Mobile Fundraising Strategies & Tips

6 Powerful Features to Boost Engagement at Your Next Fundraising Auction

Posted on September 2, 2024September 20, 2025 by Jordan Morris

Fundraising auctions are tried, tested, and loved when it comes to non-profits raising more funds. Donors generally know what to expect from a charity auction, but for the fundraiser, creating excitement and engagement is key to driving bids and maximizing the auction’s potential. Simply put, it’s essential that the auction does not feel stale. Your donors will attend numerous fundraisers, so guarding against their giving fatigue is vital. In 2024, with all the technology that is readily available, it’s possible to find a fundraising platform with features that elevate the auction experience, boost participation, and ensure your bidders have a memorable time.

At Givergy, we like to think we’re experts in fundraising auctions, having facilitated over 1,200 so far this year (that’s over 5 successful auctions every single day) and helped raise over $85 million through our auctions alone! Below, we’ve listed 6 powerful features all fundraisers should look out for when choosing their auction platform. From increasing shareability to comprehensive reporting on every facet of your campaign, these features are must-haves for your next fundraising auction!

Video Embedding: Showcase What’s at Stake

One of the key advantages of online auctions is the ease with which they can be shared digitally across multiple platforms to reach varying audiences. However, breaking through online noise can be difficult. Adding video embedding to your auction pages creates a more immersive experience for your bidders and potential donors. Instead of just a static image and description, you can showcase auction items with videos that bring them to life. Whether it’s a video of a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a behind-the-scenes tour of a luxury item, or a heartfelt message from the beneficiaries of the funds raised, video embedding can elevate the emotional connection of your audience even when it’s just being shared online. Across social media, the short video reigns supreme, and being able to easily incorporate them within your auction is one sure-fire way to increase the shareability of your auction.

Why Video Works: Video content is 1,200% more likely to be shared than text and links combined. By understanding this and leveraging it for your auction, you can amplify engagement and storytelling.

Turn Losing Bids into Donations: Keep the Generosity Flowing

One of the most common auction pitfalls is losing bidders walking away empty-handed when they still want to donate. As a fundraiser, your job is to try and capture every penny possible for your organization. With a ‘Turn Losing Bids into Donations’ feature, fundraisers can rest easy knowing that losing bidders are not lost. This handy tool allows you to offer losing bidders the opportunity to donate their losing bid directly to your cause. These individuals were already willing to contribute financially, so why not encourage their continued generosity?

Impact: This simple option provides a soft ask that can significantly increase donations, even if their bid didn’t win the item. It ensures that no bidder leaves without the chance to contribute to your cause.

Reporting Hub: Real-Time Insights for Smarter Decisions

Having access to the right data in the modern world is essential for growth. Data drives success, and with a robust fundraising reporting hub, auction organizers have access to live insights that help optimize performance on the go. A comprehensive reporting hub allows the fundraiser to track bidding trends, monitor participation, and assess which items are generating the most excitement.

Benefits of Real-Time Data: With this information at your fingertips, you can make data-backed decisions during your auctions to maximize outcomes. For example, you can record levels of engagement across the room and visualize which tables are not bidding. Receiving this information in real-time supports the Auctioneer or Fundraising Host to direct their attention to the tables and donors that need encouraging. After the event, a comprehensive reporting hub remains home to all the valuable information you need for planning future auctions, ensuring each is better than the last!

Sealed Bidding: Add a Touch of Mystery

Sealed Bidding is an incredibly important feature for fundraisers wanting to build excitement during their auction. This feature involves only showing the number of bids placed on an item, as opposed to the highest bid. Throughout the evening, your platform will display the number of bids received on an item, but guests won’t be aware of who the highest bidder is. When a guest sees a lot of interest in an item they have also bid on, it encourages them to ‘up’ their bid, which they can do as many times as they want!

Sealed bidding is particularly powerful when you have access to several of the same auction item (which is always the case when you include items from Givergy). Through a fully transparent and ethical process, we’re able to easily sell the ‘same’ item to, for example, the top three bidders at the end of the event, meaning that your charity profit is instantly tripled.

Psychological Advantage: This adds an element of suspense, encouraging bidders to submit their maximum bids upfront and enhancing the competitive atmosphere. It’s a great way to create tension and anticipation, ensuring your auction ends on a high note. We’ve found that charity profit shoots up by up to 147% when clients choose sealed bidding as opposed to standard bidding, so the feature had to make this list!

