How EFTPOS Air is helping Girl Guides reach their fundraising goals

EFTPOS Air recently brought a fresh take to this bake sale.
 

The Girl Guides are bringing service to their community using the latest mobile payments technology.
 

The appeal of homemade baked goods hasn’t changed, but the technology the Girl Guides are using to sell them has.
 

Established in 1920, Girl Guides NSW, ACT and NT operates as a not-for-profit organisation for girls aged five to 17 to go on adventures, earn badges, gain leadership opportunities, and give back to their communities.

Part of giving back to their communities involves raising money for charity as a service activity for various local causes.

One Girl Guides NSW group recently ran a busy market stall in Sydney to raise funds for the Taronga Zoo Wildlife Hospital.

While some of the goods for sale were old favourites – such as perennially popular homemade cookies and brownies – other products on offer reflected contemporary consumer values, such as environmentally-friendly reusable fruit and vegetable shopping bags.

The team also decided to take an innovative approach to payments.
 

When it came to taking money at the market stall, the Girl Guides knew they couldn’t rely solely on cash as a way to receive funds, and instead decided to use EFTPOS Air, Westpac’s new tap to pay app, which allowed them to take payments on a mobile phone, with no additional hardware required. 
 

Quick and simple to set up and use

Gabrielle Head, NSW Guide Leader, says the decision to use EFTPOS Air was simple. “Girl Guides has a long-standing relationship with Westpac; that's why we decided to go with them [at the markets] today.
 

“It’s very easy to set up and use the app, and we didn’t need to buy any external devices. We didn't need to learn anything new to be able to operate this.”  The girls were able to use it on the day to take payments.
 

With no upfront or ongoing costs, and the ability to download the app and start accepting payments in under 30 minutes, it’s not hard to see why EFTPOS Air’s onboarding makes it such an appealing option for not-for-profit organisations, market stall holders, or businesses on-the-go. 
 

Preloaded items make it easier than ever  

Head says her team was looking for a payment solution simple enough for all of the girls to use confidently so they could actively participate in making sales on the day.
 

The ability to easily select items on EFTPOS Air was a game-changer, particularly to make sure small hands didn’t make errors. 
 

“[EFTPOS Air] has all of the products [for sale] already loaded on, so that means the girls are able to use that device themselves, and it's completely accurate because you can preload the prices in before the stall commenced, which means there's no mistake in writing the wrong price and overcharging someone.
 

“Selling individual items is super easy because they can be preloaded, so you can just click ‘bag’, ‘cupcake’, or ‘brownie’, and then you're good to go.”
 

As the markets got very busy, simple selection of preloaded items also helped keep sales moving during peak periods as the girls were able to serve customers quickly.
 

It’s also possible to manually enter prices if that suits your business operations. 
 

View all takings at the end of the day 

With same-day settlement and a single screen dashboard to track sales, the simplicity of EFTPOS Air continues even after you’ve shut up shop.
 

“At the end of the day, you can see all of your takings on one easy to read screen,” says Head.
 

The girls also loved being able to keep track of how much money they had raised and felt even more motivated knowing how well the day was going in real time.
 

“For customers who paid in cash, we can still enter it into the app, so that's accounted for. It's great to be able to see all your payments and all the sales that you've done for the day and then take stock of our bestsellers.”
 

Another EFTPOS Air feature the Girl Guides took advantage of at their market stall was the ability to surcharge on sales to keep business costs down.
 

“We are doing surcharging today and that is so that all the money that we have made today will go towards the charity,” explains Head.
 

Overall, with preloaded items and prices, simple and secure payments, one simple dashboard to track earnings, and no need for external hardware, EFTPOS Air was a great way for the Girl Guides to sell their handmade goods quickly and conveniently.
 

Their customers were impressed, too, with plenty of relieved comments about not needing to find an ATM, and surprised comments about ease of use, which definitely helped keep sales flowing on the day.