What makes a good virtual fundraising event?

In world of lockdowns and social distancing most charities have been forced to experiment with virtual fundraising events; over 60% tried at least inform of virtual fundraising during the first lockdown. Anecdotally, the results have been mixed, despite some high profile mega-successes (such as Captain Tom Moore’s amazing efforts during the first lockdown in 2020).

A question we get asked a lot is how can charities make a success of virtual fundraising events in a such a crowded marketplace?

In all honestly there is no magic formula despite a lot of people out there promising that they have it. JustGiving have recently launched their Virtual Fundraising Event Toolkit, which provides helpful advice on guidance on making a success of virtual fundraising, comprising six key sections:

• Deciding on the right type of virtual event for your cause

• Outlining key stages and goals

• Creating your marketing plan

• Stewardship

• Reporting

• Resources

These are, of course, good practice stages for any fundraising campaign: choosing a relevant challenge; having a plan; promoting the opportunity; keeping in touch with participants and supporters; being able to see when you have and have not been successful; and making sure the event is properly resourced are all. What the toolkit does, though, is zero in on specific ideas and approaches for virtual fundraising in a practical way.

Overall, the critical thing to get clear, in our view, is to understand the difference between virtual and in-person events. In particular, marketing and communications need to work through almost exclusively virtual channels, so sustaining relationships with supporters requires new approaches. Building online communities takes different skills to developing communities in the physical world and is so much more important when people can’t train or practice together.

If the toolkit has a failing, it is that the advice appears more appropriate for medium-sized charities and assumes a level of resource and access to digital platforms that many smaller charities just don’t have. So for smaller charities, real care needs to be given to resourcing virtual events? Do you have the staff (or, more likely, volunteers) to sustain the scale and scope of virtual communications needed to make the event a success? Do you have (or can you afford to get) the online platforms that support techniques such as gamification and online community development that can be so important in online fundraising?

Nevertheless, virtual fundraising events appear set to become part of the “new normal” in fundraising for all types of charities and now is the time to invest and get ahead of the curve (not least because there is grant funding to support exactly that kind of investment).

If you would like to discuss your fundraising plans we'd be delighted to hear from you. Simply contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk to arrange free initial telephone discussion.