How to Participate in the Fund-A-Need and Live Auction as a Donor

Not sure what the best method for your Live Auction and Fund a Need is from a donor's perspective? This article will shed some light on the different approaches you can take.

Live Auction

In line with current fundraising trends, Trellis supports live auctions held exclusively in-person. Organizations typically partner with an auctioneer to conduct a physical paddle raise. During the auction, the auctioneer presents the items, and donors can bid by raising a paddle or hand. We recommend having volunteers track all bids, including the final highest bid. Once the winning bid is determined, the event organizer can use the Trellis system to process the payment. 

To learn how to use Trellis to handle payment processing for live auctions click here. 

Fund a Need

There are two ways to participate in a Fund-A-Need using Trellis:

Online Participation 

The best way to run a Fund a Need on Trellis is online. Donors can use their phones to make donations in real time and watch their names appear on the screen. If they’re logged into their Trellis account and have saved a credit card, they can easily donate and get an itemized receipt (and a tax receipt if applicable).

If they don’t have a saved credit card, they can make a Pledge instead, which lets them commit a donation and still see their name on the screen. After the event, your organization can check all the Pledges in the Pledge Manager and follow up to collect the payments.

Many organizations also use pre-seed donations on Trellis to get the fundraising started. To learn more about Pre-Seeded Donations click here. 

Offline Participation

While this method isn’t an optimized donor experience, it can still work depending on your event and audience. Like in a live auction, donors can raise their hands or a paddle to commit to a donation. Volunteers will write down the paddle numbers and the donation amounts. We recommend having multiple volunteers throughout the room recording donations to ensure no donations are missed. After the Fund a Need portion of your event is over, the event organizer can use Trellis to collect the payments. 

To learn how to use Trellis to handle payment processing for Fund a Need click here.