Building Market Awareness 

Building awareness is fundamental to successful fundraising, and quarterly raffles serve as a powerful tool in achieving this goal. By strategically promoting these events through social media, email newsletters, and community partnerships, charities can effectively raise their profile in the market. 

Quarterly raffles provide a regular touchpoint to showcase your charity’s mission and impact. Through engaging and shareable content, you can not only promote the raffle itself but also tell compelling stories about the work your organization is doing. This storytelling approach resonates with audiences, fostering a deeper connection and making your charity more memorable in the minds of potential donors.

Identifying High-Potential Donors 

A hidden gem within quarterly raffles is the ability to identify high-value donors within your supporter base. When individuals participate by donating alongside their raffle ticket purchases, they express a commitment to your cause. By analyzing the data collected during these transactions, charities can identify patterns and behaviors that may indicate a higher likelihood of ongoing support, and potentially becoming long term donors for your organization.

This valuable information can be used to segment donors based on their level of engagement, allowing charities to tailor their communication and nurture strategies for each group. This personalized approach is key to building lasting relationships with high-potential donors who are likely to contribute significantly to the organization’s success.

Consistency Without Donor Fatigue 

The frequency of fundraising events is a delicate balance that charities must strike. Too few events may result in missed opportunities, while too many can lead to donor fatigue. Quarterly raffles offer a middle ground, providing a consistent presence without overwhelming your audience.

The beauty of a quarterly schedule lies in its predictability. Donors can anticipate and look forward to these events, creating a sense of excitement and engagement. By optimizing content to communicate the unique aspects of each raffle, charities can ensure that participants remain interested and motivated to contribute, avoiding the risk of boredom or apathy.

To maintain this delicate balance, it’s crucial to tailor your communication strategy to each raffle. This not only keeps the narrative fresh but also reinforces the idea that each raffle contributes to a larger, ongoing mission.

Quarterly raffles are a strategic powerhouse for charities, offering a trifecta of benefits – building market awareness, identifying high-potential donors, and maintaining consistent engagement without inducing donor fatigue. The quarterly rhythm provides a structured yet dynamic approach to donor engagement, ensuring that your charity remains at the forefront of supporters’ minds. Embrace the transformative potential of quarterly raffles, and watch as your charity not only raises funds but also builds lasting connections and awareness in the communities it serves.

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That’s where this guide comes in—here, we’ll cover the timeline to successful nonprofit event planning, so you know what to do and exactly when to do it. With this timeline, you won’t have to worry about missing deadlines, empowering you to event plan with confidence. Let’s begin!

A Year Before Event Day

Give yourself plenty of time to plan your event by starting the process a year or more before the event date. At this point, you’ll lay the groundwork for your event by completing big-picture tasks, including:

• Forming an event planning team. Decide which individuals should be a part of your team and their unique responsibilities. For instance, you may designate one individual to serve as your event’s marketing director and assemble a marketing committee. Then, you can ask this sub-team to create and execute a strategic plan to promote your event to your target audience.
• Establishing event purpose and goals. At this point, you’ll decide on your event’s purpose, which may be fundraising, advocacy, showing appreciation, or community engagement, and set relevant goals. For example, if you’re hosting a fundraising event, your goal might be to raise $100,000 in donations.
• Researching event dates and venues. Determine the best possible dates for your event and which venue would be well-suited for it. To maximize attendance, your event should fall on a day with no special significance and no other events scheduled. You’ll also decide if your event is in-person, hybrid, or virtual, and outline a few appropriate venues if it is in-person or hybrid.

Additionally, you should have a general idea of the budget for this event. If you’d like additional funding, contact sponsors and major donors and ask if they’d be willing to contribute financially to your nonprofit event.

To ensure that your big-picture planning efforts are the best they can be, don’t hesitate to study additional resources, such as Elevate’s recommended fundraising books, which will help you discover new insights and strategies for any fundraising event.

Six Months Before Event Day

At this point, important details need to be finalized, such as your event date, venue, theme, and branding, allowing your team to move on to the finer points of event planning. This includes:

• Obtaining necessary permits, licenses, and insurance
• Securing sponsorship agreements and major gifts
• Creating your event marketing strategy
• Booking vendors and suppliers

This is also a great time to look into the tech tools you need to make your event a success. Pick tools that integrate with your existing solutions and one another for a smooth experience. For instance, if you’re using Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT (RE NXT) as your nonprofit’s CRM and need a fully integrated fundraising solution, you can implement Trellis’s fundraising platform. Read more about it here!

Three Months Before Event Day

This is where you get into the nitty-gritty, locking down all the smaller details in time for your event. These include:

• Event program and agenda
• Speakers, presenters, and entertainment
• Event materials and collateral, including signage
• Event registration and ticketing

At this point, you should begin promoting your event to your target audience. This means creating an event webpage on your nonprofit’s website, making social media posts about the event, and spotlighting it in email newsletters. Include the link to register for your event so supporters can easily purchase their tickets.