Competitive Leaderboards: Drive Up the Bids

Another feature that is an absolute must for fundraisers wanting to elevate their auction is the incorporation of competitive leaderboards. Everyone loves a bit of competition, and a competitive leaderboard is a fun and engaging way to bring this energy into your auction. By displaying the top bidders in real-time, leaderboards create urgency and encourage a bidding war among participants who want to see their names at the top. Leaderboards also help tie the event together, providing donors with clear updates on how the efforts of the night are accumulating toward a grand total.

Key Tip: Emphasize competitiveness to your donors. Tapping into your bidders’ competitive spirit can dramatically increase the final prices of your auction items because no one wants to miss out on being the top contributor!

Maximum Bids & Automatic Bidding Increments: Convenience Meets Strategy

The final feature you should look out for when choosing your auction platform is maximum bids and automatic bidding increments, because let’s face it: not every bidder can monitor the auction 24/7. That’s where the maximum bid and automatic bidding increment features excel. With maximum bids, participants can set their highest bid amount in advance, allowing the system to bid on their behalf in small increments until their limit is reached. On the other hand, fundraisers can set automatic bidding increments to maintain the momentum of the auction and continue pushing bids up.

Why It Works: This ensures bidders stay in the game even if they can’t actively follow the auction. It keeps the bidding competitive while offering convenience, ensuring no bidder misses out due to time constraints.

Conclusion

Your next auction has the potential to be your best yet. By finding and then incorporating these powerful features, you’ll create an engaging, competitive, and rewarding experience for your bidders. Video embedding, turning losing bids into donations, and dynamic leaderboards are just some of the tools you can use to ensure excitement and maximize your fundraising results.

Ready to Transform Your Next Auction?
Explore how these features and more can elevate your auction today! Contact us to learn how we can help you create a winning auction experience that stands out, drives results, and leaves your bidders coming back for more.

Top tips for successful smartphone events

Posted on January 11, 2022August 29, 2025 by Ella Jacques

Pre-event
1. Make sure your chosen venue has strong signal / WIFI
For guests to access the fundraising site, your venue needs a strong mobile signal. The Givergy team will send you tools to test the mobile signal and provide alternative recommendations, such as venue WIFI, if the signal is not strong. It is also a great idea to remind guests in your pre-event materials to bring their phones to participate this time around.

2. Pre-registering
Registering at the event is quick and easy, but we always encourage pre-event registration. Givergy has a great ticketing platform, so why not sell tickets through the same site so everyone is registered and ready to go for fundraising during the event? This can make a huge difference when it comes to your pledge appeal and processing final payments.

3. Open the auction in advance
Another way to generate fundraising revenue before your event even begins is to open your auction in advance. Givergy’s mobile solution makes it easy for your supporters to start bidding at home and continue the activity throughout the event. We recommend opening the auction approximately seven days prior to the event.

4. Make use of outside bidders
As all of your fundraising is through a website, extend your audience by promoting your site further than event attendees. Take a look at a great article on promoting your fundraising site on social media here.

During event
1. URL & QR code
It is extremely important for guests to understand how to access the fundraising site. We recommend having the URL on the screens around the room as well as QR codes printed on tables for easy access to the site.

2. Host
In the opening speech by your fundraising host, make sure they promote the site and how to access it by pointing out the URL on the screens as well as the QR codes. This needs to be continuously pushed throughout the night.

3. Leaderboards
Make use of the Givergy Leaderboard options to display on your screens around the room. We can also include the event URL at the top of these screens for an extra push. This will draw guest’s attention to what is available in the auction, ultimately drawing them to the fundraising site. During your pledge appeal, we have various totalisers available so speak to our team to make sure you are utilising those in the best way for your audience.

4. Guest messaging
The Givergy system will send automatic registration and outbid notifications to guests to ensure they have easy access to items of interest. Through the system we can also send notifications to your guests to keep them interested. We recommend countdown notifications to the end of the auction / prize draw to ensure you have a big focused finished with guest’s full attention on placing their last bids or purchasing their final tickets. We also recommend a pre-pledge appeal message, so all guests are only one click away from making a donation.

5. Quick and easy payment solution
Collecting your guests’ payments couldn’t be easier with our mobile platform! All pledge and prize draw tickets can be taken straight away, and with our pre-authorisation feature, we will have the winning bidders card details already stored so we can simply charge them at the close of the auction. Don’t forget, we also have an option for guests to cover the payment processing fee to ensure more charity profit.

9 Top Tips for Successful Mobile Fundraising Events

Posted on August 13, 2021August 29, 2025 by Ella Jacques

As we emerge from 16 months of lockdowns and distancing, Givergy’s ambition is to ensure that each and every client sees a seamless and successful return to live events. Part of this means helping fundraisers understand one of the most powerful, yet underused tools at their disposal – smartphone fundraising – including all the benefits it offers over older, tablet-based set-ups.

