My commitment to special events is well known. I encourage all nonprofits to integrate special events into their development plans. Seen this way events are part of a holistic development effort that integrates into everything you do as an organization to raise money. And, it is strategic – the events are focused on the mission. At each level of your giving paradigm you will find distinct events for distinct goals. The Daybook helped create the event’s digital ripple through their distribution channels. A digital ripple provides actionable insights into how campaign strategies and tactics worked. Be sure and download the post to activate the links!

1. CREATE A DIGITAL RIPPLE TO PROMOTE YOUR
SPECIAL EVENT
“Hey,” my friend Bobby said. “We’re
honoring Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat with a special
performance byBroadway Diva Tovah Feldshuh. Are
you interested in spearheading the marketing?”
“Silly question, I’d love to!”
My commitment to special events is well known. I
encourage all nonprofits to integrate special events into
their development plans. Seen this way events are part of
a holistic development effort that integrates into
everything you do as an organization to raise money. And,
it is strategic – the events are focused on the mission. At
each level of your giving paradigm you will find distinct
events for distinct goals.
Promoting Stu, Long Overdue: A Salute to
Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat

2. Stu, Long Overdue was an exciting yet challenging event
to promote. Ambassador Eizenstat has a long active
relationship with the presenting organization, Ahavath
Achim Synagogue. The Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture
is a gift to the synagogue and the community at large,
and features high profile speakers from the United States
and Israel.
Members of the congregation were the primary marketing
target for this special event fundraiser. On the other hand,
Tovah Feldshuh, a well-known Broadway star opened
opportunities to outreach to the whole community,
especially those interested in seeing a special performance
of her award winning one-woman cabaret Tovah: Out of
Her Mind!
To start we developed a press release, fact sheet and
visuals that integrated messages for those interested in
attending the event to honor Eizenstat and people who
would attend to see Tovah Feldshuh up front and
personal.
We identified the paths to promote the event, which
included traditional and new media elements.
This included:
 Stu, Long Overdue page on the synagogue’s website.
The website did not have enough bandwidth to create
a Press Center. The print quality JPEG files and
documents were housed off-site.

3.  Foundation press release, fact sheet, flyers and
posters, which we housed in the Press Center.
 Personalized direct mail
 Email blasts
 Placements on all the relevant event calendars within
the metro area
 Identified organizational partners to help distribute
html email and flyers to their constituents
 Geographically our target market was in metro Atlanta.
We chose the Atlanta Daybook. I love using
the Atlanta Daybook for local news releases. They
have direct reach into the newsrooms, corporate
headquarters and nonprofits in my target market.
 Personal outreach through twitter and email to press
and bloggers
 Creation of Stu, Long Overdue Facebook page
 Event hashtag #Stulongoverdue
The Daybook helped create the event’s digital ripple
through their distribution channels. A digital
ripple provides actionable insights into how campaign
strategies and tactics worked.
Insights from Stu Long Overdue, A Salute to
Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat Story Traction Report:
 The total digital impressions from each placement
ranged from 8,385 to 17,593, which was the last
placement 4 days before the event.
 Total campaign digital impressions – 54,176
 Average time on the page ranged from 3:34 to 8:51

4.  Twitter Daybook Followers – 7,724. When a placement
had just 2 re-tweets, the reach increased to 8,965
 Facebook - 528
 Google+ – 299
We saw increased activity on the event website including
donations and ticket purchases related to Daybook
placements, blog posts and off and on-line articles.
Why else are these metrics important?
We live in an age of metrics. These benchmarks are
necessary to ensure that the nonprofit is spending its
resources properly and that they are accountable and
transparent.
I feel it is particularly important when it comes to special
events and promotional initiatives since both are always
under attack for not having and/or meeting measurable
goals.
And, the story lives! The digital ripple created by this
event will continue to raise awareness, inspire to purchase
tickets to other events and even foster donations. It also
established the organization as a knowledge center.
Three interesting posts that discuss ways to incorporate
social media in your special events:
1. 15 Ways to Bring Social Media to Events
2. 18 Ways to Use Social Media for Events
3. Special Events Social Media

5. If you’re interested in a more thorough post on the
importance of metrics for nonprofits, please let me know!
This entry was posted in Nonprofit Event Planning, Nonprofit Marketing Communications, Social
Marketing and tagged Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, Atlanta Daybook, digital ripple, nonprofit special
events, promotions, Tovah Feldshuh by admin. Bookmark the permalink.