A Week Before Event Day

The days just before event day should be dedicated to ensuring that everything runs smoothly on event day. To do that, you should:

• Confirm all event logistics and arrangements
• Finalize your attendee list and seating arrangements
• Review staff and volunteer event schedules
• Review emergency and contingency plans

You can also take this time to make one last marketing push to capture as many attendees as possible. For instance, if you wish to target existing supporters who haven’t registered for your event, you may use SMS or text message marketing to reach them. Mogli recommends sending texts to remind supporters about your event and encourage them to register, such as by messaging, “You’re invited to our Valentine’s-themed gala to end child hunger! Accept your invite by clicking the following link. We’re excited to see you there!”

Event Day

Start your big event day by setting up your event venue and signage. Then, double-check all equipment and technology to ensure they’re functioning properly. For instance, if you’re hosting an auction, ensure your bidding software works as intended.

After setting up, you can begin checking in and welcoming your guests. When the event gets underway, you’ll oversee activities and keep your event on schedule. You’ll also address any issues as they arise—and it’s perfectly normal for your event to hit a few snags!

For instance, if a volunteer fails to show up, you can resolve the issue by asking your other volunteers if they’d be willing to take the shift. You may also create an on-call volunteer list as a contingency plan ahead of time—that way, if there are any no-shows, you know that volunteers are available to take their spots.

Post-Event Day

Your work isn’t over after your event is done. Aside from taking down your setup, you should also take the time to evaluate the performance of your event by:

• Collecting feedback from attendees, sponsors, and partners. It’s customary to send a thank you message to these groups at the end of an event. Use this opportunity to also send a feedback survey asking what they enjoyed about your event and what could be improved. Note down any popular feedback and assess how you should address them.
• Measuring event success against objectives and goals. Using reporting and analytics tools, determine whether you met your objectives for your event. If you did, note down any particularly useful strategies that helped you do so. If not, consider what you could have improved to meet your goals.
• Document important insights or best practices for future events. Take the insights gleaned from the feedback and event metrics and document them for reference when planning future events.

The end of a successful event also presents an opportunity to strengthen relationships with your supporters and convert them into long-term donors who are committed to your cause. If you’d like to build connections beyond sending thank-you notes and requesting feedback, check out our guide to building donor relationships after events.

Planning a nonprofit event is energy and resource-intensive, so give yourself enough time to host a memorable and impactful event that helps power your nonprofit’s mission. With this timeline, you can confidently stay on top of all your event planning tasks, ensuring you’re on track to host a successful event.

The post The Event Planning Timeline: A Quick Guide for Nonprofits appeared first on Trellis.

At the same time, many organizations face restrictive budgetary constraints that slow their progress. For example, the 2022 United States hospital operating margins averaged 0.2%, indicating that all the year’s income was accounted for and spent. Although this measure signals efficiency, it also indicates that healthcare spending is tight.

To overcome this barrier, these organizations can benefit from data-backed, targeted fundraising campaigns that sustainably raise support. In this guide, we’ll uncover how you can use healthcare data to build and improve your fundraising strategies. Let’s begin.

What data should you collect?

Solid data can transform your fundraising strategies by adding impactful storytelling, evidence-based proposals, informed donor cultivation, and many other valuable tools and tactics to your fundraising toolbox. 

That said, patient privacy should be upheld while you make fundraising progress. This means your organization must adhere to HIPAA guidelines to maintain patient trust, organizational credibility, and legal standards. Specifically, HIPAA outlines the following data as permissible to collect for fundraising use:

• Patient information (name, address, phone/email, date of birth, age, gender, etc.)
• Health insurance coverage status
• Dates during which they received care
• Treating physician information
• The general type of department where a patient receives care
• General outcome

Information that requires explicit patient consent includes the diagnosis, nature of services, and treatment to uphold privacy standards. While keeping compliance the top priority, your organization can still leverage population health data and insights to level up your strategy. Let’s explore how in the next section. 

3 Ways Data Can Improve Your Healthcare Fundraising Strategies

1. Data can align your fundraising objectives

A comprehensive data platform can give your organization clear fundraising objectives to work toward by offering a bird’s-eye view of population health trends, internal performance benchmarks, and patient outcomes tracking. 

For example, let’s say you’ve raised more support than you predicted by the end of the year and now have to make a strategic decision about where those funds should be allocated. You can use dashboard visualization to see which areas could most benefit from increased funding by researching:

• Basic quality metrics like readmission rates, infection rates, and patient safety measures as compared to national benchmarks. For example, if you find that your post-surgical unit’s readmission rate is 15% higher than the national average, this would indicate an opportunity to launch a new quality improvement program with advanced technology and enhanced training. 
• Overall operational performance of providers to see a clear window into your organization’s effectiveness and efficiency. Using these metrics, you can formulate actionable fiscal recommendations such as reallocating the surplus of funds to enhance the capabilities of high-performing providers which may include resources, training, or equipment.
• High-risk members to pinpoint local communities with specific healthcare needs. For example, you might find that children with asthma from low-income families are disproportionately suffering due to an intense wildfire season. You can then use your funds toward more streamlined outreach programs that provide air quality warnings and preventive respiratory best practices.

By examining the above metrics and more, your organization can make timely and informed decisions about where to direct your healthcare fundraising efforts. This way, you’ll help donors better understand how their contributions are fulfilling a distinct and relevant need.

