Website & Marketing
Top Tips On Promoting Your Event

Whether you are planning an in-person, virtual, or hybrid fundraiser, it is important to make the process for your donors easy and to use your website effectively.

Your organization’s website is the first place your donor goes when they search for more information about your upcoming event. Your website should be easy to navigate and your event information should be easy to find. Here are some additional tips for your event website and marketing channels that will help you promote your event effectively.

1. One, Two, Three and you’re out!

You only have three seconds to gain your donors’ attention when they land on your homepage. This means you need to make your event visible so a supporter does not have to scroll or click to an internal page on your website. If your website has a slider on the home page, place your event graphic and information in the rotating slider. We recommend making your slider static a few days before your event starts and all through your event. See a few examples below.

Website Home Page Example

2. “Where is the donate button?

Your donate button should either be in the upper right-hand corner of your website or it should be in your menu bar. While the main event graphic on your home page should have a CTA (call to action) that takes them directly to your event’s fundraising platform, sometimes donors end up on your all-year-round donate page/form. We encourage our clients to add a drop-down option or notes section where one can indicate if their donation should be counted towards a specific event.

Website Home Page

3. Click Click Click 

In three clicks, your donor should be on the page for which they are searching. The fewer pages they have to navigate, the more likely they are to stay motivated to continue their course of action. We encourage our clients to use their fundraising platform to host their event landing page on which supporters can learn more, register, donate, etc.

Fundraising Platform Home Page

4. Engage everywhere

Promote your event on every channel that is associated with your organization. Share about your event on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other social media channels. Send event-related emails out every 2-3 weeks. Snail mail is not a thing of the past! If you know your supporters would appreciate receiving an invitation in the mail and if you have the budget for it, send out a select amount of physical mailers.

Facebook Business Page
Inside of Folded Invitation Card

5. Keep it short and sweet AND specific

In every social media post and email you send out around your event, keep your content concise and compelling. Your supporters should be able to find your call to action within the first three sentences they read. In a social post, any link you share should be recognizable and include your organization’s name. In your email, your donate and register buttons should appear high up in your email.

Social Media Post
Email

6. Use actual photos vs. stock photos

When possible, use photos from your organization to implement into your event email and social media promotion. It is sometimes obvious when a stock image is used and the picture may not be representative of your constituents. The key to using internal photos is to ensure they are of good quality and high resolution. Use design software like Adobe or Canva to edit pictures, if needed.

Facebook Business Cover (Actual Photo)
Facebook Business Cover (Stock Photo)

These are just a few tips that should set you on course for marketing your fundraising event. For more information on a successful marketing plan for your next fundraiser, schedule a consultation with us!