Auctions are excellent tools for diversifying funding streams for nonprofit development professionals. The emergence of ubiquitous online access have made online auctions an excellent vehicle for nonprofits and charities to raise funds while engaging stakeholders and other consituencies in their causes. eBay, the leader platform for online auctions also provides a number of offerings for running nonprofit auctions. Running a charity auction on eBay is simple, but getting the most from your efforts involves developing a strategy and understanding the ins and outs of eBay. Luckily eBay provides lots of information on how to be successful using their services.
eBay Trading Assistants can be a tremendous resource in jump-starting your nonprofit auction efforts.
If you excel at eBay auctions, you might want to consider an additional source of revenue as well. The eBay Trading Assistant Program will allow you to sell items for other eBay members on consignment. Being successful at your own auctions is the key to becoming a successful trading assistant for other people.
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In addition to eBay, other vendors offer vehicles for nonprofits to run fundraising auctions. CMarket - www.cmarket.com offers services emphasizing the importance of bidders, donors and sponsors, and their respective roles in a successful auction. Their Website is a valuable source of fundraising auction tips.
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Often, newcomers simply don’t know how to make their items sell. Many people who are auctioning off a one time big ticket item, such as cars or real estate, will often employ the services of an eBay Trading Assistant. Items such as these can add up to very big commissions for serious trading assistants! Usually, trading assistants are responsible for every aspect of the auction, including shipping the product to the customer and collecting payment. For high ticket items, the person who hires
Trading Assistants get access to trading assistant marketing materials which are quite helpful. In order to become an approved trading assistant, you must have sold at least ten items in the last ninety days, have a feedback score of at least 100 with 97% positive feedback or higher, and your eBay account must be in good standing.
Michael Saunders has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He edits a site on
Fundraising Auction Tips and is president of
Information Organizers, LLC.
