Posted by Roger Devine
We’re currently testing a bunch of upgrades and fixes to key parts of the Tofino Auctions software. It’s exciting stuff, and when we get it up, (e.t.a: April 9th), I’ll post here about the changes.
Posted by Roger Devine
Just a reminder that our regular webinar on "Training Your Event Night Volunteers" happens tomorrow night (and every Wednesday night through April) at 7 p.m. We’ll review the NEW option for assigning bid numbers, along with everything else a smiling auction volunteer needs to know about using the Tofino Auctions software. Sign up at:
Posted by Roger Devine
We’re in the thick of one of the busiest auction times of the year, and one of our best seasons to date. Alongside helping with events, we’ve been working on lots of updates to the software and new ways to help:
In addition to all of this, we started running event-night training webinars every week (go to http://webinars.tofinoauctions.com/register to sign up for one) - the first five have gone over really well.
AND… in slightly older news (but well worth repeating), we have online registration working for all customers. To use you need to pay an additional…. nothing. It’s there for you to use free, just for being a Tofino subscriber. (Just like online auctions, for which we also charge an additional… nothing. When you become a Tofino subscriber, we believe you deserve to get everything we develop that helps you run a fundraising auction.)
Watch this space for future release notes - we roll out new code just about every week, and you can see what’s changed here.
Roger
Posted by Roger Devine
Bridlemile was the first customer to use Tofino to run an online auction in addition to their main event, and now they are back for a second year. Check it out and place a bid!
Click here to see their auction in action - place a bid while you’re there!
Posted by Roger Devine
MPS is a local preschool here in Portland that took advantage of the discount offered to all PCPO schools to subscribe to Tofino this year. They are going to have their annual gala auction next February, and TWO online auctions before then - this one through 12/13, and another from 1/1 to 1/13.
Online auctions are a great way to use those procured items that might not get enough attention on a silent auction table in a high-energy gala event. Check their Tofino site out for ideas for your school…
Posted by Roger Devine
If you’re in Portland, stop by and see our friends at the Multnomah Arts Center, whose winter fundraiser is happening 12/4 -12/6. They are Tofino customers who purchased their subscription primarily for use with their big auction next February, but are also using it to process transactions at this sale. Lots of wonderful stuff there - if you see Michael or Barbara, tell them we sent you.
Posted by Roger Devine
We’re big advocates of renting hardware (and hardware support) for your event. You aren’t worrying about whether a guest is going to spill a drink into a borrowed computer, you know the computers all have the correct printer drivers installed, you have someone else who needs to crawl under the table if the network has a hiccup. You can worry about the other 1,001 details that need to be managed on event night.
I wanted to give a big recommendation today to the only company we recommend in the Pacific Northwest (the lovely region of America we call home) - NW Auction Support. Jon Bridenbaugh has assembled a top-notch team, and he has provided wonderful service to many Tofino customers in Oregon and Washington. To get a quote, email jon (at) nwauctionsupport (dot) com.
Posted by Roger Devine
Roseway Heights is a new K-8 school in northeast Portland formed from the former Rose City Park Elementary and Gregory Heights Middle Schools. This year was Roseway Heights’s first auction, though we have had four previous auctions at Rose City Park. We use the proceeds from these auctions to provide funds for staff positions at our schools through the Portland Schools Foundation.
This is the first year we used Tofino. Our first year was manual (yow!) and after that we switched to Auction Pay. We switched from Auction Pay for several reasons, primarily technical:
(1) We had lots of new folks who wanted to help with the auction, and had lost some of our veteran technology people, so we had lost a lot of our institutional familiarity with Auction Pay.
(2) Team members who had seen Tofino felt that its user interface would be simpler to learn & use.
(3) We felt that its web-based architecture would be easier to use during the pre-auction procurement/data entry/catalog generation phase, when many folks are working from their various homes (compared to Auction Pay’s quasi-web-based data entry interface).
(4) We preferred a system that didn’t require Windows, both for philosophical reasons and practical (we had almost no Windows machines readily available to us for use on site during the auction).
(5) The prospect of saving money, especially in credit card processing fees, was certainly attractive as well.
(6) We like the story of Tofino: a local business run by fellow parent/auction volunteers!
Now, if Tofino was simply an easier to use Auction Pay that saves me money and doesn’t make me use Windows, I’d be pretty happy. But it gave us several other advantages as well. We were able to promote our auction catalog on line in the days leading up to the auction and that really helped generate interest. (In the future we’d like to take advantage of online auctions as well.) Tofino also has a much more flexible approach to the relationship between items, lots, and tables, and that spared us a lot of the tedious software manipulation that we were used to with AuctionPay. On the flip side, now that we’ve learned the software better, I think we’ll be able to approach it next year and use it more effectively, rather than always trying to map concepts to the way Auction Pay does things.
