Whatever you fundraise for, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get away from events. They are a wonderful, personal way to raise awareness of your cause, bring together possible donors, and thanking those who have donated. On the flip side, they’re a lot of work to get right, and sometimes you can be left feeling – did I make the most out of that work?
Here are some top tips for making sure you can leverage your data to ‘sweat the event’.
Define the purpose of the event
Possibly the most important part of organising an event is making sure you know what your ‘do is meant to DO. Draft some bullet points to answer the questions below.
- What is your ideal outcome for this event?
- How would you like people to feel as the event draws closer?
- How would you like people to feel after the event?
- What action would you like guests to take after having been to your event?
The answers to these questions will help shape how you use data to achieve your goals.
Find the right speaker
Databases are full of information, but how do you make sure you find the exact right person whose speech can stir your audience into action?
- Do you want them to make their speech in person? Ideally, you’d like them to come to your event. Geographic location is vital, so use this to filter your targets.
- Which group should they belong to? Is it about the benefits of bursaries, perhaps you want to target alumni or past parents who have benefited from a bursary themselves, or a member of staff who has seen the impact on classroom dynamics. Perhaps your aim is to reassure donors that your new project will have the right impact, so previous donors might be able to speak about their pride in supporting your organisation.
Draw a shortlist and ask early to make sure you’re in their diary. If they are uncertain about their availability, then bring in a backup who can speak alongside them or alone if necessary.
Define and refine your audience
Who is this event aimed at? Unless this is a public event, a scattergun approach won’t necessarily make those invited feel special and wanted, and may be a poor use of resources on your part. Here are some of the criteria you can use to slim your list down.
- Geographic location
- Behaviour data – past giving, past event attendance
- Constituency – what group do they belong to?
- Age/ time since they were last involved in your organisation
- Contact details – can you actually invite them?
These should be relatively clear from the purpose of your event, and invitees should be aware of why they were invited. It’s useful to write the criteria down, both to check with others (to make sure you’re not missing something vital) and in case you forget!
Ensure you target the right people when they’re in the room
So you’ve invited the right people, you’ve got the ideal speaker, what do you do with your amazing guest list?
When you defined your event, you will have defined your ideal outcome. Put aside some quiet time to look at your list well in advance of the event. Using your experience and that of your team, pick out some key names who are closest to that outcome, or who you need to cultivate to get closer to that outcome. How can you get them over the line? Whose job is it going to be to make a beeline for that person and make sure they’re feeling welcome, that their questions are answered, that they are feeling what you have carefully crafted the event to feel?
These things don’t just ‘happen’, you have worked so hard to make this event work, you should invest in making sure it does what it needs to do!
Track the data!
Great data for understanding engagement is:
- RSVPs (even those who say no – they care about telling you!)
- Attendance
- Who gives feedback (even constructive criticism) after the event? Who says ‘thank you’?
- Who updates their contact details with you?
- Who is bringing guests/encouraging others to sign up?
- Who is taking the action you wanted in your definition of the event?
Future you will thank you for the time you took to do this.
If you take away anything from this blog post it should be that defining the purpose of the event is key. If it doesn’t have a purpose, it’s a waste of your time and resources: don’t do it!
Propper Fundraising 