A guest post from Kelly Velasquez-Hague at OneCause

In order for your auction to be a success, you need exciting items. Determining which items to procure and how to solicit them can be challenging, even for the experienced fundraiser. You should include a variety of items in your auction that engage audiences and encourage them to bid. The main questions are: Which items will resonate? And where can I get them?

Let’s start with the first – what items should I put in my auction?

This all depends on your nonprofit’s mission and audience. Nonprofits and donors are all different, but they share a common passion for making the world better through your cause. So to determine the best items, ask yourself:

• Popular: Are they popular with consumers? If shoppers like them, your donors will too.
• Unique: Are they one-of-a-kind? Specialty items and experiences resonate well.
• Rare: Are they hard to get? Rare or hot market items fare well in any auction!
• Mission Focused: Do they connect to your mission or offer opportunities to engage with your cause? Mission related items or experiences can be a big hit.

Whatever you choose, your items should inspire multiple bids, create excitement, and entice donors to engage in your fundraiser.

Now, for the question of where do I get my items?

To maximize revenue and minimize expenses, your nonprofit will have to get creative when it comes to procuring in-kind donations.

We recommend the following best practices to help you and your team solicit items that are guaranteed to motivate donors and help you drive auction success:

• Form an item procurement team.
• Consider your audience.
• Brainstorm item ideas.
• Write donation request letters.

Whether you’re hosting a silent auction, a live auction, or an online fundraiser, these best practices can mean the difference between hitting your goals and falling flat. Let’s dive in.

Form an item procurement team.

The item procurement process has multiple moving parts, so we recommend dispersing responsibilities across a team. Create an item procurement committee that will work together to solicit the best items for your charity auction. This allows you to cast the widest net and resources to secure the best items with little to no cost.

When building your item procurement team, look for the following individuals:

• Staff members
• Devoted supporters
• Community or board members with social connections
• Creative individuals (artists, entertainers, designers, etc).
• Corporate supporters who’ve donated in the past

Taking the time to select people who are passionate, connected, and creative ensures will give you the widest reach and diverse interests needed to assemble an amazing auction!

Consider your audience.

Your audience’s interests and demographics will largely determine what types of items or packages people will be interested in purchasing, whether that’s a local dining experience, nonprofit merchandise, or even a day spent playing with puppies if you’re an animal welfare organization.

If you’ve hosted an auction in the past, review past performance data to understand which items people liked best. Consider which items received the most bids, which items received the least bids, and the average bidding amount. This helps you zero in on the types of items your audience engaged with as well as their price range, and your auction non-performers (so you don’t spend time procuring them again) .

Besides data from past events, ask around! Talk to your top supporters and browse other local charity auctions. Getting first-hand knowledge on what’s hot and what’s not can help you tailor your auction to the trending needs and wants of your donors. We guarantee, put what they want, what they like, what they can’t easily get in your auction, and you will reap fundraising success!

Brainstorm item ideas.

According to the OneCause guide to charity auction items, the most popular items tend to fall into these categories:

• Classic auction items, like gift baskets, certificates, and memorabilia.
• Auction Wow Factors, travel packages, unique dining experiences, or VIP seats at the next big sporting event.
• Auction baskets, bundled items that together create fun and package value.
• One of a kind art, which can perform incredibly well in school auctions or for causes where hand-made items are highly valued.

Include a variety of items and spread them out across categories. Expanding your item selection can help your nonprofit appeal to different donor interests and budgets, further maximizing bids.

Write donation request letters.

Once you’ve made a wish list of your ideal item selection, you’re ready to begin the outreach process for support. Requesting sponsor or in-kind donations is essential to any fundraiser auction, as it will be too costly for your organization to buy all the auction items.

A great way to receive support for your auction fundraiser is by researching businesses with corporate philanthropy programs. According to Re:Charity, corporate charity comes in many forms, including in-kind donations and sponsorships.

For example, your nonprofit can ask a restaurant to provide a free dining experience that you can auction off in exchange for marketing at your future events. Alternatively, your organization can request funding for costly event expenses like catering or venue expenses.

Your nonprofit can also reach out to supporters who may have access to items you need or are willing to donate funds. You’ll need to craft an effective donation request letter. Your letter should be personalized to the recipient, provide a clear call to action listing the items you are looking for or the financial support you need, and explain the impact of their contribution and how the auction’s results will help power your nonprofit’s mission.

To make your donation request more effective, add storytelling elements that demonstrate the tangible impact your nonprofit has on the community. For instance, you can describe a constituent your nonprofit helped or a recent project you completed and how this was made possible through donor support. Use vivid detail and emotional appeal to encourage your recipient to take action.

Kelly Velasquez-Hague brings over 20 years of fundraising, nonprofit management, and sales/marketing experience to her role as the Director of Content Marketing for OneCause.

