The landscape
Overall, there are positive trends in organised event growth, with created pages up by 3% and total donations up by 6%. Although there is overall growth, there is significant growth in running and walks, with created pages up 11% and 4%, respectively. The number of runners in their 20s has doubled, now making up 22%. This age group also have the highest interest in fundraising for causes they care more about. Walks have also seen a 4% increase in donations over the past year. However, cycling has taken a big hit, with created pages are down 25%. For these events donations are only down 5% as the high-value events are all still performing well.
Considering the growth in organised events in recent years, here are five ways to unlock your events portfolio potential.
Get your house in order
It’s easy to look at what other charities are doing and think that you ‘should’ also be mirroring their efforts. However, behind the scenes, you never know how well these events are performing or consider that it could be a test for that charity.
Instead, focus on your own portfolio. Understand the role of each event in your portfolio, then identify the gaps. It’s better to do a few things very well, than to spread your capacity over multiple events that don’t perform as well as they should. It’s about quality over quantity.
Reflect on the objective for each event. Is it an entry level moment to get new people through the door? Is it an event which engages specific audiences? Is it a money maker that is cheap to run but gets mass engagement? This will support your gap analysis and identify objectives to develop new products for those audiences.
Broaden your appeal
There are two main audiences you can attract: those that are attracted to the cause; and those that are attracted to the event or challenge. In a crowded marketplace, with most charities offering similar events, how do you appeal to a wider audience than those already engaged with your organisation?
Tap into culture. Christmas Jumper day, Movember and Dry January are events born out of cultural moments and behaviours. Macmillan have recently partnered with Hyrox, an increasingly popular fitness challenge to become their charity partner. This is a great example of capitalising on cultural moments to attract a wider pool of supporters. Keep a look out for cultural trends that are fitting for your charity to transform into an event.
Lead with emotional benefit. For those who don’t have a connection to your cause, leading with the emotional benefit is a great tool. To do this, you should highlight what someone is going to get out of the event. Does it bring community together? Is it a personal challenge they can take on and feel proud of? Or is it a good opportunity to do something local?
Effective Priming
In general, we only see one acquisition strategy for events. In the face of rising acquisition costs for new donors, many charities have focused their efforts on direct response acquisition as this is the final touchpoint on the road to sign up. When budgets are tight, and acquisition costs are high, it’s easy to look for quick results.
This is generally a successful strategy for the larger, high-profile events such as London Marathon and Great North Run, that are known nationwide. However, for smaller owned events, jumping into conversion without priming the audience will limit the conversion.
Why is this? Making one big ask in a single touchpoint can be overwhelming. And once that ad is gone, it’s gone. In one ad you are introducing the cause, the event, appealing to motivations and addressing barriers. And ultimately asking them to sign up to something they might not be ready to sign up for.
Instead, start with a reach and prime phase which will build awareness in a colder audience. Then, follow with a conversion phase – the typical ‘sign up’ posts which will drive conversion from that primed audience.
Meaningful stewardship
Great stewardship plays a huge role in building the supporter’s relationship with the charity and hopefully means they will take more actions with your organisation.
We break down event journey into 4 main stages:
Onboard – People are most engaged when they sign up for an event. They’re excited and motivated to get going. This is where you should provide welcome communications that will inform and delight your participants, as well as give them important information they need to know from the off.
Keep in touch – People are less engaged when they are waiting for an event to happen. Your cause and/or event is often out of mind as other things in their life take priority. This is when you should keep your participants engaged with fun content that keeps you front of mind.
Countdown – This is when the attention of our audience returns. Once the countdown to the event begins, participants often get nervous – their fight or flight kicks in. Remind them of the cause they’re supporting to give them the final motivation they need. And offer them any last-minute key information they need for the big day.
Post event – The event has passed. Some will have raised a lot but others may not have reached their target. It’s important to not only encourage them to reach their outstanding donations and make them feed valued for their contribution.
Smarter cross-sell
What is the next best ask for eventers? JustGiving found that 97% of virtual walkers said they would fundraise for the same charity again, 24% wanted to do another sporting event and 22% wanted to do individual giving of some sort.
The event is the first step of your supporter’s journey. Once they have completed their event and fundraised, think about the next best ask.
Some internal charity teams can work in silos, but working across departments provides a great opportunity to raise even more money in the long term. Keeping the relationship with your fundraisers post-event will benefit you and the charity, keeping them warm and more engaged for any further asks. Make sure you’re working with other teams in your organisation to find out if their supporters are suited to an event ask, or whether your eventers might be the right audience to go onto their product.
