Are you planning a summer event to promote a good cause? If so, you know very well that events take a significant amount of time and resources to organize. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the details of the event, and not recognize prime opportunities that would lead to the successful marketing of your event. Two common mistakes that lead to poor promotion of the event are working with a partner who does not help promote the event and selecting an event that is not a good fit for the intended audience.
Selecting an involved partner: Your choice of sponsoring partners, marketing firms, and/or the recipient of the fundraiser will have a significant impact on both the financial and overall success of the event. The partners you work with should play an active role in promoting the event. They should be willing and excited to help with the following:
• Promote the event via their social media networks
• Include the event in their newsletter
• Engage their employees, members, and supporters to attend and donate to the cause
CASE STUDY: Let’s take a look at a charity golf outing as an example. When the recipient of the funds promotes the event to their audience and engages their existing donor base to participate in the outing, you are likely to see an increase in both the number of sponsorships and golfers. More importantly, you may recognize increased revenues of more than 50%, as compared to working with a recipient who does not participate in the event promotion. A side benefit is that you do not have to work as hard at promoting the event. This is a definite WIN for all involved.
Choosing the right event: When choosing the event, be sure to first define and understand the audience who supports the cause and who you are targeting to attend and donate. The better you are able to match the two, the more successful your event will be. Following are examples of matching the event type to the target audience:
• Ice Cream Social / families
• Golf Outings / business individuals
• Clay Pigeon Shoots / Marcellus Shale organizations
• Purse Auction / women
• Black Tie Event / upper income individuals
Follow these two simple recommendations, and your event is sure to be a success.
About the author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group ~ The Edmiston Group provides senior level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long term basis. Core areas of service are business development, marketing, strategic planning and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business growth.