Without good auction data, you may be wondering why your auction fell flat or why you only raised a few thousand dollars.

Good data can tell you a lot about what items your donors actually want, what’s making bidding fall flat, and whether your auction is worth holding in the first place. In fact, nonprofits using analytics raise 43% more than those who don't track metrics.

But not everyone is excited about running the numbers. Most guides on auction reporting will put you to sleep before you can even generate your reports.

This guide answers the most common questions about measuring and analyzing auction data without the technical jargon. We’ll answer:

What reports will my auction platform generate?
Which metrics does my auction platform not track?
Which auction metrics should I track if I don’t have auction software?
How do I transfer my auction reports to another platform?
What are good benchmarks?
How do I compare auction data from different years?
What do I need to include in auction receipts for donors?
Do any platforms use AI to analyze auction data?

Once you have the right auction analytics and reporting in place, you’ll be able to…

Raise more at next year’s auction.
Cut back on unnecessary costs.
Offer better item catalogs.
Price items more strategically.
Make donors happier.

Get Automatic Auction Reporting

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What Reports Will My Auction Platform Generate?

Different platforms have different names for their auction analytics and reports, but your software will most likely run:

A Revenue Report - This shows total income, total fees, and revenue sources (bidding vs. donations). This gives you the big picture of financial performance.
A Bidder Activity Report - This report identifies your top spenders and their behaviors. Use this to send personalized thank-yous, gather feedback for future events, and adjust your strategy.
An Item Performance Report - This reveals which items got bidders excited and which were ignored. Look at final sale prices and the number of bids per item. It’ll tell you what items you should bring again next year, and which ones should be phased out.
An Attendee Report - This report records how many attendees registered for your event (or the number of tickets sold) and how many attendees participated.

Learn more about bidder behaviors and which reports matter most.

Hosting your auction online allows you to generate reports automatically.

Which Metrics Does My Auction Platform Not Track?

While your auction platform can track a lot of your auction data, there’s some data you’ll have to track yourself.

Here’s what you should track on your own:

Event costs - Record venue costs, catering costs, marketing material costs, etc.
Marketing efficiency - Pay attention to how many people are viewing social media auction posts, responding to auction emails, and registering. Take note of which marketing methods work best.
Volunteer hours - Record staff and volunteer hours. If too much time is going into your event with little funds raised, you may have to rethink your event.
Donor satisfaction - Either send out surveys for a quantitative approach, or simply ask your donors how they enjoyed the auction to measure donor satisfaction.
Sponsor metrics - Keep a careful record of who sponsored your events and how much they gave each year.

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Which Auction Metrics Should I Track If I Don’t Have Auction Software?

If you’re not using online tools that automatically generate reports, track these 20 essential auction metrics:

Net revenue
Direct donation revenue
Item sale revenue
Ticket revenue
Sponsorship revenue
Total costs
Cost per dollar raised
Number of attendees
Number of items sold
Highest bid for each item
Number of bids for each item
Percentage of registrants who placed at least one bid
Percentage of items that received bids
Social media engagement rate
Email response rate
Payment completion rate
Top 10 bidders
Average amount spent per bidder
Donor retention rate (repeat guests from previous years)
No-show rate (who registered but didn’t attend)

How Do I Transfer My Auction Reports to My CRM?

To thoroughly analyze your data with full context, sync everything with your CRM. If your organization isn’t currently using a CRM, we highly recommend it. It’s a game changer for admin and data tracking. CRMs are used by 67% of nonprofits and was found to be the 8th most effective tool for nonprofits in the same survey.

There are a few options for syncing auction data with your CRM:

Direct CRM integration - Some auction platforms offer built-in connections to popular CRMs. Look for a "CRM" or "Integrations" tab in your platform settings to sync automatically.
Automation tools - If you have a lot of data to sync (for example, you run galas or golf tournaments on the same platform), check if your auction platform and CRM are both supported by automation tools with API integration, like Zapier.
Spreadsheet export and import - If your platform doesn’t have integrations (or you don’t have much data), you'll have to manually transfer spreadsheets. Export your bidder data, item performance, and transaction history as CSV or Excel files, then upload the files to your CRM. This works universally and is not overly time consuming.

Read our step-by-step guide for connecting your data to CRM.

Export reports from your auction to your CRM.

What Are Good Benchmarks for Charity Auctions?

The best benchmark for a healthy auction is your own data. If you’ve improved over the years—and if you’re making enough profit compared to costs and time invested—your auction is performing well.

BUT if you’re still interested in some stats to gauge the health of your auction, compare your data to the following benchmarks:

ROI: 5-15% increase in ROI year over year
Expense ratio: No more than 40% expense ratio
Donor participation: At least 20% of your bidders engaging (based on the 80/20 principle)
Item performance: Items close at around 87% of FMV
Marketing: 3% click-through rate
Donor retention: 46% average donor retention rate

See what to do if your auction metrics fall below healthy benchmarks.

How Do I Compare Auction Data From Different Years?

Year-over-year analysis will reveal trends in what works... and what doesn’t.

Compare your year-over-year data side-by-side, then look for patterns between the data and your strategy for that year. Pay attention to correlations between:

Highest attendance & marketing strategy
Highest bid revenue & items procured
Highest bid count & engagement tactics

Create your own auction playbook based on your year-over-year analysis. Take notes of what worked best so your team isn’t left guessing.

But the most efficient method for comparing year-over-year auction data is with the Auction History feature in CharityAuctions. The feature automatically generates year-over-year reports for all of your events, so you don't have to gather your data or create a playbook.

Auction History archives everything from previous events, including:

Item data
Marketing materials
Event settings
Donor participation

Fill out the Auction Playbook Template using your recurring auction data.

What Do I Need to Include In Auction Receipts for Donors?

Don’t forget about an important report for your donors—donation receipts. Compliant donation receipts help your donors track their contributions and earn tax deductions.

Item donor receipts: Provide an acknowledgment letter that includes your organization's name, a description of the donated item (but not the value), and a statement that no goods or services were provided in return. Do NOT include an FMV (Fair Market Value)—donors are responsible for establishing that themselves.

Item winner receipts: Provide a receipt of the donation amount and a good-faith estimate of the FMV of the item won. The statement should inform the donor that their deductible amount is limited to the excess over fair market value.

For unique experiences with no clear FMV: Estimate an FMV based on comparable services. If you can't reasonably determine an FMV, note that the FMV equals the amount paid (meaning no deduction is available).

Get complete receipt checklists for U.S. auctions and Canadian auctions.

Understand how to estimate the value (FMV) of items for receipts.

Do Any Platforms Use AI to Analyze Auction Data?

Yes, CharityAuctions uses AI to analyze your data and give you suggestions based on your performance. These auction analytics and reports are automatically generated inside the platform with no extra steps.

Set up your auction page for free and navigate to the AI Review tab. There, you’ll find your personalized AI analysis that updates in real-time as you build your auction and run your event.