Proud to Power Extraordinary Causes

After stepping into the role of auction chair for the New York/New Jersey Marriott Hotels Business Council’s Annual Golf Classic, Rebecca Waite quickly turned a new responsibility into a personal mission. Drawing on a lifetime of community service and relationship building, she embraced the challenge of growing the event’s silent auction to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The New York/New Jersey Marriott Hotels Business Council Charity Golf Tournament has raised critical funds for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals for more than a decade. The event blends competitive golf, community spirit, and a robust silent auction to make an impact for children and families in need.

Each year, the tournament brings together golfers, business leaders, and supporters for a day of competition and generosity — and under Rebecca’s leadership, the auction has become a major driver of fundraising success, blending local energy with the power of a nationwide online audience to make a greater impact for children and families in need.

With the support of FrontStream fundraising platform and the BiddingForGood community, Rebecca streamlined auction management, reached bidders nationwide, and maximized participation both on and off the golf course.

The Challenge

When Rebecca Waite first became the auction chair for the Council’s charity golf tournament benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, she brought a deep background in community service — but also faced the challenge of single-handedly running a large, high-stakes auction.

The event combined an in-person golf tournament with an online silent auction. Managing prize procurement, setting starting bids, promoting the auction, and handling bidder questions was a huge undertaking. On top of that, Rebecca wanted to make the experience simple and seamless for golfers and online bidders alike, without the old headaches of paper bid sheets, last-minute item additions, or shipping confusion.

The Solution

Rebecca turned to FrontStream’s BiddingForGood platform to simplify and scale the auction:

• Strategic Item Procurement: Rebecca set a personal goal of securing 62 prizes, leaning on her network, LinkedIn connections, and thoughtful personal outreach to secure a mix of certificates, sports memorabilia, and travel packages.
• Optimized Auction Setup: Rebecca used BiddingForGood’s built-in tools to set starting bids and bid increments, ensuring strong participation from the start.
• Expanded Reach: Rebecca opened the auction two weeks prior to the event, promoted it via email and social media to tap into networks far beyond the golfers in attendance.
• BiddingForGood Community: Rebecca leveraged BiddingForGood’s 4.4 million philanthropic shoppers, who accounted for $35,000 of the winning bids.
• On-Site Support: FrontStream staff attended the event to register bidders, send targeted text alerts, and keep auction energy high during the tournament.

The Results

Rebecca exceeded her auction goal by 20%, bringing in $42,000 in auction revenue — her personal best.

• 125 bidders came directly from the BiddingForGood community.
• $35,000 of winning bids were from supporters outside the immediate event audience.
• Auction promotion and the extended two-week bidding window attracted participation from across the United States.
• Complimentary shipping on prizes and clear prize descriptions improved bidder satisfaction and reduced questions.

Learn how Rebecca curated a diverse range of auction items that appealed to various price points. Watch the Webcast >

Founded to meet the immediate needs of children facing abuse, abandonment, or neglect, Lowcountry Orphan Relief (LOR) provides emergency care kits with clothing, toiletries, school supplies, books, and comfort items. Serving nearly 50 schools in the Charleston area, LOR supports children during times of crisis, and works to connect them with supportive, lasting care.

The Challenge

While LOR’s mission was strong and community support steady, the small nonprofit team faced two big hurdles with their annual gala:

• Cumbersome, manual processes for check-in, bidding, and checkout left guests frustrated in prior years.
• Limited supporter data meant they couldn’t easily segment or engage attendees after the event.

Executive Director Sarah Wallace and Community Outreach & Events Manager Stephanie Mermott needed a way to run the event more smoothly, create a better guest experience, and capture detailed data they could use year-round.

The Solution

The LOR team implemented FrontStream to modernize their gala and auction:

• Mobile Bidding & Digital Auction: LOR transitioned both live and silent auctions to mobile, allowing for text bid alerts, instant outbid notifications, and real-time engagement tracking.
• Streamlined Check-In & Checkout: They eliminated long lines by collecting payment info at registration and delivering won items directly to tables.
• Integrated CRM: LOR automatically captured attendee and bidder information — including purchase history and interests — into FrontStream's CRM for future campaigns.
• Creative Fundraising: They introduced a “Backpack Auction” in the live program, where guests sponsored $50 backpacks for children in care. The fast-paced appeal raised $30,000 in just five minutes!
• Data-Driven Planning: LOR used past bidding data to tailor auction items to attendee preferences for future events.

