- Plan your fundraising event purposely
Before embarking on anything else, you must always start your fundraising event by identifying its purpose. Ask yourself the purpose of the event, goals, and amount you need at the charity event. Who are you focusing on? Does this kind of event need a large crowd of friends or people who don’t know much about your cause, or does it require a smaller group of supporters and potential donors? Many charitable events mostly have more than one goal. This means that some charitable events might have more than one goal. Finding out the details of your fundraising will therefore depend on knowing the goals you want to achieve.
- Choose a team that resonates with your audience
While people love helping in a given cause, they like attending events that are fun and interesting. Whether the event is virtual or in-person, take time to think about your audience and develop creative ideas that will make the event exciting and appealing to the attendees. Look at the age of your attendees and consider things that they would love. For example, if your attendees are young professionals, host a date auction or wine tasting as an accompanying fundraising activity. For people in tech, you may consider a hackathon event for a good cause. These ideas do not have to be expensive.
- Have a social sharing strategy
Social media is nowadays a lifeline of many nonprofit events. For this reason, you must have a social sharing strategy in your fundraising to let your event be known to as many people as possible. Leverage the presence of many potential donors or target groups on social media platforms such Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and websites by posting relevant content that will ensure your message reaches as many people as possible. By posting different messaging across these social media platforms, you will engage many followers and attract many donors for your cause.
- Think of virtual events
The pandemic has restricted the in-person event. However, this does not mean that you should sulk because you can no longer carry on with your cause. Rather, you need to think of creative ways to host your event virtually because the pandemic has taught us that we can still survive without necessarily meeting physically. Like the in-person events, ensure that your virtual fundraising event is well organized and planned. They should be short but powerful to make them attractive and enjoyable to the audience. From the invitation to registration through event conclusion, make your events user-friendly and straightforward. Always use technology that can easily be used by the elderly and those who are not too conversant with technology. Being a virtual event, make it attractive and give every potential donor a reason to attend by giving attendees an unforgettable experience.
Generally, fundraising events need to conform to the changes in the landscape. With the pandemic that has dealt a blow to in-person meetings, nonprofits must find a way to reach their donors regardless of the challenge. These challenges can be surmounted with the help of technology. Nonprofits who have no experience using technology to host events should find someone to help pull together a successful virtual event.