Top 12 Charity Auction Software Sites

You might be wondering how to effectively raise money and awareness. Hosting an online charity auction is one way to do that. Virtual auctions are a convenient way to create your fundraising event without all the limitations that traditional auctions have. By setting up your virtual auction (which is really easy), you steer clear from the problems of location, time, attendance, space and a limited audience.

Setting up your own charity auction is a lot easier than you initially think. Various auction sites provide buyers and sellers with platforms powered by different types of auction software. Finding the right charity auction site that suits your needs is the first step into creating a successful auction.

But, what makes one online charity auction software site better than another? It all depends on what you want to achieve and what’s important to you. Others put more importance to costs, while some prioritize authenticity and user experience. Whatever it is you need, we’ve compiled the top 12 powerful online fundraising sites that will surely meet your needs.*Prices below are subject to change.

1. CharityAuctionsToday.com

CharityAuctionsToday is a mobile and online auction company that provides a unique fundraising platform for individuals, nonprofits, schools, and businesses so they can raise more money for the causes they care so much about.

It only takes 5 minutes to set up an auction with assistance every step of the way. Set up an auction for FREE and only pay a 5% performance fee or select a prepaid plan for only $497. Great features of this platform include that it works flawlessly across all devices and risk-free auction items are offered for your online fundraising.

The best part of CharityAuctionsToday’s free plan is you only pay if you actually raise money. If you don’t raise anything, you own nothing. It’s completely risk free!

2. 24Fundraiser.com – Acquired by CharityAuctionsToday

24Fundraiser.com was acquired by Charity Auctions Today in 2017 to better fulfill their mission of providing nonprofits and schools with the best online options when it comes to their fundraising needs.Set up donation and campaign pages starting as little as $297 per campaign.

Fund a need, create teams to fundraise together. Start a campaign for a special event, such as a golf outing. Register and collect payments, check in golfers, collect donations, sell sponsor ads, and run a mobile auction all from one page. You’ll hit a hole in one when you see how much more money you can raise using 24Fundraiser. Also, use their services to collect tuition or dues for your organization. They offer online auctions, donation forms, help with event set up, ticket sales, donor management, campaign pages, website buttons, integration, and donor processing.

3. SchoolAuction.net

School Auction offers charity auction software services for school, non-profits, and any company that wants to do a fundraiser. Plans run from $1000 to $1795 per year based on your needs. A standard auction includes a gala, online, and hybrid auctions with unlimited bidders. For unlimited support via phone, you’ll need shell out for the $1795 dollar upgrade.

4. BiddingOwl.com

BiddingOwl is a start-to-End Auction Management System that offers silent, live, and online auctions. They also offer mobile bidding at your event, dedicated fundraising support and fully integrated credit card processing. BiddingOwl.com pulls charity and shopping together with the internet – providing bidders with a site that allows for great shopping experience for great causes. Silent and Live online auction software services are free with a 5% performance fee.

5. Auctria.com

Auctria is a Canadian charity auction software company dedicated to providing affordable tools to help non-profits of any size run successful fundraising auctions. Their software was born out of the need to handle an annual school auction that had grown too big to be shuffling pieces of paper or Excel files around. They wanted a solution that kept track of the details, and helped ensure an efficient auction event but didn’t cost an arm and a leg. They offer a variety of plans ranging from free for 30 auction items and a cap of $2500 to $299.95 with credit card fees.

6. 501Auctions.com – Acquired by GiveSmart

501Auctions works with over 500 non-profits annually, helping them meet and exceed their goals. Their cloud-based suite of tools and customer service team ensure that you can focus on promoting your cause. They take care of the paperwork, build a branded fundraising site, and offer a flat fee. However, you’ll have to call for a quote. It is now acquired by GiveSmart.

7. SilentAuctionPro.com

No more clumsy and complicated spreadsheets. No more having to print, email or publish a spreadsheet to others working on the auction only to have it immediately out of date.

SilentAuctionPro was designed from the ground up to be an Internet-based, multi-user team environment. Any group member can access the system from any Internet-connected computer. Includes branded receipts, bid sheets, and more. The pricing is per event. All pricing quoted is per event. If you use SilentAuctionPro for multiple events in the same calendar year, they offer a 20% discount on your 2nd event and 30% discount on the 3rd and subsequent events in the same calendar year. You’ll have to tally everything up to see if this is the best pricing option for your fundraiser.

8. ReadySetAuction.com

With ReadySetAuction, you can keep track of every type of donation you receive. The easy-to-use packaging tool makes combining donations into baskets quick and easy. And because ReadySetAuction accurately tracks the remaining quantity of every multiple-quantity donation, you and your team will never be confused about how many of each donation is left to package. They offer mobile bidding, and printable receipts too. A basic auction starts at $495 per year. Add all the bells and whistles for $1995.

