The #GivingTuesday Event Marketing Toolkit

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1 The #GivingTuesday Event Marketing Toolkit Best practices and resources to help amp your marketing efforts before, during, and after your fundraiser.

2 In This Toolkit Event Marketing Checklist Important Info to Include on Your Event Page Fundraising Event Ideas Special Eventbrite Offers for Nonprofits

3 Pre-Event Marketing Considering Your Stakeholders Understand your audience Sponsors Partners Volunteer brand ambassadors Venue staff Are your supporters interested in professional networking? Fun or social activities? New experiences? Learning opportunities? Their interests should drive the nature of the fundraisers you hold. If desired, solicit event sponsors. Ensure you ve defined and agreed upon the value sponsors will receive from your event, be it logo placement, comp d tickets, a VIP experience, or the opportunity to market to guests. Explore ways partners can help promote your event, via social media, blog posts, or s to their database. Whether you think of them as such or not, each volunteer represents your organization s brand. Training them on your organizational philosophy and treating them as brand ambassadors will improve the attendee experience and turn volunteers into even stronger supporters. If your venue has an event listing or social media presence, ask if they can help promote your event. And -- make sure your venue has WiFi!

4 Pre-Event Marketing Setting Up for Sales Event Page Build for conversion Emphasize images Make purchasing a ticket as easy as possible. Include important information above the fold, a strong call to action, and minimize the number of fields required for registration (see Tips for a Winning Event Page below). Images and media are a great way to communicate the event, capture interest and drive demand. Use logos and photos of speakers, performers, sponsors, partners, and video from the previous year s event. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Include search keywords on your page. Ensure your images are searchable by using ALT tags. Inbound links to your event page via online event listings, PR, and blogs. Tracking Pricing Donations Use unique tracking links for every marketing channel , social media, display ads, blog posts, etc. to track how much traffic was driven, how many tickets were sold, and how much revenue was generated through that specific channel. You may want to consider special pricing to encourage ticket sales. Offer early bird pricing or extra giveaways (free drink, t-shirt, etc.) for attendees that purchase sooner, or group pricing to incentivize attendees to invite their friends. Determine your approach to donations. Will you be soliciting them before or after the event? If so, you may want to consider accepting donations online. Also think through whether donors will receive anything in return, be it in-event recognition or a small gift.

5 Pre-Event Marketing Marketing Planning Build a calendar Social media management Event hashtag Use your event goals as a framework to build a marketing calendar for s, social media, blog posts, PR, and more. Assign dates to all of your outreach from the event announcement to reminders to promotions. Sustained communication will help keep the event top of mind and minimize ticketing lulls. Establish clear ownership of managing and monitoring social media interactions, be it a volunteer or staff member. Be prepared to respond to questions, encourage fans, handle complaints and act on them. Create a hashtag that s unique, intuitive and easy to remember. Use it consistently at the end of social media posts and updates, and encourage partners, volunteers, and sponsors to use it as well.

6 Pre-Event Marketing Marketing Content Initial announcement Ongoing updates Engagement initiatives PR Sponsors Introduce your event and drive awareness and ticket sales across , social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, volunteers, staff, and partners. Identify your biggest fans and ask them to follow, share, or retweet your event news and updates. Subsequent communications should build on each other and include pictures and video from the previous year s event, quotes from attendees, and developing news such as new sponsors, speakers and entertainment, etc. Looking to increase buzz? Consider raffling off event tickets, holding contests or giveaways, or providing special limited-time offers with a ticket purchase on social media. Ensure press is SEO-friendly with a full link to your event page. If press mentions appear without a link, reach out to the reporter and/or publication, thank them for the mention, and then politely request a link to your page. Most are happy to do so. Be sure to leave space in your social media calendar to recognize sponsors, so that they and other potential future sponsors can see the value of supporting your event.

7 During Event Marketing Marketing Content Onsite Scheduled social media Live social feed Live event stream In-event technology Include social reminders and your event hashtag on marketing materials, presentations, and signage. Encourage attendees to upload photos and videos, and share their event experiences. If your conference is on a set schedule, it s not a bad idea to schedule tweets in advance. Schedule reminders about when speeches/performances are occurring, giveaways, where the bathrooms are, etc. Consider using live social media display services such as Tweetwall (free for nonprofits) to show activity around your hashtag on a screen and encourage even more activity. If your event includes performances or speakers, consider live streaming them to amplify your reach to a larger audience. Consider creating a mobile app, running live polls, or bidding apps if you re holding an auction.

