Virtual events have become a key promotional tool for nonprofits to attract new supporters. However, with all the effort that goes into planning a successful event, it can be easy to forget to continue cultivating relationships after your event wraps up. While one-time attendees are appreciated, it is much more cost effective to turn these guests into repeat attendees.

Hybrid and virtual fundraising events present their own unique challenges for staying in touch. At in-person events, your donor outreach team can have one-on-one conversations with multiple guests to help start your nonprofit’s relationship with them off on the right foot. The lack of face-to-face interaction at a virtual event means your nonprofit will likely need to take a different, data-driven approach to continue engaging guests after your event’s end.

Your virtual event lays a positive foundation for your future relationship with your attendees, and you can make the most of this solid start by taking the following steps:

1. Follow Up Afterwards
2. Invite Them to Similar Events
3. Send Event Surveys
4. Share Pictures of Your Event Online

Each of these methods aims to take advantage of the same virtual platforms your event initially engaged supporters on. As your nonprofit further develops your relationships with guests, you can change communication methods to fit supporter preferences. However, in the beginning, a virtual approach will allow you to act quickly while your event is still fresh in attendees’ minds.

1. Follow Up Afterwards

Your event doesn’t end until you’ve followed up with guests to thank them for attending. While a thank you goes a long way toward acknowledging supporters’ participation, you can drive attendance for your next event by taking a more hands-on approach than a few automated thank you emails.

Handbid’s guide to virtual galas recommends starting the follow-up process as soon as your event ends as well as how to make sure your thank you's are memorable. As you plan the follow-up stage of your event, consider:

• Sending personalized messages. Most attendees won’t feel acknowledged if they’re addressed as “Dear Valued Guest.” Make sure every thank you message addresses each supporter by name, and look into guests’ history with your nonprofit to make more specific references to their past participation. For example, you could send a thank you message that welcomes first time guests to your nonprofit.

• Giving out branded merchandise. Thank yous can take many forms, and physical items can help keep your nonprofit front of mind for supporters who regularly use your branded mugs and t-shirts. Branded merchandise can be especially useful for recognizing recurring guests who have a long-standing relationship with your nonprofit.

• Honoring major donors. All of your donors deserve a thank you, but your team should take extra steps when following up with guests who made major contributions during your event. Send a handwritten thank you card, call them on the phone, or ideally both to let them know how much you appreciate their gift.

While each thank you should have a personal touch, don’t hesitate to rely on templates or messaging tools to help write your messages. Use resources like this one as a starting point. Then, adjust each template to make specific references to your nonprofit and event. You can create additional places in your message that can be filled in with specific references such as amount donated during your event, history with your nonprofit, and other personal details.

2. Invite Them to Similar Events

Donor stewardship is a multi-step process that requires creating multiple touchpoints with supporters throughout their relationship with your nonprofit. Effective stewardship uses past information about supporters to identify future engagement opportunities, and previous event attendance provides plenty of information about how your guests like to interact with your nonprofit.

Sending a personal invitation can also make supporters feel acknowledged as individuals. But don’t limit your guest list to just donors. After your virtual event, consider extending invitations to your next event to:

• Guests. Reaching out to previous attendees to market your next event is common practice for good reason. If you notice a guest has attended your last two auctions, it makes sense to invite them to your third. However, don’t limit your invitations to just guests who made a contribution during your event. Every ticket sold counts, and a supporter who didn’t give during their first event may feel more familiar with your nonprofit and thus more inclined to give during their second.

• Volunteers. Retaining volunteers from event to event helps your nonprofit planning team save time, but volunteers can also make for some of your best supporters. While some may be happy to continue working behind the scenes, others may be curious to see what it’s like from a guest’s perspective. Previous volunteers are also particularly aware of how much work goes into an event and may subsequently be more likely to consider donating.

• Corporate sponsors. Securing a corporate sponsorship is an investment of time and resources, so take care to maintain these valuable connections through both big and small gestures such as extending a personal invitation to your next event. Double the Donation’s tips on corporate sponsorships advises thanking sponsors publicly, and your events are the perfect opportunity to do so. Invite sponsors to attend and receive their applause in person.

These may seem like three distinct audiences, and while your invitations should reflect your nonprofit’s unique connections to each, they all want roughly the same thing at the end of the day. Supporters, volunteers, and sponsors all invest in your nonprofit and want to build a strong, personal connection with your organization.

3. Send Event Surveys

You can engage guests after your events by asking them what they thought of the experience. Surveys show that you appreciate receiving feedback and that your nonprofit is making continual strides to improve each guest’s experience.

Your surveys should reflect the specific activities and content of your event and event marketing while also giving supporters the opportunity to expand their thoughts in general. For example, here are some questions you might ask in a survey following an online auction:

• What items were you most interested in bidding on? This question can answer a few different questions to help your nonprofit optimize your auction. Guests may indicate that they prefer certain types of items or they could mention items that were priced at similar levels.

• Was bidding a convenient process? Your auction, like all virtual events, should be as easy to participate in as possible. While you may receive negative responses to a question like this, negative feedback can indicate major areas of improvement. For example, guests may say they enjoyed your online auction from their home computers but would have preferred a mobile bidding option to continue participating while on the go.

• Were you ever hesitant to bid on an item? If so, why? Starting bids and bidding increments both highly influence how successful your auction will be for both guests and your nonprofit. Auctions strive to start bidding wars, and getting insight into obstacles from a guest’s perspective can help your nonprofit take a targeted approach to removing those barriers.

All of these questions are designed to help your nonprofit gain feedback to improve your event and ultimately raise more money in the long run. However, they’re all phrased to reflect a guest’s experience of what they did and didn’t like. Framing questions this way helps to engage guests by asking them to reflect on their own experiences even if they are ultimately providing insight that influences your nonprofit’s internal processes.

4. Share Pictures of Your Event Online

Virtual, in-person, and hybrid events are meant to be fun, and taking pictures of engaging activities and guests enjoying themselves will help your nonprofit’s marketing team promote your next event. You can also share these images with the guests in the photos to remind them of all the fun they had and make them feel like part of your nonprofit’s community.

Make sure you get permission from guests when they first sign up for your event to take photos that can be shared so there aren’t any hard feelings or discomfort later. Then, capture moments from your virtual event, whether it’s part of your livestream or your guests reacting to something interesting from home.

After your event, share these photos in your follow-up thank you emails as a reminder of the night for those who attended. Then post your favorites to social media so your supporters can share the ones they’re in with their friends and family, spreading the word about your nonprofit.

While your events can be dynamic, engaging, and informative, remember that they are also a marketing tactic, and you can make the most of this introduction to your nonprofit in your follow-up. Engage your guests after your virtual events by sending personalized thank you messages and invitations to your next event, and never forget to share reminders of the experience and all the fun they had.

About the Authors

Josh Thurmond

Josh Thurmond has over 15 years of nonprofit and government management experience including a Masters in Public Administration. Before he entered the not for profit sector, he worked as a professional chef. Be sure to ask him for a recipe!

Jeff Porter

Jeff Porter, Founder & CEO of Handbid, has spent 18 years in the non-profit industry. In 2004 he founded the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Colorado where he still resides as board chair. Jeff learned early on that non-profits desperately needed better and more affordable fundraising solutions. Leveraging his software background, he built most of the tools his charities used, and in 2011 he launched Handbid at his own fundraising event.  The goal was to improve the guest experience, reduce administration and increase revenue.

Handbid accomplished all of those goals, effectively doubling revenue in its debut. Nine years later, Handbid's suite of tools has delighted over a half-million guests, generated millions of bids, and helped thousands of charities raise well over $100 million.