How to Conduct a Highly Successful Virtual Fundraising Event
So you're ready to start a virtual fundraising event for your nonprofit?
All right, all right, all right!
But maybe you’re unsure what to do for said event. With so many possibilities to consider, it can feel a little overwhelming, to say the least. Or maybe you have an idea but want to ensure it’s actually a good idea and will be a success for raising funds and gaining new supporters.
Well, buckle up because we’ve got some tips, tricks, resources, and virtual fundraising ideas that just might help you out…and they’re easy to start!
Make It Fun!
More than anything, a virtual fundraiser, or any fundraiser for that matter, is about your donors. It's about the retention of your current donors and also the hope to gain new donors in the process. Maintaining and increasing donor retention is a fantastic way to raise funds for your nonprofit. It's also incredibly less expensive than finding new donors.
By having one more opportunity for engagement with your donor base, you’re also creating a chance to develop and cultivate relationships with your donors.
But let’s be honest; we’ve all been to those boring events. You know, the virtual ones where you turn your Zoom camera off half the time so you can watch that hilarious YouTube clip your sister sent you for the thousandth time. Or maybe you just want to catch the game; “Touchdown!”
Or the physical events where you’re just hoping and praying the food is good, so you can chow down and quickly make the fake “I gotta go help my brother-in-law’s sister’s cousin” phone call and bounce.
Or maybe (and this is the worst-case scenario) the event you attended went so horribly wrong that it made you want to grab some popcorn and just sit back to watch the fireworks. Okay, maybe that's a little extreme, but hey, it’s definitely happened!
Well, not your virtual event! Here are a few ideas that can hype up your attendees and engage them for all the right reasons! Looking for more? Check out this article with 26 Simple Fundraising Ideas that Suit Any Cause!
Here Are 3 Virtual Fundraising Ideas You Can Use To Engage Your Donors
Virtual Tour/Open House
Virtual tours are a great way to engage donors, giving them a more personal connection to your nonprofit. Make it fun, interactive, and amusing!
Remember MTV Cribs? Keep everyone rocking with some good tunes as you show off the organization. Or maybe you’re thinking more along the lines of Architectural Digest and keeping things classy (probably don’t want to show off that top-of-the-line microwave or printer though).
Either way, going behind the scenes and showing off the workspace or taking your donors to some locations where they can see your work in the community first-hand is a great way to help them feel closer to the nonprofit and its mission. Bonus: filming your tour out in the community will help you to gain more exposure!
Market it, and ask others to help you promote it!
How to Start:
Choose whether you would like to record or live stream the tour. This can be difficult, but it all comes down to personal preference. You may also want to ensure that you have the live stream capabilities and troubleshoot them to ensure you don't have a live broadcast that suddenly stops.
Ensure that you have adequate technology to produce high-end audio and video. With smartphone video technology, shooting quality video shouldn’t be a problem; just make sure that the audio is top-notch by wearing a wired mic; these are inexpensive and easy to find!
Market it, and ask others to help you promote it! Making a memorable or exciting video tour can really help personalize your organization and its mission for both current and potential supporters. Who doesn’t want to share content that really inspires or tugs at the heartstrings?
Set up a free FundEasy Crowdfunding page and promote it during the live stream! This page is simple to set up and includes great features like an animated fund-meter, automatic receipting, direct deposit of funds, and so much more!
Pro Tip: If hosting a live tour seems daunting or terrifying, you can record it and present it movie-style with the added benefit of posting it to your website and social media for additional engagement. Whether it takes 2 or 22, you’ll have it exactly the way you want to present it to your supporters. It also makes for great content that you can repurpose later, for example, a throwback promotion for the next event!
FundEasy’s Crowdfunding Fundraising Software
Fun Run!
Fun Runs are fantastic fundraising events that can help engage your supporters. It's a great combination of physical attendance with a virtual connection. You can set the distance and give participants a few days (or weeks) to compete and complete the race. But don’t name the race like they did in the show, The Office: “Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Fun Run Pro-Am Race for the Cure.”
How to Start: For a virtual run or walk, getting started is pretty simple.
Set a distance, so that supporters can run (or walk) from anywhere! No need to map out a specific course. It's also a great way for people to make connections across towns, cities, states, and countries.
In terms of financial contributions, there are two options that would be best. One would be asking your supporters for a small admission fee for participation. You could also initiate a walk (or run)-a-thon where participants raise pledge money for each amount of distance that is covered/run.
Use FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer fundraising software to help with creating the fundraising website or webpage of your virtual fundraising event, tracking all of the donations, and additional fundraising on your behalf.
Pro Tip: Post the results to your social media platforms and website and encourage participants to share pictures of themselves participating in the virtual run. Ask them to tag your nonprofit in their posts. It’s a great way to increase engagement and build awareness and support for your nonprofit. Here’s a social media checklist for virtual events!
FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software
Gala - Virtual Edition
Quite possibly the pinnacle event that many organizations host for annual fundraising, galas are effective but can also be overwhelming in terms of resources and time. Hosting a virtual gala can be a fresh, simple way to engage your supporters (and possibly reach some donors who may otherwise be unable to participate in an in-person event), all from the comfort of their homes.