2. Data can enhance your grateful patients’ program

A grateful patient program is a donation program offered by hospitals and healthcare institutions that targets individuals who have the potential to become major donors. They work by raising financial support for an institution and giving patients and their families a defined opportunity to express their gratitude. To keep your program relevant and effective, you can use data to accomplish the following objectives:

• Create prospect profiles to note a donor’s affinity, propensity, and capacity to give.
• Match donor profiles to causes they’d be most interested in supporting to increase fundraising appeal relevance.
• Build a compelling case for support that facilitates connections between your organization and prospective donors once they’ve been identified. 
• Plan and organize a long-term engagement strategy that keeps donors in the loop by sharing outcomes, innovations, and updates.

To keep your prospect data clean and organized, consider investing in a CRM that makes your job easier. For instance, many modern systems include AI and machine learning tools that automate data collection and organization. Then, all your team has to do is launch and maintain outreach based on your collected insights.

3. Data can enhance your fundraising events 

Healthcare data provides valuable insights and strategies that can improve event planning, donor engagement, and fundraising outcomes. 

In this case, you could use both previous fundraising data in addition to HIPAA-compliant patient data to drive impact. As an example, let’s look at ways you can use data to sharpen your fundraising auction event:  

• Segment your donor database based on factors like medical interests, past contributions, or specific program affiliations to determine which donors would make promising auction attendees based on their connection to your cause. 
• Share relevant outcome metrics that indicate the tangible connection between donations and the impact they created. This could include mentioning how the funds enhanced medical research or strengthened a specific program. As a result, these metrics will solidify your organization’s reputation and foster trust. 
• Share a patient or provider testimonial at your event to personalize your fundraising strategy and drive home how positive metrics affect patient and provider success. For example, a provider may share how their access to new medical technology has enabled them to serve more patients and experience a decreased readmission rate.

By sharing concrete data like this before, during, and after your event, you’ll encourage your event attendees to become long-term donors. As a result, you’ll be able to establish a predictable donation pipeline to fuel your institution’s success. 

According to BWF’s 2023 healthcare study, 78.2% of high-income donors consider healthcare to be a top priority when determining where to direct their charitable giving. You can tap into this generosity by making data-backed proposals, spotlighting programs in need of funding, and making informed, sensitive, and patient-centered philanthropic decisions.

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One often overlooked source of revenue nonprofits can leverage during fundraising events is matching gifts. Matching gifts are a CSR program offered by businesses to match employees’ donations to nonprofits, usually at a dollar-per-dollar rate. This applies to donations made almost under any circumstance, including regular online donations, donations through peer-to-peer campaigns, and of course, donations made during a fundraising event. 

However, in the excitement of an event, supporters may not be thinking of matching gifts or even assume it’s not worth it to bother making a matching gift during the middle of an event. 

To help your nonprofit earn more through matching gifts, this guide will explore how your nonprofit can incorporate matching gifts into your fundraising events from beginning to end.  

Provide matching gift information.

Earning matching gift donations during events can be a challenge because many of your supporters likely aren’t familiar with matching gifts. This means one of your first steps is to share educational resources with your supporters about matching gifts. 

Normally, nonprofits promote matching gifts by creating a page on their website, sending out emails and letters, or making social media posts about corporate giving programs. However, during an event, your supporters will be focused on the activity or presentation at hand. 

Determine what need-to-know information about matching gifts should be shared during your event. After all, there’s a lot to say about matching gifts, and your educational content should be concise to retain event attendees’ attention. 

One way to hold supporters’ attention is to create a matching gift video that you can show during your event. To engage supporters, make sure this video is:

• Short and to the point. Your video should be a minute and a half maximum. Grab supporters’ attention quickly with striking visuals or a bold statement that would make someone want to learn more. For example, start the video by informing viewers that over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs. Then, stick to the basics and take advantage of the video format by making sure something interesting is happening on screen the entire time. 
• Accessible. When designing a video for an event, consider the perspective of all of your guests, including those sitting in a back row or passively watching while waiting in a line. Make your video accessible to all of your supporters by including large closed captions. This also makes it so you can easily play the video without sound if need be. 
• Actionable. After viewing your video, supporters should know exactly what their next actions should be. Provide a call to action at the end of your video, such as encouraging supporters to find more information on your website, donate right then and there, or check with their employers about their matching gift eligibility.  

Video can set your nonprofit apart and help you raise more, especially as an increasing number of social media sites are pivoting to promoting short-form videos. Consider uploading your matching gift video to your social media profiles after your event to reach even more supporters. 

Simplify the matching gift process.

A major reason qualifying supporters don’t make the leap to turn their donations into matching gifts is because the process may seem too complex or inconvenient. Plus, these supporters have already just made the effort of donating and likely won’t be thrilled to learn there’s still more information to look up and forms to fill out, especially when they want to get back to enjoying your event. 

Fortunately, technology can help make the process as simple as possible. Numerous software solutions have features that make giving during an event quick and easy. For example, some auction solutions prompt event attendees to opt into donating their auction bids so they can still support the nonprofit even if they don’t place the winning bid. 

Of course, the main type of software to be aware of when it comes to matching gifts is matching gift software. These solutions help supporters find their employer’s matching gift programs and sometimes even submit their match requests. Double the Donation’s guide to matching gift eligibility explains the type of information these platforms can share with donors:

• Employment duration. Many companies require employees to have a certain length of employment before they become eligible for a matching gift. Usually, this is between six months and a year. 
• Employee level. Most businesses with matching gift programs will match all employees, but some restrict matching gifts to more senior positions, such as executive and director-level roles. 
• Employment status. Usually, matching gift programs are open to all full-time employees, but some generous programs also allow part-time employees and retirees to get their gifts matched. 
• Employee family. If a qualifying employee has a spouse, they may be able to get their gifts matched by their partner’s employer, as well. 

Matching gift software will also provide the next steps for eligible donors to submit their match requests. This usually involves logging into their company’s CSR software and filling out an application for their employer. To encourage supporters to take this step after your event, make sure to use your matching gift software to follow up with them. 

Follow-up afterward the event. 

To drive matching gift requests to completion, check in with match-eligible donors as part of your event follow-up process. Funds2Orgs’s fundraising event planning guide recommends planning how to thank donors for their attendance before even hosting your event and suggests a few ways you can show appreciation for donors who went out of their way to submit a matching gift request:

• Thank-you letters. Mailed thank-you letters are the most traditional way to thank supporters, and they’ve stood the test of time for a reason. Create a letter template that thanks supporters and has spaces to add information about their attendance, such as if they donated, if they submitted a matching gift request, or if your nonprofit has already received a check from their employer. 
• eCards. Add a little fun to your event follow-up by sending eCards. eCards are electronic postcards sent via email, text messages, and sometimes even social media. Add branded designs, animations, and personal messages that reference the specific contributions each recipient made. 
• Impact reports. Let attendees know whether your event succeeded in its fundraising goal, what that means for your nonprofit, and how their specific contributions helped. For match-eligible donors, consider sharing how much your nonprofit received in corporate gifts so they understand just how big an impact their matching gift request made. 

Following up isn’t just about securing matching gifts; it also helps you secure donor relationships. To track your attendees and build long-term connections with them, use event software that integrates with your CRM. For example, nonprofits using Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge NXT will be happy to know Trellis has an easy integration with their platform. 

Events are an opportunity to earn donations, connect with supporters, and spread awareness for your cause. Improve your fundraising by making matching gifts a part of your events, and be sure to consider the guest experience at every point, whether it involves making information easy to find, helping them through the matching process, and thanking them for going the extra mile to help your cause.

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You’re already passionate about the cause your event will support. You just need to communicate that passion to the right audience through the right channels and motivate others to feel just as excited about your event. Whether you’re hosting an online auction or your annual charity run, effective marketing is one of the primary keys to success—and luckily, you don’t have to blow your budget out of the water.

To help you reimagine your approach to event promotion, this article introduces three cost-effective lifelines: Google Ads, email, and community partnerships. These budget-friendly strategies are game-changers that can elevate your event marketing from under-the-radar to unmissable.

Advertise Your Event on Google.

Online advertising is a cornerstone of effective event promotion due to its advanced targeting capabilities. Luckily, digital advertising platforms recognize that nonprofits operate on limited budgets, and many offer discounted (or free!) access to verified organizations. That means paid advertising isn’t just for corporate giants.

Through the Google Ad Grant program, eligible nonprofit organizations receive $10,000 per month in free advertising on Google Search. This grant can be a game-changer for nonprofits looking to promote their events to wider audiences without the financial burden typically associated with online advertising.

As the world’s most popular search engine, Google is the perfect addition to your event marketing strategy. Simply apply to the program through Google for Nonprofits and create ads to promote different areas of your cause, like your upcoming event. Here are some tips to create powerful ads for your next event:

• Start with an optimized event landing page. Your ads should drive users to this page, so optimize it for conversions. Brand the page to your cause, explain how the event supports your work, include participatory information, and add clear CTAs.
• Research keywords. Next, identify keywords that potential attendees will likely use when searching for events like yours, like “5K run for heart disease research” or “wildlife conservation fundraiser.” You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner to get keyword suggestions and metrics like search volume.
• Write compelling ads. Craft impactful ads that underscore your event’s unique impact. Use persuasive CTAs like “Your Impact Awaits – Register Now!” for immediate action, and include keywords with captivating headlines and descriptions that emphasize urgency. Enhance your ads with callout extensions like “Free Admission,” “Special Guests,” or “Fundraising for Homelessness Prevention” for added appeal.

From here, use geotargeting to narrow down your audience for events like in-person auctions and ad scheduling to control when your ads appear based on specific days and times. Then, push your ads live. These nonprofit advertising tactics are more technical and often best handled by a professional. Consider turning to a Google Grants manager to handle your ads and promote different aspects of your mission beyond your events.

Market Your Nonprofit’s Event Via Email.

Getting Attention’s nonprofit digital marketing guide describes email as the bread and butter of nonprofit marketing thanks to advanced customization options and the ability to deliver outreach directly to supporters’ inboxes. Email is responsible for an incredible amount of online revenue, making it the perfect avenue for sharing your event with supporters. After all, you already know everyone on your email list is interested in your cause!

