It can be confusing and stressful to change how you hold fundraisers. However, you can still make the process smooth and meet your fundraising goals. Here are several tips for making your socially distanced fundraiser a success.
Give Yourself Plenty of Time to Plan
Planning a virtual fundraiser can take a few weeks, especially if it’s the first time that you’re having this type of event. If your fundraiser will be small, consider giving yourself four to six weeks to determine a budget, set milestone goals, create a fundraiser schedule, and make a website to receive contributions.
When planning the schedule for your fundraiser, consider the key themes and important points that will interest your target audience. Also, you don’t want to spend too much time at each point. People generally prefer that virtual events have a fast pace. You can achieve optimal attention by limiting your event to 40 minutes or less. With a questions and answers segment, you can maintain their engagement too.
Get the Equipment and Online Tools Ready
With a basic plan in place, you can decide which channels will work best for inviting supporters, streaming the event, and receiving contributions. It may be best to choose platforms with which your audience is likely to be familiar.
Popular channels for inviting supporters include Twitter, Facebook, and direct emails. For streaming your fundraiser, consider using Facebook Live, Twitch, YouTube, or Zoom. When it comes to accepting contributions, PayPal is a popular option because it’s so widely used. However, you could use a shopping cart-like feature on your fundraiser’s website.
Aside from these, there are more advanced online tools that you could use. You just need to make sure that your team is technically capable of setting them up and using them.
Alongside making all of these decisions, you need to choose the right equipment for your event. These items include your webcam, microphone, and lighting. With quality equipment, you should have a smooth stream, and your audience should be able to see and hear you clearly. Test out all of the equipment and online tools beforehand so that you can troubleshoot any issues.
Publicize Your Socially Distanced Fundraiser
While the above tips are crucial for ensuring that your virtual fundraiser runs smoothly, the key to reaching your goals is promotion. Create multimedia promotional materials in social media posts, landing pages, and blogs for your website, and videos. Send a media release with a digital poster to grab readers’ attention. Additionally, create marketing emails and social media reminders. In all of your promotional materials, including a link to the contribution page for your event.
Have a Successful GotSneakers Drive With These Tips
You can apply all of these tips to host a GotSneakers drive even though you need a physical location for contributors to drop off their unwanted sneakers. Give yourself time to work out the details, hold an online meeting for your audience to learn more, and publicize everywhere possible. You’ll be on your way to raising money for your cause while helping people who are in need around the world.