8 Post-Event Marketing Marketing Content Thank yous Share Ask for feedback Continue the connection Show appreciation for your attendees, sponsors, donors, and volunteers via and/or social media posts. If you can, share the quantifiable value of their donation (photos of the people they helped or goods they purchased). Post event pictures and and videos, and encourage attendees to do the same. Also, it s never too soon to give insight into what s in store for next year. Free tools like SurveyMonkey let you easily send surveys and automatically compile the results. Throughout the year, allow attendees to continue networking on a LinkedIn or Facebook group. Whenever possible, keep them posted on the progress that the recipients of their donations have made.

9 Analytics Marketing Content Track channel results Measure all the costs Be flexible and adjust Take a detailed look at specific performance within each channel. For , watch open rates, click-through rates, event page visits, and the number of ticket sales sold as a result of specific . You may find that even though the open rate was high, the click-through rate was below average. That s when it s time to test the call-toaction, copy, and images. When calculating ROI for a specific channel, consider all the resources that are going into the execution. Retargeting and display ads, for example, require design work and effort to develop the copy and messaging. Don t forget to count the additional placement costs to run the ads. All of this should be included as part of the cost per channel when calculating the ROI. Your event marketing plan needs to be fluid because as you monitor your campaigns, you re inevitably going to need to adjust by doubling down on channels that are performing well, and canceling channels that aren t. Make sure you can act quickly to make the necessary changes before it s too late. Monitor your event marketing calendar to ensure that it s reflective of your updated plans. Create a postevent document of marketing channels that worked and what you might have done differently, and use this document as a solid blueprint for your next event. Congratulations! You have completed the checklist for marketing and promoting a successful #givingtuesday event.

10 What Do I Put On My Event Page? Below are some frequently asked questions that you may want to include on your event page. (Go here to learn how to include these FAQs on your order confirmation and page.) 1) Is there a phone number or where I can contact the organizer with any questions? 2) What is your refund policy? 3) Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event? 4) Do I need to print out and bring a ticket to get in? 5) Will you be selling tickets at the door? Some of these questions may not apply to your event, but having some or all of these questions answered on your event page will help eliminate confusion for your attendees, and make things run more smoothly on the day of your event. 6) Is there parking at the event? If not, is there a nearby facility where I can park? 7) Is there public transportation to the event? Is there bicycle parking? 8) Who s participating or who are your sponsors? 9) Is the venue handicap accessible? 10) Are group tickets for sale, or is there a discounted rate for groups? 11) Where is the event taking place? 12) How do I get there? 13) What is the event / hosting organization about?

11 5 Fundraising Event Ideas Go Personal An intimate event doesn t have to be costly. From using volunteers to greet attendees by name, to seating guests at tables by interest, to playing requested music, it s the small touches that show every guest they are important and have been considered. Include a few survey fields in your event registration form and listen to your fans on social media to get a better sense of attendee preferences and what they want to see or do. Make attendees the event Technology now enables us to hold events where attendees are no longer simply attending they are also participants actively shaping the course of the event. Skip the powerpoint and educate guests about your impact through live trivia, with prizes for the winners. Or, live stream the event s social media activity to give guests a picture of all of the conversations going on in the room. Get competitive From a themed cook-off to a hackathon, a surefire way to get attendees engaged is by weaving in elements of friendly competition. An added bonus is that competitions are naturally conducive to more social media activity you can tweet out updates on the progress of the competition, announce winners, or simply rally team spirit. Tug on the heart strings From visual displays, to video, to inviting beneficiaries to be physically present to tell their story, your live events are the most powerful place to help supporters visualize and understand the impact their donations have. Telling the story doesn t have to be a string of numbers and statistics. For example, you can show the journey of a dollar, before-andafter photos, or map your impact. Stay in touch Social media has lengthened the impact of events from once-a-year affairs to year-round interactions, with plenty of opportunity connect attendees with each other and share updates. Keep the momentum up by sprinkling in live events such as smaller volunteer meetups, lunches, and a kick-off leading up to your next event.

12 Special Eventbrite Offers for Nonprofits This #GivingTuesday, Eventbrite is excited to support 501(c)(3) organizations by making their events entirely free to hold. Sign up today. Throughout the year, Eventbrite supports 501(c)(3) organizations with no charges on free events and reduced rates of 2.0% + $0.99 per ticket for paid events. Standard credit card processing fees still apply. Interested? Learn more. Interested in more event planning advice? Visit us on the Event Academy!

13 About Eventbrite Eventbrite enables people all over the world to plan, promote, and sell out any event, and has ticketed over 75,000 nonprofit events worldwide. The online event ticketing service makes it easy for everyone to discover events, and to share the events they are attending with the people they know. In this way, Eventbrite brings communities together by encouraging people to connect through live experiences. Eventbrite s investors include, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, DAG Ventures, and Tenaya Capital. To learn more about how Eventbrite partners with events like yours, sign up for our live demo or contact our seasoned account executive team.