Boost recurring donations this giving season with the upsell prompt!With the Auctions app, you run a fundraising auction end to end — building a catalog, taking bids online, running the room on the night, and collecting what was won. This article is the map; each part links to how it works.
Each auction chooses what it includes
Not every auction uses every part of the app. Under What's in this auction on an auction's Details tab, you choose whether it includes People Bid on Items, Items Sold at a Set Price, Paddle Raise and Sponsors. All four start at Yes. Choosing No hides the matching tabs and auction-site pages without deleting anything, so the administrator and the auction site show only what that auction uses. Once a part is in use, such as items that already have bids, you can't turn it off. See Choosing what's in an auction.
Three places the app lives
The administrator is where you build and run the auction. Everything is on one record, split across tabs. Details, Menu & Pages, Bidders and Checkouts are always there, and Overview appears once the auction is saved. The others appear only when the auction includes what they cover: Sponsor Levels, Sponsors, Paddle Raise, Categories, Items, Winning Bids, and Fulfillments. See Viewing and managing Auctions in the administrator.
The Auctions menu in the administrator has Auctions, Items, Transactions and Configuration. Items there is a read-only list of the items in all your auctions, for finding an item and copying it into another auction. You add and edit items on each auction's Items tab.
The auction site is what your supporters see — a browsable grid of items, item pages, bidding, their own account area, and a checkout page where they see and pay what they owe. An auction that includes no items shows a landing page instead of the grid, with its event info, a Donate button, its sponsors and its help. See What bidders see on the auction home page.
The live-event tools are for the night itself: a paddle raise console for recording commitments as they come in from the room, and a Live Display that shows the room what is happening. See Setting up and running a Paddle Raise.
Three ways an item can sell
| Type | How it works |
|---|---|
| Silent Bidding | Bidders bid online; the highest bid wins when the item closes |
| Live Bidding | Run by an auctioneer in the room, with the winner recorded by hand |
| Fixed Price | No bidding — bidders click Buy Now and pay the set price. Can carry inventory |
One auction can mix all three when it includes both People Bid on Items, which covers Silent Bidding and Live Bidding, and Items Sold at a Set Price, which covers Fixed Price. See the Auction item field reference.
How bidding works
Silent bidding uses proxy bidding. A bidder enters the most they are willing to pay, and the app bids the minimum needed to keep them in front, up to that maximum — so they do not have to sit watching the item.
You can set a starting bid, a minimum increment, and a reserve price. Bidders are told whether the reserve is met without being shown the figure.
The four states of an auction
An auction's Status controls what supporters can see and do:
- Hidden — administrators only. The default for a new auction.
- Preview — items visible, no bidding yet. Useful for building interest before you open.
- Open — bidding is live.
- Closed — items still visible, bidding over.
There is also Paused, which stops all bidding without hiding anything — a way to hold the room during a live segment.
What happens after the hammer
Everything a supporter wins, buys or pledges is gathered into one checkout, a single balance per bidder. Supporters pay it themselves from My Checkout, from a link you email or text them, or at your checkout desk. From the Checkouts tab you charge saved cards, record cash and check payments, and send checkout links. The Fulfillments tab is where you hand items over and record anything that will never be collected. It appears when the auction includes bidding, or when any of its items is tracked for pickup. See Understanding the Checkouts tab, Paying your auction balance, and Understanding the Fulfillments tab.
What else it does
- Sponsors — recognize supporters by tier, on an auction page and on a Live Display, in any auction that includes Sponsors. See Where your sponsors appear.
- Event integration — connect an auction to an event so your attendee list feeds your bidder list. See Associating an Auction with an Event.
- Branding — set fonts and colors for the auction site. See Setting colors for the Auctions app.
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