In addition to raising money, your event is an opportunity to forge strong bonds with your donors and turn them into advocates for your organization. Here’s how.
1. Turn your donors into advocates for your cause.
Outings, marathons and galas are great for raising money, but if the participants leave without really know much about your organization, you are missing out on an opportunity to have them be talking up your organization to their friends. Use your event as the starting point for creating a dialogue with your donors and in building an online community with them.
2. Use your event as another opportunity to get your message out.
Your event is a great opportunity to promote the valuable work that your organization does and to gain increased visibility and clout in the community. Look for opportunities to align with your mission and promote what you do – for example on banners or having speakers address their remarks to positive impact that your organization is making. This will help donors get the message as well as build clout of your organization to make a stronger case for foundation and corporate support.
3. Distinguish your event from competing events.
With nearly a million nonprofit organizations in the United States, there is no shortage of events competing for people’s attention. In order to attract new donors and make your event stand out, you really need to distinguish your event from your competition. Check out the events calendars at charityhappenings.org to see what other events are being produced by similar organizations or on the same day. And then create a unique theme, message and design to distinguish your event (call us if you need help with this.)
4. Use social media to promote your event and build your donor base.
The tools exist to reach new donors and create a build the relationship, and your event is the perfect opportunity to leap in, if haven’t started with social media yet. Facebook and other social media tools allow you to engage your audience before, during and after the event. Some events are now promoted using only Twitter. So if you are not moving this direction, now is the time to start.
5. Plan for success after your event.
Your event may happen on one day, but think of it as part of a continuous strategy for enhancing your organization’s visibility and donor engagement. To parlay the success of your event beyond the one day, plan for getting good photos and videos at the event. By posting them during and after the event you will bring guest back to your website or Facebook page and continue the dialogue with them about what they care about. You can can then craft subsequent campaigns around those interests.
Red Rooster Group can help you have a more successful event.
Planning an event is a lot of work and we want to help you maximize the return you get for all your effort. So call us. For the past 20 years, we have been helping nonprofits like yours to add more value to their events. We can help to:
- Promote your event to sell tickets and sponsorship.
- Promote your organization’s brand through your event.
- Turn your donors into advocates for your organization.
Specifically, we can:
- Create a theme and design the look of the event.
- Create a promotional strategy to attract attendees and sponsors.
- Design all the materials necessary (invites, emails, journals, banners, etc.).
- Create websites and online promotion – including online registration for your event.
- Develop social media to foster stronger relationships with your donors.
- Take photos and video and handle publicity before and after the event to promote your organization.
LINKS
- Charity Event Marketing Checklist.
- See samples of our fundraising promotion.
- Contact us for help promoting your event.
Red Rooster Group is a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites, and marketing campaigns to increase your visibility, fundraising, and communications effectiveness. Contact us for help with your marketing.
