This is a sponsored blog by Golf Status
Fundraising events are a vital piece of the puzzle for nonprofits. Events like golf tournaments, galas, and runs/walks get supporters excited about your cause and help spread the word about your mission to new audiences. In fact, over half of all donors regularly attend fundraising events.
If you’ve ever been part of such an event’s planning team, you know that they take months of preparation and planning to execute successfully. The good news for busy nonprofit event organizers is that event management technology can ease the burden for a flawless event.
Get Your Team Excited About New Tech
Jumping into a new technology platform might prompt some hesitation, reluctance, and frustration from your planning team. It’s important to get everyone on board with any new tech tools before you implement it into your planning workflows.
Start by having informal conversations with those who will be tasked with using the new software about its benefits. Explain why it’s being utilized, how each of them will use it, and how it will help make the event a success.
Next, host training sessions on how to use the platform. Keep in mind that not everyone involved with planning the event will be tech-savvy, so be willing to take your time and be thorough. Choosing a platform with a responsive support team is key! Make sure someone with knowledge of your event is available to resolve questions and issues in a timely manner.
Finally, continuously evaluate and improve how you use technology for your fundraising events. Stay in touch with your rep at the company for new updates and how they will impact your event, save your team time, and boost your event’s fundraising.
At the end of the day, your event technology should make planning and executing your fundraising event easier and more efficient. Now, let’s take a deeper look at the processes and planning stages that an event management platform can help you with.
1. Pre-Event Planning & Promotion
By getting your fundraising event management software on board before you start planning, your team can save time and build better processes from the get-go and help with:
Online registration and payment processing. This information should drop into the software’s backend where you can easily track and manage it. Online registration makes collecting donor data simple by gathering this crucial information right away.
Event promotion. Your software should make it easy to spread the word about your fundraiser with an event website you can share with a quick link.
Securing sponsorships. Digital exposure has a ton of benefits for the event organizer and the sponsor. It has fewer overhead costs, fewer risks, and provides great ROI by providing broad exposure. Sell a technology sponsorship package that uses digital touchpoints to give sponsoring businesses premium exposure before, during, and after the event.
2. Event Management & Execution
Your event management software should be capable of setting your event up for success throughout planning, but also provide tools that simplify event day tasks.
Collecting donations and payments. If the software’s donation process is too complicated or cumbersome, donors are likely to abandon the process. It should be easy for attendees to donate from their mobile devices and come with secure, integrated payment processing. You should also be able to collect payments for add-ons, raffle tickets, auction payments, and other transactions via a mobile-friendly event site that keeps all financial information tracked in one place.
Handle event-specific functions. Your software should be tailored to the specific needs of the event you’re holding. For example, if you’re hosting a charity golf tournament, look for a platform that provides live-scoring via a mobile app, which expedites finalizing the tournament results and lets event organizers track the round’s progress and keep the event running smoothly.
Push and email notifications. It should be easy to send timely information and even make donation asks through your platform’s communication tools. Push notifications are great for updates and ping attendees’ phones through a complementary mobile app, while you can share photos, videos, and other event information through email.
3. Post-Event Follow-Up & Engagement
Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done—but the work isn’t done yet! You’ll want to send thank yous to everyone involved with the event—attendees, volunteers, sponsors, donors, planning committee members—and your event management software should simplify these follow up tasks.
When someone registers or makes a donation, set up workflows to send a customized, automated thank you email with their receipt. This saves you from having to batch and send separate receipts post-event. Plus, capturing that individual’s information when they complete their transaction saves you from the trouble of manually entering information into your donor database. Instead, export reports and donor data for your CRM to better track donor history, engagement, and event participation for further donor stewardship. You can use tools in your CRM to segment your audience and send additional, personalized follow-up messages in the weeks following the event, as well as invitations for next year’s fundraiser.
4. Data Analytics & Reporting
Data is powerful—it gives you important insights about your fundraising events and how you can improve outcomes in the future. Any software your team uses to manage your fundraising events should be equipped with robust reporting options so you can view key performance indicators (KPIs), understand trends, and determine ROI.
Wrapping Up
Leaning into technology helps nonprofits grow and do more with less. The same is true for fundraising events. Tech tools help nonprofit teams plan and execute successful fundraising events with fewer headaches.
If you’re planning a golf fundraiser, GolfStatus’ golf event management platform can help! Built-in automations and fundraising tools save you a ton of time and help raise even more money for your mission. Nonprofits can qualify to use GolfStatus at no cost through our Golf for Good program, with an event website, online registration and payment processing, exclusive sponsorships, and an A+ support team available seven days a week. Click here to get qualified!