Getting Started With Auctria

Welcome to Auctria! This page will walk you through everything you need to set up your first event.

Here's what we'll do together: invite your team, set up your event website, add your items and tickets, connect payments, and make sure everything is ready before you go live.

Video: Auctria Onboarding

The video below walks through all of these steps in about 10 minutes. It's the fastest way to get oriented — everything on this page follows the same structure.

Invite your team

Give anyone helping you run the event their own login before you start building — it's much easier to set up now than on event night.

What you'll do:

• Go to Organization (left sidebar) → Users and click Add User
• Enter their email and choose a role:
  • Admin — full access to everything
  • Power User — minimum level needed to edit the event website
  • User — good for volunteers processing payments at checkout
  • Read Only — for board members or stakeholders who need to view but not edit

Create your event website

Your event website is the page your guests, bidders, and sponsors will visit — so let's build that next. Every Auctria event includes a built-in website that stays in sync with your dashboard: auction items, tickets, sponsorships, and donation levels all appear on your site automatically as you add them. You don't need to return to the editor to publish them.

Choose a template

Click Event Website on the left sidebar to open your Website dashboard. Browse the available pre-built templates — designed specifically for fundraising events — and click Select Template next to the one that feels right for your event.

Set your website address

After selecting a template, you'll be prompted to set your website address. Choose something short and easy to share — your organization name or event name works well. This becomes the link you'll send to your guests.

Your full URL will look something like:

https://charityauction.bid/OurGreatGala2026

The page will refresh once you've picked a template and entered your address. You'll also see a QR code on this page that links directly to your event website — handy for sharing in print materials and on-site signage.

Page visibility and auto-populating pages

A couple of things to know as you explore your new site:

• Some pages are hidden automatically based on built-in rules. For example, the My Account page only appears once a guest has registered for your event. You can spot these pages in the header bar — they'll have a hatchmark pattern on them.
• Some pages populate automatically as you add content to your dashboard. The Auction, Tickets, Sponsorships, and Raffles pages won't appear in your website menu until you've added at least one corresponding item in the Auctria dashboard — once you do, the page appears in the menu and that item shows up on it.

Edit your website

The event website can be edited to fit your branding. Click Edit Website to open the Website Editor. It works with drag and drop — you can reorder elements on any page or drag new ones in from the sidebar. From here you can:

• Update text and add your event description
• Add your organization logo and event banner image
• Reorder or customize any page section

Everything saves automatically. Use the toolbar at the top of the editor to make formatting changes, lock or unlock edits, and preview your site on different devices.

Set up tickets and sponsorships

Add admissions and sponsorships first — these are typically the first things guests and sponsors will purchase as your event approaches.

Admission tickets

Go to Tickets in the sidebar and click Add Ticket Item. Set the ticket name, price, and quantity. You can also create table tickets, discounted tickets with coupon codes, and early bird pricing with availability windows.

Sponsorships

Go to Sponsorships in the sidebar and click Add Sponsorship Item. Create your sponsor tiers, set amounts and included tickets, and upload images. Sponsor logos appear on your event website automatically once a purchase is made.

Add your auction items and raffles

Once tickets and sponsorships are set up, add the items guests will bid on and any raffles you're running.

Auction items

What you'll do:

• Go to Items in the sidebar and click Add Item
• Choose a bidding type for each item:
  • Online Bidding — guests bid from their phone or computer; bidding closes automatically
  • Paper Bidding — generates a printable bid sheet for traditional in-person bidding
  • Live Bidding — for auctioneer-led lots; you record the winning bid manually
• Mix and match bidding types across your items as needed
• Enter the item's name, description, fair market value, minimum bid, and other details. These can be edited at any time.

Items appear on your event website as soon as they're added.

Raffles

Go to Raffles and click Add New Raffle. Configure ticket pricing, quantities, and winner settings. Raffle tickets can be sold online through your event website or recorded manually on event night.

Connect a payment processor

Before your event can accept any money — for tickets, bids, donations, or sponsorships — you need to connect a payment processor. Guests won't be able to complete a purchase until this is done.

What you'll do:

• Click Credit Cards in the left sidebar
• Connect Stripe (recommended for new accounts — you can sign up directly from this screen) or Authorize.Net if you have an existing account

Set this up now, even if your event is still weeks away.

Reports and financials

Auctria tracks all of your revenue automatically — you don't have to wait until after your event to see how you're doing. The Income Summary and Item Summary on your main dashboard break down revenue by stream and update in real time.

If you need to record offline transactions, use the Bidding, Donations, and Sales pages in the sidebar. For detailed financial reporting, click Reports in the sidebar, then Export to download data as Excel files or share with your board.

Before you go live

Once your items and payments are set up, run through these three checks before sharing your event link.

Health checks

Your main dashboard shows a health check panel that scans your setup and flags anything that needs attention. Green is a minor note, yellow is a warning, red needs to be resolved before guests can register or bid. Click any item to see what it is and how to fix it.

System emails

Go to Communication (left sidebar) → System Emails to preview the automated messages Auctria sends on your behalf — registration confirmations, receipts, outbid notifications, and more. They trigger automatically, but it's worth previewing each one and customizing the text and branding to match your organization.

Test your event

To walk through the full guest experience before going live, click Create Test Event under Event in the left sidebar. This creates a separate copy of your event where you can place a bid, buy a ticket, and complete checkout without affecting your real data.

When you're satisfied, share your website link and QR code with your participants — you're live!

Reference & Support

• Auctria Costs — License tiers, processing fees, texting credits, and optional services explained.
• Popular Pages — A curated collection of popular pages in the user guide, organized by topic.
• Glossary — Definitions for key Auctria terms like Organization, Event, Item, and Participant.
• Resources — Webinars, checklists, timelines, and links to Auctria Launch and Assist.
• Auctria Courses — A collection of Courses brought to you by the Auctria Academy with lessons designed to help you run any style of event.
• Auctria Freebies — Our collection of forms, letters, graphics, and guides to simplify your event planning and elevate your fundraising success.