5 Digital-Based Strategies to Use for a Smooth Nonprofit Event Planning Process

There is nothing like planning and preparing for your next nonprofit event! We know they are such a fun and exciting way to connect with your potential donors. 

We also know that the nonprofit event planning process can be hectic (if not completely chaotic!). 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You know how we feel about nonprofit technology. And it’s here to the rescue again! 

We’ve got 5 digital-based strategies for you to use for a smoother nonprofit event planning process! 

Why Use Digital-Based Strategies for Your Nonprofit Event Planning? 

Planning ahead is going to save you so much stress and heartache (and headaches!) from your nonprofit event planning process. 

And using digital strategies makes everything so much smoother, too. 

The purpose of nonprofit events is usually to either bring in more donations or build nonprofit awareness among new, potential supporters. 

So, naturally, your nonprofit will more than likely receive an influx of both donations and donor information all at once. 

And without digital strategies, you’re left to deal with everything manually. 

How to Plan a Nonprofit Event: 5 Digital-Based Strategies for Smoother Nonprofit Event Planning: 

We know. Planning for nonprofit fundraising events (whether they’re virtual or in-person) takes a lot of preparation. 

Not only do you have to get decor, food and beverage, and other prep work done for the actual event, you have to be prepared for the behind-the-scenes work, too. 

When it comes to how to plan a nonprofit event, don’t forget these 5 digital-based strategies! 

1. Have a Nonprofit Event Marketing Plan Ahead of Time:

Before the big event, you need to get the word out there that it’s even happening. We encourage word-of-mouth advertising, but that’s only going to get you so far. 

Planning out a nonprofit event marketing strategy beforehand is going to make sure you get all of the attendees you were expecting. 

Give yourself plenty of time to map out your digital marketing strategy for your nonprofit event. And give yourself plenty of time to implement the strategy itself. 

We recommend spreading awareness about your upcoming nonprofit fundraising event at least one month to 6 weeks in advance. 

Here’s a quick strategy you can put to work: 

Use Your Social Media and Paid Ad Campaigns

If you’re on social media, whether you’re focusing on organic content or paid social media ads, use your platforms to your advantage. 

Create content that spreads the word about your upcoming nonprofit event. You can use some of your social media ad content to drive traffic to your fundraising event page. There, they can directly sign up for tickets! 

Or, if you’re planning on launching ticket sales on a specific date, don’t wait until that date to spread the word. Instead, get the word out about the upcoming fundraising event. And then use your social media content to drive traffic to your email list as a waitlist! 

You can even start doing this once you know the exact date your nonprofit event will be on and when you’ll be launching ticket sales. 

Drive Your Ads to Your Nonprofit Email List

We know that email marketing is one of the best ways to engage your potential donors! So, if you’ve driven your audience to your nonprofit email list from your social content, then be sure to keep up with them. 

Keep sending out updates about your nonprofit organization to nurture your email list. Then, every so often, you can sprinkle in an update or a reminder about ticket sales for the upcoming nonprofit event. 

Encourage Your Nonprofit Email List to Sign Up for the Upcoming Event

Once you launch your ticket sales, start including links and calls to action in your nonprofit emails to encourage people to sign up. 

The links can go straight to your fundraising event page. And you’ll be able to see who’s clicked on links using your nonprofit email marketing platform. 

2. Prepare in Advance for the Influx of New Prospects:

If all goes according to plan, your nonprofit is going to get a wave of new prospect information! 

That’s an exciting benefit to nonprofit event planning! But if you’re not prepared in advance, you may end up manually inputting all of that donor data into the system. 

So when it comes to how to plan a fundraising event, be sure you’re prepared ahead of time for the information. 

Here’s a way to do it: 

Get Your Nonprofit CRM In Working Order Beforehand

Is your nonprofit CRM is set up properly before the nonprofit event? You’re going to notice the entire planning process runs so much smoother. 

Your nonprofit CRM software can be configured to automatically create new donor profiles without you having to do it manually.

So, let’s say you’re marketing your upcoming fundraising event on social media or through your nonprofit email list. 

When someone purchases a ticket to your event, they’re more than likely going to need to give some information. That usually includes their name, their email address, and maybe their billing information. 

You can set your nonprofit technology (like your online donation platform that hosts your signup page) and your nonprofit CRM software to link up. That way when someone signs up for tickets to your event, their information is automatically populated into your nonprofit CRM. 

Bam! No having to manually enter information yourself. And that’s going to save you so much time and effort during the nonprofit event planning process!

3. Make It Easy for Attendees to Sign Into the Event: 

Now, as you go through the nonprofit event planning process, you’re going to want to set everything up to be a raging success.

And that is going to keep potential donors (and new donors!) coming back to every event you have in the future! 

One of the things to prepare for is reducing any friction or frustration when attendees get to the door. 

And you know we’ve got a digital-based strategy to help you. 

Find a fundraising or event planning software to make the process of purchasing tickets and entering into the event a breeze. Your supporters are sure to give you a glowing review after that! 

Here’s what to look for: 

• A nonprofit event planning software that makes the signup and payment process simple and secure. Make sure it’s a software that only asks for the necessities when it comes to donor information. And be sure that it doesn’t take too much of their time! Otherwise, you might run the risk of seeing a dip in ticket purchases. 

• An event planning software that operates on an electronic ticketing system. That means your donors don’t have to print out and keep track of paper tickets. And your volunteers working the front door won’t have to worry about it either! 

4. Train Your Nonprofit Volunteers for the Big Day: 

The last thing you want for your donors and your volunteers are people working the event who don’t know what they’re supposed to do. 

That’s a great way for your donors to feel like you didn’t prepare enough. And it’s a great way to kiss repeat volunteers goodbye. 

There’s an easy fix for it, though! 

Train your nonprofit volunteers for the big day. If you have set shifts and tasks you want your volunteers to do, be sure to walk them through it. 

And here’s the great thing about doing this: you can record your volunteer training once. Then, you can use the same volunteer training videos for every future nonprofit event the videos apply to! 

For example, if you have volunteers who are going to scan tickets at the door? Create a training video that walks them through how to use any specific devices. Upload that to your volunteer management software. And then you’re good to go for any future nonprofit events, too! 

5. Set Your Nonprofit Software Up to Collect Nonprofit Event Data from the Get-Go:

Data is the key to making sure all of your next nonprofit events are even greater than this one! 

Because each time you collect nonprofit data, you get more of an understanding of what works for your supporters and your organization. 

So always set up your nonprofit software to collect event data from the very beginning! 

Use analytics on your nonprofit email marketing software to see if sending updates on ticket purchases via email works for your audience. 

Pull reports from your nonprofit CRM to get valuable insights into who showed up and how else they interact with your organization. 

And prepare a post-event nonprofit survey to send out to attendees! Get their first-hand experience in writing so you know what to improve on for next time. 

When it comes to how to plan a fundraising event, we know there’s a lot on your plate. But these 5 digital-based strategies for nonprofit event planning are sure to help! 

And if you want to make sure this upcoming event (and all future nonprofit events!) boost fundraising revenue and bring a return on investment, then check out this nonprofit training below: