One great way to raise awareness to your charity or cause is to host an event. That will get people interested, maybe even involved, in your organization. But just hosting an event and hoping that people come isn’t the only step. You need to get these people into the mindset of donating to an organization, not just attending a dinner party. Here are some tips to take attendees and make them into members of the organization, based off an article that I found online:
1. Build follow-up: Event follow-up should never be an afterthought; block out time on your calendar to write thank you notes or make phone calls. The best time is a day after the event.
2. Gather information and feedback: Gathering information is a major point for events. Find out information about everybody at the event so you can personalize your follow-up; this will prove that you did your homework and make them less likely to listen to what you have to say. In addition to gathering this information, get feedback from both the attendees of the event and the people involved in organizing it. It might offer you some valuable insight, and prove to everybody that you’re interested in what they have to say.
3. Say thank you: You can never say thank you too much. There are certain “thank you” activities you can do: for attendees, a personalized thank you email can go a long way. For volunteers, make sure you call and thank them; maybe send them a gift. Don’t forget sponsors and vendors too; send them something from the event that shows off their logo and work.
4. Share event results: Everybody wants to know how much the event raised, so tell them in a well thought-out email. If you have a website (if not, get one!), put the info up on there too. Consider a big photo showing off your mission, but try to stay away from photos of people speaking or sitting down at tables.
5. Remind donors they were there: People like it when you show them you know them, especially when you want them to donate to your organization again. For those who donate, one idea is to give them a special note thanking them for their involvement.
6. Ask donors to get involved in other ways: This is a good strategy for any lead. Apart from throwing money at your organization, a donor can subscribe to your blog, share your event video with their friends, follow you on social media, sign a petition, watch the videos you post and even become volunteers themselves.
7. Build a donor journey: Guide your donors through their experience beyond just the event. Your job is to assure that attending the event is just the beginning of their involvement with the organization.