Another adoption fundraiser idea I got towards the beginning of our journey from another adoptive mama was to do an online auction. It wasn’t until the end of October I decided to do it and I chose to have it launch on November 1st (I wanted it to be done before the holiday season made people busy). This gave me about 2 weeks to get donations and pull it off.
I started by posting on social media –
CALLING ALL MY BIZ OWNERS, CREATORS, & CONNECTION MAKERS 📣 we’ll be hosting an online auction as a fundraiser for our adoption & we’re graciously requesting donated goods / creations, services, events, etc. that we can auction off. You’ll be fully recognized & tagged along with your generous gift so our attendees can utilize your service / products even outside of the auction.
The auction itself will be held in a Facebook group from Tuesday to Tuesday, November 1-8th.
If you have something you’d like to donate, please let me know and we can discuss details.
I also made a list of everyone I knew that was a small business owner. I was surprised how long my list was but I was so thankful and happy to know so many amazing people. I personally texted them and the response I got was so encouraging.
Next I created the Facebook Event. I also copied the link and sent a message to the vendors confirming the deadline for their donation, dates of the auction and any other other information I felt they needed.
On the days leading up to the auction, I scheduled the posts. I had a spreadsheet that contained the vendor, item, full value, starting bid (50% off the retail value) and what number post it was in the lineup. On Tuesday, November 1st, the auction went live.
For one week I reminded people to check it out, invite their friends, etc. I also talked about it on my other social media platforms and provided the link to the Facebook Event.
On Wednesday morning, November 9th, I went through the posts and commented “Ahhh congratulations – YOU WON THE BID!!!! 
Please Venmo or CashApp me (sarahmshaver) $(amount they owed) and I’ll set the item aside for you so we can coordinate pickup / if shipping needs to happen.”
On my spreadsheet, I kept track of who won what item and for how much and then marked off when they paid. In the weeks to follow, I got everyone their items.
Overall, I think it was a huge success and I’m contemplating doing another one (maybe in the Spring). Huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated and participated. Literally would not have happened without you.