Online Auctions are fundraising events where your supporters place bids to win items and packages. The highest bidder wins, and your organization raises additional funds. This guide walks you through creating and managing an auction in Argenta.
Finding the Auctions area
From the main menu, open Fundraising and select Auctions. This opens the Auction List, where you can see every auction you have created, filter and search them, add a new auction, and open any auction to work on it.
To create a new auction, click the Add New button. This opens the Auction Workspace.
The Auction Workspace
The Auction Workspace is organized into tabs so you can easily find what you need:
- Auction Details: the main descriptive fields and settings for the auction.
- Connections: link the auction to a related campaign or event.
- Public Form Design: design the public page your bidders will see.
- Auction Items: add and manage the items available for bidding.
- Bidding: view all the bids and activity across your items.
- Budget & Financials: track your projected and actual income and expenses.
- Sponsorships: add and manage the sponsors of your auction.
- Auction Files: attach related files to the auction.
- Auction Notes: keep notes about the auction.
- Record Permissions: control who can view and edit the auction.
Auction Details
The Auction Details tab is where you enter the key information about your auction:
- Auction's Current Status (required): the auction's lifecycle stage. It begins at New. The available statuses are New, Pending Approval, In Planning, Bidding Open, Bidding Closed, Complete, On Hold, and Cancelled.
- Auction Title (required): a title for your auction, up to 140 characters.
- Auction Start Date and Auction Start Time (required): when bidding opens. Bidding is not available before this point.
- Auction End Date and Auction End Time (required): when bidding closes. Bidding is not available after this point.
- Auction Type: classify the auction as online or live.
- Auction Category: classify the auction by category, or add a new category.
- Fundraising Goal: the amount you hope to raise from the auction.
- Target Budget: your planned budget for the auction.
- Auction Coordinator (Team Member): start typing to select the team member responsible for the auction.
- If You're Hosting An Online Auction with A Webinar: enter the webinar link here.
- Chapter, Division, and Department: assign the auction to a part of your organization if needed.
- District and Precinct: available for political organizations to assign the auction to a district or precinct.
You can also lock the record using Record Level Permissions if you want to restrict who can view or edit it.
When you are finished, use Save All Changes & Continue to save and stay on the page, or Save All Changes & Exit to save and return to the list. You can also use Copy & Add New to duplicate the auction, or Delete This Record to remove it.
Connections
Use the Connections tab to link the auction to a related fundraising campaign or event, so you can track the auction's results alongside them.
Public Form Design
The Public Form Design tab controls the public page your bidders will see. Here you can:
- Banner Image: upload a banner image to display at the top of your public auction page. Select your image with the image tools, then save it as the banner.
- Auction Content Section: write the description and details that appear on your public auction page.
At the top of the tab, the Share The Public Auction Form section gives you the link and a QR code for your public auction. You can share this link on social media or in an email so supporters can go straight to your auction. Click Save All Changes when you are done.
Auction Items
The Auction Items tab is where you add everything available for bidding. You can add as many items as you like, any time before the auction ends. Click Add New to create an item, then open any item from the list to fill in its details, such as a photo, the item name, a description, its value, the starting bid, a minimum bid increment, the item type and category, and instructions for the winning bidder on how they will receive it. You can also choose whether each item is displayed on your public auction.
The item list lets you filter by constituent, team member, item type, category, whether an item is public, and whether it sold.
Bidding
The Bidding tab displays all the bids and activity across your items. You can watch it update while the auction is running, and see the winning bids once it closes.
Budget & Financials
The Budget & Financials tab lets you set projected income and expenses for the auction and compare them against the actual results once the auction closes, with a running total of income, expenses, and net income.
Sponsorships
Use the Sponsorships tab to add and manage the sponsors of your auction. Each sponsor can appear on your public form with their logo and a link to their website. Click Add A New Sponsorship to add a sponsor, then open it to enter their details, such as the sponsoring constituent, the sponsorship amount, their logo, a link title and website URL, and the sponsorship type and category. You can also record payments received toward each sponsorship.
Auction Files and Auction Notes
The Auction Files tab lets you attach any related files to the auction, and the Auction Notes tab lets you keep notes about it.
Record Permissions
The Record Permissions tab controls who can view and edit the auction. You can lock the record so that only master admins and the users you list there have access.