The Busy Fundraiser’s Guide to Multi-Channel Event Marketing

Planning an event is a big job. If you’re planning a virtual event it can be even trickier, especially if you’re working on adapting a traditionally in-person event to take place online. The last thing you want to do when you’re prepping for your auction or 5k is come up with a marketing plan to promote your event. But alas, it must be done. 

The hardest part of marketing a nonprofit event is knowing where to promote it and how to promote it. Learn more about nonprofit event marketing: 

• What is event marketing?
• Types of marketing events
• Nine step event marketing plan
• Types of event marketing
• Measuring event marketing return on investment (ROI)

What is event marketing?

Event marketing involves planning, organizing, and executing marketing campaigns to promote your organization’s upcoming event. It’s a strategic approach to reaching out to your supporters to find the right attendees for your event. From small gatherings to large-scale galas, event marketing can take many forms, each tailored to achieve a successful experience for your attendees.

Key elements of event marketing

To run a successful event marketing campaign, you need to focus on several key elements:

1. Purpose. Clearly define why you’re hosting your event. Is it to raise funds, increase awareness, or build a community?
2. Audience. Know who your target audience is for your event and what they care about.
3. Content. Create engaging content that resonates with your audience.
4. Promotion. Use multiple channels to promote your event and reach a broader audience.
5. Follow-up. Keep the conversation going even after your event ends to maintain engagement.

Benefits of event marketing

Event marketing offers numerous benefits for your nonprofit:

• Enhanced engagement. Events provide a platform for direct interaction, fostering stronger relationships with your audience.
• Increased visibility. A well-promoted event can boost your nonprofit’s visibility and attract new supporters.
• Fundraising opportunities. Events like galas and auctions can serve as significant fundraising avenues.
• Community building. Events create a sense of community among attendees, strengthening their connection to your cause.

Types of marketing events

Different types of events serve various purposes. Here are some popular event types:

Livestreams and webinars

Livestreams and webinars are excellent for reaching a wide audience without geographical limitations. They allow you to share valuable information, host Q&A sessions, and engage with attendees in real time.

Networking events

Networking events enable your donors to connect with like-minded individuals. These events can foster partnerships, collaborations, and a sense of belonging within your community.

Appreciation events

Stewardship is key to retention! Appreciation events are designed to thank your donors, volunteers, and supporters to help build loyalty and show your appreciation for their contributions.

Fundraisers

Fundraisers are a vital source of revenue for nonprofits. They can take many forms, from silent auctions to charity walks, and are a great way for your organization to motivate your supporters to donate.

Conferences

For a larger community event, conferences can offer a platform for thought leadership and education. They provide an opportunity to share insights, host workshops, and engage with industry experts.

Nine step event marketing plan

A well-thought-out event marketing plan is key for your success. Here are a few steps to create one:

1. Choose your team

Start by assembling a dedicated team. It’s important to select individuals who are passionate and bring unique strengths to the table. Each member should have a clear and defined role–whether it’s handling logistics, spearheading promotion efforts, or focusing on attendee engagement. A well-rounded team can address different aspects of your event, allowing them to collaborate effectively to ensure your event’s success and seamless execution. 

2. Set your goals

Define what you want to achieve with your event! Consider whether you’re aiming to raise a specific amount of funds, increase your mailing list subscribers, generate leads, or create awareness about your cause. Clearly outlined goals can guide your planning process while also helping you measure your event’s success. 

3. Brand your marketing to match the event

Ensure your marketing materials align with your event’s theme and purpose. Consistent branding is key across all platforms, from invitations and flyers to social media posts and email campaigns. A cohesive and professional experience for your attendees reinforces your event’s identity and can significantly enhance their perception of the event. Consider the color scheme, messaging style, and overall aesthetic to ensure they resonate with your event’s theme and your nonprofit.

4. Set a budget

Establish a realistic budget that covers all aspects of your event, from venue costs to promotional materials, catering, and entertainment. Look at potential unexpected expenses and build a contingency into your budget to cover unforeseen costs. Sticking to your budget is a great way to avoid overspending and ensure financial success and sustainability.

5. Choose your event audience

Identify your primary audience and tailor your event to meet their preferences and needs. Conduct research or surveys to understand what attracts them, including preferred event formats, content, and activities. This targeted approach helps ensure higher engagement, satisfaction, and attendance rates. Knowing your audience also allows you to create personalized experiences that resonate for a more successful event.

6. Create an event marketing timeline

Develop a detailed timeline that outlines when and how you’ll promote your event. Include key dates for launching email campaigns, scheduling social media posts, and issuing press releases. A well-organized timeline helps maintain momentum in the lead-up to the event and helps make sure no promotional opportunity is missed. Break down your marketing tasks into manageable steps and assign responsibilities to your team members to ensure timely execution.

7. Use compelling visuals

Visual content is one of the best ways to grab attention and spark interest online! Use high-quality images and engaging videos to promote your event. Compelling visuals make your marketing materials stand out and can significantly boost engagement and interest. You can also leverage software to enhance visual quality and creativity.

