5 Key Tips for a Virtual Fundraising Event

With COVID-19 restricting mass gatherings, many nonprofit organizations have had to cancel their in-person fundraising events like walking/running marathons, sports, galas, concerts, etc. As a result, nonprofits are now switching to virtual fundraisers to stay connected with their donors during this pandemic period. However, moving to virtual fundraising events is certainly going to be a challenging task for nonprofits. Especially, for those who are hosting a virtual fundraiser for the first time.

Here’re 5 best tips to make your virtual fundraising event a success;

Content is the key

When you’re hosting a virtual fundraiser, you must find the best ways to convey your company’s mission and purpose to grasp the attention of online donors. You can do a brainstorming session with your team to come up with some best digital content ideas to attract your target audience. Particularly, choosing an attention-grabbing event title for your virtual fundraising event is very critical to reaching your potential audience. For example, if you’re hosting a virtual walkathon, your event title can be Join “Your Brand” 100k Trailwalker.

Choose an event ticketing platform

Selling your fundraising event tickets is vital when it comes to raising money for your virtual fundraiser. So, you must choose an event ticketing platform that suits your fundraising goals. With these platforms, you can also create an event registration page and registration form for your fundraising event. To ensure that your donors feel safe to make payments, you must choose some event ticketing platforms that are familiar.

Practice your virtual fundraising event

Whether you’re hosting a virtual fundraiser for the first time or hosted in the past, it’s always good to practice several times. If you’re planning a live-stream event, check if the video-streaming technology works and do a rehearsal before the event day. By doing this, you can identify any technical issues and rectify it before the actual event. Besides, it also makes you feel comfortable if you’re going to face the camera for the first time. Also, check if the background looks pleasing and without any distractions.

Online promotions

To raise more money online, you have to make sure that your virtual fundraising event has a broader online presence. Firstly, you must let your website and blog visitors know about your upcoming fundraising event through banners, landing pages, and ticket registration widgets. Also, you can create and send email campaigns to your existing contact list. To get new donors, you can create advertisements in Google Ads, Facebook, and other social media platforms to promote your virtual fundraiser. Besides, you can also prefer event marketing software to manage your promotional activities in one place.

Don’t forget to follow up

Be it a virtual fundraising event or an in-person event, it’s always good to do follow-ups. When it comes to online fundraisers, you can thank the donors through emails. Furthermore, you can add some digital gifts along with thank-you emails. Eventually, it helps your brand to stand out from the other organizations hosting virtual fundraisers. Besides, it also helps you to get repeated donors for your future virtual fundraisers.

To improve the quality of your upcoming virtual fundraisers, you can send out a post-event survey to your donors to understand their exact requirements.