The John Cooper School

The John Cooper School

When The John Cooper School decided to run their first online auction using cMarket's resources they weren't shy about placing items on the web. They jumped right in and featured close to 500 items online and open for bidding!

As an independent co-educational school, John Cooper relies heavily on their development programs to supplement their revenue. Their annual fundraising campaigns ensure that they continue to provide an advanced curriculum complete with cutting edge technology and equipment, an elite athletics department, student services and activities. Finding new ways to meet and exceed revenue projections has always been at the forefront of their fundraising initiatives - and one of the driving factors for placing their auction catalog online.

Recognizing the numerous opportunities in which to raise more money for their programs, the John Cooper staff wasted no time getting started. And their first objective: to secure sponsors for their auction site. By illustrating the promotional value and exposure area businesses could benefit from just by placing a logo on their auction homepage, the school was able to sell 8 unique sponsorship spots for an astounding $28,000. But they didn't stop there.

They continued to benefit from their online auction's capabilities by activating the Buy Now feature to give shoppers the opportunity to purchase items for a set price rather than bidding and competing for the items. One hundred of the items online sold through the Buy Now feature for combined revenue of over $18,000. The school also accepted online donations through their auction site and raised an additional $690 from two items that were donated independent of their efforts.

The John Cooper School filled their online auction catalog with fun and exciting items for their community to bid on. Students, faculty and families alike gravitated to their School Contributions category where they found unique experiences such as being in charge of the school for a day or teacher for a day. Prime parking spots and locker space were also big hits and drove in a number of bids for that category. Over 755 bids were placed for items in School Contributions and $24,186 was raised for the institution. They also auctioned off Hannah Montana tickets for $2,400 and Class Projects that raised $5,700 for the school.

As The John Cooper School prepared for their gala, they were able to close out a number of items online, reducing the workload involved on the day event. They even gave participants a preview of the items that would be available in the room by creating a Live category in their web catalog. The effective use of cMarket's tools and resources helped The John Cooper School raise $71,999 for their programs and run a very successful online auction fundraiser.