We've all been to events that include an auction to benefit a charity. You walk around, maybe write your name on a sheet with a bid amount and hope for the best. Not a great experience.
And if you've ever run such an event, you know the logistical nightmare that this can turn into.
At the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards held on February 3, 2010, I witnessed a solution that will make bidders and organizers much happier. It's called BidPal.
The BidPal website will tell you that they are "Revolutionizing Charitable Auctions."
Bid farewell to paper bid sheets, costly item catalogs, and the checkout scramble as BidPal totally automates your silent auction. Say hello to increased bidding, higher profits, easy checkouts - and lots of fun and excitement! The BidPal handheld revolutionizes charitable giving by wirelessly automating the bidding process and auction end wrap-up.
They use a temporary wifi network and slick little iPhone-like devices to manage the auction. Throughout the venue, signs such as this were posted to remind even the technical novices how to use the device.
BidPal allows guests to:
Bid from anywhere at anytime
Receive outbid alerts
Automatically watch favorite items
Place maximum bid amounts
Utilize the "Buy Now" feature
View items with no bids
Fund a need or donate cash
Receive instant notification of items won
The bidders at the Sports Awards seemed to have fun with the devices and I expect that more bids were made because of them. Exact numbers as to the increase in bids when using BidPal vary but these testimonials will give you a clue.
There are numerous benefits (besides more income) to the charitable organization such as real-time reporting, status updates and post event data mining.
Watch as Cleveland area BidPal sales rep Adam Terrell demonstrates the device and process.