If your subscriber list is lacking, gather email addresses through your website and social media first. Encourage sign-ups by highlighting the value subscribers will receive, such as early bird event info, exclusive content, or insights into your cause. From here, start promoting your event. Here are some tried-and-true tips for making the most of this channel:

• Craft engaging subject lines and calls to action. Encourage people to open your emails with compelling subject lines like “Bid for a Cause at Our Annual Fundraising Auction!” Personalize the emails where possible, using the recipient’s name and tailoring the message based on their previous interactions with your organization. 
• Focus on storytelling. Stories drive connections to your cause, so share a closer look at your work through beneficiary, staff, or volunteer stories. As explained in our virtual gala guide, videos, photos, or infographics can make your stories more engaging and impactful.
• Use segmentation to tailor messages. Segment your list based on factors like past event attendance, donation history, and expressed interests. Look at constituents’ profiles within your CRM for insights. With our Raiser’s Edge integration, you can see each donor’s contributions, such as average amount spent per fundraiser, past fundraisers they’ve participated in, and much more. These insights enable targeted messages that speak to different audience segments, like VIP event invitations for long-time donors and introductory information for new subscribers.

Email marketing isn’t just about sending messages; it’s about nurturing relationships with your audience. By focusing on a personalized, engaging, and data-driven strategy, your nonprofit can create emails that promote your events and strengthen bonds with supporters. 

Collaborate With Other Organizations.

A community partnership is a collaborative alliance between your nonprofit and local businesses or other nonprofits. These partnerships aim to be mutually beneficial through shared resources, promotion, and support for a cause that aligns with both organizations’ values.

Double the Donation’s list of nonprofit marketing ideas highlights community partnerships as a powerful source of support, especially when it comes to expanding your audience. Business owners in particular actively engage in these partnerships to associate their companies with a worthwhile cause and demonstrate their values to their communities. 

When you plan standout fundraisers, organizations will be ecstatic to get on board and associate themselves with your events. To take a collaborative approach to promoting your event, here’s how to leverage these partnerships:

1. You identify potential partners. The key is to find synergistic relationships where both parties can benefit. For instance, a local plant nursery can gain positive publicity by promoting an environmental conservation organization’s annual fundraising gala. When approaching potential partners, show that you understand the business and how the partnership aligns with their objectives. Clearly articulate the visibility they’ll gain in return for promoting your event.
2. The organization promotes your event. They’ll share your event materials across their marketing channels, like social media, newsletters, or in-store promotions. This not only expands your reach but also lends credibility to your event. Partners can also encourage their employees to volunteer at the event, providing additional support.
3. You acknowledge your partner in your event materials. In return, recognize your partners for their generous efforts. You might feature their logo in your promotional content, verbally recognize them during the event, highlight their contributions on social media, or display signage with their logo at the venue.

In essence, community partnerships offer a dynamic way to promote your nonprofit’s event while fostering a sense of community involvement. By collaborating with local partners, you can extend your reach and host a more successful event. Strive to build relationships that benefit your current event and lay the foundation for future collaboration, so when your next event rolls around, your partners will be excited to promote it.

Wrapping Up: Maximizing Impact With Limited Resources

Promoting your nonprofit’s event doesn’t require an extravagant budget. Rather, it requires creativity, strategy, and collaboration. By tapping into these budget-friendly marketing strategies, you can grow the reach and impact of your next fundraising event.

Remember, each event isn’t just a fundraiser; it’s a chance to tell your story, inspire passionate supporters, and make a lasting impact. Embrace these strategies and pay attention to how your audience responds. After your event wraps up, don’t let those relationships fall by the wayside either. Reach out, thank attendees for their generosity, and keep them in the loop on your cause. In turn, you’ll transform event attendees into long-term donors fully engaged in your mission. You’ll ensure your next event isn’t only successful but also leaves a meaningful imprint on your cause.

The post 3 Cost-Effective Ways to Promote Your Nonprofit’s Next Event appeared first on Trellis.

Elevate Your Event with Effortless Ticketing

The process begins with Trellis’ user-friendly ticketing system. Attendees can easily purchase tickets and update their information later, ensuring a smooth and flexible experience. Custom fields at checkout, such as dietary restrictions, enhance the ticketing process, offering a personalized touch. The platform also allows for strategic upsells at the time of ticket purchase, maximizing event revenue. By providing attendees access to their donor accounts, Trellis ensures seamless participation in various event activities.

Silent Auction Mastery for Increased Funds

Launch your silent auction 1 to 2 weeks ahead of the event to generate early excitement and drive up pricing. Trellis facilitates a unique feature where unsuccessful bidders can donate their bid, raising an additional 10-20% in funds. The platform sends auto-text messages for outbid notifications, eliminating the need for manual tracking. This early engagement gets people excited about the event and provides a taste of the action, setting the stage for a successful fundraising night.

Effortless Check-In for Organizers and Attendees

Trellis’ proactive approach to check-in ensures efficiency for both organizers and attendees. With auto-saving credit cards and early messaging, the platform streamlines the check-in process, reducing time and effort. Key features include the ability to add guest details on-site, text attendees event details seamlessly, and use the cart feature for easy additions. Trellis transforms check-in into a hassle-free experience, enhancing the overall event flow.

Elevate the Reception Experience

Create an engaging reception with Trellis by displaying silent auction items with QR codes for easy bidding. Showcase live auction items on a large screen, linking attendees to bid history and sponsor information. Trellis ensures a seamless and interactive experience for attendees, maximizing engagement and participation.

