters,” says Kevin Spykerman, Director of Sales, Auction Packages, a OneCause Choose Now Pack Later partner. “Travel packages are ideal due to their allure, high value, and potential for multiple sales.”
You can leverage the reports in the OneCause Fundraising Platform to review your bid history to find those donors who have made a big impact. Reports can be pulled in minutes, making it simple for your team to reach out.
Leverage Auction Software and Management Tools
Utilizing user-friendly auction software can be a game-changer for nonprofits when it comes to simplifying planning and creating a smooth experience for your supporters. Your software should allow for quick and easy event setup, seamless item management, and detailed report offerings. If your software now doesn’t offer these, it’s time for an upgrade.
With flexible tools perfect for nonprofits and events of all sizes, the OneCause Fundraising Platform helps you raise more funds effortlessly. You can set up your event page in minutes and create auction descriptions using our Auction AI description generators to begin promoting early.
From there, elevate your event from ticketing and registration through checkout and reporting. You can even boost engagement with competitive bidding and seamless donation options.
Make Your Fall Auction a Success
Whether it’s live, silent, or hybrid, your fall auctions have the potential to bring in significant revenue for your organization with the right items and packages. By focusing on the storytelling aspect of each item you offer, you can make your guests excited to bid and continue that engagement online for a stream of revenue throughout the year.
To learn more about how to plan the perfect auction, check out these resources below:
