4+ keys to great year-round fundraising campaigns
- Digital communications & marketing
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- Guided Fundraising
Hosting events is a tried-and-true fundraising strategy for nonprofit organizations like yours. From galas to auctions to walk-a-thons, event fundraisers bring your community together and spread awareness of your cause while bringing in much-needed revenue.
To maximize your event fundraising success, your nonprofit will need to plan diligently. While your strategy will depend on whether you’re hosting an in-person, virtual, or hybrid event, these seven event planning best practices will help you get started:
Before you start planning a fundraising event, look back at the data you collected from past events. Understanding what went well and what could be improved upon will help you make each of your nonprofit’s events more successful than the last.
Registration numbers, revenue totals, and participant feedback are some of the most useful data points to review when analyzing past events’ fundraising success. Use a robust event management solution to view, configure, and download this data as you prepare for your next event.
Every successful event starts with a clear fundraising goal. To make your event planning strategy more effective, follow the SMART model and set a goal that is:
For example, an animal rescue preparing for their annual 5K fundraiser might set a SMART goal to “raise at least $5,000 to provide shelter and veterinary care for pets in need by the end of race day.” This goal is related to the organization’s purpose and has a specific metric and time frame. Additionally, because the 5K is an annual event, the nonprofit can easily compare their goal with fundraising totals from previous years to determine whether it is attainable.
Once you understand what you want your event to accomplish, you can turn your attention to actually planning it. The first details you’ll need to nail down are the:
Depending on the event, you’ll likely need to solidify these details weeks or months in advance. To boost registration numbers, announce the event as soon as you know when and where it will take place so supporters can mark their calendars. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t have every aspect of the event finalized yet—just share information with supporters as it becomes available.
While event fundraisers often result in a high ROI, they usually require more upfront spending than other fundraising methods. To reduce your organization’s expenses, consider securing corporate sponsorships for your events.
Many large corporations are willing to sponsor nonprofit events through their corporate philanthropy programs, and some local businesses also provide nonprofit sponsorships to help improve the communities they serve. Corporate sponsors can support your nonprofit’s events in a variety of ways, including:
Successful sponsorship arrangements benefit the sponsor as well as your organization. In most cases, you’ll promote your sponsors in your event marketing materials in exchange for their support. The longest-lasting partnerships tend to be those formed between nonprofits and companies with similar values, so keep this in mind when approaching potential event sponsors.
Throughout the planning process, consider what the attendee experience will be like. First, determine which supporter segments your event will appeal to. For example, a gala will likely attract older, wealthy donors, while a fun run might be more suited to younger families. You could then create a pre-event survey and send it to supporters in the target demographic to gain insight into what they hope to see at your event.
Based on this data, brainstorm strategies to engage attendees. For instance, many supporters enjoy friendly competition, which often occurs naturally during auctions as bidding wars ensue over high-value items. To add a competitive element to other fundraising events, you could hand out certificates to the top finishers in your 5K or display a leaderboard of bike-a-thon attendees who raise the most money through peer-to-peer fundraising.
For virtual or hybrid events, consider engaging supporters through livestreaming. After building excitement through your introductory livestream, provide real-time updates throughout the event and wrap up by livestreaming a thank-you message to participants.
To maximize your event fundraising potential, market the fundraiser early and often. Creating promotional content for multiple nonprofit marketing channels increases the chance that supporters will learn about your event in one way or another. Some platforms to leverage include:
Include a link or QR code to your event registration form in every piece of content so supporters can sign up as easily as possible. Also, remember to add your event sponsors’ logos to your marketing materials to thank them for their contributions.
The day of your event is when you’ll see all of the effort you put into planning pay off. Ensure your event runs smoothly by:
Also, make sure you’re ready to collect data throughout the event. This way, you’ll have plenty of data to analyze when you plan your next fundraiser.
Once you’ve followed these event planning best practices and executed a successful fundraising event, remember to send follow-up messages thanking your participants, volunteers, and sponsors for making it possible. When your supporters feel appreciated, they’ll be more likely to attend future events. Also, consider distributing post-event surveys to each group to ask for their feedback, which can help you improve your event planning strategy over time.
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