-The County Experience-
Wellington Rotary's Online Auction
for PEC Hospital Fund
Sept 15th to Oct 15th , 2020
CONGRATULATIONS to all the winning bidders in the Auction!The Club has convened a fundraising dinner and auction for six years to raise money for various community causes; for the last three years for the Picton Hospital Rebuilding Fund. For 2020, it was expected that we would repeat the event until COVID-19 hit and large in-person event were not allowed. A decision was made to do another auction but hold it online, which happened from September 15-October 15. It was very successful, raising $25,000 for the building fund, contributing to the Rotary Club’s commitment to raise $400,000 by 2022.
An online auction platform, 32Auctions.com, was employed and Yeeboo Digital was hired to help promote online. Advertising was done on 99.3 County FM, other area radio stations, local newspapers, area Rotary clubs and by email with our previous attendees.
Club member solicitors obtained 123 items with the lead item being a one-year lease of an F150 truck donated by Prinzen Ford of Bloomfield worth $10,000. Other major items were electric bikes, a kayak or paddle board, and several pieces of art. By category, food had the most items followed by alcohol, home & garden, leisure and art. By bidding popularity, food again was number one and all food items sold for more than their declared value. By financial contribution, after the truck that sold for $7,500, alcohol, leisure, art and home & garden all earned more than $2,000.
Eleven sponsors contributed cash or in-kind services which offset the expenses of putting on the auction.
This was the first online auction that the Club has held and it was pleasantly surprised with the result. For next year, if COVID does not dictate the circumstances, a decision will have to be made as to the type of auction. This year’s result has shown that online is a viable option to the in-person version that we have used in the past.
Many thanks to the organizing committee. The first online auction ever held by our club was a great success, raising over $25,000 for the New Hospital Building Fund.