When it comes to creating and selling fundraising event tickets, most nonprofits get a little lost. Without a solid ticketing strategy in your wheelhouse, you may be missing out on more event revenue. In this article, we'll walk you through how to create tickets and build the perfect event ticketing strategy.
The nonprofit world has changed over the last few years, but fundraising events remain one of the primary ways to raise funds. Many nonprofits have created hybrid events that combine live and virtual campaigns to increase outreach. Others have gone back to their tried-and-true live events that have helped generate support historically.
Donorbox Events lets you create nonprofit fundraising events and ticketing forms to sell tickets online.
This article explores the nine steps to creating a fundraising event, ticket types, and tips for selling fundraising tickets online.
Event fundraising can be time-consuming, but if your organization takes time to delegate responsibilities and utilizes the help of technology wherever possible, the likelihood of success increases.
The first step to creating any event is forming a fundraising event committee consisting of key staff members and – if possible – volunteers. Volunteers are an essential part of event planning for several reasons:
When forming an event committee, it is best to involve staff and volunteers with a wide range of experience and expertise. If your committee remains the same throughout the years, your event will become stale and fewer people will attend. It’s also best practice to connect with volunteers of all ages to see how they would make changes to your annual events.
After building a varied committee, split members into different roles. Here is where your committee members’ expertise will come into play. Some will be comfortable connecting with local businesses and requesting sponsorships. Others may find more interest in decorating the venue or even marketing on social media.
The primary responsibility of an event committee is to help plan your event. They should work with your fundraising office or board of directors to outline event details they may be in charge of, including:
It’s vital to determine what ultimate goals you hope to see from your fundraiser:
Now that you have a better idea of what you hope to achieve, it’s easier to choose an event type. Instead of only worrying about whether you should have a relaxed or formal affair, decide on whether you want an in-person, virtual, or hybrid event.
This distinction can mean the difference between a smaller fundraiser with more major donors present or an online campaign that brings in people around the world. Many nonprofits have moved to include both whenever possible to reach a wide range of potential donors.
Past events continue to be an excellent research source when creating an event budget and ticket pricing strategy. By looking at the last few years of an event, you can determine how much revenue to can expect.
Remember, revenue is only half of your budget. Consider the current economic situation when creating a cost analysis. The venue, food, and other costs have likely increased since your last in-person event, so it’s best to get three different quotes before signing a contract.
Here is a list of costs that will help your planning committee determine what quotes to ask for to find the best deal:
Finally, you can finalize your event’s location, date, and time. Cost is not the only deciding factor that will play a part in finding a location – timing is equally important.
For example, if your donors expect your event to occur at a specific time every year, find a location that fits this expectation. Also, consider whether other nonprofits may be holding an event at that time, so that you aren’t competing with several other fundraising events.
Important dates like an anniversary, awareness, or giving days should be taken into consideration when choosing the timing of your event. Our Giving Days Calendar may be a good place to start.
To engage your audience, your event must involve several entertainment and fundraising activities. In some cases, the location may provide entertainment options. As you start contacting entertainers, get as specific as possible about their expectations. Entertainment costs can include transportation, AV support, and other expenses you may not realize.
In addition to entertainment, fundraising activities like auctions, raffles, peer-to-peer fundraising, and product sales may also take additional funds and support to get right. Before starting to sell silent auction or raffle tickets, be sure to check all local laws to get the required licenses and raffle permits.
There are a lot of benefits to selling nonprofit event tickets online. An efficient online event-ticketing tool will make event registration simple and quick for your staff and volunteers. There are additional benefits, too!
First, online event pages facilitate marketing and outreach since they are easy to link to and can be used to share vital event information. Include several visuals to excite potential attendees and inspiring copy that encourages them to purchase your fundraiser ticket. Second, online forms help you calculate the tax deductibility of your fundraiser ticket types, and most importantly, send automatic receipts and event tickets straight to attendees. Some platforms even allow you to accept donations within the ticket form.
Also, you get to avoid ticket printing, color printing, and card stock paper costs that otherwise make for significant expenses.
