In recent years, facing the global pandemic, remote life became our new reality and we were forced to move many events online. We all feared how we would handle this, after all we were used to performing big galas or fundraising events physically. However, in the past months we have seen many organisations successfully conducting online events and starting to prefer this solution.
In today’s blog post we will give you some tips and tricks on how to successfully digitise your fundraising event.
Take care of the basics and the setup
As with every other fundraising event you have to have a goal and a vision. You should determine beforehand what is the cause, what audience you are targeting, what is your budget and finally, what is your fundraising goal.
After all of these are determined, it is crucial to choose the right technology. What streaming platform do you want to use? Do you want your audience to be able to interact with you or is it just a monologue? Having the right technology can make or break the fundraising event. Here are the most popular streaming platforms that are on budget and satisfy most of the NGOs needs:
- Zoom is the best platform for running complex events where you want to interact with your audience. You can create breakout rooms to connect the attendees or you can record the event to share the content later.
- Facebook Live is a good choice if you want to interact with your audience. During the stream the attendees will be able to leave comments to which you can respond immediately. Moreover, with this option you can cast on Facebook and YouTube at the same time.
- YouTube Live is the best option if you want to pre record your event and stream it later, the attendees will still have a possibility to comment and interact with each other.
Decide how do you want to receive your donations
Another important step while creating a virtual event is deciding how you will receive the donations and which platform you will use to collect the money. Here are a few solutions that you can use:
- NGO SMS is a simple, fast solution that will allow your attendees to send their donations on the go via SMS. Your donors will be able to send a text message during or after your fundraising event and in this way, send money to your account on a fixed amount set by you. Additionally you will be able to automatically send a customised thank you message to the donor which might help you to gain long term supporters. To read more about NGO SMS, visit: https://rainbowriders.dk/products/ngosms/
- PayGate QR codes is a custom solution which generates unique QR codes that your attendees can scan and get their donation initiated in association with MyShop Collect. It is a great option as you can display the QR code for the whole duration of your event, as well as include it in the email with invitation. To read more about PayGate, visit: https://rainbowriders.dk/products/paygate/
- MyShop Collect is a good solution if you want to make the donations mandatory to enter the event and collect fees from the attendees. By using this solution you can create a list of people and a collection by giving it a name, amount, and due date. Then the platform will send SMS (with your custom message) to the donors with a MyShop Payment link and place the donations on your account in no time. To read more about MyShop Collect, visit: https://rainbowriders.dk/products/myshop-collect/
Promote your event, sit back and relax
Having all above mentioned things set up, the last step is to promote your event. You can do it in several ways. First of all, make the most of your network and start by sending invites via email to your potential attendees. By making the invites exciting, you can possibly create word of mouth and collect more attendees this way. Next, spread the word on yours and your partner’s social media, you can simply post advertisements or create an event (for example on Facebook) and send invites to people. Last but not least, you can write a blog post about the event on your webpage or send out a newsletter.
After your event is promoted, you are ready to run the show! Sit down in front of your screen, relax and make the most out of your time,
We hope that after reading this article you are feeling ready to jump into the digital world and conduct your next event online and we wish you good luck with all of your upcoming events!