Holiday Special: Double Your Refer-a-Friend Credits in December

During the month of December, your organization will earn a $100 credit — double the usual amount — toward its next ReadySetAuction purchase. It’s easy to refer your friends: Login to your account and click the “Refer Friends” button on the ReadySetAuction dashboard.

Heads or Tails? People are Flipping for this Raffle

The game of “Heads or Tails” adds a new twist to the tried and true 50-50 raffle fundraising tool. In this case, the last person standing wins 50% of the pot. Here’s how it works.

Silent Auction Strategy #4: 10 Elements of an Effective Bid Sheet

What makes a good silent auction bid sheet? Lisa gives you the answers, and the reasons why.

5 Quick Tips for Making Your Procurement Efforts More Effective

Guest blogger Kevin Spykerman points out ways to make auction procurement easier, more efficient and more effective.

ReadySetAuction’s August Giveaway: Enter to Win and Like Us on Facebook to Grow the Prize!

On September 1, 2011, one lucky nonprofit organization will win up to a $699 credit toward a purchase from ReadySetAuction. To enter, just fill out the form at the bottom of this post. The prize starts at $0 and goes up by $1 for every Facebook “like” we get, so be sure to like our Facebook page to help make your potential prize bigger!

Silent Auction Strategy #3: Don’t Overwhelm Your Guests with Too Many Silent Auction Items

In her third post in the Silent Auction Strategy series, Lisa discusses how to determine the appropriate number of items for your silent auction.

10 Reasons Summer is a Good Time for an Online Auction Fundraiser

Looking for a summer fundraiser? Consider holding an online auction. Here are 10 reasons why the timing is good.

Silent Auction Strategy #2: Stagger the Closing Times of your Silent Auction Sections

In this second post in a series on silent auction strategy, Lisa discusses why it’s important to stagger the closing times in your silent auction.

Help Us Help You: How to Write a Good Support Request

Casey, a ReadySetAuction support team member, offers tips for writing a good support request.

Silent Auction Strategy #1: Naming your Silent Auction Sections

In this first post in a series on silent auction strategy, Lisa covers how to name and display your silent auction sections in ways that enhance your event theme and make items easy to find.

Sell Fixed-Price Items Online with ReadySetAuction

Over the weekend, we rolled out a new version of ReadySetAuction. The new release brings a much-requested feature: the ability to sell items at a fixed price on your auction website.

Grace Eagle Boosters Help Their School Grow with ReadySetAuction

For 18 years, The Grace Eagle Boosters have held an annual auction to raise funds to enhance the educational experience of the students at Visalia, California’s Grace Christian School. They have funded field trips, a 15-laptop computer lab, technology items such as LCD video projectors and “elmo” projectors, extra curricular activities, a new marquee, playground equipment and more.

This year, they chose to designate a large part of their auction proceeds to their We’re Growing: Kindergarten Expansion project. “Our school is growing and running out of space,” explained auction coordinator and 4th grade teacher, Sharine Neipp, “so we wanted to focus our auction efforts on this important project, and by doing so, give our live auction a more meaningful slant.”

Strategies for Pre-Event Online Bidding

When using ReadySetAuction to conduct an online auction prior to your silent/live event auction, you can choose whether each item in your online catalog is for:

• view only
• pre-bidding for event auction
• pre-bidding with absentee bidding during event auction
• online-only bidding

Our customers often ask us what types of items are best suited to each category. Here are some strategies to consider:

New Features: QuickPackage, Enhanced PayPal Integration, Improved Prospect Tracking & Reporting

Our latest ReadySetAuction updates bring a handful of new features: a faster and easier process for turning donations into auction items, simplified online payment for your auction winners, and better tracking and reporting on donors and prospective donors.

ReadySetAuction Adds Social Networking Features

We launched a new release of ReadySetAuction last week that adds social networking features to help our users promote their online auctions. Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter have made it easy for people to quickly share information with their friends and family; now the social networking features of ReadySetAuction offer two ways for your organization and your bidders to spread the word about your fundraiser. Read on to learn how.

PCI DSS Compliance: The Basics

What is PCI DSS Compliance?

Over the years, retailers have lost millions of dollars to fines and in compensation to customers as a result of compromised credit cards and personal information. These losses, moreover, do not take into account the hidden costs of lost sales and damage to merchant brands. In response to this increase of credit card hackers and thieves, American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide, and Visa Inc came together in 2006 to launch a global forum called the PCI Security Standards Council. Together they developed the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements.

According to the PCI Security Standards Council website, “The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures. This comprehensive standard is intended to help organizations proactively protect customer account data.”

PCI DSS compliance is not an option but a requirement for all merchants — whether small or large — that process credit cards. In other words, if your organization plans to accept credit card payments prior to and/or at your event auction — e.g. for online ticket sales, online cash donations, as payment for items won in an online auction, and as payment for items won at your event auction — then it must be PCI DSS compliant.

Increase Auction Proceeds with a Paddle Call

I’m surprised by how often I speak with clients who have never heard of a Paddle Call. A Paddle Call – also known by names such as Fund-A-Need, Flurry, Special Appeal and others – is a highly effective tool for raising a lot of money for your cause in a short period of time.

A Paddle Call takes place during the live auction portion of your event. The auctioneer asks for guests to raise their paddles to make a monetary donation towards a special project, a scholarship fund, a large piece of equipment or a special item that is needed by your organization. Guests who would like to donate raise their paddles while an auction committee member records the paddle numbers. The auctioneer then asks again, this time for a lower amount. Typically, a larger number of guests will raise their paddles. This goes on for at most five levels – for example, $5000, $2500, $1000, $500, $100 – at which point the auctioneer should have reached a level where the majority of guests have their paddles raised.

Guest Bloggers Wanted

Have an awesome auction success story or tip to tell? We want to hear from you!

We’ve launched a new blog, and we want our customers to be a part of the fun. We’re looking for informative, inspiring, or even funny stories about your auctions to share with our community. We also welcome tips and advice that could help others hold more successful benefit auctions.

If your story is selected for posting on our blog, you’ll receive a $50 credit towards your next ReadySetAuction purchase.