This 90-minute Netflix documentary, set in the dark underbelly of Silicon Valley, fuses investigative documentary with enlightening narrative drama. Expert testimony from tech whistle-blowers exposes our disturbing predicament: the services Big Tech provides - search engines, networks, instant information, etc. - are merely the candy that lures us to bite.
For those who haven’t seen The Social Dilemma it is well worth a watch. We watched it during the initial stages of creating Emma and there is one particular line in it that stands out and rings true to how we have shaped our product offering. It may take a few seconds to fully get your head around it, it did for us – more than a few seconds! There are many ways in which its underlying point can be referenced to the Charity world.
“If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product.”
This in essence states, if you are not paying for the product or service you use then you (your data) will be used to monetise it in some form. Nothing is really for free.
LinkedIn is a great example - it is largely a free professional networking platform, but our personal profile (data) is ‘sold’ to onlooking recruiters or other businesses that may latch on to keywords or information enclosed within our resume.
In the charity event world you could draw similarities for when silent auction firms offer their services for ‘free,’ or at a large discount in exchange for using auction items of theirs. Enabling your guests to bid on these items, which have large margins hidden within the supply prices, can detract from the ultimate goal of trying to raise as much money as possible for the cause.
We felt so strongly about this needing to change, that we even created an animated video to help explain how Emma’s Auction Item Marketplace works - CLICK HERE TO WATCH. No 3rd party margins, guaranteed integrity and transparency from start to finish, and the added bonus of enabling gift aid reclamation on non-redeemed stock.
Whilst tech comes with an up-front fee, which can be nice to reduce as much as possible to aid pre-event budgets and outgoing, assuming the average 3rd party item has a £250 margin built into it, it would only take three or four items to sell before you have raised enough money to cover the cost of the Essential Emma price plan.
With upwards of 12 items selling at a typical event, it is clear to see that what may have appeared as a ‘free’ offer in the first instance has actually been to the detriment of the charity profit.
It goes without saying that there is no dilemma in Emma! We set out to provide you with the very best event management and fundraising technology under one virtual roof. Technology comes with a fee, but we are there to support you in raising as much money as possible, not commercialising your audience.
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