The Event Manager s TeamRaiser Companion This document is intended to provide suggestions and assistance for getting the most out of Convio s TeamRaiser, and maximize event participation and fundraising by exploring configuration options within the module. To learn more about topics within or to request assistance configuring TeamRaiser, strategic consulting, or copywriting; contact Cathexis Partners at info@cathexispartners.com. Contents Design and Usability... 2 Configuration... 4 Editing default pages and Auto-responders... 4 Participant Center Home... 4 Default Participant and Team Personal Pages... 5 Suggested messages... 5 Custom Progress Meters... 7 Upsells... 7 Discounts... 8 Promo Codes... 8 Milestone / Achievement Badges... 8 S-tags and APIs... 9 Social Networking Integration... 9 Gigya and AddThis... 9 Facebook like... 9 Twitter Widgets... 9 Communications...10 Communications Part 1: Event Announcement and Recruitment...10 Communications Part 2: Coaching emails...10 Pulling it all together: the Communications Calendar...11 Event Registration Launched at current year s Event (12 months prior)...11 Event Registration Launched 6 months prior to the event...12 Event Registration Launched 90 days prior to the event...12 Event Wrap up...13 Analytics...13 Links / resources:...13 About Cathexis Partners...14
Design and Usability Participants and donors visiting your micro-site must be able to easily perform two very important functions; register for an event and/or donate money. Make it easy for them by creating a simple design that focuses on these two functions with obvious registration and donation buttons. A streamlined design becomes more compelling by adding competitive, recognition based elements such as top fundraising individual and team scrolls. The following are 3 sample micro-site wireframes focused on these concepts. Notice each includes the following specific elements: Event Branding and information Participant login (which changes to a Welcome back, xxxx / go to your participant center link / log out link) Large and prominent register and donate buttons Top fundraising and team scrolls Social networking links Sponsors logos Progress meters
Custom Progress meter
Configuration There are numerous configuration options within the Convio TeamRaiser module (the need to create company teams or teams at all, for example). How do you know which are appropriate for your organization s site? A guiding principle to follow keeps the registration and donation processes simple for participants and donors who need only the basics while providing the bells and whistles many web 2.0 users not only appreciate, but have come to expect. For more information on basic configuration, check out Convio s ondemand TeamRaiser Configuration Session available on the Convio Customer Center (Customer Center Login required): http://convio.na4.acrobat.com/p78642496. Once you have the general TeamRaiser configuration completed it is time to ensure your micro-site messaging and branding is aligned with the organization, its mission, and the event itself. Editing default pages and Auto-responders Default language exists within the auto-responders and many of the default TeamRaiser pages however; you should always personalize the content to ensure it reflects your organization and event as we will discuss below. Participant Center Home One of the most powerful communication tools within the TeamRaiser environment is the ability to add targeted messaging to your participants individual fundraising page by utilizing conditionalized content within the Participant Center Home Page. It is the individual fundraising pages your participants will visit most often to check their fundraising progress, so be sure to maximize your messaging within this space. Utilizing the conditional content listed below will help your participants raise more donations because they speak to each fundraiser individually by providing instruction, encouragement and recognition at regular intervals. These conditionals are accessible through the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor when updating content in pages, autoresponders and emails. TeamRaiser Conditional options: Amount Raised Donation Count Emails sent Has a Participant Center Is a self donor Is on a team Is team captain Percent of goal Personal page updated Convio has created a participant-facing video to assist with Participant Center set-up, be sure to place a link to the video on your site s Participant Center Home page: http://convio.na4.acrobat.com/part_center_2/