Fund-a-Need and Live Auctions

Craft a compelling impact story for Fund-a-Need, making it easy for attendees to donate with a click of a button. Plan ahead with pre-seeded donations to boost engagement during the event, and express gratitude to donors as they contribute to the cause. Following the Fund-a-Need, begin to build excitement again with a preview of live auction items online. The MC, with the help of volunteers, can smoothly conduct the live auction, recording winning paddle numbers for easy integration into the Trellis check-in app.

Strategic Raffle Management

Close the event with a raffle draw, leveraging Trellis’ Pro Plan for targeted text messages to boost ticket sales. Use the Trellis random number generator to select winners and announce them at the end of the event.

Event Wrap-Up and Post-Event Gratitude

Express gratitude to attendees for their participation and automatically send emails with instructions for auction item pickup and tax receipts. Utilize Trellis’ reporting tools to assess the event’s success. Identify key contributors for future engagement and send a thank-you email, highlighting the impact on the community and providing an early reminder for the next event.

Trellis stands as a game-changer in the world of fundraising events, offering a comprehensive and streamlined approach from ticketing to post-event gratitude. Elevate your next event with Trellis and witness a new level of success in fundraising, engagement, and community impact. To learn more about how Trellis can help elevate your next fundraiser, click here.

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In this guide, we’ll explore the ins and outs of data analytics for nonprofits. Whether you’re a seasoned fundraiser evaluating past efforts for a fundraising assessment or new to the world of nonprofits, these insights will help you turn data insights into dollars that support your mission.

Segment donors for personalized appeals.

Personalizing your communications with donors makes them feel seen and valued for their individual contributions to your nonprofit. But how can your nonprofit uncover more personalization opportunities? 

Using a fundraising analytics tool, you can leverage both first-party and third-party data. First-party data is collected directly from your supporters and can include metrics like giving behavior, engagement with your website and other communication channels, and contact information. Third-party data is any information you obtain from sources outside of your organization, typically sourced from very large audiences (e.g., supporters of your cause from across the country).

These data sources work together to provide a comprehensive picture of your organization’s supporters and larger patterns in the space. Use your findings to segment donors based on shared traits, and use the segments to create personalized experiences for each group. GivingDNA recommends starting with five common categories: demographics, psychographics, giving behavior, communication preferences, and engagement level.

Here’s how to target donors based on these categories:

• Demographics: Socioeconomic traits like age, gender, and income impact individuals’ experiences and how they want to interact with your nonprofit. Speak to each segment’s interests and values. For example, if you provide free tutoring to children in need, you might create age-based segments to appeal to parents and grandparents separately.
• Psychographics: These traits relate to the donor’s lifestyle, hobbies, interests, and values. Highlight the ways that supporting your nonprofit aligns with those values or interests—an avid hiker, for instance, appreciates nature and would be willing to give to your conservation project.
• Giving behavior: Sort donors based on their average gift size, gift frequency, whether they participate in your monthly giving program, or preferred donation methods. Tailor the amount you request to their average donation size, promote upgrade opportunities to generous supporters, and share recurring giving opportunities with regular donors.
• Communication preferences: Do donors prefer email, direct mail, phone calls, text, social media, or another channel? Make sure to reach out to them through the channel they use most to ensure they see and engage with your messages.
• Engagement level: Assess how deeply supporters are involved with your organization (e.g., making one gift a year versus volunteering weekly). Consider creating segments for active, occasional, and passive engagement. Active donors may be invited to join a leadership committee while passive donors receive brief updates about your work a few times a year.

In addition to using these segments to send targeted messages and appeals to your supporters, consider making simple adjustments like greeting them by name as well. These small changes make communications feel more genuine, inspiring more donors to take action.

Enhance internal and external prospecting tactics.

Prospecting is used to identify potential major donors both inside and outside of your organization. Keep in mind that it may be easier to gain the support of prospects within your existing donor pool because they already have a connection with you and have shown a commitment to your cause.

When looking internally, consider donors who have a larger average gift size, donate frequently, attend your events, and engage with fundraisers. If you are searching for major donors outside of your existing supporters, you might start with board members and major donors of similar causes.

Traditionally, prospecting requires your team to search through online databases, social media profiles, and publicly available financial records to uncover: 

• • Wealth markers: Analyzing wealth indicators, including net worth, real estate ownership, and stock holdings, can reveal an individual’s financial capacity to give. 
  • Affinity for your cause: Determine whether the prospect has a personal interest in the cause through interviews and their past behaviors. For example, political affiliations and donations can be indicative of their values.
• The likelihood they’ll make a major gift: Gauge the likelihood a prospect will make a major donation to your organization by evaluating their commitment to other causes. Look for propensity or habit markers such as donations to similar nonprofits or board membership with another organization.

Remember that securing new major donors can significantly impact your fundraiser and the overall health of your nonprofit. As the Pareto principle asserts, 80% of funding is contributed by the top 20% of donors. While this exact ratio may not be true for your organization, your top donors likely play a disproportionate role in your success.

Measure campaign ROI and adjust fundraising strategies.