As a member of the OneCause sales and marketing team, Kelly manages all of the company’s content strategy and execution. She is passionate about empowering great missions and loves that her current role allows her to continue to help nonprofits reach new donors and raise more funds for their cause.

A guest post by Wayne Elsey, Sneakers4Funds

Thousands of nonprofits across the country are short on the supplies they need to further their missions. Animal rescues don’t have enough blankets for their latest influx of kittens and puppies, and food banks are running low on the canned goods their beneficiaries need.

The culprit of this problem could be anything from underperforming fundraisers to a limited pool of dedicated supporters. Some nonprofits also find it challenging to decide where to allocate their funding. So as to combat these issues, nonprofits might choose to try a new way of fundraising: by requesting in-kind donations.

What Nonprofits Look for During In-Kind Fundraisers

In-kind donations are donations outside of traditional monetary gifts. Typically, these include goods, services, and time.

Almost any nonprofit organization can make use of in-kind donations. For example, if the organization helps underserved student-athletes, they might ask running stores to collect and donate athletic shoes.

For nonprofits, some of the benefits of setting up an in-kind fundraiser include:

• Reduced operating costs
• The ability to make a larger impact
• The opportunity to grow as an organization
• Providing a way to develop connections with other organizations

Despite these benefits, some nonprofits shy away from asking for in-kind donations because they aren’t sure what to request. Keep in mind that there are a wide variety of in-kind donations nonprofits can request, ranging from access to a fundraising event venue to goods like clothing and shoes. And as Sneakers4Funds explains, donating items like new, used, and gently worn running shoes can even help make the fundraiser more environmentally friendly.

In-kind fundraisers are incredibly impactful for nonprofits that are just getting started. In-kind donations like computers, office equipment, and professional services like accounting can help them get off the ground and expand their capabilities. These types of contributions have the unique ability to give nonprofits the exact items and tools they need to further their mission and reach more people.

How to Participate in In-Kind Fundraising as a Business

Businesses can play a role in the in-kind fundraising process, too. Many companies already contribute resources to philanthropic organizations, a part of the concept known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR programs encourage businesses to find the organizations and cause that benefit from their contributions the most and make a difference for those missions.

How can businesses get started?

To get started, businesses need to find organizations with in-kind donation requests they can fulfill. To find the nonprofits that need their donations, companies should:

• Look for new nonprofits in their area. If you are a business owner, look for young nonprofits without a large base of supporters. These organizations need in-kind donations the most so they can grow and serve more constituents.
• Contact nonprofits with causes relevant to your business. Seek out local nonprofits with a mission that aligns with your business. If you own a running shoe store, reach out to your local community closet and ask if they need donations of athletic shoes.
• Sponsor a charity event. Keep tabs on any local charity events like races or auctions. Sponsor these events by contributing your goods or services to help the nonprofit put on the event at a lower cost. A common way to support a charity auction, for example, is to contribute high-quality auction items. You’ll probably gain some valuable marketing during these experiences as well!

Once businesses find the right cause to support, they will need to decide how they will support the cause.

What can businesses do to support nonprofits?

During in-kind fundraisers, businesses have the opportunity to contribute exactly what nonprofits need, whether that is free coaching services for student-athletes or time from volunteers. Some of the common ways business owners can support nonprofits include:

• Supplying free goods. Offer free items to nonprofits that need them. Your business might offer school supplies to local teachers or donate the items you sell to a relevant organization. To make a large impact, consider running a collection campaign like a shoe recycling program to collect additional goods from your staff, customers, and other members of the community.
• Offering a free service. List of some of the services your business could provide to nonprofits. These services can be particular to the nonprofit’s cause, like a restaurant lending its head chef’s services to a soup kitchen. However, offering pro bono law, accounting, and business management services is standard and helps nonprofits better manage their organizations.
• Asking employees to volunteer. Let employees know about opportunities to volunteer for a good cause, offering incentives like paid time off to encourage participation. When looking for these volunteer opportunities, get your employees involved in the process. Consider advertising these volunteer opportunities to your customers, involving everyone from teenagers and college students to seasoned trainers at your gym.

Because there is a wide variety of in-kind donations, businesses of all shapes and sizes can make impactful gifts. If you are a small business owner, keep in mind that you can also leverage the power of your community to come up with contributions that help nonprofits expand their offerings to more deserving beneficiaries.

The next time a local youth center asks for running shoe donations, be one of the individuals or companies that steps up to contribute.

Wayne Elsey is the founder and CEO of Elsey Enterprises (EE) and a member of the Forbes Business Development Council. Among his various independent brands, he is also the founder and CEO of Sneakers4Funds, which is a social enterprise that helps schools, churches, nonprofits, individuals and other organizations raise funds while helping to support micro-enterprise (small business) opportunities in developing nations.