Default Participant and Team Personal Pages Participant and team personal pages are blank by default, and many participants will choose not to create them. To ensure maximum utilization with minimal required effort, your organization should create default content which is appropriate for all participants and team captains. Also be sure to add a general photo participants can replace if they wish, but if left in place represents the event, cause and mission. Suggested messages TeamRaiser provides no suggested messages by default. As with their personal page, many participants will not have time to draft personal e-mails for the event. Creating default messages encourages participants to start contacting friends and family during the registration process. This select and send option, without the need for extensive personalization, allows participants to solicit donations, recruit team members and communicate your mission quickly and easily. At a minimum, a personalized version of the following messages should be available for participant use in your suggested messages library: Subject Line: Join my Team SUBJECT LINE: Join team (add name) Content: Dear [Recipient s Name] Describe event, date and participant s involvement (running, walking, etc.) including team & personal fundraising goals Describe cause and suggest participant add their personal connection to the event and team members Describe how donations will be used (research, education, services, etc.) Ask recipient to join the team Provide link to your website Ask for donation if recipient cannot actively participate Provide donation options (online, mail, phone) Provide link to participant s personal page Thank recipient for time and consideration Sincerely, [Participant s Name]
Support me Subject Line: SUBJECT LINE: Please Support (add event) Content: Dear [Recipient Name] Describe event, date and participant s involvement (running, walking, etc.) including personal fundraising goal Describe cause and suggest participant add their personal connection to the event Describe how donations will be used (research, education, services, etc.) Ask for donation and include suggested gift level, if appropriate Detail donation options (online, mail, phone) Provide link to participant s personal page Provide link to your website Thank recipient for time and consideration Sincerely, [Participant s Name] Subject Line: Thank you SUBJECT LINE: Thank You Content: Dear [Donor s Name] Thank donor for supporting the cause Describe how donations will be used (research, education, services, etc.) Suggest participant add personal fundraising update (donations received to date) Encourage donor to tell friends and family about the cause Provide link to your website Sincerely, [Participant s Name]
Custom Progress Meters Custom progress meters are an easy way to further brand your event s microsite and make your event unique. It is very easy to implement custom progress meters, so there is no reason to settle for the default. If you don t have a designer to create a unique look and feel, you can download free custom meters from the Cathexis Partner s website: www.cathexispartners.com/resources Upsells Upsells are a great way to raise additional funds for your organization. T-shirts, jerseys, wristbands and other swag items are often sold via this add-on to the registration process. Upsells also serve as a creative way to assign start times if you have an event with staggered participation. For example, with stair climbing events, not all participants can crowd into a stairwell at the same time. Instead, create $0 fee upsells that have start times 15 minutes apart and a quantity of only 50 items (timeslots) per 15 minute increment.
Discounts Discounts are a great way to: Encourage early registration for an event Show appreciation to past participants Provide a rebate to sponsor staff or employees Promo Codes Unlike discounts, when a Promotion Code is applied to a participant type, the participant type will only be viewable when the Promotion Code is entered. For example, you might create a Staff participant type that should only be available to staff members. An email announcing registration is open could be sent to all staff with a unique link to the micro-site which includes the promotion code. The only way Staff participant type would be viewable (and therefore selectable) would be through a click on the link in the email. Another example is to create a Virtual Registration button on your home page. You might assign a Promotion Code to the Virtual Walker Participation Type and include the Promotion Code in the link to the registration page so the Virtual Walker Participation type would be viewable however; if participants clicked on standard registration buttons or links they would not see the Virtual Walker option. Milestone / Achievement Badges Another creative way to further incent fundraising and promote event branding is to create Milestone Badges. For example: an organization wants to have participants receive milestone badges upon raising $100, $250, and $500. A different image could be assigned to each milestone. As participants raise more funds, they will have the distinction of a badge, based on fundraising progress, next to their name. An Achievement badge can also be created for self donation.
