As you’re getting ready to launch your next fundraising event for your nonprofit, there’s a lot of moving pieces.
But, one of the things that has the biggest potential to drive more ticket sales right off the bat is having an amazing fundraising event invitation that captures your audience’s attention.
How do you write an invite that gets people to click through and make the purchase?
Let’s break down the elements of a great fundraising event invitation and show it in practice with some top examples:
Use A Multi Channel Approach
If you take nothing else away from this article, remember this: inviting people to your event needs to happen multiple times and in multiple ways. You may be familiar with the statistic that it takes 7 touches before someone will take action. That means that if I’m going to register for your event I need to hear about it, read about it, or see it 7 times before I actually click “buy”.
The most effective way to increase the number of touches you have is to share your invitation in a wide variety of channels, both online and offline. That could include:
- Create a website landing page for your event using your own website, or create one using CauseVox
- Invite people via email – consider creating your event invite using Canva or Paperless Post for a nice touch
- Social media – Either by sharing your Set up a Facebook or Linkedin Event + invite people there
- Direct mail – Print an invitation on a postcard and send
- Livestreams – Invite people who atten
- Media placements
- Phone calls
- Mass texting
You don’t have to use all of these channels, but think about picking 3 or 4 and adjusting your message to each one. Your invitation on Twitter will look different from a direct mail postcard.
What To Include In A Fundraising Event Invitation?
No matter if your event is taking place in-person, virtually, or it’s a hybrid event, the foundation to a great fundraising event invitation is the same.
The Basic Event Details
Now let’s think about the basic information you should include in any fundraising event invitation:
- What is the event
- When is the event
- Where is the event
- Cost
- Any additional details, like dress code, food, or exciting guests
- A clear call to action to RSVP or buy a ticket
- Contact information if they have questions
After this basic information you’ll want to be careful: a great invitation is brief. No one wants to read huge paragraphs of text to understand an event or get to the basic details. I’m going to share elements that are great to include in an invitation, but you don’t necessarily have to include all of them. Choose your strategy so that you can succinctly make a case for why someone should attend.
Use Images + Videos
A picture is really worth a thousand words. You can tell me how great your event is going to be, but if you can show me so I can visually imagine being there, I’m much more likely to attend.
You can do that by sharing photos or videos from prior years that illustrate how great it was, include images of speakers, or create graphics or videos highlighting what people can expect to see at the event.
In addition, using images make your invite much more aesthetically pleasing, which always makes it stand out.
Answer The Question: Why Should Someone Attend Your Fundraising Event?
The best thing you can do with your event invitation is to make sure you communicate the benefits of attending your event.
People buy tickets to your events for two reasons: they get something from the event, and they know they’re supporting your important mission. If you want more people to buy tickets, you have to communicate those two types of benefits.
One of the best ways to get your attendees interested is by talking about impact. Impact is two fold: what benefits will they get from attending and how will their attendance benefit the organization, and therefore your mission? 68% of donors agree that knowing how their donations makes an impact is important to their gift.
The same concept applies to event tickets. If I know that my ticket cost is going to save the whales (and I love whales), I’m much more likely to buy it.
On the flip side, if I understand what I’ll get out of the event I may want to attend even if I don’t have any particular connection to your cause. Let’s say your event is a beautiful whale-watching tour, and I get to see amazing natural scenes if I attend. I might buy a ticket even if I think the whales brought this on themselves.
Use Scarcity To Drive Sales
Another option for driving curiosity is to create a sense of scarcity, which has be a key pillar of marketing for years. This basically means getting potential attendees to feel as if they’re about to miss out.
Here’s a few ways you can bring on the FOMO for event invitees:
- Showcasing limited ticket availability.
- Having a countdown to the event to show time is running out.
- Highlight the people who have attended in the past or who are attending this year.
- Offer an early bird registration: attendees get a small discount if they register before a certain date.
This is also a great place to mention different ticket tiers (and make use of CauseVox’s ticket tier options). You can offer exclusive opportunities for higher ticket levels, like the chance to meet a performer or get limited time swag. If you do offer tiers, your invitation is the place to sell why someone should opt for the higher tier: what do they get?
Here’s a couple of pro tips to keep in mind as you craft your fundraising event invite:
- Make sure that you include information about how to donate directly to your organization for folks who can’t make it to the event. People may want to support you even if they don’t attend.
- Make things more personal by using merge tags in your emails or letters to automatically pull each individual’s name into your copy. It helps your attendees to feel important if they see their own name.
Fundraising Event Invitation Example
Now that we know the principles of a great invitation, let’s see it in action! We’ll look at an example of well-done fundraising event invitation to give you an idea of how to combine the ideas we shared.
Fundraising Event Invite Example: Stupid Cancer’s TOAST Gala
For their 2019 Gala, Stupid Cancer created an aesthetically pleasing landing page that really stood out for a number of reasons:
- They communicated the basics event details effectively.
2. They effectively communicated their organization’s mission.
3. They shared what their event was to intrigue their audience.
4. They answered the question, “why should someone attend?”
5. They created a sense of urgency + scarcity with a countdown to their event.
Power-Up Your Events With CauseVox
Want to sell more tickets for your nonprofit’s fundraising event?
The CauseVox Ticketing platform ensures that you and your supporters have the best experience so that you just have to worry about throwing the best event.
Learn more about how CauseVox can help you run the best event for your nonprofit.
Learn how to sell more tickets for your nonprofit’s fundraising event.
