One of the most effective ways to raise awareness for a cause is through a charity event. This can be anything from a formal dinner to a marathon. If your organization or community is planning such an event in the coming months, this is the time to begin strategic marketing!
A successful marketing campaign is essential to ensuring that your charity event meets its fundraising or humanitarian objectives. And, the only way you can raise enough money is by making sure that your guests know about the event and are willing to participate in it.
Here are a few helpful suggestions to help you in promoting a charity or nonprofit event.
Know The Audience
It will be easier for you to effectively organize and promote your event if you decide early on who you are interested in seeing. Consider whether your cause appeals to a specific audience and then figure out what kind of ceremony they’re probably eager to attend.
However, you ought to prioritize guest quality over quantity. It may surprise you to learn that the amount of money you collect at such an event is not directly correlated with the number of attendees. The main factor for your event’s success is the kind of people attending it.
Talk about your perfect guest for a while with your entire team. Each aspect of your promotional efforts, be it social media sharing, radio interviews, or printed flyer distribution, should be tailored to the preferences and viewpoints of your intended audience.
Plan The Event
It’s crucial to plan an event that those supporters will find meaningful and that will motivate them to contribute. A few of the most well-liked forms of charitable events are galas, morning runs, and auctions. The best option you should choose, once again, depends on the kind of audience you are targeting.
If your target audience enjoys activity-based events, a morning run or walk would be a great event. The donation is typically covered by the registration cost. They are also easier to plan for. Galas and auctions, on the other hand, require thorough planning because they are typically large-scale events.
Send Out Emails
If your community already has a mailing list, an email campaign can be a great way to advertise a charity event. Despite its age, email marketing remains a great way to reach out to people who have already shown interest in what you do.
These people on your mailing list are those who have attended past charity events of yours, and they are known as warm leads. They are more likely to join your cause, so, chances are, it will only need a few emails from you to get them to attend the said event.
Still, you need to be smart when composing the messages. Use invitation email templates to make them appear more appealing to the readers. And, don’t overwhelm the readers with too much information. In fact, it is a good idea to “drip-feed” them to create a sense of curiosity.
Use Social Media
Facebook and Instagram are two of the biggest social media websites on the planet, making them excellent for marketing your charity event. They are easy to use and they will work for any kind of audience. All you need to do is make engaging content and use the right hashtags.
However, if your targeted audience is tech-savvy professionals, then maybe you should also use LinkedIn as your promotional channel. Although it is an often underutilized platform, it is actually a wonderful way to help you get in touch with the top people in an industry.
Secure Several Sponsors
Big companies have great marketing strategies in place. They already have their own social media team, PR specialists, promotional channels, etc, and this is the main reason you should try any thinkable way to get them to sponsor your charity event.
Even when it is impossible to get a multinational company to sponsor the event, working with a local business is still a great way to spread the word and make more people attend it. On the other hand, you can also help promote these businesses, making it a two-way collaboration.
The Takeaway
The impact of a successful charity event is obvious. When executed properly, an event can draw in new attendees and raise awareness for a cause. But raising a large amount of money isn’t your only goal here. Before everything, you’ll need to get people to come to your charity event.
Choose who you want to invite and what kind of situation you want to have. Making these choices will help you develop a clear course of action and set the path for all decisions. Additionally, you want to collect money, so keep your expenses low in any way possible.