After a fundraising campaign ends, work with your team to evaluate what worked well and what didn’t. According to NPOInfo’s guide to nonprofit data collection, you should start with metrics like conversion rate, return on investment (ROI), average gift size, and donor retention rate.

Using these metrics, your nonprofit can:

• Assess whether you met your goals. At the beginning of each fundraising campaign, your nonprofit should set clear, measurable goals, such as raising a certain amount of money or reaching a specific number of new donors. Campaign data allows you to determine whether you fell short of, met, or exceeded the goal. This will help you set goals that are ambitious yet achievable in the future.
• Identify new opportunities. Did your campaign help you make new connections, reach a different audience, or unlock a new revenue stream? Make note of ways to capitalize on these opportunities. For example, perhaps an organization that delivers meals and groceries to the elderly usually gets support from individual donors in the community, but a recent campaign also caught the attention of local restaurants. This opens the door for future sponsorships and CSR initiatives like volunteer grants.
• Pinpoint areas for improvement. Take a more granular approach to see how specific strategies panned out during the campaign. If a particular email in your marketing campaign performed much worse than others, identify whether the subject line, content, timing, or another factor impacted its performance. Keep these considerations in mind for your next campaign.

Remember that you don’t have to wait until your campaign ends to evaluate these metrics. Checking your progress toward your goal during the campaign will tell you whether you’re on track to meet your goal and give you time to make adjustments that carry you across the finish line.

As you move forward, remember that the world of data and analytics is ever-evolving. Continue to explore new techniques and stay ahead of emerging trends. With a commitment to data-driven fundraising, you will be well-equipped to both sustain and expand the impact of your organization’s vital work.

The post Data to Dollars: How to Leverage Analytics in Fundraising appeared first on Trellis.

Two subtle yet powerful tactics employed by Expedia are worth dissecting:

1. Strategic Pairings: Mimicking Expedia’s Accommodation Offerings

Ever noticed how Expedia seamlessly suggests nearby hotel options when you book a flight? This isn’t just about convenience for travellers; it’s a strategic move. Expedia understands that when you’re jetting off, accommodation is a natural next step. By offering this complimentary service, Expedia enhances user experience without additional marketing efforts.

Adaptation for Non-Profits: 

Apply this tactic to your fundraising events. Consider integrating additional fundraising drivers alongside your primary fundraising activity. For instance, coupling a silent auction with your event or incorporating a swag sale alongside raffle ticket sales. Our research indicates that organizations adopting this approach double their fundraising outcomes with minimal extra effort.

2. Timely Upselling: Borrowing from Expedia’s Seat Upgrade Offers

Just before you finalize your flight booking, Expedia presents enticing seat upgrade options. This isn’t just a coincidence; it’s a strategic upsell designed to capitalize on the moment when you’re most inclined to act.

Adaptation for Non-Profits: 

Embrace donation upsells in your fundraising initiatives. Just as Expedia offers upgrades seamlessly, integrate opportunities for donors to elevate their contributions effortlessly. Organizations incorporating donation upsells witness a 20% increase in fundraising success. Offer donation prompts during ticket purchases, convert auction bids into donations, or bundle items to streamline the giving process.

Getting Started: Simplifying Fundraising with Trellis.org

While replicating these strategies may seem daunting, platforms like Trellis.org make it achievable. As an all-in-one fundraising solution, Trellis.org streamlines event ticketing, auctions, and donations, creating a seamless donor experience. With features like donation upsells at checkout and bundled offerings, we’re revolutionizing the fundraising landscape.

If you’re ready to elevate your fundraising efforts and provide donors with a frictionless giving experience, Trellis.org is here to support you every step of the way. Connect with our team today and unlock the full potential of your non-profit’s impact.

In the realm of non-profit fundraising, drawing inspiration from unconventional sources can spark innovation and drive remarkable results. By adopting tactics from travel technology giants like Expedia and leveraging platforms like Trellis.org, your non-profit can propel its mission forward with confidence and efficiency. It’s time to redefine what’s possible in fundraising and unlock new avenues for success.

The post Elevate Your Non-Profit’s Fundraising Game: Lessons from Travel Tech Titans appeared first on Trellis.

After having a great time at one of your events, guests who receive a message thanking them for their attendance are more likely to remember your nonprofit, think well of your organization, attend upcoming events, and of course, donate in the future. 

But what should these thank you messages look like? To help your nonprofit craft post-event messages that will retain donors, improve brand recognition, and earn continued support, we’ll walk through how to create impactful thank yous for four different outreach methods. Let’s get started. 

1. Mailed Letters

Physical mail is slow but it still has its place in many nonprofits’ appreciation strategy and for good reason. In the digital age, slowing down and sending a physical thank-you card can feel extra meaningful.  

Begin creating your donor thank-you letters by designing a message template. For event guests, you might adjust a template you already have, like your donation thank-you message, or you can hunt around online to find a free template for events that you like. 

Then, adjust your template to fit your nonprofit’s unique voice and add details about your specific organization and event. For example, you might include information about what the event raised money for or details about how your nonprofit hosts the event every year. 

Finally, consider how you’ll personalize your letters by adding information unique to each supporter. This includes their name, their history with your nonprofit, whether they donated at your event, and more. Ensure the information you intend to reference is stored in your CRM and that your messaging tools can easily pull the right data. 

