Jul/Aug 2009

Question: How can I get participants to publicize my event online?

by Noel Beebe, Product Manager, Convio

Coordinating a fundraising event like a race or a bike ride is grueling work. It’s easy to get swept up in the day-to-day details of answering questions, coordinating logistics, and putting out fires. Frankly, it’s not fair to ask one person to coordinate the entire event, then recruit participants, spread the word, and raise what is likely the largest fundraising contribution to your annual operating budget. So, who should be doing the work of fundraising, advertising, and recruiting? Luckily, you have a secret weapon at your disposal — the most powerful weapon a nonprofit can have — people who are passionate about your cause. With a little prep work, you can hand-off the lion’s share of outreach and fundraising work to your supporters. Here are five tips to outfit your volunteer fundraisers for success. (Click here to download the full guide.)

1. Training Videos
   It never fails, each year you painstakingly write out instructions and document frequently asked questions about your event and post them on your website, but somehow, you still get participants asking all the same questions. The net of it is that people are not willing to dig through pages of content to get the answers they need. People generally are willing, however, to watch a quick video that explains what they want to know. Create a video that shows participants how to register and set up a fundraising page, and explains how the funds they raise will benefit the cause. 
2. Email Templates
   Once your participants are registered for your event and ready to reach out to friends and family, they often turn to email as a way to get the word out and ask for pledges. While some may take the time to carefully craft thoughtful letters about why they are participating and why donors should support them, others may never get around to it simply because they’re not sure what to say or may not have the time figure it out. For the latter group, it's imperative to provide some coaching and sample wording they can use to explain your organization’s mission and call to action. This will help protect the integrity of your mission and brand, and it will give participants an easy place to start when they’re ready to recruit teammates and donors.
3. Incorporate Social Networking
   For the Facebook junkies and Tweeters out there, socially enabling your website content is a must. Where a participant may not take the time to send an email and make a direct fundraising ask, they might publish a link to their fundraising page on Facebook so their friends can choose to join or donate to the event of their own volition. The concept of the “soft ask” is on the rise in the non-committal world of social networking, and may lead to new donors that your participants would not have thought to reach out to directly. You can set up a Twitter account for your event and ask participants to subscribe for updates and coaching. Tweet often, and remind them why they’re participating.
4. Incentive Programs
   If you’re in the event business, you’re already familiar with incentives such as entering their name in a drawing or offering prizes to the top fundraisers. But incentive programs can tell you a lot about your participants and how to motivate them. Set specific fundraising milestones — perhaps $1000 or $2500 — and create programs specifically for participants who reach them. You can usually use online registration systems to run reports to see who’s on their way to meeting these goals; get volunteers to reach out personally and coach these participants until they hit the milestone. Make a special set of event t-shirts for these high-dollar fundraisers and make them feel special.  These will be the people you‘ll want to recruit year after year.
5. Encourage Compelling Content
   Fundraising event participants are a unique audience. They may have a personal connection to your cause, they may have distant ties to your mission, or they may just want to do something good and healthy like running in a 5k with their friends on a Saturday morning. Whatever their inspiration, they have a story to tell about why they want to participate. I’m sorry to break it to you, but most people that make donations to your event don’t do it for you — they do it for the participant that told their story and asked for their support. The best way to grow your event is to get your participants to personalize fundraising pages and emails, and ask for support. Hold contests for the best page, the best picture, or best video on a fundraising page – make it fun!     

Whether or not you choose to adopt these techniques, be sure you encourage your volunteer fundraisers and take the steps to outfit them with the tools they need to tell their story and reach out to their personal network of potential donors. Then get back to answering questions, managing logistics, and putting out fires.