Donorbox Events offers all the above-mentioned features and much more for a very affordable platform fee. Getting started costs you nothing and you’ll be able to:
Here’s an example from The Catcade‘s Homecoming event:
For hybrid and online events, look into utilizing online streaming platforms. Airmeet is a great option to help you increase engagement and ROI through interactive experiences. Plus, you can now integrate Donorbox with Airmeet so that attendees can make donations without ever leaving the event platform!
Committee members live in your community and usually know the best stores and restaurants that may entice attendees. Some may even own or work for a business willing to donate something to your cause! Send out your committee members early to find unique and exciting in-kind gifts for your next silent auction.
Event committee members may also be an excellent way to find event sponsors. Your fundraising office can create sponsorship packets and letters and let committee members be the first contact point. Once a business has shown interest in sponsoring, your office or board chairperson should reach out and finalize all the details.
Pro tip: You may want to send printed and branded event tickets to these sponsors. That adds to your branding and marketing while helping you build stronger partnerships. It’s also a nice (a little costly, for the ticket printing part) way to show them how valuable they are to your mission.
The final and most important step is to market your event. By now, you’ve created your event page and fundraiser ticket form online. Now is the time to design your marketing materials, create a communications plan and calendar, and get the word out!
Send out email campaigns, post on social media channels, and reach out to local businesses and media for advertising opportunities. Ask your peer-to-peer fundraisers to talk about the upcoming event in their fundraising campaigns and within their network of people. Have volunteers and board members use the power of word-of-mouth marketing within the community.
Just remember to add the link to your online event page to any and all marketing materials!
Whether your event is in-person, virtual, or hybrid, the profitability depends significantly on the types/levels of its tickets and the ticket pricing strategy. Here is a list of the best and most profitable types of fundraising event tickets to help you create yours.
This is the most affordable ticket type for most of your potential attendees. It can be used for in-person and online events, as well as a gala, golf outing, concert, or a book reading event.
General admission tickets are often a staple for your fundraiser ticket pricing strategy. The ticket pricing usually remains the lowest of all other ticket types and is applicable for people who aren’t looking for any special treatment, experience, or benefits – like what we see highlighted in the image example below.
These tickets can ramp up your fundraiser ticket sales revenue for an upcoming event. However, that involves planning well ahead of time. If you’re planning a future conference or you hold a gala every year at a specific time or season, your event committee can use these early bird tickets to raise excitement for and start promoting the event.
These tickets make people sign up early for your event in exchange for a significant discount, also giving you some funds to depend on when it comes to making arrangements for your event.
Here’s an example:
Group tickets are best for live concerts, conferences, or anything else that a group of people would love to attend together. This allows these groups to benefit from a discount on the ticket price and gets more people to attend your event.
Decide on the number of people you’d consider part of a group, such as a group of five students for a concert or a family of four for your next big fundraiser. Determine a price that shows at least a minimal discount – for example, if individuals can attend for $15, encourage groups of four to purchase a fundraiser ticket package for $50, as shown in this example:
If you hold concerts, fundraising dinners, galas, auctions, trivia nights, or other events that require a specific seating arrangement (and possibly a meal), these ticket types are a must. Sell tables and seats to your attendees with options like a table for two, a table for five, etc.
You can also include meal options in these tickets, asking for their meal preferences to further increase interest and excitement.
Pro tip: Add custom questions to your Donorbox event form to gather dietary requirements and meal preferences from your attendees before your event.
VIP tickets are for those attendees who would prefer a premium experience at your event. You might create a dedicated seating space for these attendees, special meal options, a chance to interact with the guest speaker or performer, free membership for a year, free parking, and other benefits. It all depends on your pricing strategy!
These tickets also reduce no-shows at events, another major plus when working with a budget.
The below example is of an annual fundraising gala that offers two different levels of VIP tickets – gold and silver.
Pro tip: You may want to mail printed tickets to your VIP guests. Or have some volunteers reach out in person to deliver the tickets. If you have many major donors or sponsors, remember to incorporate ticket printing into your event budget.