Have your participants dress up, enjoy a meaningful topic from your keynote speaker, possibly have a meal together over zoom, and participate in an online auction.
How to Start:
Simple. For starters, no need to look for or book an actual location to host the event! Set it all up from the convenience of your Mac or PC. We encourage you to use our Attendance software for registration regardless of whether it’s online. Read this article for more info on why we say this!
You’ll probably find that it is in your best interest to have the keynote speaker prepare and record his or her presentation/speech to be given at the virtual gala. This way the speaker can join the online event and add an element of discussion or Q&A.
Pssssst! Over Here!
Sound daunting? Even though there aren’t as many pieces as an in-person event, Attendance can still help with organizing your virtual one, including help with that online auction and keeping it going for additional donations!
FundEasy’s Attendance Fundraising Software
Remember: Keep It Simple
It's very easy to get carried away and potentially jam-pack your virtual fundraising event with lots of great elements. However, you want to make sure that each event is focused and has a clearly defined goal and message, while keeping the mission of the organization at its heart.
This way you can really accentuate the elements of the event to make it spectacular and that much more memorable! Now that we have some fresh, fun, and effective ideas, let’s look at how to get your event up and running!
Work Smarter, Not Harder!
Your Guide to Initiate Your Virtual Fundraising Event
Okay, let’s be honest: planning an event… can be exhausting! And now you have to manage it! That's why we created some pretty stellar software to not only lighten your load but to also make the event more fun for everyone, including you! Here’s a step-by-step process for making that great event idea a reality!
Event Team, Assemble!
Okay, you’ve got the idea planned out, but who will help it come to fruition? Any successful event has a team behind it, ensuring that all of the requirements and steps are being done and done well. A great team of dedicated volunteers, board members, and staff can help skyrocket your virtual event to that next level of awesomeness.
Using the best event management software for nonprofits can help supercharge your team, maximizing process efficiency. Did we mention with FundEasy your entire squad can jump in? With unlimited user capability and the ability to control the access level that each team member or volunteer receives, you can make sure everyone has what they need to help get the results your organization wants!
Worried that some people might not be tech-savvy enough to utilize this quick and easy tool? No problem! With tutorials, training videos, and customer support, it's software that anyone can use!
Calling All Sponsors!
No matter the event, corporate sponsorship is without a doubt, very meaningful and quite often necessary. Their support can even help get your event off the ground and transform it into what you really want it to be!
This, coupled with the ideas listed above and the ability for corporate sponsor recognition and recording with the fundraising software from FundEasy, turns the world of potential sponsors into your oyster.
Let the Whole World Know
Whether your marketing team is big or small, you don’t want to overburden them with their already large list of tasks for your organization. You’ll need some resources that can assist. Thus, enter one of the best Peer-to-Peer fundraising platforms.
The options to create custom web pages, have fun animations like a Fund-Meter or Leaderboard, and be able to record both online and offline donations make this tool hard to live without.
It can also integrate with other tools you already use like Mailchimp, Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics, and Zapier to name but a few. The best part? You don’t have to have any website or design experience.
Track Those Donations and Give Out Some High-Fives!
The more simple it is to donate, the more donations you receive. With all of the fundraising software from FundEasy, your supporters can make those donations quickly and without effort, all while you sit back and watch the numbers roll in.
While most online events do receive online donations, you still may have some contributions come in through the good ol’ postal service. Regardless, know that you can keep track of every dollar received both online and offline in one location with FundEasy. Oh, and as an added benefit of the FundEasy fundraising software, all the money received is deposited directly into the organization’s bank account.
Afterward - Fundraising Part II
The Report
You did it! You had a successful event that hopefully left your supporters excited for next year. Now you can just put up your feet and marvel at the success of your organization…oh wait. Now comes the reporting phase.
Well, keep calm and carry on! The Peer-to-Peer fundraising software doesn’t turn off after the event. On the contrary, you can generate reports, like a summary sheet, that you can use and design to present to your board as you prepare for your next grand idea!
The Fundraising Only Begins Here
Let’s not forget about all of those lovely supporters that made it all possible! With registrant details at your disposal (and obviously the permission to contact them), you have more contacts that you can not only share the success of the event with but you can invite to new initiatives within the organization, as either donors, participants, or fundraisers themselves.
And with such a successful and easily managed event, you know that the word about your organization is only continuing to spread!
If you’d like to learn more about any of FundEasy’s products, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Check out our calendar and choose a time that works best for you. We can’t wait to hear about your awesome organization and event ideas!
If you'd like to learn more about our Peer-to-Peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding products, please reach out! We'd love to chat.
Also, if you haven't joined already, we have an exclusive Facebook Group just for our customers! If you are a current FundEasy Customer and would like to join, go here to learn more and request to be added!
Madison Hull
This article was inspired by our customers and written to encourage your fundraising efforts. Although we work with nonprofits and events daily, our team members are not Event Consultants. We encourage you to consult with your event consultant, executive team, and/or affiliate organization before making any major changes to your events.
