You’ve spent weeks (maybe months!) planning a great event.you’re already lined up perfect Entertainment, food, and venues to wow your nonprofit’s guests as they leave.
However, as the time counted down and the event approached, your event registration number didn’t hit the mark.
It’s a nightmarish scene!
If you put a lot of effort into planning your activities, your marketing efforts Matching effort is required. An effective marketing strategy is crucial to promoting your event, generating excitement, and ultimately ensuring you get a lot of signups to achieve your fundraising goals.
This guide will share four proven strategies to help your team successfully market your nonprofit’s next event.
Customize your marketing strategy for the event
“Not-for-profit activities” is a broad and diverse category. You might be marketing a fancy major donor party, a family-friendly 5K fun run, or a fast-paced competitive auction.
Now you can technically Use the same marketing techniques for each of these event types – honestly, the basic elements of your event marketing strategy should probably be similar across the board. (Don’t worry, we’ll cover those more general nonprofit event marketing techniques later in this guide.)
However, each event has a different audience, run time and campaign.
Use it to your advantage.
Consider what makes your campaign unique and how you can use it in your marketing strategy.
Take charity auctions, for example. Handbid’s Guide to Charity Auctions Offers strategies specifically to create a strong marketing strategy for auction events:
- Promote eye-catching auction items. Did you buy your once-in-a-lifetime Super Bowl ticket? Or maybe a jersey signed by someone in the Football Hall of Fame? Highlight these high-priced items in your marketing materials to show that there will be premium prizes up for grabs.
- Open your online auction site early to browse. Using Handbid’s auction software, you can put your auction in public mode (ie preview or pre-sale) and share a direct link with guests. They can then scroll through the auction items before the event and think about what they will be bidding on. This helps create excitement among early registrants.
- Offers mixed activities. Want to invite more guests from afar? Consider hosting a mixed event. Live stream your show online so that off-site guests can also participate. This will increase engagement and potentially increase those much-needed donations.
Auctions aren’t the only nonprofit that can employ a unique and impactful marketing strategy.
For example, 5K race events often utilize peer-to-peer fundraising, with participants raising funds from their friends and family. These events are social in nature, so your marketing strategy should be too.
For example, create an event that encourages participants to refer friends. You can then offer the duo fun perks (like matching T-shirts!).
Use a multi-channel marketing strategy
As we said above, there are some general event marketing strategies that work well regardless of the event type. Now let’s discuss some of them.
A multi-channel marketing strategy involves the use of multiple communication channels to spread information about an event.
You might think that more channels is more work, right?
Maybe, but it’s worth it for the following reasons:
- Not all supporters use the same marketing channels. For example, while Gen Z floods TikTok, it can be harder to reach them via direct mail. For older donors, on the other hand, the opposite may be true. By using multiple channels, you can reach your supporters through their preferred channels, or even in a number of different places.
- Multiple touchpoints increase the likelihood of engagement. How many times do you see an ad before you take action? We guessed more than once. By sharing unique information across different marketing channels, you can market your event to guests multiple times and increase the chances of them registering to attend.
The goal is not to share the same messages/graphics/images/videos/etc. on every channel. Change messages per channel to avoid creating duplicate echo chambers. For example, in:
- social media, Share compelling images, graphics and even video content with very little text. Link to your website so your followers can learn more about the event.
- your web page, Share a long blog post about the event, what it will support, and all the details about getting involved. Consider highlighting the stories of individuals whose work your organization has had a positive impact on in the past.
- e-mail, Share a few paragraph overviews of the event and what it supports. Then, include a one-sentence mention in any update emails and a link to your website to learn more.
In addition to changing the way and amount of information you include across channels, change the story you tell. So, for example, if you’re highlighting a component story, interview multiple people who have been positively influenced by your work. Then, highlight the different channels on each channel. The goal is to ensure that each time a supporter encounters information about your event, it is a unique experience.
But be consistent non-profit brand across all marketing channels. People need to quickly identify your nonprofit, no matter where they see your story or message.
Apply for Google Grants to increase search engine visibility
Do a quick Google search on any topic you’re interested in. What is the first listing on a search engine results page? We’re guessing they’re most likely advertisements.
For example, when we search for “nonprofits,” the first listing is ads for local nonprofits in our area.Look carefully – these ads almost Look like natural listings, except they display “ads” to the left of the page title.
For businesses, search engine advertising is a source of paid media.
However, ads are free for nonprofits, and they are especially powerful for nonprofits that host local and regional events.
Google awards $10,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations to create and host free advertising campaigns on their search engine through Google Ad Grants. Therefore, you can create search engine ads that point directly to your nonprofit website or event registration page to show to supporters searching for relevant terms.
Here’s how it works:
- First, you must apply for Google Ad Grants. It’s a three-step process that includes signing up in TechSoup, signing up for a Google for Nonprofits account, and applying for a grant on your own.
- Once approved, create your first campaign. This includes writing ad copy and setting up Google Ads (ie choosing keywords, setting locations, etc.).For the second part, think about what people at your event might type into the search bar, e.g. “humanitarian social events”, “non-profit events” [location],” or “Fundraising for Dog Shelters [location]. ” Each campaign will target some closely related keywords related to your campaign.
- Track the success of your campaigns. Set up conversion tracking with Google Ads to see how many people not only saw your ads, but also followed them and signed up for campaigns after doing so. Use this information to continue improving your advertising campaigns.
The best part is that you can (and are encouraged to) tailor these ads to reach local audiences – those who are most able to attend the event in person. So you don’t waste time or money marketing to people who might not be interested.
Please sponsor to help spread the word
Sponsorship opportunities for interested supporters and local businesses. Sponsors play a vital role in your event, whether it’s donations or donations of venue space, food services, merchandise, and more.they can help you Building a strong nonprofit brand.
However, a successful event marketing strategy requires a village; so get your sponsors involved!
Sponsors can promote your event in a number of ways, including:
- Hang up and hand out flyers at their physical location.
- Post about the event on their social media channels.
- Discuss the campaign with their clients and how they can support it.
You might be hesitant to ask sponsors for more (their marketing efforts) for your event. But remember, this also helps sponsors.
Publicly supporting your organization can provide business owners with an excellent public relations boost. So let’s say they’re talking about the event at their physical location – now, all customers near them know about the business’ charitable activities. Additionally, sponsors have a vested interest in the success of your event; the more people who attend the event, the more people will see the company sponsoring the event.
You can plan a great nonprofit event, but the effort is pointless if no one shows up.
It pays to develop a strong marketing strategy for your next event to ensure high turnout. From customizing your strategy to the event type itself, to using more general best practices like multi-channel marketing, Google Ad Grants, and sponsorship assistance, these tips will prepare your team for success.
