It’s undeniable: People love to text! And for the record, we love it, too. Not only does it make it easier for guests to get bids in quickly, but it also brings in more money for your cause.
In fact, in an analysis of large Qtego fundraising events, we found an average of 40% of bids came through via text message. If those bids hadn’t come in, how successful would their auctions have been?
Qtego recognized the power of the text message years ago. In fact, we pioneered text bidding with a patent-pending approach for event fundraisers. Many providers don’t offer quick bidding, but our experience and the numbers show that texting is powerful.
Texting also gives you peace of mind in case of a Wi-Fi outage. If the Wi-Fi service at your venue is slow, spotty or goes down completely, guests can still donate and bid on auction items using their cellular service when you offer them text bidding and donating!
So how does text bidding fit into the overall flow of an event?
Text Bidding Makes it Easier to Get in on the Auction Fun
Let’s assume the auction items your team collected are the most valuable ever, and your merchandising efforts are flawless. You’ve grouped smaller items. Item names are catchy, followed by clear, enticing details. And you’ve learned how to set optimal starting bids for items at every price point. This year’s charity auction is poised to break records — if people bid.
What happens if some guests just don’t participate in the auction?
If nearly half of your audience prefers texting, what happens if you don’t offer a text option? How many dollars and bids are you leaving on the table?
As fundraising best practices, make sure all your technologies coexist. Doing so helps ensure every guest is a bidder.
Quick Bids Get Guests to Raise Bids Faster and More Often
Part of the thrill of any auction is the sense of urgency. Guests have only a limited amount of time to scope out the auction items, pick a few favorites and get in their bids.
Once a bidder places their first bid via text, Qtego automatically sends a text notification if they are outbid. With zero delays, the guest can re-up their bid amount and be back in the running to win their item, even when they are walking around or mingling.
With more bids coming in faster, you increase the amount of money your organization collects per item.
Text Bidding Keeps Social Butterflies Connected to Your Auction
Look around the room at your event. People are on the move — eating, laughing, reconnecting. They are social creatures enjoying each other’s company.
But you also need them to bid, right?
Especially for the extroverted crowd, these guests don’t want to spend any more time than is necessary on their phones. Text bidding is as easy as a quick reply!
By enabling text bidding, these social butterflies can stay social. With one glance at their phone, they can place a quick bid and never miss a beat in the conversation.
It’s Practically Second Nature
Your guests have set up their phones just the way they like them. In their messaging tool, they have personalized the type size to suit their needs. They’ve chosen light or dark mode for readability and tailored how they see alerts. Their ear hears the special chime or ding they recognize as an incoming text message on their phone.
Text bidding allows you to fit seamlessly into the texting experience they have already personalized. Keep it simple!
Many guests will prefer to bid via a mobile bidding website like QSite, but not everyone. If you make all your guests use an unfamiliar tool instead of allowing them the option to text instead, you might accidentally create an undue layer of friction for some members of your audience. Text bidding makes the user experience feel familiar — even second nature.
Qtego Invented Text Bidding!
It’s true. We were the first in our industry to build and offer text bidding! And while we also develop new technologies to grow your event fundraising, we retain mature tools when they produce strong returns for our clients.
While mobile bidding websites, including Qtego’s QSite, offer lots of benefits, text bidding gives guests multiple ways to bid. And the data shows that offering guests a variety of ways to give and bid on your auction items strengthens bottom-line fundraising numbers.
In other words, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
- What if 50% of your guests preferred text and you didn’t offer it?
- Would they place bids, or would you lose out on capturing their fundraising dollars?
Fulfill more bid and donation potential by embracing the power of text messaging!
To experience how great text bidding can be for your guests, contact the QTeam.