S-tags and APIs As previously mentioned, top fundraisers and top teams are standard components on an event home page. They help extend a sense of community as well as competition. Convio S-tags (session tags) can be used to add these components to your event pages. Convio maintains a complete list of available S-tags on the Community. The latest version (over 200 pages) is available: http://community.customer.convio.com/docs/doc-2102 APIs (Application Programming Interface) allow you to extend the Convio experience beyond your Convio platform. By utilizing APIs, organizations allow their external (non Convio) websites and data bases to send and receive information from the Convio platform. APIs promote greater flexibility and control of design and user interaction while securely sharing data. Visit http://open.convio.com to view the full list of available APIs. Social Networking Integration Gigya and AddThis Gigya is a third-party social networking integration tool that allows event participants to quickly share information about your event with their social networks on Twitter and FaceBook. The Convio Community has configuration documentation available within the Releases section of the Community; http://community.customer.convio.com/docs/doc-2904 AddThis (www.addthis.com) functions as an alternative third party tool, providing functionality similar to Gigya. One important difference to be aware of is Gigya s more concrete privacy policy and reporting available within the Convio instance. Facebook like Facebook launched Like functionality in 2010, the code to drop Like and other plugins are available: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like Twitter Widgets Twitter also has a variety of Widgets available: http://twitter.com/goodies/widgets
Communications Constituents, potential participants and donors must be aware of your organization s event before they can participate and donate. Additionally, prospective participants need to be reminded how an event is tied to the organization s mission and how easy it is to help spread the word and raise money. Communications Part 1: Event Announcement and Recruitment The first step is to spread the word about an event. Organization must determine available avenues based on their budgetary constraints, audience, and estimated return on investment. Advertising options include: Email o Emailing constituents and participants directly from your Convio instance provides the most targeted messaging available. Sending an event announcement with an early bird discount code when the site goes live is a great way to entice people to register early. Take it a step further by providing conditionalized content so past participants receive a special looking forward to seeing you again message. Direct mail o Create a custom URL for each mail campaign to track source codes. Partners / Sponsors / purchased website ads o Add source codes to any links you provide partners and sponsors. o Consider creating a widget for constituent and partner sites. Widgetbox (www.widgetbox.com) is a great free tool to quickly and easily create widgets. More advanced features can be provided for a nominal fee. Social network o Facebook and Twitter (and also LinkedIn) provide free tools which can be placed on your site to make it easier for constituents to spread the word about your event. o Establish cause based pages on social networks to drive people back to your event(s) Media (TV / Radio): o Media is not an option for many organizations due to budgetary constraints and is outside the intended scope of this document. Communications Part 2: Coaching emails Cathexis has observed a surprising number of organizations not utilizing coaching emails. Ignoring the coaching email functionality not only leaves money on the table in the form of lost donations, it does a disservice to staff and coaches by not allowing them access to a powerful tool. Coaching emails are an easy way to send communications to some or all of your participants at a variety of intervals. Convio has made it simple to not only target specific participants, but also conditionalize content within a single message to ensure all recipients receive a unique communication based on their interactions with the Convio environment and fundraising status.
