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From Hashtags to Flyers: 4 Silent Auction Marketing Tips

As a nonprofit professional, you understand the importance of creating a thorough marketing plan for your organization. Being strategic about how you promote your nonprofit spreads awareness of your mission, brings new supporters into the fold, and ultimately helps you raise more revenue to fund your work.

Alongside your overarching marketing plan, it’s also essential to develop promotion strategies for individual fundraising initiatives. For instance, many nonprofits find silent auctions to be some of their most lucrative and engaging fundraisers. However, you’ll only be able to maximize your revenue when your supporters are aware that your event is happening and come excited to bid on your silent auction items.

In this guide, we’ll walk through four tips for effectively marketing your nonprofit’s silent auction. Let’s get started!

Leverage Multiple Marketing Channels

The more touchpoints you create with your nonprofit’s supporters, the more signups you’re likely to get for your silent auction. To accomplish this, take a multi-channel marketing approach.

Some promotion channels to consider leveraging through include:

Your nonprofit’s website. Design a landing page for your auction and add it to your online calendar of events.

Email marketing. If your organization sends out a recurring newsletter, add a blurb about your auction in addition to writing emails specifically about the event.

Social media. Encourage your followers to share your nonprofit’s auction-related posts on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to expand your reach.

Print marketing. While many organizations focus on digital marketing, flyers and direct mail are effective for reaching certain demographics and supplementing your online efforts.

In all of your communications, include a link to your registration form so your audience can sign up quickly and easily.

Incorporate Your Nonprofit’s Branding

The purpose of your nonprofit’s brand is to make your organization more recognizable and memorable for supporters. When supporters associate consistent visuals and messaging styles with your nonprofit, they’ll trust that your communications come from you and respond positively to them.

Include your organization’s logo in every silent auction marketing material you create, and incorporate your brand fonts and color scheme wherever possible. Additionally, make sure your written communications have a consistent tone and clearly explain your organization’s mission so your audience knows what their contributions will support if they participate in your event.

Highlight Your Silent Auction Items

At a silent auction, your items are the star of the show. Not only will most of your event revenue come from winning bids, but bidding on items is the main way supporters will stay engaged during your event.

In your marketing materials, feature examples of the most popular types of auction items your organization has procured. According to Winspire, these include:

Themed gift baskets
High-end goods like artwork and technological devices
Prizes that spotlight businesses or activities in your local community
Experience-based items like concert tickets or vacation packages

If you release photos of these items before your auction, supporters will come excited to bid on them!

Collect Event Marketing Data

As you promote your silent auction, you can gauge your marketing performance  by collecting data across your various channels. Track metrics such as:

Visits to your event landing page
Email open rates
Social media likes, comments, and shares
Direct mail response rates

Most importantly, analyze conversion rates—i.e. the number of audience members who fill out your registration form from each marketing channel. That way, you’ll know which channels are most effective, and you can prioritize those when planning future auctions.

The most effective nonprofit event marketing strategies balance quantity and quality. While it’s important to promote your silent auction early and often across a variety of channels, make sure your materials remain consistent and compelling from your initial announcement to your day-of reminder. Then, carry that same quality into your follow-up messages and your communications advertising your nonprofit’s next auction. Happy fundraising!