Charity auction software for galas, school fundraisers & benefit events

Silent, live, and hybrid fundraising auctions on one platform — no per-event fees, no percent-of-raise skim, no surprise charges after the room goes home. Every dollar bid goes to the mission.

Start 14-Day Free Trial Request a Demo Call (508) 322-1770

No credit card required. Nonprofits of every size welcome.

Set up a gala auction in a single afternoon — no IT team, no per-event platform fee.

Traditional gala platforms tax your mission

Greater Giving, OneCause, BidPal — the big "nonprofit-friendly" platforms typically charge $1,500–$5,000 per event, plus a percentage of what you raise, plus payment processing markups. A school fundraiser that nets $80,000 hands back $6,000–$12,000 before the principal even thanks the volunteers.

Selling Lane is flat-fee. $995/month or $9,995/year. Run the spring gala, the summer golf outing, the fall silent auction, the holiday giving Tuesday drive — all on one subscription. Every dollar you raise is a dollar for the mission.

A typical $100,000 school gala

Silent auction ($40K) + live auction ($45K) + paddle raise ($15K). Here's what leaves the room with the platform.

Legacy gala platform

~$8,200 gone
  • $2,500 per-event setup fee
  • 4.5% of gross raise ($4,500)
  • +1% payment processing markup
  • Reserved for platform, not mission

Selling Lane

~$995 flat
  • One month of subscription covers it
  • 0% of gross raise — zero skim
  • Standard processor rates pass through
  • $7,000+ back to the mission

Numbers reflect typical BidPal/Greater Giving/OneCause pricing for mid-sized galas. Exact fees vary. Your finance committee will thank you for running the comparison.

Three ways gala platforms hollow out your raise

1

Per-event pricing punishes volume

Most nonprofit platforms charge per gala. Run a spring auction, a golf outing, and a giving-Tuesday drive and you're paying three times. Selling Lane runs unlimited events on one subscription.

2

Percent-of-raise clauses

"Our fee is only 3% of what you raise" sounds small until your capital campaign clears $500K and the platform walks away with $15,000. A flat monthly fee scales with your operations, not your success.

3

Feature-locked tiers

Mobile bidding in the basic plan. Live paddle raise? That's a premium add-on. Text-to-donate? Another upcharge. Selling Lane includes every auction format, every feature, every event — in one price.

Flat-fee. Unlimited events. Every feature included.

Run every fundraiser on your calendar — gala, golf outing, giving Tuesday, online-only silent, paddle raise — on one platform, one price.

Running a $150K hybrid spring gala

Independent K-12 school, 240 guests, 80-lot silent auction, 12-lot live auction, a paddle raise for the science wing, and a virtual ticket tier for out-of-town parents.

1 Solicit & catalog donated items

Volunteers import the donation sheet directly from a spreadsheet. Selling Lane tags each lot with donor name, fair market value, and acknowledgment letter info. Photos upload from phones or DSLRs. Lot descriptions auto-format for the catalog booklet and the mobile bidding view simultaneously.

  • CSV / Google Sheets import
  • Donor tax-acknowledgment tracking
  • Fair market value + paid-above calculation

2 Pre-event online bidding

Silent auction opens a week before gala night. Guests register from their phone, get outbid alerts, proxy bid if they'll miss the room. By the time dinner is served, half the lots already have real competitive bidding — momentum that carries into the live portion.

  • Mobile-first PWA, no app download
  • Text & email outbid alerts
  • Proxy bidding for absentee guests

3 Gala night: live auction + paddle raise

Live auctioneer calls the ring from the stage. A TV display shows the current lot, the high bid, and the next increment — visible from every table. Paddle raise runs on the same screen: $5K, $2.5K, $1K, $500 levels with real-time counters of donors at each level.

