Painting services, beer baskets, free range chicken eggs and a live song performance were among some of the items available for bidding during Sinclair’s 2012 United Way online auction.
The auction, which began on Oct. 1 and lasted until Nov. 16, raised more than $129,000 of the $152,000 goal as of Sunday, Nov. 18, according to Michael Fiszlewicz, manager of Server-Based Computing at Sinclair. All of the proceeds earned from the auction are to be donated to the United Way, Fiszlewicz said.
The auction’s goal was $152,000 in 2011, an increase on the 2010 standard of $150,000, was not increased again this year because the auction failed to meet the 2011 mark, Fiszlewicz said.
Fiszlewicz feels the economy was a primary factor as to why the auction failed to produce above expectation.
“Historically, for the most part, we always make the goal or go above the goal,” Fiszlewicz said. “Last year, we can only guess why, but we feel because of the economy and different circumstances like that, it was hard for people to contribute as much.”
The United Way Committee, which Fiszlewicz and other Sinclair faculty and staff members served on, helped operate the auction and asked Sinclair employees for items to be donated. Although the auction was marketed toward Sinclair employees to bid on the items donated, anyone who created an account could place a bid, according to the website.
“One of the things we thought was great was that it ties into Sinclair being a college. They support education and we support education, so we kind of have a common interest,” he said.
Fiszlewicz explained that although Sinclair had the opportunity to team with several charities for the auction, the United Way was appealing because the charity centered its focus more on education this year.
“They (United Way) did emphasize education before, but had an emphasis on other needs in the community as well,” Fiszlewicz said. “Sinclair has a big focus on the community, so we are very involved in helping educate the people that are here in the community. The United Way is a national charity, but the money they earn here in Montgomery County stays here.”
Education makes up 32 percent of the United Way of Greater Dayton’s 2012-2013 Community Impact Model, which takes “a strategic approach to funding identified priorities,” according to the website.
But along with giving towards education, Fiszlewicz notes a sense of camaraderie that Sinclair employees derive from participating in the auction.
“The main objective of the auction is the cause (United Way), but getting other people involved in my department, for example, gets more visibility for the United Way and I think it forms a sense of community at the college,” Fiszlewicz said. “I saw as auction items were coming in, many of them were donated by members of the departments. There was a sense of unity.”
The website sinclairunitedway.org, which housed the auctions during the 47-day period, utilized a bidding system similar to Ebay, where bidders could view a picture of the item they were bidding on, the current highest bid, time remaining and even receive email notification if they were outbid, Fiszlewicz said.
Web Developer Rex Mt. Castle said Sinclair has been hosting online auctions with the United Way since about 2009.