Affordable Graphic Design for Charity Auction Promotion

Social media is becoming more professional by the day, and donors now expect the same level of quality from nonprofits.

It's already a challenge to get attention on your fundraiser, and DIY graphics might not help. But learning graphic design on par with for-profit businesses is probably not on your busy to-do list, and hiring a full-time designer for a fundraising campaign may not be in your budget.

So to help make auction promotion fast and easy, CharityAuctions is now offering a complete auction Media Kit, starting at just $99. The kit comes with professionally designed social media graphics that are fully customized for your event and branding. You can purchase our kit at a one-time cost (meaning no recurring design costs for your organization).

We'll break down what’s included in detail—but first, here's why professional and affordable graphic design is worth the investment.

Why Professional Graphic Design for Nonprofits Increases Donations

We all judge books by their covers, and your promotional materials are the cover of your event. When potential donors see your auction advertised, they're making split-second decisions about whether this event is worth their time and money. 

What professional, polished design communicates is that your organization is credible, organized, and experienced. You’re also telling donors that your fundraising event is well-put together and worth attending. 

But if your presentation online isn’t professional, you risk attracting low numbers of attendees to your event. Auctions take a lot of time to prepare, so low attendance because of neglected fundraising event marketing can be devastating. 

So good nonprofit digital marketing will get the ball rolling for a higher ROI for your fundraising event: 

• Nonprofits that invested in professional design are 50% more likely to have increased fundraising revenue.
• Looking back at their fundraising in previous years, 74% of nonprofits said they wish they’d invested more in branding and design.

What's Included in Our Charity Auction Social Media Kit

Our Media Kit comes with a collection of marketing materials for both digital and physical channels.

Each asset is ready to download and use right away. We’ll incorporate your branding and design according to your mission, all you have to do is edit customizable fields with final dates, contact info, or specific links for your auction.

Here are some options that you’ll find in our kit, but you can request any custom marketing asset that’s not included below.

Event Banner

We’ll design a professional header graphic for your auction according to your branding guidelines. These are sized specifically for LinkedIn, but can be used in emails and other media as well. 

Facebook Event Cover

Your kit will come with an additional banner sized for your Facebook's Event Page cover photo. A professionally designed cover photo can help get your event shared far and wide on Facebook.

Social Feed Posts

We’ll design a variety of visually-appealing social media posts for auctions to grab the attention of quick scrolling followers.

We’ll include:

• An event announcement
• Item highlights (donors want to see what’s available for bidding)
• An auction start announcement
• A sponsor recognition post
• Or any post you request!

Instagram Story Templates

Instagram Stories are perfect for creating urgency and posting time-sensitive content.

We include similar content as the feed posts (but in vertical format) as well as other static content for your Stories:

• An auction countdown
• A last minute call for bidding
• Or any post you request!

Use the “Stickers” feature to add in links, countdowns, etc. on top of the designated spaces.

Promo Reel

You can choose to request a video in your media package in addition to static content. 

We’ll include a dynamic promo reel that announces your auction, showcases your auction page, and highlights a few items in a punchy yet engaging reel.

Table Flyers and Signs

We design print-ready PDFs of charity auction flyers and signs for in-person events, which include QR codes that link to your registration page. 

These can be displayed at your venue, handed out at events, or posted on community boards.

How to Inquire About Our Media Kit

Our expert designers will consult with you to learn about your specific auction needs and branding. If there’s anything you need that’s not included above, just let us know! We’ll create custom assets with a consistent look for any fundraiser graphics you need.

To purchase your charity auction Media Kit, book a consultation call with us and let us know that you’re interested in the media package.

Where Should You Market Your Auction Online?

Once you have your marketing materials, the next questions are: Where do you use them? And what’s the strategy for posting them? 

Post your graphics to these main social media platforms as well as any additional spaces you’d like!

Facebook

Facebook is the world’s third most trafficked website. It’s still one of the most effective platforms for promoting your fundraising event, and is great for reaching older donors as well as local donors.

Here are some tips for promotion on Facebook:

• Create a Facebook Event (not just a post—the actual Event feature) and add your cover photo.
• Post updates in two places: your organization's main page (to announce the event initially) and your Event Page itself (for ongoing updates to everyone who RSVP'd). Go to your Event Page and click “Add a Post” on that page.
• Tag sponsors in your posts and ask them to share your event.
• Post in local community groups, but don't spam.

Instagram 

Instagram is another social media platform that’s highly effective for fundraising. It’s a very visual platform, so graphics are especially important here. 

There are a variety of posts you can share on Instagram:

• Stories: Use Stories to do live item reveals or countdowns. You can also repost attendee stories to your own as social proof.
• Feed Posts: Share announcements, item highlights, and more on your feed. Don’t forget to use location tags and local hashtags to reach users in your community!
• Reels: Reels typically get more views than standard feed posts. Adding music that’s labelled “trending audio” can help get even more eyes on your reels.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is becoming much more popular for donors to connect with nonprofits. Research shows that 42% of American donors use LinkedIn to find nonprofits and 26% find donation opportunities through LinkedIn.

So if your organization isn’t on LinkedIn yet, we recommend giving it a try. It’s great for reaching major donors and sponsors, and a good option for charity auction promotion when you have high-ticket items, high-cost entry tickets, or are selling table sponsorships.

But if your event announcements aren’t professionally designed, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb on this platform. On top of getting professional graphic design, here’s how to succeed on LinkedIn:

• Create a LinkedIn Event for formal invitations (not just a post).
• Tag corporate sponsors in posts for free visibility to their networks.
• Frame live auctions as a "networking opportunity," not just a fundraiser.
• Share sponsor spotlights with a business impact angle.

Email 

Adding graphics to emails makes them much more engaging and an easier read for your subscribers. While our graphics are sized for social media platforms, you can easily reuse them in email newsletters.

• Use banners in email headers to announce your auction.
• Use item feature graphics as images in your emails or email newsletter.
• Link to social media posts, videos, and event pages through email.

Partner Networks

The beauty of having graphics ready to go is that it can be shared with your network too. 

Ask your partners to promote your event and provide them with your graphics so they don’t have to do any designing of their own. It’ll show your partners (and their audience as well) that you’re serious and credible.

• Send partners a "social media toolkit" with graphics and a few pre-written announcements with event details.
• Ask sponsors to include a feature in their next email newsletter.
• Get board members to personally invite their networks (not just share a post).

More Ways to Make Charity Auctions Easy

Looking for more ways to save time with your auction? Check out our complete Online Auction Quick Setup Guide and List of Companies that Donate to Auctions.

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly, TEDx speaker and CEO of CharityAuctions.com, helps nonprofits raise millions through auctions and AI. He hosts The Million Dollar Nonprofit podcast and inspires leaders to live their legacy, not just leave it.