8. Follow up with attendees

After your event, follow up with your attendees to thank them for coming and gather valuable feedback. Use surveys or direct communication to understand their experience and thoughts. This not only helps maintain engagement and build relationships but also provides insights to improve future events. 

9. Share the event online afterward

Post-event content, such as photos, videos, and testimonials, can extend the life of your event online. Share these on social media, your website, and in newsletters to keep the momentum going, increase reach, and further engage with your audience. Highlighting key moments and achievements can reinforce your event’s success and attract more interest for future events. Encourage attendees to contribute their own content, creating a sense of community and shared experience.

Types of event marketing

Here are some of the main marketing channels for events:

Direct mail

Ah, direct mail. The subject of countless think pieces and debates in the nonprofit world. Does it work? Does it not work? Is it worth the cost?

Two things. First, direct mail is 100% worth it, especially if you’re using it to ask for donations. Less data exists about using direct mail to promote events. Even less data exists about using direct mail to promote virtual events.

Is direct mail right for your organization?

Is this the best marketing channel for you? Ask yourself:

• Is there enough time between now and my event to create and send a good direct mail piece?
• Do I have a group of donors who regularly respond to direct mail?
• If yes, do those people also regularly attend events?
• Do the demographics of people who respond to direct mail also match up with the demographics of people who would be likely to attend this event?

Lots of events, especially virtual ones, appeal to very specific demographics. If your direct mail donors tend not to attend events or aren’t likely to respond to your event, don’t stress yourself out trying to send an invitation. If you’re running a peer-to-peer event, for example, and know your direct mail supporters tend to be older donors who don’t engage with you much online, you can save yourself some trouble.

How to succeed with direct mail

If you’re looking to promote your events via direct mail, here are some steps to take to make the biggest impact:

• Target donors based on event interests
• Prioritize donors who have a history of responding to direct mail
• Be explicit about your event details, especially if it’s a virtual event
• Tell donors exactly why (and how) to participate

For best results, send your direct mail updates a couple of weeks before your event. People who respond to direct mail appeals, as a general rule, are also active on social media. Reiterate your update on other channels to drive everything home.

Email

One of the interesting outcomes of COVID-19 is how much of our lives have moved online. If you’re promoting an event—especially a virtual one that will take place online anyway—email is going to be an important marketing avenue for you.

Email works for every kind of event you can think of—traditional events, giving days, peer-to-peer events, auctions, and anything else you pull together.

According to our Generational Giving Report – Volume 2, most generations of donors are subscribed to a nonprofit’s email list:

• 52% of Gen Z 
• 60% of Millennials
• 65% of Gen X
• 68% of Baby Boomers

Is email right for your organization?

Is this a good marketing channel for you? Hint: the answer is probably “yes”—especially since more and more people are relying on email and other digital communications these days. Ask yourself:

• Do you have a solid list of people who engage with your emails?
• How can you segment your email to be most effective?

How to succeed with email

Since you’re almost undoubtedly going to be sending email invitations, here are some steps you can take to make it most successful:

• Send targeted emails to different groups (ex: people who have attended the event in the past, people who have engaged with you recently, people who you haven’t heard from in a while, etc.)
• Spend time writing eye-catching subject lines so your email isn’t lost in your donors’ inboxes
• Have clear calls to action (CTAs) that leave no doubt about what you want supporters to do (think “Register,” “Buy Tickets Today,” “RSVP,” etc.)
• Accompany your CTA with a link to the correct page
• Send multiple emails leading up to the event

Email is one of our primary means of communication. It’s an easy way to contact your supporters to let them know about your upcoming event, but it’s important to take steps to make your email compelling enough that donors open it. Get started with these Fundraising Templates!

Social media

Like email, social media usage is almost ubiquitous these days. Love it or hate it, you’re going to have to use it to promote your event. Social media is by far one of the most popular ways people get news about their favorite nonprofits, and each generation uses it!

But that doesn’t mean you have to market your event on every single social media channel out there. Here are some tips for choosing the best ones:

Facebook

Most of your constituents are probably on Facebook. It’s one of the most widely used social media channels, and it’s especially popular with supporters in the Baby Boomer and Generation X generations. It’s also a useful marketing tool because of its extensive toolset for boosting and sponsoring posts!

Is Facebook right for your organization?

Facebook will be a good fit for you if:

• Your target audience is a donor from the Baby Boomer, Gen X, or Millennial generation
• You’ve got a base of people who regularly see and interact with your posts
• You want to target specific groups of people with sponsored or boosted posts

How to succeed with Facebook

To make promoting your event on Facebook successful, try:

• Creating an event page on Facebook that links to where donors can register for your event
• Sharing your event page to your primary Facebook Page on a regular basis
• Encouraging people to register/participate on your primary Page and posting event-specific updates (parking instructions, venue changes, fundraising toolkits, virtual race instructions, etc.) to your event page

Facebook is still one of the most valuable social media channels available to a nonprofit. Use it wisely!

X (Formerly Twitter)

Some nonprofits thrive on X. Some don’t. If you’re not actively engaging with your X followers on a regular basis, don’t worry about building an entire X campaign for your event.

Is X right for your organization?