9. 32Auctions.com

With minimal information necessary, you can create an account and have an auction ready to go in a matter of minutes. They’ve made it easy to set up and run your silent auction online. The auctions at 32Auctions are private, giving you the ability to determine who bids based on who you share your auction URL with. Having a private auction allows you to invite a trusted network of participants. The people who join your auction are those who are interested in seeing your organization raise money to reach your goals. You can start a free auction with 20 items, up to 100 items for $80, or a live event with 200 items for $160. Be careful which one you choose, some of them don’t offer custom branding.

10. GiveSmart.com

A dedicated Event Coordinator from GiveSmart is on hand the moment the planning begins–advising on everything from selecting the right items to starting prices to event timelines. With you throughout the entire process, the GiveSmart Event Coordinator becomes an invaluable part of your team. They secure, collect and protect all payments made at your event, give you open access to all the numbers, and release funds in as little as ten days. You’ll have to contact them for pricing information.

11. OneCause.com

A pioneer of mobile bidding in the market, they share experiences gleaned from thousands of events to make sure yours is poised to hit your goals.

With more than 8 years of industry knowledge and a team of more than 250 fundraising professionals, their US-based account management and support teams are ready to assist you. Through phone and email support, an online knowledge base filled with helpful videos, web-based guided tours, you’ll always have a place to turn for guidance. DIY options start at $1995 to $3995 a year. You can also get a custom quote based on your needs.

12. BiddingForGood.com

BiddingForGood is a charitable eCommerce company that offers an online auction platform where consumers can create fundraising events for their businesses and achieve great results. The software used at BiddingForGood works with computers, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. With the help of their customers and shoppers in the bidder community, they’ve created a new category of shopping, Charitable Commerce™. Standard online auction services start at $895 a year with a 9% performance fee. And personal account management starts at $2495 per year.

As you can see, most charity auction software sites offer a similar option. Depending on your needs pricing ranges from free to $4000 per year plus credit card or performance fees. Review each fundraising website carefully to ensure you choose the site with the best pricing and options for your fundraiser. Don’t fall for advertising gimmicks or hidden fees.

How Auctions Work on CharityAuctionsToday

One Auction Platform For All Your Devices

It doesn’t matter if you only have 1 item that someone donated or 1000 items. Our platform makes it easy to get your items online and generating bids quickly.

Why Run an Online Auction?

Online auctions are a great way to get items online quickly to generate bids. It is also less expensive then running a live silent auction. Bidders can bid from anywhere in the world.

Creating Auctions is Easy

The Auction Setup Wizard only takes 5 minutes to complete and your auction is ready to add items.

Is it really that easy?

Yes, we took years of data and found all the pain points people had when creating online auctions. We take the stress out of creating auctions and built our platform around the need to simplify the process.

Choose an Auction Plan

When you’re ready to start using Charity Auctions Today, choose an Auction Plan and tell us how you would like to receive auction payouts. We can Direct Deposit all funds into your bank account within 48 hours, or you can Request a Paper Check by mail.

Are there any hidden fees?

No, all of our pricing and fees are laid out on our pricing page. You can choose a free plan where we just take a small performance fee or, if the auction is going to raise over 20K, we have pre-paid plans to help lower the costs.

Upload Items

There are 3 ways to add items into our system.

Enter items one by one.
Import items in bulk.
Create an auction link and have your donors submit items online. Once you edit and approve, items will be live.

What if I don’t have all my items yet?

No Problem, you can continue to add items even when your auction has launched. If you need items, we have partnered with some great companies that will give you items on consignment so you can list them Risk Free.

Design Your Auction Website

The auction designer will create a great looking auction every time. Choose between 12 predesigned themes or have your designer match the look and feel of your website.

I’m not a designer?

No problem, that’s why we created 12 pre-designed themes. Just click on the design you like and preview it in our design editor. Again, we make things easy

Share Your Auction With The World

When setting up your auction can you choose between a public or private auction. A Public Auction will list your auction on our website and be available to our bidder community. A Private Auction is only available to bidders who receive your auction link. With built in Social media tools, you can unleash your auction to anyone you wish.

What if I don’t know anything about social media?

That’s Okay! The best thing about our site is your bidders will take care of that for you. We placed social share buttons throughout your auction to promote sharing. You can just sit back and relax while your bidders share the auction for you.

Outbid Notifications

Any time a bidder is outbid, our system will send them an out bid notification email. If the bidder opted in to receive text notifications from us, we will also send an outbid text notification with a link directly back to the item. This will allow bidders to rebid from anywhere. [/fusion_text]

Are outbid text notifications free?

Yes, we don’t nickle and dime you for every little thing. We have a vested interest in your auction succeeding. We will help you any way we can to make sure its successful.

End of Auction Process

When the auction ends, the system will generate and send invoices by email and text message. As bidders make a payment, invoices will be marked as paid in real time. To speed up invoice payments you can force bidders to have a credit card on file before they bid.

Is CharityAuctionsToday the right choice for me?

Yes, we started in 2007 and know what is takes to help our clients run successful auction. As you probably learned by now, our platform is the easiest to use. It’s time to to take the next step and join the Charity Auctions Today family!