The FrontStream Advantage: More Time, Bigger Impact

With FrontStream, LOR has one platform for event management, auction tools, payments, and CRM. Together we're delivering:

• A better guest experience – No long lines, instant bidding, and seamless checkout left guests feeling cared for.
• Data you can act on – Every bid, donation, and interaction flowed directly into LOR’s CRM for year-round engagement.
• Flexible fundraising formats – Ability to mix mobile bidding with creative live appeals like the backpack auction.
• Room to grow – Scalable tools support LOR’s future events alongside the gala.

Bay Laurel Elementary is a public K-5 school in California that has worked with FrontStream since 2012. And every year they run an auction with FrontStream's BiddingForGood community, helping them "reach a whole new group of people beyond our parents.” Finding a way to draw in new supporters made a huge difference in how much Bay Laurel Elementary was able to raise.

Opening up their auction to our community of 4.4 million cause-minded bidders has expanded their base of supporters. The BiddingForGood community helped raise almost a third of the funds brought in by their online auction again this year. “Even if no one at our school donated or participated, we would still make money and make a difference.” 

BiddingForGood expands auction catalogue possibilities.

Before using BiddingForGood, getting items was the most difficult part for Bay Laurel. BiddingForGood’s Instant Items gave Bay Laurel the opportunity to add items to their catalogue that they otherwise might not have been able to source.

Furthermore, the school “showcased” the most valuable and popular auction items on their homepage.

Bay Laurel also created exclusive school items in their online auction, including “Storytime with the Principal” and “Librarian for the Day”. These “Bay Laurel Exclusives” sold for over $7,000 total. BiddingForGood allows them to continuously invite new supporters to their auction while still allowing the school community to have its own unique pool of exclusive items to bid on.

Girls Inc. of New Hampshire's is dedicated to inspiring girls to be strong, smart, and bold. Through legislative advocacy and research-based programming, the organization equips girls to navigate gender, economic, and social barriers.

An annual in-person gala is critical to Girls Inc.'s fundraising — but managing it efficiently was a challenge, particularly in 2020 when they had to pivot to a fully virtual event. With the help of FrontStream, Girls Inc. was able to quickly move the event online, incorporate social media campaigns, live stream on Facebook and YouTube, and host an online auction. Girls Inc. gained the attention of thousands of supporters and raised over $175,000.

The virtual gala helped Girls Inc. increase donations and trim expenses. The overall cost of the virtual gala was just 13% of the in-person event, thanks to savings on the venue, food and beverage, signage, and postage.

With the success of their 2020 virtual gala, the nonprofit can now host fully virtual or hybrid events. Girls Inc. of New Hampshire continues to inspire girls and create engaging events to help raise awareness for all the good they do.

Jacksonville Humane Society provides care, comfort and compassion to abandoned and orphaned shelter animals. The organization also provides animal training classes, low-cost veterinary care, spay/neuter assistance, and more services to help animals and pet owners in the community. 

Jacksonville Humane Society uses FrontStream campaign pages to increase their online donations and awareness. And they host an auction every April, a revenue-saver in 2020 when the organization's annual fundraiser – The Mutt March – had to be completely virtual.

The Mutt March traditionally includes a dog walk, silent auction, and a community festival for participants and sponsors.

But in 2020, they pivoted to a Facebook Live parade of dogs. They encouraged participants to take their dogs for socially-distanced walks, cuddle their cats, and post photos with the hashtag #muttmarch on social media.

After the virtual walk, they hosted another Facebook Live to tease an online auction on FrontStream's BiddingForGood community. They even auctioned a roll of toilet paper for $250!

In total, the online auction brought in $10,421. And despite going virtual with just one week's notice, they didn't receive a single refund request.

