Are you struggling to turn your event participants into fundraisers? Slides from a webinar featuring Event 360’s Jeff Shuck and Blackbaud’s Amy Braiterman answering your questions about converting more of your event participants into fundraisers. Ever wonder which participants are more likely to fundraise than others, what strategies work for zero dollar participants vs. existing fundraisers or how you can best utilize incentives?

1. FIVE QUESTIONS:
TURNING EVENT PARTICIPANTS INTO
FUNDRAISERS
February 22, 2010
Amy Braiterman, Principal Strategy Consultant, Blackbaud
Jeff Shuck, President/CEO, Event 360, Inc.
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2. EVENT FUNDRAISING WITH BLACKBAUD
More than $1.3 billion raised
37,000 events and counting
17M participants & 31M donors
Average participant sends 27 emails
1 in 4 FAF emails convert
FAF emails have a 90 percent greater open rate
Average online gift size: $60
American Heart Association, Alzheimer’s Association,
Arthritis Foundation, Autism Speaks, LIVESTRONG,
Best Buddies International, Rodman Ride and
National Down Syndrome Society
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4. Why should I worry
about turning event
participants into
fundraisers?
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5. EVENT VALUE CHAIN
Mission
Revenue
Gifts
Donors
Participants
Event
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6. WHY TURN EVENT PARTICIPANTS INTO
FUNDRAISERS?
• You need money. Just showing up at the event does not help
you achieve your mission.
- Fundraising allows you to carry out your programming.
• You are not a party planner. In the typical event without a
fundraising minimum, about 70% of participants
do not fundraise.
- You end up covering costs and not raising any money for your
mission.
• You are a fundraiser. The event is created as the
reason for the ASK.
- Make sure you tell your participants why fundraising is important.
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7. Where do I start?
When in the lifecycle of
the event?
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8. WHERE DO I START?
• With an ASK. You can insert an ask anywhere in your lifecycle.
• Start at the beginning. From the moment a participant
registers, emphasize the importance of fundraising:
- Implement a registration fee.
- Suggest a minimum fundraising amount.
- Encourage self-donation.
• Maintain the momentum. Foster a fundraising culture
throughout the event lifecycle:
- Recognize individual’s fundraising progress.
- Encourage participants to enlist others for support.
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9. Who should I focus on?
How do I find them?
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10. PARTICIPANT DRIVERS
Affinity to an activity
• I like to walk.
Affinity to a third party group
• I’m supporting my school/church/office as a team.
Affinity to participants or individuals
• I like to spend time with my friends.
Affinity to a cause
• I want to help find a cure.
Affinity to an organization
• I believe in this Foundation’s work.
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11. WHO SHOULD I FOCUS ON? WHERE ARE THEY?
• Cast a narrow net. A successful fundraising event cannot be
everything to everyone.
• Be specific. Start with a specific target market to yield
the best results.
- People who are directly affected by your cause.
- People who are passionate about your event’s activity.
• Find out why. What drives your current constituents to
support your cause?
- Build a case for participation and fundraising based upon what
motivates them.
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12. Are some participants
more likely
to fundraise than
others?
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13. WHICH PARTICIPANTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO
FUNDRAISE?
• Connected to cause. Individuals who have been personally
touched by your cause and mission.
• Team members. People who join with friends and family on a
team have more support and more motivation to fundraise.
• Alumni. Return participants know that they can do it and are
willing to continue being an advocate for you.
• If a participant falls into multiple categories, they are likely to
fundraise even more.
- Acknowledge these key fundraising drivers and speak to them in
your event communications.
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14. WHICH PARTICIPANTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO
FUNDRAISE?
Additional Indicators
• Fundraising goal
• Personalize their webpage
• Sending Friends Asking Friends emails
• Received donations
• Make a personal contribution
• Not a team of one
• Have they reached out to you?
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15. Are there specific
strategies that work to turn
zero balance participants
into fundraisers?
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16. HOW DO YOU TURN A ZERO-BALANCE PARTICIPANT
INTO A FUNDRAISER?
• Ask, ask, ask. Make a strong ask to all of your participants.
Repeat the ask of your zero-balance participants.
• Be direct. Tell them that participation is not enough and that
you need fundraising to carry out your mission and
programming.
• Use incentives carefully. Use time-based incentives with an
expiration date to get them to take action faster.
• It isn’t easy to move this group. It’s often more effective to focus
efforts on your actively fundraising participants.
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17. Are there specific
strategies that work to get
existing fundraisers
to raise more?
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18. HOW DO I GET FUNDRAISERS TO RAISE MORE?
• Emphasize the cause. This is the main reason that they are
fundraising. Illustrate your impact through meaningful stories.
• Be straightforward. Tell them to do more, because you need
more for your mission.
- Encourage repeat participants to increase their goals from last year.
• Tell them about everyone else. Letting people know how
much the “average” participant fundraises shows them what
levels are attainable.
• Say thank you. Acknowledge their specific efforts. Recognition
is a powerful motivator.
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19. How can I best use
incentives?
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20. HOW CAN I BEST USE INCENTIVES?
• Recognition, not reward. Focus on using incentives as a
thank you mechanism. A prize is nice, but people want to see
you achieve your mission.
• Give them a deadline. A time-based incentive can motivate
fundraising spikes.
- “Raise $100 by this Friday and be eligible for…”
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21. How do I measure
the impact I’m making?
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22. HOW DO I MEASURE IMPACT?
• Totals. More than just overall dollars and participants.
- Total number of donors, gifts
• Individual performance. Look at the amount raised “per”
participant, team, etc.
• Median, not average. The middle gives you a more
representative snapshot of what your participants are doing.
- Median amount raised, gift size
• Growth. Compare your numbers to last year and the year prior.
Use the data to make informed decisions on next year.
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24. NEED MORE INFORMATION?
EVENT 360
www.event360.com
BLACKBAUD BLOGS
www.FriendsAskingAmy.com
www.netwitsthinktank.com
www.blackbaud.com
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