GivingBid is an auction platform built specifically for your 'banquet and charity auction' fundraiser.
GivingBid is a simple tool to help you accept bids online, and provide your in-person guests with a VIP experience. Replace your event's silent auction with a simple, fun, and engaging alternative, and extend the reach of your charity auction!
Setting it up was so easy, even I could do it!
The auction was a huge success, our most successful yet, and we couldn’t have done it without your help.
It went really well and we are very pleased. It was also handy being able to do a lot of it ourselves. The website is very easy to navigate.
Our story starts with YFC Hanover. During the first year of covid; YFC Hanover held its charity auction online using Facebook. The auction was a success, but involved a lot of legwork to monitor and manage. Bidders would bid by comment, and would sometimes bid less than the previous bidder, causing a lot of confusion. We ended up with a fair number of frustrated bidders.
The following year; steering committee member Aaron Mader took the initiative to research online auction sites, but found them either too expensive or too feature limited. Being a software developer; Aaron decided to build his own, with a focus on simplicity, clarity, and helpful communication with bidders. No more frustrated bidders! And 'closing out' the auction was so much easier, with a clear tally of who-won-what, and what they owed.
The next year after that; YFC Hanover was once again able to host an in-person banquet and charity auction event. But we wanted to enjoy the simple 'closing out' process from our online auction. Aaron added a couple of helpful features to let in-person guests participate without needing a smartphone. Two or three volunteer 'runners' use a special interface to update the 'price tag' on auction items, take bids from guests, and then notify guests later if they were outbid. At the end of the night, we settled up with our bid winners in half the time!
Along the way; other YFC regions have also used the site to host their own online auctions. Which brings us to present-day. GivingBid is now available for anyone that might find it helpful. Just give Aaron a shout at [email protected] and he'll get you set up!