Social Media for Events: Nonprofits Live Recap

Many social-benefit organizations rely on events to raise funds and connect with current and future supporters. Pulling off a successful event requires many different tools – not the least of which is social media. For little to no cost, social media can help organizations meet attendance and fundraising goals.

To help nonprofits and libraries learn valuable strategies for using social media for their events, TechSoup devoted its June edition of Nonprofits Live (NPLive) to this very topic. NPLive featured guest experts Ritu Sharma, founder and executive director of Social Media for Nonprofits, and Dawn Andreas, marketing program manager at Eventbrite.

Make it Social

When planning events, in most cases, the majority of tickets will sell close to your actual event date. This is because going to an event is a social decision. Knowing someone in their network is going increases the likelihood a person will attend.

Social media makes it easier to learn who else will be at an event. Social media also makes it possible for influencers to share that they are going and sway others into joining them. Organizations that are savvy about tapping into social media will leverage both the power of influencers and the follower effect.

When to Send Invitations?

Invites and reminders should be sent out when they are likelier to get a response. Email reminders are best sent between 9 and 11 a.m. in your time zone between Tuesday and Thursday.

Reminders sent out via social media can, and should, occur with greater frequency. To avoid inundating your supporters with reminders, spread out announcements among the different channels you use.

Motivate Your Supporters

The most important thing to remember when you issue invitations to your event is to tell invitees why the event matters.

• Tying your event theme or goal back to your mission should happen with the initial invitation and subsequent reminders.
• Eighty-eight percent of fundraisers fall silent after tickets first become available. Don't be among them!

Make Social Sharing Easy

The motivation to share is higher after registration than before the purchase – so make social sharing easy.

• Use Facebook and LinkedIn event pages to make it possible for invitees to find out who is going, register, and share they’re going too.
• Create conversation on Twitter centered on your event by developing a custom hashtag.
• When using social sharing buttons, make certain the auto-generated comment directs back to your event page.
• Use custom tracking links on different channels and/or individual invites to get a clear sense of how your community is responding and where sharing is strongest.

Use Social Media to Open Up the Event

Effective use of social media opens up your events to those that cannot be physically present.

• Be inclusive by giving a direct donation option to people who can’t make it but are still interested in supporting your organization’s mission.
• Posting video and photos for supporters to tag and providing updates using your custom event hashtag also open up the event to all supporters and extend the event's life.

For more on social media tools for events and event planning advice, check out the complete presentation by experts Ritu Sharma and Dawn Andreas or watch the webinar recording.

And stay tuned for a future post with a more in-depth look at social sharing.