Our online software integrates with the leading offline event management software programs to provide our clients a seamless exchange of information between online bidding and registration opportunities and the software tools essential for managing a traditional live Gala.

We consult with you to determine the most effective strategy for integrating online fundraising into your development initiatives. Because our services are hands-on, we are able to address any auction scenario you envision. A wealth of experience with nonprofits in all sectors means that we can share with you many examples of how different organizations have approached their online fundraising efforts. We will help you choose the best strategies for maximizing the marketing, promotion and development opportunities of an online auction, which are as important and valuable as the money earned from the auction.

Online events are a powerful and economical way to engage your community and develop new supporters. We don't aspire to replace a live event, but we do aspire to make it more effective and easier to manage. The ability to catalog items, register bidders, accept pre or final bids, and administer your event with simple to use online tools, means a smooth running event and enthusiastic participants.

We have attempted to answer as many questions as possible online. Please read the FAQ page, browse and bid the Demo Auction. For a comprehensive overview of online auction scenarios, download the PDF document, Online Auction Overview. We are proud of our ability to provide unique solutions to any event scenario, so please contact us for an in-depth review of your plans or desire to include online auction bidding and registration opportunities in your next event, or to create a new event, or series of events, online.

Thank you,
Jim Wintner/President

• Unlimited Event Consultation, Planning, and support with a dedicated account manager.
  
• Online Event Registration and Ticketing.
  
• Custom Event Web Design includes custom introduction, registration, site navigation, event and sponsor logos, conditions of sale, and contact information.
• Batch Upload of catalog items from any local database or event management software.
• Simple Tools for Auction Manager to open and close bidding, manage, approve and email registered bidders, catalog items and images, process winning bidders and inscribe donors.
• Real-Time Invoicing Program and Batch
• Online credit card transaction options.
• Custom Winning Bidder email template. Winning Bids/Bidders and Registered Bidder spreadsheets seamlessly import into all major event management software programs.
• Custom interface for fixed price sale of multiples; flexible donation interface.
• Unique mobile device bidding inteface.
• Cataloging and Exhibition tools for arts organizations.
• Event Design Services; Item Solicitation; Online Promotion; Event Management Software.

MANAGEMENT

James Wintner - Founder & CEO
James Wintner is the publisher of JHW Editions and is the Director/Founder of two Internet sites devoted to the Fine Arts: Colophon Page (www.colophon.com) for Fine Illustrated Books and Works on Paper; and PhotoArts (www.photoarts.com) dedicated to Fine Art Photography. The PhotoArts site conducted the first online auction for fine photography in May 1998. In addition to an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Wintner has done graduate study in Architecture and Urban Planning at Columbia University and the Architectural Association (London).

Richard St. George - VP/CTO
Mr. St. George is the creator of all software applications used on the BenefitEvents site. He is a graduate of Pratt Institute (NYC) in Mechanical Engineering and has extensive experience in the public utility industry as plant supervisor and as director of new technology. More recently he developed one of the first online restaurant menu and ordering programs as well as a web based GIS system to organize the permit process for large scale urban infrastructure projects.

Iva Kaufman - Director, Consulting Services
Iva Kaufman is the founder of Art, Culture & Technology. She is a specialist in designing programs that address contemporary issues, including artist and community access to new media and technology. Most recently, she co-produced public art installations for the Downtown Arts Festival in New York; Art Center South Florida; the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia; and the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.

Ms. Kaufman has helped initiate programs in the public interest that range from conflict resolution to women's financial and economic empowerment. She directs the Sun Hill Foundation's program on the environment, community development, and arts education and outreach. Ms. Kaufman has assembled the team of program and technical consultants, curators, and multi-media producers to carry out the work of ACT.

Marilyn Eisenberg - Midwest Marketing and Business Development
Marilyn Eisenberg has been active in the Chicago philanthropic community for over 30 years. She is the co-founder and past president of the Chicago Children's Museum; board member of Bright Promises Foundation (formerly the Illinois Humane Society) and Shalva which is a Jewish agency that provides services to women in abusive relationships; formerly a board member of the Jewish Womens Foundation and Personal Pac; past board memberships: Body Politic Theater, Education Resource Center, Hild Arts Center. Ms. Eisenberg served as executive manager of Chicago's Ambassador West Hotel for 9 years.

