ReadySetAuction™, the Popular Benefit Auction Management Software Tool, Adds Community Forum Functionality

Bainbridge Island, WA (PRWEB) September 8, 2005 -

– In further demonstration of the company’s ongoing commitment to provide an unparalleled fundraiser auction management solution for non-profit organizations, Arsetta, Inc. today announces the addition of community forums to ReadySetAuction.

ReadySetAuction is the first and only completely web-based software solution that helps non-profit organizations plan, manage and conduct their live and silent benefit auction events. Unlike other auction management tools in the marketplace that were built for the desktop computer or retrofitted to provide limited networking features, ReadySetAuction was conceived and designed to run on the Internet. This not only makes ReadySetAuction simpler to maintain, less costly to operate and easier to use, it also means ReadySetAuction can fully harness the power and flexibility of the Internet.

“By integrating forum functionality seamlessly into our customers’ ReadySetAuction event sites, we are empowering them to collaborate more effectively and efficiently,” says Sam Weiss, Arsetta’s president and CEO. “As anyone who has been involved in organizing and conducting a fundraiser auction knows, communication among members of the auction committee is key to a successful event.”

When a ReadySetAuction user is logged into her organization’s event site, she can access both public and private forums with a single click of the mouse. The public forums – continuously monitored by the ReadySetAuction support team – are available to all ReadySetAuction users and include Hints & Tips, Question & Answers and a place for General Discussions about benefit auctions.

A private forum is also available to each organization that is using ReadySetAuction and is accessible only to that organization’s members. Private forums provide a place for an auction committee to discuss their specific issues and plans. “When multiple people are involved in a project, such as planning an auction, a forum is a much more efficient communication tool than email. How many times have you sifted through your email messages trying to figure out the history of a discussion? With a forum, a discussion thread is easy to follow and easy to review,” explains Lisa Weiss, Arsetta’s VP of Marketing and Sales.

About ReadySetAuction

Founded in 2003, Arsetta, Inc.’s mission is to provide affordable, enterprise-class solutions to non-profit organizations. ReadySetAuction, Arsetta’s flagship product, was developed around a simple vision: to make it easier for non-profit organizations to raise the funds they need to fulfill their missions.

Since its launch over a year ago, hundreds of non-profit organizations across the country – including schools, religious organizations, charitable organizations, youth sports leagues, and other community groups – have used ReadySetAuction to streamline their auction processes and raise millions of dollars.

ReadySetAuction provides full-fledged auction management functionality. Because it is a hosted application – meaning it runs on Arsetta’s ultra-fast servers in a highly secure data center – there’s no software for the users to install. Moreover, all users from an organization have simultaneous access to up-to-the-minute auction data from anywhere at any time from any Internet connected Macintosh or PC. Gone are the days of scheduling hassles and passing the laptop from volunteer to volunteer. With ReadySetAuction, auction management becomes a true team effort.

Anyone who has previously conducted an auction or is planning one for the first time immediately recognizes the value of ReadySetAuction’s powerful features:

• Customize your organization’s event site: define your committees, create your list of volunteers and establish their individual access (permission) levels to the system.
• Establish your live and silent auction section names and times.
• Track potential venues, caterers, auctioneers and entertainers. This information, like all ReadySetAuction data, is preserved year after year so that your organization's next auction committee doesn't have to retrace the steps of its predecessors.
• Enable the on-line ticket sales form, which is personalized with your logo, so your guests can purchase their tickets electronically, greatly reducing data entry work for your volunteers.
• Manage and register guests, assign paddle numbers and print nametags.
• Easily enter and track donations.
• Enable the online procurement form, which is personalized with your logo, to let donors submit their donations electronically, thus greatly reducing data entry work for your volunteers.
• Combine donations into saleable auction packages.
• Instantly create your catalog with no extra data entry or manual formatting required. ReadySetAuction compiles all the data entered throughout the setup and procurement process and creates the procurement form, procurement letters, mailing labels, catalog, bid sheets, gift certificates, invitations, thank-you notes, and other important printed materials. With just a click of the mouse you download the materials to your computer in printer-ready rich-text-format (.rtf) which can be opened in Microsoft® Word.
• Register and check-in guests at the event itself.
• Process winning bids during the event. At any time you can look up what each guest has won, who won a specific package, and the running total.
• Quickly check out your guests with ReadySetAuction’s cashiering and real-time credit card processing capabilities. Then generate a receipt.
• Instantly generate post-auction thank you letters and receipts for the donors, guests and volunteers.
• Print a host of pre- and post-auction reports to help sort guests, donations, auction packages and sales. This helps your organization map its successes and plan for future events.
• Never start from scratch again. When you’re ready to start organizing your next auction, ReadySetAuction automatically imports your previous donors, prospects and guests into your new event site and generates personalized procurement letters and emails along with mailing labels to your constituents.

With all this rich functionality, ReadySetAuction's intuitive design makes auction management easy both for those who are new to auctions and those who don't have a lot of computer experience. A colorful, tab-based design guides users through the process step-by-step while providing the flexibility to jump from stage to stage, depending on how the volunteer staff wants to work.

For more information

Press and interested customers can get more information about ReadySetAuction by visiting http://www.ReadySetAuction.com or calling toll-free at 1-877-RSA-2220.

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