by Firefly Partners • 02.19.2021
If your organization is like most you likely spent much of 2020 learning to host virtual fundraising events and peer-to-peer programs online. There were so many curve balls thrown at us last year in the fundraising space. But in 2021, instead of learning to survive the digital fundraising space, we’re focused on thriving in it.
To do this, we’ve come up with three ways to level up your digital event game and increase the success of your virtual fundraising events.
Leveling Up: Engaging Participants in a Virtual Walk/Run Event
Sometimes, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel and learn a brand new platform in order to increase your constituent participation. Sometimes, it’s about using what you know and bettering it.
Take a traditional walk that you’ve now made a virtual fundraising event. How do you get the buzz going for the day of show? How do you make sure that your participants are not only walking the walk but they’re talking the mission talk?
Here are three ways:
- Build online communities where your participants can share their fundraising stories and mission moments. This could be done via groups on Facebook, LinkedIn groups, within mobile apps or a plethora of other online communities. We love and recommend Facebook for this because it is a channel where many people in your audience probably already are
- Communicate! Give your constituents plenty of reminders leading up to event day by adding the hashtag to your newsletters, and digital announcements.
- Create a unique, event-focused hashtag that everyone can use when posting so they can share, comment, and like each other’s pictures.
For more virtual event fundraising ideas click here
Leveling Up: Converting In-Person Gala into a Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Event
Turn your traditional, in-person gala into a visually stimulating peer-to-peer fundraising event. We saw a great example of this from an art museum that turned its gala into an online contest that allowed children to put their own art on display, virtually. The art museum invited families to create fundraising pages around their child’s art: both to show pride in their child’s creativity and to fundraising for the art museum. It was a success!
This was a great example of “thinking outside of the box” to make your online peer-to-peer fundraising event more human and engaging for your constituents.
Leveling Up: Embrace Peer-to-Peer Fundraising via Livestreaming
In lieu of or in addition to your annual walk, target your video game-loving constituents by hosting a peer-to-peer fundraising event on Twitch and other live streaming platforms. Creating a 24-hour game-a-thon where supporters can live stream their gameplay and fundraise for your organization is a new and innovative way to create engagement. Twitch and platforms like it allow gamers to stream their gameplay live for other viewers to watch. Many of the nonprofit fundraising platforms now offer integrations with Twitch and other streaming platforms.
Recently, gamers have been utilizing the platform to make a difference for the organizations they support by fundraising during a game. And because Twitch has many different types of communities within it, we’re sure this type of event would hit home with many of your constituents.
For other great strategies click here
Leveling Up: How to select your platform for your fundraising events
Alongside choosing the best strategy for your event, is choosing the best platform to host your virtual fundraising event or peer-to-peer fundraising event.
Ask yourself:
- What are the goals of this event?
- What is the theme of the event?
- What digital channels are necessary for engagement, registration and fundraising with the event?
- What do you need to do to engage people?
These questions will help guide you throughout the planning process and help you select the right platform and the right strategy to host a great virtual fundraising event in 2021!
Grab your copy of Virtual Event and Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Guide: Fundraising in a Pandemic!
