Getting the best out of your fundraising event

Event planning can be challenging and stressful at the best of times, but for charities, scarcer resources can mean that putting on the best fundraisers is a particularly difficult task. Time and money are at a premium and the pressure is on to put together events that attendees will love enough to dip their hands in their pockets. At a time when efficiency could not be more important for the third sector, one of the best ways of managing your events is through an effective online registration system.

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Boost attendance

The best event is worthless if your attendance figures are too low to make an impact. But an effective registration system makes it quicker and simpler for users to book their tickets, so they’re less likely to keep putting it off until they eventually forget entirely. A simple, standardised booking form that captures only the relevant information will encourage attendees to book sooner – especially if you offer a range of ticket prices including “early bird” discounts to incentivise early reservations.

Not only does this mean you can take payment earlier and start raising those vital funds sooner, but it also helps you to get an idea of how high demand will be so you can plan more efficiently. If your online registration software includes a link allowing delegates to share their attendance via social media too, you’ll raise the profile of your event earlier and get even more people talking.

Save time and hassle

Automating the registration process makes things simpler for you as well as your attendees. Because every participant submits the same information on a single booking form, all the data you need on your entire guest list is already captured and stored in a single location. In turn, this allows you to generate detailed and accurate reports quickly and efficiently, so you can keep track of their needs without spending unnecessary hours makings lists.

In addition, plenty of precious time is wasted on transferring information between different systems and databases. But you’ll find that the right event registration system can even save you effort here, integrating with third party systems such as contact databases (a good example of this can be found here). This means that you won’t lose any more time to exporting and importing data between the various pieces of software you use and ensures information isn’t lost along the way. Crucially, this will free up more of your time to focus on what’s important – making your event a success to raise those all-important funds.

Budget-friendly

The best registration system for you may involve an initial investment, but you’ll see the benefits very quickly and in fact, the returns can be considerable. As well as the time you save because staff are not required to manually process booking information, you’ll draw in revenue from bookings more quickly and with a combination of discounts for early reservations, you could end up with better attendance that will boost your charity’s profile. In the end, it will prove to be invaluable.

 

Getting the best out of your fundraising event
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