  • Live auction + silent auction on one ledger
  • TV display for the room (any screen)
  • Paddle raise / fund-a-need mode
  • Text-to-give for last-minute gifts

4 Self-serve checkout, same night

Guests tap a link, pay by card or ACH, download their acknowledgment letter before they get in the Uber home. No clipboard volunteers, no Monday-morning ledger reconciliation, no "did that check clear?" emails.

  • Self-serve mobile checkout
  • Card, ACH, Apple Pay, text-to-give
  • Tax-acknowledgment letter auto-emailed

Hybrid? Virtual-only? Silent-only? Same platform.

Run a fully in-person gala, a virtual-only event, or a hybrid with remote paddle raise bidders — the platform adapts. No "virtual event module" upcharge.

Reporting, donor thanks, and next year's planning

A Board-ready reporting

Gross raise, net raise, per-lot performance, donor acquisition (new vs returning), ticket-to-raise ratios. One dashboard, exportable to PDF or CSV for the next board meeting.

B Donor acknowledgment at scale

Auto-generated IRS-compliant acknowledgment letters with fair market value, paid-above, and tax-deductible portion calculated per guest. Bulk export to your CRM or Mailchimp/Constant Contact.

C Donor CRM that compounds

Every guest registers with your nonprofit, not a third-party platform. After two galas you have a segmented list: the paddle-raise champions, the wine-basket buyers, the experience-lot lovers. Next year's invite list is already built.

Built for nonprofits of every size

If you run more than one fundraiser a year — or you're tired of paying a platform a percentage of your mission — this is built for you.

Features nonprofit event teams rely on

FeatureWhy it matters for charity auctions
Silent auction (timed)Pre-event bidding warms up guests and builds momentum before the room opens.
Live auction (with auctioneer)Real-time bid entry by auctioneer or volunteer, synced with room and online bidders.
Paddle raise / fund-a-needTiered giving levels with live donor counts on a TV display.
Text-to-give / text-to-bidCapture last-minute gifts without a clipboard.
Mobile bidding (PWA)No app download, no app-store friction for older donors.
Outbid alerts (SMS + email)Keeps guests engaged all evening and through the pre-event week.
TV display for the roomCurrent lot, high bid, next increment, paddle levels — on any screen.
Tax-acknowledgment lettersIRS-compliant fair market value + paid-above calculations, auto-generated.
Donor CRMEvery guest stays in your database, segmented by giving level and behavior.
Self-serve checkoutCard, ACH, Apple Pay. Same-night clearing, no Monday reconciliation.
Unlimited eventsGala, golf, silent-only, virtual, giving Tuesday — all on one subscription.
Flat-fee pricing$995/month or $9,995/year. Zero percent of raise taken. Ever.

One flat fee. Every fundraiser, every year.

Run one gala a year or a dozen events — same price.

Monthly
$995/mo

Cancel anytime. Month-to-month if you prefer.

Save 2 months
Annual
$9,995/yr

$833/month equivalent. Lock in today's price.

No percent of raise. No per-event fee. No feature tiers.

See Full Pricing & Compare

Selling Lane also donates 5% of every subscription back to charitable causes — so even our fee helps a mission.

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…
"Our charity events have raised 40% more since switching. The platform handles online bidding seamlessly, and our donors love the experience."
โ€” David M., Non-Profit Events Director

Ready to raise more — and keep more — for your mission?

  • โœ… Unlimited events
  • โœ… Zero percent of raise
  • โœ… Every feature included
Start Free Trial Request a Live Demo Call (508) 322-1770

14-day free trial · No credit card required

Bid simple. Sell smart. — Selling Lane

Related resources

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Silent auction feature

How silent auctions work on the platform.

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Hybrid auctions

In-person + online bidding together.

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Gives Back

5% of every subscription goes to charity.

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No transaction fees

The "triple success tax" explained.

Ready to keep 100% of what you earn?

Join auctioneers across 50+ categories who run their entire operation on Selling Lane โ€” and never pay a per-transaction fee.