The era of the pen-and-paper auction is over. Host a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) mobile bidding event!
Imagine your next event setting with tables without paper bid sheets on them, no scattered pens—just beautiful auction items, arranged and displayed and numbered. Never trying to decipher handwriting, worrying over what might be a “4” or a “9”. Then pressing only a button to close your silent auction, and knowing right away how much money you made. This would mean no scramble to collect bid sheets and no manual data entry.
Think about how much time you would save on the big night when you have a million other things to worry about!
Best of all, imagine if your guests could bid from anywhere. They might be standing at the bar waiting for a drink, which would normally be a money-lost opportunity, when suddenly they receive an alert on their mobile device: You’ve been outbid! And the bidding war begins.
Imagine making more money at this year’s event than any previous year because your guests get into the game of bidding, right there on their own devices. Nothing provided by you except some clever branding to make it yours.
The device is theirs; the game of bidding is all yours. There are trade-offs when you switch to a mobile bidding auction, but they open up fun opportunities to brand and customize your BYOD event, and time and time again, we’ve seen drastic increases in revenue!
Recruit some extra volunteers to be Bid Assistants. Sometimes new technology can be intimidating, so Bid Assistants make adoption smooth and friendly. Think of an employee at an Apple store: eager to help you shop, happy to help you figure out how to get the most out of your device, and a great low-pressure salesman.
Your bid assistants should be gregarious and helpful. Brand them for your organization by dressing them in a bright color—to stand out from the crowd—or give them some fun flair, like silly sunglasses or feather boas, to make them approachable.
Set up a Juice Bar. With guests using their own devices non-stop all night, some are bound to need a recharge. All you need is a power strip and a few charging cables for the most common smartphones and tablets. Make it close to the real bar, so guests can socialize while they wait.
Provide a few devices. Guests aren’t bidding when their phones are dead, so provide some extra tablets so guests can continue placing those max bids while they wait for a fresh charge.
Gearing up for a fall auction? We know how it goes preparing for an event just around the corner. Your to-do list is a mile long and your plate is heaped full.
Save yourself half the trouble of a pen-and-paper event and go BYOD this year. Even if your event is just around the corner, preparing for a mobile bidding event with Greater Giving is much the same as a pen-and-paper event.
Throw one!
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