Virtual Donor Events: Best Practices

Engage Donors through Donor Events

It is important to remain engaged with your donors when in-person events are unable to happen. Virtual events are the best and safest way right now to interact with your donors. There are many options for free or low-cost technology that powers virtual events, but how?

Virtual donor events are now the norm. Here are some best practices when hosting virtual donor events:

Password protect your fundraising event 

This is critical. Along with wanting to create a donor only space, there have been instances recently of outside people logging in to meetings to wreak havoc. By starting off with password protection, you can ensure a better experience for your donors and give you peace of mind.

Send reminder emails for your fundraising event

Everyone is busy, especially now. Be sure to send a couple of emails for those who signed up for the event to remind them of the time to log on with the correct link. Having that link easily available to your donors and your staff will allow for a more seamless experience.

Test tech before hand 

You want to effectively steward your donors time. One way to do this is testing the microphones of key speakers and any presentations. There is nothing worse than a when your event is delayed because of faulty tech and your donors will notice. Have a back-up plan in case something goes wrong.

Some suggestions are to do is do a dress rehearsal of the content that allows for you practice the presentation thoroughly, give an additional team member admin access in case of internet issues, and if there is a presentation, send the document to a couple of your staff who can share their screen at a moment’s notice.

Short Virtual Events Work

Keep your virtual events short. If you must go longer than 90 minutes, allow for your participants to take a water or snack break. Your donors are likely feeling some screen fatigue in their everyday life. Make these events fun and informative and not too long that they want to log off. Share a program or agenda so that people know the order of events and can plan accordingly.

Record and send later

There may be donors who signed up for the event, that couldn’t participate. A great option can be to record the event and send it out to donors later. Keep in mind once the recording is sent, the recording is out in the ether.

Online events may be different from what your donors are used to experiencing. However, when following these best practices, you can curate unique experiences that are professional and fun to attend. Managing virtual events well can be a low cost and effective way to remain engaged with your donors.  Want to learn more on donor management? Check out Julep.