the nonprofit event management success formula
TRANSCRIPT
© Constant Contact 2012 1
#NPSuccess
Today We’ll Be Discussing
Planning your nonprofit event
Promoting your nonprofit event to
Create buzz
Increase registration
Maximize attendance
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#NPSuccess
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#NPSuccess
#NPSuccess
Increase Charitable Funds…
by Running Affordable Events
© Constant Contact 2012 4
Customer:
Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival
Success Looks Like… Encouraging advanced ticket sales, so that more
fundraising dollars could go to fighting cancer.
Her Success Formula:
Streamlining the work involved in planning and managing
a wine tasting by using affordable, online registration
tools.
What’s Working:
“I used your Event Marketing tool to promote a wine festival to
benefit charity. We ended up attracting 7,800 attendees
and raising $150,000 for cancer research.”
Grow Your Audience…
by keeping them engaged.
© Constant Contact 2012 5
Customer:
The Southeast Kentucky Chamber of
Commerce
Success Looks Like… Increasing the chamber’s membership
from 375 to 500 in less than a year, but
keeping membership engaged and
informed.
His Success Formula: Using online surveys to gather
feedback about important local
legislation, social media to build a
community. keep members involved
with upcoming events.
What’s Working:
“We are able to keep members and communities
engaged and connected with our
Community Chamber Events.”
Keeping Playdates Official, Professional… and Fun
© Constant Contact 2012 6
Customer: Chase’s House, New York City
Success Looks Like… Seeing attendance for playdates grow by 300% in one
year and still managing it all as a team of one.
Her Success Formula: Using event and email marketing to keep track of
families coming to each event.
What’s Working:
“I had been using spreadsheets to keep track of who had accepted
and declined invitations, but it was a nightmare. Now, I can just
print out automatic RSVP lists.”
#NPSuccess
The 3 Top Reasons
Nonprofits Host
Events:
- Constant Contact Event Marketing Survey, 2010
Why are You Having an Event?
© Constant Contact 2012 8
What are the
measurable results
from your event?
Measure
Possible Measures:
Increased mentions on social
media, web traffic
Increased donations
High satisfaction, increase in
volunteer sign ups
Goal
Possible Goals
Increase awareness for your
cause
Drive donations
Solicit volunteers
What do you want to
achieve?
What is success
(ROE)?
Is there a target
audience?
1. Educate
2. Generate
__awareness
3. Get donations
Why Should They Attend?
© Constant Contact 2012 9
Measure
Possible Measures:
Goal
Possible Goals
How will you calculate
if the attendees
achieved their goals?
Satisfied comments in
survey and social media
Increased donations and
volunteers
Enjoyable time
Help a charity
What is in it for the
attendee?
– The tangible benefit for
spending my time/money.
What motivates for
participation?
What do they learn?
Main takeaway of
the event should
be reflected in
your promotional
activities
Goal
Sell tickets >50% of
tickets in advance
Raise money for cause
Get more attendees
than previous year
Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival
© Constant Contact 2012 10
Measure:
85% of tickets sold in advance
Raised $150,000
7,800 attendees
#NPSuccess
Communication Schedule
© Constant Contact 2012 12
Create Buzz (5-6 Weeks Ahead)
© Constant Contact 2012 13
Email Newsletter
Website
Calendar
Event Directories
Leverage Your Email Newsletter
© Constant Contact 2012 14
Take advantage of the communications you already send!
Use Your Website to Drive Awareness
Just set it and forget it!
Add it once
Automatically updates
One-click registration
© Constant Contact 2012 15
Promote all your upcoming events on your website
Display Upcoming Events
60% -According to research on 200K RSVP declines
© Constant Contact 2012 16
Make it easy to find date and time that works for them
Link from:
Your website
Email Newsletter
Email signature
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Decline due to
Date / Time /
Location.
List Your Events Publicly
Event directories
Events in America
SocialVents
Local paper
Local event calendars
Co-marketing
© Constant Contact 2012 17
Expand Your Reach With Event Directories
Increase Registration (3-4 Weeks)
© Constant Contact 2012 18
Event Homepage
Paper Mail Invites
Email Invites
Social Sharing
Facebook App
Registration Form
Social Media Posts
Event Homepage
One-click registration
Easier than updating
your event website for
each event
Link from:
− Website
− Social media
© Constant Contact 2012 19
Provide them all the information they need
Make the Most of Your Invitation
Offline
Provide a phone number
Online
QR codes − http://qrcode.kaywa.com
Bit.ly link − http://bitly.com
© Constant Contact 2012 20
Make it easy to RSVP right from the print mailing
“50% of people who receive direct
mail invitations prefer responding
through URLs.”
- Direct Marketing Association
Does this Invite Work?
No easy way to RSVP
Very little branding
No map
No way to share event invitation
© Constant Contact 2012 21
Subject Line: Save 10%, register before 9/15
Event Invitations
© Constant Contact 2012 22
Get noticed in the inbox!
Subject Lines:
“Emails with a date in the subject line
will generate a 24-29% higher
open rate.”
- Worldata Email Usage Study Q4 2010
Give them the info they need
Event info, including a map
Make it easy to respond
Clear call to action with RSVP
Look Professional with Branding
© Constant Contact 2012 23
After Before
Look Professional with Branding
Make sure to insert your:
Logo
Font
Colors
Images
© Constant Contact 2012 24
Match the look and feel of your organization
Event Invitations
Chesapeake sent invitation to past
attendees first
© Constant Contact 2012 25
Don’t blast your invite out to everyone at once
Subject Line: Past attendees get an
exclusive invite!
“Exclusive in the subject line generates
an additional 24% open rate.