X will be a good fit for you if you:

• Are already actively interacting with the X community
• Have a base of X followers who engage with you
• Are running a large-scale event that’s open to a large number of people
• Want to encourage participants and attendees to share your event using a specific hashtag

X is exceptionally useful for peer-to-peer style events. Encourage sharing this way by adding social sharing buttons to your event page!

How to succeed with X

Be successful on X by:

• Posting regularly—X is an inherently fast-paced channel and it’s easy to get lost in your followers’ feeds
• Consistently using hashtags to promote your event and get your promotions in front of prospective participants or attendees
• Coordinating with supporters who will serve as brand ambassadors by sharing your content
• Remember to link to your registration page!

X is a unique platform that appeals to a specific segment of users. If you decide to use it, you’ll want to put together a comprehensive plan for promoting your event! But, for the right organization and the right event, it can be a fantastic resource.

Instagram

It’s owned by Facebook, but Instagram’s audience is pretty different from Facebook’s. While Baby Boomers and Generation X are the generations that are most active on Facebook, Millennials and Generation Z tend to be more active on Instagram. Instagram is an image- and video-based social channel, so be prepared to spend some time working on pictures and videos.

Is Instagram right for your organization?

Instagram will be a good fit for you if you:

• Are trying to engage or connect with younger donors
• Are comfortable being in front of a camera (or asking others to be in front of a camera)
• Have some experience with Canva, Photoshop, or other tools that will let you create images that include graphic elements and text

How to succeed with Instagram

Make your activity on Instagram successful by:

• Creating a mix of posts and stories
• Posting regularly to keep your audiences engaged and excited about your event
• Sharing sneak peeks and live updates about your event preparation
• Readily interacting with people who respond to your posts and stories
• Cross posting some (not all!) of your posts to Facebook

Instagram is a great platform to explore if you’re looking to engage younger supporters. Because it’s easy to share Instagram posts to Facebook, it’s also a good way to get some extra mileage from your image posts.

Outbound text messaging

Should you use outbound text messaging to promote your upcoming event? It’s an effective communication tool—text messages have a 98% open rate, which is higher than just about any other communication method. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s not the best tool for everyone.

If you decide to use outbound text messaging to promote your event, try creating a unique list of registrants. That way, you can send event updates to participants without bothering others with irrelevant information.

Is outbound text messaging right for your organization?

Sending outbound text messages to your donors to promote an upcoming event is a good idea if you:

• Have a list of donors (and their phone numbers) who have opted into receiving text messages from you
• Know that the people on your list are open to receiving texts from you about events (as opposed to wanting texts about specific programs or campaigns)
• Know that the people on your list are likely to attend your event (example: you wouldn’t want to text message a list of high-school volunteers about a swanky gala)

How to succeed with outbound text messaging

If you do decide to use outbound text messaging to promote your event, these tips will help you make the most of your outreach:

• Keep text messages short, sweet, and compelling
• Include a link to your registration page
• Only send one or two text messages–texts are powerful, but they can also become annoying and intrusive very quickly
• If you have one, prioritize sending texts to a list of people who have attended events in the past

Text messaging isn’t the right tool for everyone, and there are ways to market your event effectively without using it. If you already have an outbound text messaging tool and an engaged group of donors who have opted into receiving them, text messages can be an efficient way to spread the word about your event. See how Qgiv’s Text Fundraising Platform can help you boost registrations!

Measuring event marketing return on investment (ROI)

Measuring the success of your event marketing efforts is essential. Here are some metrics to consider:

• Registration. Keep track of the number of registrations to gauge interest and reach. This helps in understanding the effectiveness of your promotion strategies and the overall appeal of the event to your target audience.
• Revenue. Monitor the funds raised during the event to measure its financial success. This includes ticket sales, sponsorships, merchandise, and donations, providing insight into the event’s profitability and potential for future investment.
• Engagement. Analyze attendee engagement through social media interactions, Q&A participation, and feedback forms. High engagement levels indicate a successful connection with the audience and can highlight areas where your event truly resonated with participants.
• Attendee feedback. Collect detailed feedback from attendees to understand what worked well and what could be improved. This information is invaluable for refining future events, enhancing attendee experience, and addressing any issues that may have arisen.
• Conversion. Evaluate how many attendees took action, such as signing up for your newsletter, registering for upcoming events, or making a donation, post-event. Conversion rates reflect the effectiveness of your call-to-action and the overall impact of your event on attendees’ future behavior.

Final thoughts

Planning a great fundraising event takes tons of time, effort, and organization. The last thing you need is to try to run a marketing campaign that sucks up too much of your energy! Use this guide to figure out which of the most common marketing channels is the best fit for you. If a tool doesn’t suit your needs or if your audiences aren’t active on a particular channel, cut it! You can spend the time you save promoting your event on the channels you know will work.

Additional resources

Looking for more marketing resources? Don’t miss these:

• Nonprofit Marketing: The Ultimate Guide. Check out this guide to learn more about nonprofit marketing.
• 60+ Nonprofit Marketing Ideas That Get Results. Get inspired with this list of marketing ideas for nonprofits! 
• How to Promote an Event on Instagram to Boost Attendance. Learn more about promoting your event on Instagram with this guide.