I’d also like to praise the user interface for the night of the auction - that whole part of the software is a real pleasure to use. And the folks in the company are a pleasure to work with and very
responsive!
Ted Slupesky was Technology Chair for the 2008 Roseway Heights auction.
Posted by Roger Devine
In 2008, the Sunset Cooperative Preschool set out with an ambitious goal: double their fundraising from the previous year, from approximately $9,000 to $18,000. A new chair, a professional auctioneer, and Tofino were all brought in for the first time, to help the team organize and mount a more ambitious fundraising event than they had ever put on. By the end of the evening, the auction team had raised over $28,000 for the school.
What were you using to manage your auction before Tofino? Why did you switch?
2008 was Sunset Preschool’s first large auction. In years past we did not use software because the size of our auction did not need it. Because this year’s auction was larger in terms of guests, items, and volume we needed to replace our manual systems with software, in order for our small team to handle the bigger load.
Why do you prefer Tofino to other options?
We chose Tofino because the system was so user friendly. We had our entire fundraising team using Tofino which made entering users and items much more convenient. Also, there was an added benefit that was absolutely crucial in making this event happen - the Tofino support staff. This was my first experience with running an auction and using a web based system…the folks at Tofino were so very patient in consulting and helping me through this experience. Our event was a huge success and I give a lot of the credit for that to Tofino.
How did using Tofino change the way you manage your auction?
Tofino is still helping me manage the auction even months after the event! It helped track all sales, by user, donor, category, etc. When I receive calls to track sign-up parties I can pull the report and send it to the host (very easy). The system did everything. I can’t say it changed the way we managed our action because we did not manage it before. It taught us how a real auction should be managed.
Any tips or tricks for other customers?
An auction planner should choose Tofino over other options based on system, price, and people. Double check all your information has been entered correctly into Tofino before the event…it will go much smoother.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Tofino was a life saver for our auction, and I would recommend it to any organization looking to successfully execute an auction.
Nancy Freeman was the Auction Chair for the 2008 Sunset Cooperative Preschool auction.
Posted by Roger Devine
I have been working on the Buckman Elementary School Auction for about 7 years. I began working on the silent auction set up and was hooked after the first one. It is a great way to work with people. Everyone does a part and when it comes together the feelings are grand and the experience is too.
Using auction software can be a great tool. It not only saves time, it can create consistency in your auction from year to year. Three years ago I organized and ran the data base for our school auction. It was my goal to diversify the job so that several volunteers could work on the data entry. I used a program the PTA had purchased. We used that software for five years and spent a lot of money. I worked with it for the last two years of our contract and then this year, the team chose a new program.
When we began to evaluate other programs, we knew we wanted to be able to do several things we couldn’t do previously: access our data base from many different locations, have several volunteers work on the data entry at the same time, and have our information viewed by anyone who could access the internet.
We began our journey with Tofino in 2007. We will be working with you for many years to come!
What were you using to manage your auction before Tofino? Why did you switch?
We were using AuctionPay. We had worked with them for 5 years. My number one complaint, no consistent customer service. I never talked to the same person.
We switched because of cost. We saved $1,050 in the first year alone by using Tofino instead of our old software, and we got a web based program.This allowed us to get answers right away while working on the data base. We spent less time later correcting entries and revising descriptions. Also, we needed a user friendly program.
Why do you prefer Tofino to other options?
First off we are supporting parents in the same district and neighborhoods as ours. Second, it is very cost effective. Third, it is pleasing to the eye on the screen. Fourth, excellent customer service. Fifth, would be having the information available on the web. It allowed a lot of folks to view our auction before that night. Sixth, it made data entry much easier being able to access it from almost anywhere.
How did using Tofino change the way you manage your auction?
We used to have one may be two volunteers enter all the data necessary before the auction. It would get very time consuming for those two people the days leading up to the auction. Using Tofino completely changed the way data entry was set up this year. We were able to have as many people entering data as needed. A very large volunteer job was broken down in to smaller more manageable parts so that many people could participate.
We had fewer committee meetings. We would all get on to Tofino in the evening and add data. We could e-mail and/or instant message each other while working. This allowed us to get answers while working on the data base.
Volunteers felt more comfortable the night of because they were familiar with the program from entering data.
It took us to the next level of technology. It also helped to create more consistency with the placards for the silent auction.
Any tips or tricks for other customers?
Actually look at each of the reports and how they are different. You can usually find one that will give you the information you need. If you don’t please tell Tofino so that they can create a way for you to see that information.
Talk with others who have used the software. Find lots of ideas and use the ones that fit your auction. Find out what worked well and what did not. Learn from others and their mistakes.
Pamela Kreutz was Technology Chair for the 2008 Buckman Elementary School Auction
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