- Worldata Email Usage Study Q4 2010
“Segmentation delivers a 7x increase
in open rates and a 14x increase
in click-through rates.”
- Understanding ISP-Level Email Filtering
Send to Non-Responders
Only sent to those invitees that
have not RSVP’d yet
Don’t just resend the event
invitation
− Provide an incentive to attend
− Switch up your subject line
− Try a different sending time
© Constant Contact 2012 26
Contact people who haven’t RSVPed
Invite
Invite to Non-Responders
Event Invitations
© Constant Contact 2012 27
Motivate registrations with video
“42% of small organizations created and
posted event marketing videos to YouTube.”
-Constant Contact Event Marketing Survey
October 2011
Take those videos and use them
in your event invitation!
Video increases click-through rates by 300%.”
- Forrester Research
Try videos featuring:
Guest speakers
Activities
Success stories
Sending Your Event Invitation
© Constant Contact 2012 28
“The highest spike was at 6AM.”
- The Science of Social Timing, Hubspot 2011
Schedule your emails:
5-6 weeks: Send announcement
3 weeks: Send reminder
2 days: Send “Don’t miss” email
“Online giving happens largely
between 9-5 on weekdays.”
-The Online Giving Study
Network for Good and TrueSense Marketing
Send your invite when people want it
Dodge traffic in the inbox
by avoiding peak sending
times
Sharing Your Event Invitation
Customize the message
for each site
Include an image
Easily share to all your
Facebook, Twitter,
and LinkedIn profiles
© Constant Contact 2012 29
“51% of small organizations use
their social networks 4 weeks before
their event.”- Constant Contact Event
Marketing Survey, October 2011
Reach the widest audience with Simple Share
Registration Form
Keep it short
Only ask necessary questions
© Constant Contact 2012 30
Charge a fee
Implies value
Most common reason people
don’t attend is date/time, not
fee
Pay in advance
Increases likelihood of
attendance
It rained during Chesapeake
Wine Festival, but 85% of ticket
sales occurred ahead of time. Still
had 7,800 attendees
Registration Form
Ask people who RSVP “No”
to donate!
Take advantage of people who want to help,
but can’t attend!
Assign a suggested amount or allow the
donor to put in their own donation amount.
Attendees aren’t the only ones who can
donate to your cause
© Constant Contact 2012 31
Registrants Can Share on Social Media Registrants can spread the word about the event
by sharing on Facebook or Twitter
© Constant Contact 2012 32
Promote Your Event on Facebook
Ask your Facebook fans to
“Like” your post
© Constant Contact 2012 33
Engage your fans with compelling posts
“Gets a 216% higher interaction rate for pages.”
- A Scientific Approach to Facebook Marketing,
Momentus Media 2011
“Gets a 27% higher interaction
rate.”
- A Scientific Approach to Facebook Marketing,
Momentus Media 2011
Ask them to comment too!
Promote Your Event on Facebook
© Constant Contact 2012 34
Use the Facebook App to promote 24/7
“89% of small organizations use
Facebook to market their events.”
- Constant Contact Event Marketing Survey,
October 2011
Promote Your Event with Social Media
© Constant Contact 2012 35
Promote your event where your audience is!
“77% are using social media
to promote events and 74% think it's effective.”
- Constant Contact Event Marketing Survey,
October 2011
“66% use Twitter and 37%
create a #hashtag for the event.”
- Constant Contact Event Marketing Survey,
October 2011
Maximize Attendance (0-2 Weeks Ahead)
© Constant Contact 2012 36
Social media
engagement
Event
homepage
Tickets/Confirmation
Email reminders
Increase Attendance with Reminders
Include a link to a pre-event
survey or poll, then show
results
Show event count down
Provide guest speaker info
Make it easy to share with
“Forward to friend” link and
Social Share button
© Constant Contact 2012 37
Don’t just resend the event invite!
Remind Them to Print their Tickets
Ticket serves as a
tangible reminder
Makes the check-in
process a snap!
© Constant Contact 2012 38
Update Your Event Homepage
Use to provide
additional info about
your event
Useful for when you
are promoting on
Twitter and other
places without a lot of
real estate
© Constant Contact 2012 39
Get registrants excited about the event!
Social Media Engagement
39% of small organizations
use social media to get
repeat attendees
© Constant Contact 2012 40
“35% use social media to get more
attendees.”
- Constant Contact Event Marketing Survey,
October 2011
“61% use their social networks in the
days prior to the event.”
- Constant Contact Event Marketing Survey,
October 2011
Don’t just link to the registration page!
Use Follow-Up to Create Buzz for Your Next Event
© Constant Contact 2012 41
Social media
engagement
Event homepage
Tickets/Confirmation
Email reminders
Homepage
Survey
Social media
Make People Want to Come Back
Update your Event Homepage
Show pictures from event
Include any event collateral
© Constant Contact 2012 42
Send a follow-up email
Collect feedback with a survey
Ask:
− What did they like best?
− What could be improved?
− Ask questions to measure your goal
− Pull responses for future promotions
Make People Want to Come Back
Stay top of mind
Keep them engaged with
social media
Thank them for attending
Post pictures from the
event
Ask for feedback
Promote the next event
© Constant Contact 2012 43
Communication doesn’t stop
once the event is over
Reminders, Tickets, Update Homepage, Social Media Posts
Update Homepage, Survey, Follow Up Email, Social Media Posts
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Takeaways
Email Newsletter, Website, Calendar, Event Directories
Invites, Registration Form, Social Sharing & Posts, Facebook App
#NPSuccess
© Constant Contact 2012 45
Take the Next Step
Check out our blog Learn more about how event marketing can help small business and nonprofits optimize event marketing efforts.
blogs.constantcontact.com
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