To learn more about how our smartphone fundraising platform can help take your next event or online campaign to another level, feel free to get in touch and schedule a call with one of our expert fundraising consultants.

In the meantime, here are 9 Top Tips for smartphone fundraising at in-person charity events.

Pre-event

Make sure your chosen venue has strong signal / WIFI

For guests to access the fundraising site, your venue needs a strong mobile signal. The Givergy team will send you tools to test the mobile signal and provide alternative recommendations, such as venue WIFI, if the signal is not strong. It is also a great idea to remind guests in your pre-event materials to bring their phones to participate this time around.

Pre-registering

Registering at the event is quick and easy, but we always encourage pre-event registration. Givergy has a great ticketing platform, so you can sell tickets through the same site allowing everyone to be registered and ready to go for fundraising during the event. This can make a huge difference when it comes to your fund-a-need appeal and processing final payments.

Open the auction in advance

Another way to generate fundraising revenue before your event even begins is to open your auction in advance. Givergy’s mobile bidding solution makes it easy for your supporters to start bidding at home and continue the activity throughout the event. We recommend opening the auction approximately seven days prior to the event.

Make use of outside bidders

As all of your fundraising is through a website, extend your audience by promoting your site further than event attendees. Take a look at a great article on promoting your fundraising site on social media here.

During event

URL & QR code

It’s extremely important for guests to understand how to access the fundraising site. We recommend having the URL on the screens around the room as well as QR codes printed on tables for easy access to the site.

Fundraising host

In the opening speech by your fundraising host, make sure they promote the site and how to access it by pointing out the URL on the screens as well as the QR codes. This needs to be continuously pushed throughout the night.

Fundraising leaderboards

Make use of the Givergy Leaderboard options to display on your screens around the room. We can also include the event URL at the top of these screens for an extra push. This will draw guest’s attention to what is available in the auction, ultimately drawing them to the fundraising site. During your pledge appeal, we have various totalisers available so speak to our team to make sure you are utilising those in the best way for your audience.

Guest messaging

The Givergy system will send automatic registration and outbid notifications to guests to ensure they have easy access to auction items of interest. Through the system we can also send notifications to your guests to keep them interested. We recommend countdown notifications to the end of the auction / prize draw to ensure you have a big focused finished with guest’s full attention on placing their last bids or purchasing their final tickets. We also recommend a pre fund-a-need appeal message, so all guests are only one click away from making a donation.

Quick and easy payment solution

Collecting your guests’ payments couldn’t be easier with our mobile platform! All pledge and prize draw tickets can be taken straight away, and with our pre-authorisation feature, we will have the winning bidders card details already stored so can simply charge them at the close of the auction. Don’t forget, we also have an option for guests to cover the payment processing fee to ensure greater charity profit.

We firmly believe that our smartphone fundraising platform represents the future for in-person fundraising events, and we’d love to take you on that journey with us.

For more information or any questions, please do get in touch.

6 Reasons Why Mobile Bidding Should Be A Staple Element In Your Fundraising Campaign!

Posted on October 11, 2019September 20, 2025 by Jordan Morris

Giving your supporters the opportunity to participate in an online auction in aid of your incredible cause is a simple way to engage your database and attract new supporters! We have the stats to prove it, on average our bespoke online auctions get 253 bids! We know that fundraisers tend to wear many hats, therefore creating and launching elaborate fundraising campaigns can quickly become a daunting prospect. Fear not, were here to help and simplify the process. Continue reading “6 Reasons Why Mobile Bidding Should Be A Staple Element In Your Fundraising Campaign!”

Supplementing Fundraising With Mobile Bidding Technology

Posted on October 20, 2017August 29, 2025 by Ben Crook

Fundraising events come in many shapes and forms. Are you planning a golf day, bake off, quiz night or a gala dinner? No matter what type of event you are planning, its important to set a fundraising goal from the outset to help you work backward and establish which fundraising components to incorporate.

Continue reading “Supplementing Fundraising With Mobile Bidding Technology”

Why Mobile Bidding Is Essential To Fundraising

Posted on October 16, 2017August 29, 2025 by Ben Crook

Long gone are the days of event planners using the traditional format of paper bidding and donor applications for fundraising activity. Or at least if you are still using those methods it might be time to upgrade! Mobile bidding by Givergy can add value to any fundraising event such as receptions, quiz nights, golf days, fun runs or activity days. Guests simply have to reach into their pocket and place a bid, its as easy as that.

Continue reading “Why Mobile Bidding Is Essential To Fundraising”