Making the Most of Your Spring Events

Spring event season is just around the corner! Is your nonprofit making the absolute most of your luncheons, dinners, and galas? 

Fundraising events present your organization with opportunities to connect with potential new donors who may attend your event as a guest. Whether as a friend, date, or with their employer, these guests are often unfamiliar with your organization. 

While your event program may provide some insight, you’ll want to continue sharing your organization’s story and impact with your guests to convert them into repeat donors and lifetime supporters. This means being sure you collect all your guests’ contact information to continue the conversation about your good work. Here are a few different methods to ensure you collect contact information from your guests and make the most of your spring fundraiser.

Collect Guest Information During Ticket Purchase

When your known supporters are purchasing their tickets, tables, or sponsorship opportunities for your event, you can actually collect their guests’ information as well. The best practice is to stick with the basics like their guests’ first and last names, mobile numbers, and email addresses. If the purchaser of the ticket, table, or sponsorship has not confirmed who will be attending the event with them, you can automate sending an email to collect the guest information at a later date.

Create Text Subscription Keywords

Another easy way to collect the mobile phone numbers of all your event attendees is by using a text subscription keyword. These keywords work similarly to text-to-donate keywords but don’t use a donation form. This can be as simple as creating a text keyword to receive the program for your event, a brochure about your organization, or a link to learn more about featured speakers or event honorees.

Pro Tip: Add fun, extra incentives for your attendees to text in by creating a keyword that provides a free drink coupon, extra chips for your casino night, a discount on merchandise, and more.

Would you like to know more about how GiveSmart can help you fundraise at your next event? Request Demo

TEXT-TO-DONATE

Of course, you cannot overlook the main reason for your event: fundraising for your worthy cause. Incorporating a text-to-donate call-to-action and fundraising thermometer into your event is not only a great way to raise money for your organization but also a great way to collect attendees’ mobile numbers and contact information. When an individual uses your text-to-donate keyword, you’ll collect their mobile number even if they choose not to follow through with their donation. This will allow you to send them an outbound text message after your event to continue your post-program storytelling.

TAKE IT SLOW

Once you have collected the contact information for your event attendees, use it judiciously. You don’t want to come out the gate with a donation ask as this can lead to immediate unsubscribes from your text message and email campaigns. Start out with a simple thank you to show your appreciation that the attendees chose to spend their time at your event. After showing your appreciation, be prepared to continue the thread of storytelling from the program of your event. Lead your guests to places like your website and social media where you have content already prepared to educate them about what you do and how they can become a part of your mission.

Our goal at GiveSmart is to help nonprofit organizations create and manage successful digital fundraising campaigns, raise more money and retain donors longer. Request a free demo with one of our fundraising experts to learn, step by step, how GiveSmart can simply help set up your campaigns while transforming your results.

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