15 Years of Event Fundraising Innovations
Qtego has pioneered how organizations fundraise since 2009. As a company, we continually raise the bar to hold ourselves to higher standards in customer service, performance and innovative thinking. To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we’re highlighting some of the pioneering Qtego innovations that have changed the event fundraising industry.
2009
TWO-WAY
TEXT BIDDING
The first and still only way to increase total auction bids per item by 370% using SMS text.
Starting in 2009, nonprofits and organizations across the U.S. began seeing extraordinary gains from their silent auctions. What changed? This was the year that Qtego introduced Two-Way SMS Text Bidding, the innovation that put Qtego on the map.
Qtego is still the only provider of Two-Way SMS Text Bidding. When we began, it was a long shot, backed by a desire to upend organizations’ underestimated expectations of their fundraising efforts. Today, 15 years’ worth of Qtego auctions have proven its effectiveness.
“We can’t control how well an item will perform or what guests will do, but we can make it easier for our customers to raise money,” says Shawna Kolb, Qtego’s Regional Director of Fundraising Services.
2009
TEXT COMMUNICATION
Helping organizations reach supporters long before texting was universal.
As an early adopter of text communication to facilitate bidding, Qtego was the first provider in our industry to recognize how powerful texting technology could be for fundraising professionals. That’s why we unveiled Text Communication way back in 2009.
“Using text helped clients immediately reach a wider audience and ease communication with their supporters,” says Mackenzie Lenahan, Qtego’s VP of Customer Success. “It didn’t matter if guests were attending in person. Organizations could reach them anywhere. Qtego’s texting innovation has continued to evolve as clients have adopted new and more personalized ways to use it.”
2010
EARY-BIRD
REGISTRATION + BIDDING
Empowering supporters to register and participate in auctions sooner to boost profits and save time.
Early-Bird Registration + Bidding shaped how the fundraising industry operates today. With this 2010 innovation, Qtego became the first provider to give organizations the power to register donors and launch auctions in advance of an event.
“All of a sudden, people didn’t have to be in the room to bid,” recalls Qtego Regional Event Specialist Patrick Hoesing. Once organizations understood how Early-Bird Registration + Bidding empowered them, they began to reap the benefits.
The total number of bids per auction item shot up, and organizations’ brand awareness and sponsor recognition grew. On the operations side, organizations saved valuable time, reduced check-in congestion at events and cut way down on paperwork.
2018
FAST
CHECKOUT
The most efficient way for fundraising event participants to fund the organizations they love.
Years ago, attendees waited in long checkout lines, and fundraising teams had to work a long “second shift” after every event, spending weeks chasing down money from individual auction winners and donors. It was frustrating and an inefficient use of resources. To solve the problem, Qtego introduced Fast Checkout in 2018.
With Fast Checkout, every time someone wins an auction item, purchases a raffle ticket or makes a donation, the credit card transaction is pushed through with the click of a button. No more hounding donors or delaying when their monetary gifts are available to be integrated into your mission. Now that’s fast.
2020
LIVESTREAMING EVENTS
When the world shut down, Qtego gave organizations a universal event venue.
Nonprofits and organizations that rely on fundraising were not exempt from the impacts of Covid-19. Launched in April 2020, Qtego Livestreaming Events allowed nonprofits to persevere and grow despite pandemic shutdowns. Qtego’s Livestreaming Events innovation essentially replicated the guest experience of a live event as closely as possible without supporters leaving home.
“Livestreaming Events was a lifesaver for a lot of nonprofits,” says Tovi Liebovitz, Regional Director of Fundraising Services at Qtego. Customers were able to create virtual events that felt exclusive so their supporters feel like they were part of something special. “It brought fundraising, celebrities, contests and education all into the Qtego platform during a time when it was really essential for a lot of these nonprofits to keep going.”
2023
MULTIEVENT PARTICIPATION
Setting the industry standard in how easily donors can give to more of the causes they care about.
With the development of Multievent Participation in 2023, Qtego made it possible for donors to participate in and give to their favorite causes’ fundraisers even when they take place on the same date.
“Multievent Participation provides an incredible convenience for the donor,” says Gregory Smith, Regional Director of Fundraising Services at Qtego.
With so much competition for your audience’s attention and dollars today, it’s critical to make it easy for donors to engage with the causes they care about and for organizations to never miss out on a mission-driving monetary gift.
Qtego’s Multievent Participation made it possible to easily toggle from one event to another with a seamless giving experience, thus establishing the industry precedent.