Shriners Hospitals for Children - Canada provides compassionate care to children with complex or chronic disorders.  The hospitals provide children with all aspects of inpatient and outpatient care, including surgery, rehabilitation, treatment and psychological support. 

In 2015, Nathalie Kamel brought together a group of young professionals to help create The Wonder Race. Instead of a typical walk or run, participants completed Amazing Race-style challenges. 

When they made the event completely virtual in 2021, they kept the team format, but participants tackled challenges independently over a week.

And with the FrontStream event builder, they were able to incorporate their logo, colors, imagery, and add videos.

To make sure fundraising was front and center, the Shriners team sent emails to remind registrants about their fundraising goals, plus tips and tricks to help kickstart their fundraising. They also made personal coaching calls to teams that were low on fundraising.

Shriners Hospitals for Children – Canada was able to incorporate online donation and campaign pages on their website. Donors could easily donate to the organization and share their message to a wider audience through email and social media.

In previous years the race has sold out months before the actual event. By going virtual, The Wonder Race was able to expand the number of teams from 50 to unlimited, and fundraise far beyond Montreal.

Massachusetts-based charity Dream Day on Cape Cod provides respite to families of children with serious or life-threatening illnesses. The charity brings these families to Cape Cod free of charge for a week of relaxing, laughing, and bonding. Campers canoe, kayak, make arts and crafts, play water sports, and enjoy campfires.

Dream Day on Cape Cod runs many fundraisers each year, including the Falmouth Road Race, Tour da Cape, the Paul DeMeo Memorial Motorcycle Run, and fishing and golf tournaments.

“And when a tree fell on our camp truck, I immediately thought it could raise awareness and funds. Within hours I put photos of the damage on social media and news sites, and created a campaign in FrontStream.

"Within two days, the Cape Cod Times ran an article and NBC Boston and CBS Boston came to camp to do a live feed. Our fundraiser link was broadcast as well. This campaign brought in $15,000 in one week and significantly grew awareness of our organization.”

Boston-based United Planet offers volunteer opportunities across the globe, helping “unite the planet one relationship at a time."

Volunteers focus on Children and Education, Environmental Sustainability, and Global Health. United Planet’s founder and president Dave Santulli explains, “United Planet is focused on building stronger global community and preparing a generation of globally minded leaders through gap years, international service learning, volunteering abroad, and leadership development programs. By partnering with secondary schools, universities, and corporations, United Planet is unlocking the potential of every person as a catalyst to create a more peaceful, cohesive, and sustainable world." CNN selected United Planet as one of only ten nonprofit organizations in the world for their ‘Be the Change’ initiative.

When it comes to focused fundraising, United Planet volunteers have raised $389,430 from 3,719 donors using FrontStream's peer-to-peer fundraising tool. 

“Since 2001, United Planet's 10,000+ volunteers have served over 1.5 million hours. They've built libraries, clinics, community centers, children’s housing, and 100,000+ relationships in over 25 countries."

These volunteers are particularly enthusiastic when it comes to peer-to-peer fundraising online. Santulli explains their keys to fundraising-page success: “We have some very thoughtful volunteers who have taken the time to fully share their motivations, information about the needs of the community, along with the expected outcomes of their work. These volunteers have seen the highest return on their efforts. They have also approached friends and family and asked them to share their pages throughout their networks.

“It is also important to remember to not only send your gratitude, but share about what the experience meant to you and the community. In addition to creating blogs, videos, and posting on social media, some volunteers send old-fashioned postcards from the field to share their thanks and experiences. It's exciting for supporters to receive a postcard an exotic stamp. It sends an important message that their support was genuinely appreciated.”

“It's not just about the fundraising, but also about educating and inspiring donors to contribute to positive global change. It's important to share your experiences. Many of our most successful volunteers create blogs, share on social media, and create videos.

“Nothing really beats a simple thank you and sharing your journey,” Santulli adds. “Reaching out to friends and family for fundraising is also an invitation for them to take part in something much bigger. Perhaps your journey will inspire them to take theirs.”

To learn more, please visit www.unitedplanet.org. Further information on United Planet’s volunteer abroad programs in over 25 countries can be found here: www.unitedplanet.org/volunteer-abroad