Guest Blog by the Wi-Fi Experts over at Geekabit.com
Here at Donater, we aim to bring you a source of information and advice on all things fundraising. This week, we’ve teamed up with London Wi-Fi experts, Geekabit. In this blog their event Wi-Fi professionals will be sharing their hints and tips for using technology at your Silent Auction in order to boost donations and fundraising profits. So, over to them…
We’ve just written a blog on this over on our website, and are delighted to share a little bit of our Wi-Fi expertise with Donater and you, their lovely followers!
Fundraising is a massive part of any charity or not-for-profit-organisation and silent auctions are one of those events that can really pull in those all important donations.
You want your guests and donors feeling like winners whilst they are at your event and we can help you do just that. There’s no better feeling than placing a bid and then winning the prize! On the other hand, there’s no worse feeling than desperately trying to bid on something before bidding closes, but the Wi-Fi fails before you press ‘bid now’. Gutting.
Which guest will you have at your silent auction?
You’ve taken the plunge and decided to make your next London event a Silent Auction. You could faff around with paper bidding, but there is also the option to run your event with the latest technology:
– Seamless Electronic Silent Bidding Software
This utilises the interactive technology available to you. Electronic bidding can help you organise your high-end silent auction, enhancing the professionalism and user-ease for your event as well as boosting fundraising profits.
Mobile bidding software is developed with you and your guests in mind. They provide the guest with an easy user experience, making the bidding process fluent and intuitive. Most are completely customisable as well, so you can keep everything on brand with your campaign whilst remaining stylish and user friendly. Even better, is that the software makes it easy for guests to see how they are doing with their bids – With real-time updates notifying everyone of new bids, the donations will be flying in.
– Payment Terminals
Taking payments needs to be as easy, simple and quick as possible. No one likes trying to pay by card only to wait minutes for the terminal to connect. And with today’s cashless society, not having the option of electronic payments is a bit of a no-no if you want to make sure you receive those donations.
– Mobile Electronic Donation Technology
Between making their bids and sipping their drinks, they could tap their phone or scan a smart sticker and donate a little bit more directly to your cause. The easier you make it for people to donate, the more money you are likely to raise. And it doesn’t get much simpler than mobile donation technology.
To make use of all these great technological ways of streamlining your Silent Auction event , you’ll need seamless Wi-Fi for your guests to access.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that whatever London venue you choose, the Wi-Fi will just ‘be there’. But unfortunately that’s not always the case.
Even just in Central London you’ll have a multitude of venue choice at your fingertips. Most venues do have Wi-Fi, of course, but that doesn’t automatically mean that it’s reliable and fast enough for you to use for your event and thus does take some consideration and forward planning.
How many guests will you have at your event – Maybe 100? All of those people will be accessing the Wi-Fi at the same time trying to view items and place their bids. Can the venue Wi-Fi handle that traffic? The last thing you want is for the Wi-Fi to go slow or drop out, as that will slow down the whole process. If people can’t place their bid, or miss new bids coming in, then the rate of bidding is going to be lower and fundraising profits start to take a hit.
There’s no point securing that prestigious London venue for your silent auction event, only to fall at the last hurdle – Failing to bring in the bids because of poor Wi-Fi would be catastrophic to the success of your event.
What if your chosen venue is at a hotel, and you’re competing with all the hotel guests as well?
Or maybe you’ve got your heart set on a beautiful ballroom venue in the centre of London, but it’s underground with poor mobile reception and you’re relying solely on the Wi-Fi.
This is where the likes of Geekabit come in. Our London based experts are here to provide a secure network for your Silent Auction guests, with no reliance whatsoever on your London venue.
As with all events, you are depending on excellent communication to make your silent auction a success.
Your guests might feel uncertain about whether their bid will be enough – But you don’t need to feel that way about the Wi-Fi. Choose a Wi-Fi expert to create your bespoke network and feel comforted that connectivity is safe in their hands.
We wish you every success in your Silent Auction and hope you continue to raise vital funds for all those worthy causes!
Thanks so much Geekabit! Follow along with our blog for more hints and tips for all of your fundraising exploits.