Virtual events must find ways to engage online attendees and ensure they don’t leave your event early. Boost engagement by creating a contest that offers a major gift or prize amount to the winner.
For example, the range of tickets below includes drawing entries to an attendance contest. Whoever wins the draw will receive a unique assortment of 12 bottles of Italian red wines.
Virtual pass tickets allow your virtual event attendees to join online. These are helpful for both hybrid and completely online events.
Sometimes, a great way to boost event attendance is to offer a virtual option. In these cases, offer your attendees a low-cost virtual pass for access to the live streaming and recorded sessions they can watch later. These tickets are perfect for conferences, live concerts, and auctions.
Remember to give your ticket buyers some options for engagement, choose the right streaming tool, and have a dedicated host to keep them watching with interest.
Here are some tips to help you sell more tickets for your upcoming event.
Before spreading the word about your event, you’ll need to decide on your event branding, including name, colors, and logo. Make sure all your marketing materials reflect your brand, including print, email, social media outreach, and advertisements. This increases awareness for your upcoming event.
You may even want to create a hashtag to help start and continue the conversation on social media!
Offering general, VIP, early-bird, and other ticket types (like we discussed above) allows you to encourage participation from a varied audience while also raising more funds.
Each of your events will have a different target population, but providing attendees with options to save money or give more for a special ticket gives them control over their experience. Organizations looking for ways to increase brand awareness or raise more money can also include merchandise, like t-shirts or hats, with these ticket bundles.
Check out the example below for the multiple tiers of tickets this organization created to target different types of audiences.
In-person ticket sales are always an option, but most nonprofits have seen an increase in attendance when adding online event ticket forms. Sell online tickets to fund runs, galas, or concerts, and create customized tickets that match their needs.
With an affordable and simple-to-use online event-ticketing solution like Donorbox Events, you can succeed in your online event ticket sales.
When adding tickets to your event page, ensure transparency by sharing the tax-deductible value on every ticket level (shown in the image below). The dollar amount of a nonprofit event ticket is only tax-deductible when it is more than what the ticket is worth at fair market value. If the dinner, entertainment, and other event perks cost more than the ticket price, there is no tax deduction available.
Event attendees will appreciate this knowledge. Being open about this amount allows you to gain trust and strengthen relationships with your donors.
Mail and email remain two of the best ways to encourage event attendance. Your donor database should have details on who attended past events, as well as those who regularly give to your organization. This information can help you determine who should receive personal invitations, and how.
Promo codes are an important strategy to consider when selling tickets for your event. Setting promo codes allows you to offer discounts and even free tickets to certain supporters. This is a great way to reward your top volunteers, encourage more event attendance, and generate excitement around your event.
Donorbox Events allows you to create unlimited promo codes. Choose your discount as either a percentage or a dollar amount, then monitor your promo code and edit or delete it at any time.
You may still want to use traditional media to promote your event. Press releases and community partnerships with local media are essential in these cases.
Your event entertainer is another source that can help with advertising. Depending on the popularity of your entertainer, asking them to promote the event on their website and social media pages may bring in new event attendees. Include a special video message from your entertainer to your potential ticket buyers to increase attendance and can be shared on social media, through email campaigns, and even as a resource for local media.
Watch this comprehensive video to learn how you can leverage next-gen solutions to accelerate ticket sales and boost fundraising for your next event.
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Gone are the days of searching for a ticket template, maintaining separate ticket templates for all types of events, ticket printing, and managing ticket purchases offline. Look for ways to use technology to your advantage if you’re hoping to get the best return on their investment.
Online ticket sales are becoming more popular, and are expected by many event attendees. But remember to send automated receipts for your donors’ records! And, follow up with attendees after the event is over to ask for their opinions on the event and/or the ticketing process. Their feedback will help you improve over time!
If your organization wants to learn more about Donorbox as an all-in-one fundraising solution with an array of advanced fundraising features, visit our website.
Check out our Nonprofit Blog for weekly fundraising tips and tricks.
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor