Auction Item Procurement: 5 Tips for Acquiring Donations
- Nonprofit Learning Lab
- Jun 9
- 5 min read
This is a guest blog.
No matter how large your budget for an auction is, you want to source the majority of your auction items from donations. Doing so boosts fundraising revenue and furthers your organization’s connections with important donors. However, procuring auction items from businesses and community members can be a lot of work—and a big time commitment.
With the right approach, your team can transform item procurement from a necessary hassle into an exciting, streamlined process designed to maximize auction revenue. Whether you're planning your first auction event or refining an existing process, these tips will help you identify, ask for, and secure the items you need.
1. Build a Focused Procurement Team
First, recruit a team of volunteers, staff, and board members who are excited to drive the auction item procurement process. These people should have community connections, enthusiasm, and the time to devote to personalized outreach.
Make sure anyone interested in joining your procurement team is aware of what the process entails. For instance, your team members may be responsible for:
Identifying businesses, organizations, and donors to reach out to
Making introductions for your nonprofit
Sending emails and making phone calls to prospective donors
Drafting donation request letters to ask for auction items
Following up with donors who made commitments to give
Recording the results of solicitation attempts in your fundraising event platform or a shared spreadsheet
Collecting item details, like descriptions and fair market value (FMV) estimates
Thanking donors for their contributions to the auction
Once you have a procurement team of at least three to five people, support them with resources like outreach scripts, donation request letters, and donor recognition templates. Give them the information and tools they need to succeed, such as a list of prospective corporate donors or a shared project management board. Host an information session to answer initial questions, then plan regular check-ins to keep the team on track.
2. Create a Strategic Wishlist
Before your team begins outreach, align on the types of auction items you want them to secure. This will prevent confusion and ensure they can solicit high-value, relevant items that drive bids.
If you’ve hosted auctions previously, use your auction software and CRM to determine what kinds of items your target audience prefers. Analyze bidding behavior, read through feedback from event surveys, and check your social media engagement metrics for any posts promoting specific items. Historically, what was most popular? What items did you earn the most revenue from? Which items were left over? Create an item wishlist based on what sold well in the past.
If this is your first auction, consider your audience’s general interests and what items might stand out in an auction catalog. Ideally, your wishlist should include a mix of:
Popular, traditional auction items like gift cards, memorabilia, sports tickets, electronics, and branded merchandise
Unique experiences, such as classes with a private chef, hot air balloon rides, or VIP tickets to a concert
Local goods and services from businesses, craftspeople, students, etc.
Themed bundles or baskets of items, such as a charcuterie making basket, DIY spa day basket, or a sampler of local goods
Big-ticket items like a luxury travel package, fine dining experience, or jewelry set
As you create your wishlist, consider what to do about any donations that don’t fit into these categories. Which items should your team accept, and which should they politely decline? Outline clear guidance for your team so there’s no confusion or risk to your donor relationships.
3. Tap Into Donor and Community Connections
Your nonprofit has a rich network of supporters and community connections, so tap into it! Most successful auction items come from people and businesses with whom your organization already has some sort of relationship. Leverage the data in your CRM along with board members’ personal networks to identify prospects who may be willing and able to donate items on your wishlist.
Remember, corporate donors and local businesses are more likely to give an item if they see clear value for their business (free promotion, bringing in new customers, etc.). When you approach these prospects, make sure to emphasize the mutual benefits of donating. Clarify how you’ll recognize their contribution at the auction and why it’s a worthwhile investment.
Outside of business connections, you can target major donors or those who’ve contributed in-kind donations in the past. You can also promote a general call for item donations on your website and social media profiles. To make contributing easy, create a dedicated landing page with a donation form, FAQs, and examples of in-demand items. Feature past contributors on your social channels to spark interest and show appreciation.
4. Streamline the Process with Technology
Managing and tracking all of your procurement team’s outreach can get overwhelming. Make the whole process simpler using the tools provided by your auction platform.
OneCause explains that the right auction software will make it easy to manage item procurement by generating solicitation letters, tracking procurement statuses (i.e., “Committed,” “In-Transit,” and “Received”), and bundling similar items into packages. Additionally, your auction platform should help you:
Centralize the item procurement process for your whole team
Enable donors to make item commitments via an online form
Get status and location updates on pending auction items
Collect and organize item descriptions, FMVs, and images
Filter your list of auction items by status, value, and description
Access your database from mobile devices
Quickly draft item descriptions with generative AI
Once you’re done with procurement and ready to kick off the auction, your platform will also help you recognize donors and promote their items to bidders. Label each item in your auction catalog with the donor’s name to highlight their specific contributions.
5. Maintain Good Relationships with Donors
Follow up with donors post-event with thoughtful acknowledgments. These relationship-building efforts give them a good impression of your organization. Plus, they’ll be more likely to donate again next year!
Create a plan now for stewarding auction donor relationships, and outline your procurement team’s role in the process. At a minimum, your organization should:
Invite donors to attend the auction
Send multiple thank-you messages through different formats (email, handwritten letter, phone call, etc.)
Publicize business donations in your auction catalog
Share the auction’s results, such as attendance and total fundraising revenue
Plan ongoing stewardship and outreach efforts
These efforts are especially important for corporate donors. Maintaining positive relationships with businesses can lead to many more opportunities for your nonprofit down the road. In particular, these relationships can help you tap into valuable corporate philanthropy programs like sponsorships, grants, matching gifts, and long-term business partnerships.
Refining Your Auction Item Procurement Strategy
When your procurement process is streamlined and focused, your auctions will yield greater engagement, higher bids, and better fundraising outcomes. So don’t stop with these changes—keep improving your strategy over time to secure the best auction items without all the hassle. After your auction, use bidding data, volunteer feedback, and post-event insights to identify ways to make next year’s procurement process even more successful.