Be aware that mailed letters are likely to exceed the 48-hour deadline for thanking supporters. As such, consider supplementing physical letters with emailed thank-you messages or eCards you can send off quickly while waiting for your letters to arrive. 

2. Gifts

Fundraising galas and auctions are essentially big parties where supporters are invited to have fun, connect with others in your community, and celebrate your nonprofit. Like with parties you attend in your day-to-day life, send your supporters home with a little something to remember the fun time they had thanks to your organization. 

Thank you gifts can be small presents either given to supporters at the end of an event or mailed out after the fact. Planning to wait until later to mail gifts can be the right call if you have concerns about passing out presents to every guest at your event, especially when they may be in a rush to get home. 

Either way, a few gift ideas include: 

• T-shirts and other apparel. Branded t-shirts, hats, and other apparel are effective thank-you presents your supporters will want to use long after your event. Whenever they wear your apparel, they’ll be reminded of your nonprofit and the fun they had at your event while also promoting your organization to anyone who sees their new clothing. 
• Goodie bags. Rather than giving out a single item as thanks, put together party goodie bags that contain multiple little presents. For instance, these might include candy, a branded pen, a thank-you card, and a laminated fact sheet about your cause. For nonprofits on a budget, handing out small but decorated goodie bags is an easy way to appreciate donors without worrying about mailing and merchandising costs. 
• Branded merchandise. The world of nonprofit merchandise extends far beyond apparel. Thank guests with branded keychains, fridge magnets, stickers, wristbands, mugs, water bottles, tote bags, bumpersticks, and more. The more creative you get with your merchandise, the more likely supporters are to remember your nonprofit and sign up for your next event. 

When designing merchandise, consider making your thank-you presents specific to your event. If you have an annual fundraiser where you hand out branded t-shirts with the date on them every year, you might pick up a loyal group of supporters who look forward to collecting their new shirt each year.

3. Phone Calls

Thank you messages should be personal, and it’s harder to get more personal than directly talking to your supporters one-on-one. Aside from your major donors, arranging individual meetings with each of your guests is far from practical, but calling them on the phone is definitely feasible. 

After your event, host a thank-you call-a-thon. Write a brief script for the calls, gather volunteers and staff members, have snacks ready, and get to calling. For your volunteers, your event team may be willing to volunteer again or consider reaching out to your board to help with calls. Getting a personal call from a member of your board is likely to make supporters feel appreciated and like an important member of your community.

If you don’t have your guests’ phone numbers, consider performing a phone number append. Double the Donation defines phone number appending as “the process of inputting supporter data into phone append software and receiving missing and updated phone numbers back.” Essentially, you just need to get in touch with a phone number appending service that will use their software and access to third-party datasets to identify your supporters and pair them with their phone numbers. 

From there, just set the time aside to schedule your phone calls. If you decide to use this thank-you method, consider also expressing gratitude using another channel, such as email or traditional mail, to make sure any guests who don’t pick up still receive the appreciation they deserve.

4. eCards

The key to an appreciation message that boosts donor retention is a meaningful, memorable thank you that is delivered quickly. Nonprofits should thank supporters within 48 hours of a donation, and the same timeline applies to your events. The faster you reach out to show appreciation, the fresher the event will be in your supporters’ memories, leading to a more impactful thank you. 

However, emailed thank yous often aren’t memorable, and traditionally mailed cards are far from speedy. Fortunately, there’s one communication method that takes the best of both worlds without the drawbacks of either: eCards. 

eCardWidget explains that eCards are digital versions of greeting cards delivered electronically. For nonprofits, eCards are a fast, cost-effective way of reaching out to attendees post-event to show appreciation. 

To create an eCard your guests will hold on to long-term, design your eCards with these elements in mind: 

• Eye-catching visuals. eCards are all about visuals. Use your eCard provider’s templates to jumpstart the design process or upload image assets to ensure your cards reflect your unique organization. Some nonprofits even take advantage of the electronic format by including animations in their eCards. 
• Short, meaningful message. Pair your striking visuals with a short but earnest message thanking guests for attending your event. Consider personalizing messages by mentioning past gifts supporters have made or previous events they attended. Sign off your cards as coming from your entire nonprofit team or a specific high-level member of your staff, like your executive director or board director. 
• Fast delivery. Speed is one of eCards’ greatest strengths. Design your eCards far in advance, then set a delivery date for your cards to get sent out. This way, you can reduce your team’s post-event responsibilities, allowing them to enjoy the rewards of their hard work after double-checking that the eCards were sent out at the right time. 

Ultimately, your eCards’ design will depend at least in part on your eCard provider. Hunt around to find a platform with easy-to-use design tools and the ability to customize your eCards to your exact needs. Plus, if you end up liking the platform you used for your event follow-up, you can use it to make eCards for future events and fundraisers. 

Whether your event was easy to put together or has taken the better part of a year to plan, your follow-up process is essential for securing long-term support. Make deciding how you’ll thank guests after your event a part of your planning process and be ready far ahead of the event itself, whether you intend to send eCards, make phone calls, or mail out letters. 

The post The Post-Event Thank You: 4 Ways to Recognize Your Donors appeared first on Trellis.