Lessons learned from attending (many!) virtual fundraising events
Each week over the last several weeks, I’ve been tuning in to various virtual fundraising events 🎉.
From telethons for dog rescues to ball drops in place of golf tournaments to online auctions to support after school programs to live entertainment via Zoom - I’ve seen a LOT.
I know you might be in the midst of planning your own upcoming virtual event so today, what I wanted to do, is share what I think is working best for those organizations innovating and pivoting to online.
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#1: Pre-raise some money: Two weeks ago I attended two virtual events on a Thursday night (personally, I also think weeknights are working REALLY well for these types of events) - I know! One of them worked to recruit a dozen or so corporate sponsors at various levels and was able to bring in $250,000 (!) before they ever pressed “live” on their event. Incredible! Another of the two organizations reached out to a few of their private funders and asked them to provide a match donation. Together they pooled $60,000 and on the live call - they were able to say, “Help us hit our $60,000 goal to double our impact!”. BOOM 💥 - they did it and just like that - $60,000 was turned into $120,000. If you want some gooooood info on how to pitch sponsors (especially in the time of COVID) - head over to my Facebook group where I just dropped a mini lesson last Friday all about it.
#2: Time: It’s been interesting to see what organizations are doing when it comes to the length of these virtual events. One mistake I think some are making is trying to duplicate what they would have done in person. For example, if they were originally hosting an in person gala that lasted 3-4 hours - they are trying to keep their virtual version of that going. In the words of Julia Roberts in Pretty Women, “Big mistake. Huge.” Think of all of these Zoom calls you are constantly on and how you keep wanting to get off of them 😬. Keeping people entertained and engaged for a long period online is HARD. Why do you think the most popular videos on YouTube are less than 3 minutes and TikTok has over 800 million users? Because the shorter the entertainment - the better. The best virtual experience I tuned into was 1 hour from start to finish ⏰.
#3: Less is more: Like mentioned above - many organizations are trying to replicate their previous in-person experience and keep forgetting this is an ONLINE experience. One virtual event I attended had an auction going with comedians, musicians, stories from the staff, a live ask….it was a LOT. As a viewer - I was overwhelmed and I can only imagine the staff members who worked so hard to put it all together. Personally, I don’t think it’s necessary. Keep it simple. Keep it focused.
Last few thoughts:
Two of my favorite things I’ve seen include 💛:
Having a host to keep things moving along. It’s also great when this person preps viewers for what’s to come, who can remind the viewers of the goal amount, and who can shout people out in recognition when they make a live donation 💰.
During one live event, the Director of Development popped in every 15 minutes or so and explained what different donation amounts went towards at the $5,000 level down to the $100 level. This really brought the online event back to the purpose of the evening: to raise important resources for a great cause.
So, was this helpful? What do’s and don’ts have you seen out there? Let me know - keeping a running list at this point!