# Addressing COVID-19

Many auction teams are having to react to the chaos caused by COVID-19 and are trying to understand the implications of postponing, cancelling or changing their event.

We know that it takes lots of time and effort to make your event successful, and how critical it is to your organization’s fundraising goals.

The following links and User Guide references may assist those Organizations dealing with the fallout of COVID-19 and how it affects their upcoming events.

The topics are organized into the following sections:

More information coming soon...

# Immediate Reaction

There are a number of options for reacting to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19:

postponing to a later date
converting to an online auction for some or all of the items
running an online fundraiser to raise donations

To help you navigate these choices and decide what is best for your event see Auction Fundraiser in the Shadow of COVID-19

# Ticketed Events

If you were selling tickets to your event you will need to decide how to handle existing ticket sales.

For more options on how to handle tickets refunds see:

# Communicating With Bidders

You can use Auctria to send a custom email to your bidders to keep them informed of the status of your event. See Custom Emails for more on this process.

You can also update the event website will additional informational for bidders as it becomes available.

# Converting To An Online Fundraiser

Many events are choosing to switch to a purely online auction.

See below for a video showing the conversion process

More videos can be found in our Vimeo and YouTube channels.

Auctria Webinar - Setting Up an Online Auction Using Auctria
Click here for our recent webinar on Setting up an Online Auction in Auctria. This short webinar covers Online settings, Website, Pricing, Getting Started and Going Live checklists and more.
Running an Online Auction Fundraiser
This webinar will show how to use Auctria for an online auction fundraiser.
BONUS -- how to convert a silent/live auction into an online auction
Message Starters for Online Auctions in the Wake of COVID-19
Auctria is here to help keep the auction fundraiser on track. If you are pivoting from an in-person silent/live auction to an online auction make sure the communication is clear. Here are a few message starters and sample wording for emails, "robocalls", and social media.

# Maximizing your online fundraiser

Once you have your online event set up you can use these resources to maximize your fundraising.

# Additional Resources

# Auctria User Guide References

We've pulled out a selection of User Guide pages below to help make finding this information quicker:

If you are transitioning from a Silent/Live auction to an Online auctions, we cover the key changes to make -- see How To Convert To An Online Only Auction.
You can provide a way for your guests to simply make a Cash Donation either as an optional amount or at set levels -- see How To Add Cash Donations To Website
You can send Custom Emails directly from Auctria to your registered Bidders and/or Donors -- see How To Send Custom Emails.

# External Resources

We've found some valuable information in the links below that may be of assistance to you and your organization.

Supporting a Community When Real-life Events Aren’t Possible - Meetup Blog
Community Engagement, Product Donations & Nonprofit Fundraising | DonationMatch
DonationMatch streamlines how companies engage with their communities through event-based donations for silent auctions, raffles, giveaways, and giveback programs. More than $70 million in donations have been facilitated since 2010.
We Work Remotely | How the Remote Work Community is Uniting During the Coronavirus Outbreak
See what the top companies are doing to protect their teams during this coronavirus outbreak and flu season, and learn how to keep your employees safe and productive.