When it comes to spreading the good word about your charity’s work, every little helps. Especially if raising money is the goal. The only way you can meet your fundraising targets is by effectively marketing your campaign or event.
Think about it. The more you promote your charity event - the more people are aware of it - meaning more can choose to participate and even donate. While it is as logical as that, building a hype is no easy feat.
In this blog, we’ll show you how you can boost your charity event’s turnout, and its donations.
Ways to Promote a Charity Event
As society emerges from the COVID19 pandemic, charity events are something we can now consider once again. These events can be small or big, casual or formal. From fun runs to gala dinners. No matter what it is, or what it’s for - reaching out and communicating with your audience is key.
Luckily, in the digital age, this is much easier to do. Nowadays, there are so many opportunities and channels to broadcast messages on. From social media marketing where you can post to the masses, to traditional door-to-door canvassing where you can have direct discussions.
The main thing is that conversations are initiated and that people are engaged. So that stakeholders can make informed decisions about their interests in the event itself.
With this in mind, here are a number of ways you can promote your charity event.
Social Media
With social media, you have a big audience at your fingertips. However, it's more what you do with the individual platforms that matter.
To generate real awareness and excitement, you must go beyond just posting on Facebook. We don’t mean spending lots of money on ads - it’s more the quality and timeliness of content that brings better results.
Utilise every platform to cover all bases and increase your reach. Consider making an announcement video that works across multiple channels like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. You can also keep the momentum going by regularly posting different types of content such as polls, live videos and competitions for raffle prizes etc, another effective technique is to encourage the circulation of a posy via formus such as WhatsApp groups or Facebook Messenger.
The beauty of social media is the many features that charities can easily leverage. For example: you can make a Facebook event or a dedicated Instagram page or Story highlight for people to refer back to. What can help even more, is by creating a dedicated hashtag for people to use before, during and after the event. This way, you can track your social media traffic to gauge interest and measure success.
While it can be easy to get wrapped up in all the fun of social media - always remember to bring it back to the charity. Use it as a platform to showcase the great work you do, or highlight key issues surrounding the cause you are trying to help. By doing this, you are showing your audience the importance of your charity, as well as encouraging them to learn more and get involved.
Email Marketing
If people have registered their interest in your charity through an email subscription, why not target them in a convenient way? This could be something as simple as a one-off newsletter. Or, a series of different emails to introduce them to the event and remind them of it.
With emails, you can include a lot more information than you would in a social media post. You can treat it as its own digital magazine feature that delves deeper into your charity’s motivation and mission.
Email marketing is also a more personalised way to promote an event. You can use clever technology to automate names, and use informal language to make the connection feel more one-on-one. Luckily, with email, you know you are communicating with someone who believes and is engaged in your charity. This means you have a higher chance of converting the reader into an attendee.
Plus, with email, you can use forms to generate leads. This is great for confirming attendees, gathering sign-ups and gauging interest.
Always remember to use this method to thank your subscriber, and remind them of how grateful you are for their ongoing support.
Leaflets and Flyers
A classic method that is still used by many promoters today. By getting volunteers to hand out leaflets and flyers in high-traffic areas, this will help boost awareness.
What’s more, is this also creates an opportunity for conversations to be had, giving volunteers the chance to both inform and invite people.
You can also ask to leave flyers in local shops, cafes and even doctors surgeries if applicable. This way, the message is being promoted subtly in a popular place.
Or, you can slip leaflets through people’s letterboxes. By doing this, you can cover large residential areas, and encourage neighbours to have conversations with one another and maybe even decide to attend your event together.
Collaborations
Many charities in the past have joined forces with well-known people to promote events. These could be advocates, local heroes, bloggers and brand ambassadors. They do this because it bodes well for both parties. The charity gets exposure - the collaborator is doing a good deed.
For example: mental health charity Mind has a lengthy list of ambassadors. These include the likes of: singer-songwriter Anne-Marie, presenter Fearne Cotton and actor Nicholas Pinnock to name a few. Each celebrity has done their own strand of work for the charity, such as hosting events, and in turn generated talkability for the cause.
If you can, choose a person that is a good fit for your charity. Do your research and brainstorm tactics that can achieve maximum publicity. This could be a video, a challenge or a meet and greet at the event. Think about what will work best for your charity. Another effective approach would be to engage with your local council regarding the prospect of your charity being supported through the Lord Mayors office, this will raise the profile of the charity and potentially provide access to council venues in relation to hosting and event.
At S3 Solutions, our background as community development practitioners is what drives our approach. Across all of our projects, we seek purpose in our work and want to make a difference. While we can provide support through consulting, research and strategy, we can also advise ways you can promote your next charity event.
Please contact the team today to find out more.