 

  ADVISORY TEAM

New York City Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer
Ms. Brewer brings over twenty years of management experience in government, private sector, and non-profit program development, service delivery, and budgeting to the BenefitEvents.com advisory team. From 1978-1989, Ms Brewer worked as the Chief Of Staff in the office of as the Acting Executive Director for the NYC Commission on the Status of Women. Ms. Brewer spent the next four years in the dynamic role of Director of the Federal Office in New York in the Office of the Mayor. The office coordinated federal lobbying activities for the City of New York. She implemented an improved federal grant application and tracking process for city agencies, and initiated a privately funded ($1 million) federal grantsmanship network to provide technical assistance to community-based organizations applying for federal money. During the first year of operation, the network secured $9 million of federal funding for nonprofits. Ms. Brewer also coordinated the 1990 Urban Summit, a two-year project initiated by the City of New York to involve mayors of large cities in pro-active lobbying with the federal government; 1992 March on Washington for Cities and Children; and the biannual NYC Congressional Tour. Ms. Brewer also worked as the Deputy Advocate in the Office of the NYC Public Advocate from 1994-1997. She then spent a year working as a Project Coordinator for Telesis Corporation, a private company specializing in providing affordable housing and developing an improved quality of life in communities.

Prior to her election to the NYC City Council, Ms. Brewer was Project Manager for The New York City Nonprofits Project a 2-year study of the economic impact of the 20,000 nonprofits in New York City, including a census survey, analysis and a listing in directories and on the web. She received her Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and her Bachelor's degree from Columbia University.

Sandra Lang
Sandra Lang is the Director of the Visual Arts Administration M.A. Program in the Department of Art and Art Professions at New York University's School of Education. The program has a non-profit and a for-profit track and offers a combination of courses from prominent professionals in the field and the Stern School of Business in order to give students the extensive skills needed to go into arts administration. In addition to NYU, Ms. Lang advises both corporations and non-profit organizations through her business, Lang Art Services. Ms. Lang was formerly the Executive Director of Independent Curators Inc. (1995-1997) and the Administrative Director of the Art Advisory Service at The Museum of Modern Art (1984-1995). She was President of ArtTable, Inc., the national association of women in the arts, from July 1992 ˆú June 1994. She holds a Masters degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from Middlebury College, Vermont.

Russell P. Langsam
Russell P. Langsam has over seven years of experience in organizational management, with specific work in non-profit programs. Mr. Langsam is the Manager of People Strategy for Amisto.com, Inc., an Internet adventure travel company, in charge of employee relations, staff retention and performance management. Prior to his current position, Mr. Langsam served as the National Manager of Volunteer Service for AFS Intercultural Programs, where he helped to develop AFS Online's corporate portal.

Mr. Langsam spent the earlier part of his career as the Program Director for Youth Works in the Americorps Program for the Minnesota Department of Economic Security in St. Paul. While there, he directed a statewide community service and job training program. Mr. Langsam earned his Master of Arts in Public Policy from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota; he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Cynthia Massarsky
Cynthia W. Massarsky is president of CWM Marketing Group, a management consulting firm specializing in marketing and new business development for the nonprofit sector. Selected current and former clients include Save the Children; Covenant House; Bank Street College of Education; Association of Junior Leagues International; AmeriCorp; Child Care Action Campaign; The Feminist press; The Ford Foundation; Dewitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund; National Endowment for the Art.

Prior to founding her own firm in 1990, Ms. Massarsky was product and marketing director for Scholastic Inc. From 1987-1988 she was director of marketing and licensing for Marlo Thomas' Free To Be Foundation. From 1983-1987, Ms. Massarsky was VP of New Ventures, a business development consulting firm that guided nonprofits in the area of earned income ventures. From 1981-83, she was director of development for the national office of The Foundatiion Center. Ms. Massarsky earned a Bachelor's degree in child psychology from Simmons College and an MBA from Cornell University.

Howard Schwartz
Howard Schwartz is a retired business development Executive at IBM with 40 years of experience in the IT Industry. He currently specializes in acquisitions and alliances within the software industry. He has held executive positions in business development, sales, marketing and software development, and was responsible for North American marketing for IBM's OEM operation.

Geri Thomas
Ms. Geri Thomas is President of Thomas & Associates, Inc. an innovative firm that offers staffing, consulting and training programs for museums and art businesses nationwide (www.artstaffing.com). Their exhibition division develops, designs, and travels major exhibitions nationally and internationally.

Before starting her own company, Ms. Thomas was Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Jewish Museum in the New York, where she was responsible for the re-housing of the collections and new galleries after a major renovation, as well as the development of the museum's extensive traveling exhibition program. Previous to that, she lived in New Zealand where she was on the initial planning team for a new national institution that opened in 1998. She developed the first public relations course for museums in the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pubic art project to include New Zealand architects, artists and landscape designer with extensive community involvement.

Ms. Thomas has been involved in strategic planning, organizational development, training programs, and human resource initiatives for such organizations as the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, the Baltimore Museum of Art and Christie's. She is also Vice-Chair of the traveling Exhibition Committee of the American Association of Museums, and a member of ArtTable, the prestigious group of professional women in the arts.