Pulling it all together: the Communications Calendar The following are three communications calendars with different approaches to attracting and engaging participants. The first example details suggestions for a future event that is announced and open to registration at the current year s event (12 month schedule), the 2 nd details a 6 month schedule and the 3 rd details a 90 day schedule. Event Registration Launched at current year s Event (12 months prior) Topic Frequency / timing Targeted Audience Content Event Announcement On event at current year Event booth with paper registration forms / checklist of current year participants Current year participants and supporters Event announcement Day after current year event Past participants & donors / constituents in local area Register today for next year for Free! (or deeply discounted) Event info and $x off discount code that expires in 30 days Registration thank you Instant Auto-responder Each registrant confirmation TR 1 st follow up 3 days after reg Each registrant Mission based story (50 words or less with link to site page with TR 2 nd follow up 7 days after reg Each registrant full story). TR 3 rd follow up 14 days after reg Each registrant TR 4 th follow up 28 days after reg Each registrant Monthly team captain emails Monthly starting 6 months prior to event Team captains Conditionalized content based on: (personal page updated?, emails sent, amount raised) insider info to captains Monthly emails Monthly (1 week after tc s) All participants Spotlight on a participant (how they are raising funds / team captain, etc) General event info w/ top fundraisers Conditionalized content based on: (personal page updated?, emails sent, amount raised) Pre-event info 1 week prior to event All participants Event logistics, etc Post event followup and survey 1-2 weeks after event All participants Thank you and survey link
Event Registration Launched 6 months prior to the event Topic Frequency / timing Targeted Audience Content Event announcement Once TR is built Past participants & donors / constituents in local area Event info and $x off discount code that expires in 20 days Registration thank you Instant Auto-responder Each registrant confirmation Monthly emails Monthly All participants Mission based story (50 words or less with link to site page with full story). Spotlight on a participant (how they are raising funds / team captain, etc) Conditionalized content based on: (personal page updated?, emails sent, amount raised) Pre-event info 1 week prior to event All participants Event logistics, etc Post event followup and survey 1-2 weeks after event All participants Thank you and survey link Event Registration Launched 90 days prior to the event Topic Frequency / timing Targeted Audience Content Event announcement Once TR is built Past participants & donors / constituents in local area Event info and $x off discount code that expires in 10 days Registration thank you Instant Auto-responder Each registrant confirmation Weekly update Weekly All participants Mission based story (50 words or less with link to site). Spotlight on a participant (how they are raising funds / team captain, etc) Conditionalized content based on: (personal page updated?, emails sent, amount raised) Pre-event info 1 week prior to event All participants Event logistics, etc Post event followup and survey 1-2 weeks after event All participants Thank you and survey link
Event Wrap up As mentioned previously, be sure to send a post-event email thanking everyone for their participation, providing a summary of the event, and a link to an online survey. The survey should include questions about the event itself (safety, travel, facilities, etc) and the online environment. As always, only ask questions your organization is prepared to address. Analytics It is important to ensure your event goals are well defined before event season begins. It is equally important to regularly evaluate progress toward those goals. Communication calendars and messaging should be adjusted based on registration and fundraising data. Analysis performed early and often is essential for a successful event. In addition to the many default TeamRaiser reports, you can also build custom TeamRaiser reports using Report Writer Links / resources: Free progress meters and additional documentation: www.cathexispartners.com/resources Peer to peer fundraising strategies to Empower your Supporters: http://events.convio.com/ondemand_seminars/replay1901482_103106_growfunds3.wmv PC2 participant overview video: http://convio.na4.acrobat.com/part_center_2/ ondemand TeamRaiser Configuration Session available on the Convio Customer Center : http://convio.na4.acrobat.com/p78642496/ ondemand TeamRaiser Management Session link: http://convio.na4.acrobat.com/p87113270/ S-Tag Document on Convio Community: http://community.customer.convio.com/docs/doc-2102 API, WebServices and Downloads: http://open.convio.com
About Cathexis Partners Cathexis Partners helps non-profit and other socially minded organizations raise funds, expand house files and spread the word about their mission more effectively and more efficiently. Our services include website development (design, migrations/integrations, implementation, CSS/template deployment), reporting, database management, IT consulting, technical support, custom training, copywriting, and project management. We are authorized service partners of both Convio and Blackbaud. While Cathexis Partners is a young organization (established in 2008) our team has been involved with well over 100 Convio TeamRaiser as well as other online nonprofit project implementation and support hosted on the Convio platform. Our extensive experience in CRM and CMS software solutions can help your organization maximize the tools you have, identify gaps and find the best tool and strategies to accomplish your mission. We have extensive desktop, server, and application support as well as technical instruction creation and delivery expertise. In addition, our team provides consulting services around campaign marketing and ecommunications calendar creation and management. Our team has the experience and knowledge to provide end to end project management to include strategy, design, migration (content and data), integration, deployment and ongoing support for any sized non-profit. We can provide as much or as little support as is required for the particular project at hand and we can do all of this at a competitive rate due to our virtual organization and partnership structure.