Thursday, April 7, 2016

Event Donors - Finding the right language

I should probably be open by saying I love events.  Despite the fact that I know they are hard work, that they carry a lot of hidden costs, particularly in staff time, and they don't traditionally generate long term donors - I love them.  I think there is so much potential and opportunity within the peer-2-peer fundraising and event space, and I'm really excited about what is happening here.

One of the biggest criticisms I hear about events is that participants, and even more so, donors to those participants, don't go on to give again.  They don't necessarily have any connection to your cause, and they aren't really supporting you... They are participating because of their own desire to complete the challenge, or they are donating to their friend who asked them too - the cause is irrelevant.

I believe there is opportunity here - we just haven't cracked it.  And this blog post doesn't contain the answers to this problem, but it is something I'll be exploring - and I'd LOVE to hear what challenges, and what successes you've found.

This weekend was the two year anniversary since I undertook one of the greatest challenges of my life, as an event participant.  I walked 100km in support of Oxfam as part of Oxfam Trailwalker.  It was the hardest, and most amazing thing I have ever done, and I have so much respect for anyone who has, or who will, participate.  It is an event I am unlikely to do again (although you never say never), so I know Oxfam has the challenge of trying to keep me engaged and ultimately to convert me from participant to donor. 

Last year, I had a colleague who was crazy enough to sign up.  And so I donated to her.  It would have been the last donation I made to Oxfam - which means I now sit on their database as an event donor... that group of people that no one knows what to do with.

Well, and with full credit to them, this year I received an email from them reminding me of the contribution I made to my friend last year, and asking if I would encourage and support another team with a donation.  I thought it was a great effort.  I have no idea if it generated a response, but I really thought it was a clever, relatable way to communicate with this group.

I would have loved to have seen them take that one step further though - and to email me as an event participant.  Two years have passed, and I remember the pain, the exhaustion and the tears like it was yesterday.  I'll never forget how hard it was to keep going, and I'll never forget how much the encouragement from our friends and family helped and how responsible I felt to the dozens of amazing people who had donated to our team.  I had to keep going... for myself, for my team, and for our donors. 

An email reminding me of how it felt to be out on the trail... reminding me of the physical and mental exhaustion... reminding me of the importance of the group of people supporting me and encouraging me along the way... and asking me to be that encouragement and support for another team who needs the strength to keep going - that absolutely would have motivated me to give.

I think as we look at how to best cultivate this extraordinary group of people... both participants and donors... we really consider what will best motivate and inspire them.  They are different to the traditional donor that makes up most of our databases, but if we can speak to them in the right language I think they can be come just valuable to our organisations.

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