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Best Practices: Fundraising and Upselling with Virtual Events: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1291864
There are lots of well-known ways to solicit donations at a live event (the curtain speech, staff and volunteers in the lobby, envelopes tucked into program booklets...), but what about Virtual Events? And what about selling add-ons like merchandise?
In this article, we'll provide suggestions based on input from clients like you, and show you how to use the tools provided in PatronManager's Virtual Event feature to increase your fundraising capacity for these kinds of events. We'll cover:
- Building fundraising into the ticket purchase
- Upselling add-ons on the PTS
-
Encouraging giving during your event, including
- Embedding a Donation Form so patrons can give while they watch
- Utilizing the "Tip Jar" to provide other avenues for donations and more
- Conducting post-event outreach
Ready? Let's dive in!
Got more ideas?
Head over to the Virtual Events group in the Client Community to talk with other organizations about their fundraising practices! Ask questions, share successes, and bounce ideas off one another.
From the beginning: building fundraising into the ticket purchase process
Did you know the Public Ticketing Site can include a full page donation ask during the checkout process? You can include images, video, audio and text to make the most compelling ask.
One client reported that adding this page almost tripled their donations on the PTS!
Head over here to set up the Donation Landing Page.
Upselling and add-ons during the purchase
We recommend you set up a separate Event and Instance to sell merchandise, and use things like Cart Text to recommend it to buyers on your PTS.
With Virtual Events, though, you may wish to bundle offerings that are specific to that event - see below for a great example.
Let's say you're offering a special event with a sommelier. Patrons could choose to simply attend the livestream to learn about wine, or they could choose an add-on package to get wine delivered to their door beforehand so that they can taste along.
If your virtual event has unlimited capacity but you have a limited quantity of wine (say, 50 each of the red wine and white wine options), you could set up Allocations and Price Levels for your Virtual Event like this:
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Allocation 1: Livestream Only
- Original Quantity: 1,000
- Price Level: Adult, $15
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Allocation 2: Livestream & Red Wine Pairing
- Original Quantity: 25
- Price Level: Adult w/ Red Wine, $35
-
Allocation 3: Livestream & White Wine Pairing
- Original Quantity: 25
- Price Level: Adult w/ White Wine, $35
-
Allocation 4: Livestream & Complete Wine Pairing
- Original Quantity: 25
- Price Level: Adult w/ Both Wines, $55
The patron would buy just one ticket corresponding to the way they want to experience the event. You can also set the wine pairing Allocations to Private when you reach the cut-off time for wine orders, and keep selling the livestream only right up until showtime.
During the show: encouraging giving at your virtual event
Online events are continually evolving, and organizations are constantly exploring new ways to engage their patrons. Here are a few ideas we've seen work well:
Place a Donation Form on the player page
You can embed a PatronManager Donation Form right on the player page, so patrons can give without leaving the page or stopping the show.
Want to set this up? Check out our article about Embedding a Donation Form on your Virtual Event.
Use the Tip Jar
The "Tip Jar" feature allows you to place a series of action buttons right below the player window. Clicking the button will open the URL you defined in a new tab.
You can use these in a variety of ways, for example:
- Allow patrons to give directly to the artist via Venmo, PayPal, etc
- Point patrons toward becoming a member
- Sell merchandise
- Send patrons to your email signup form
Want to set this up? Check out our article about Using the Tip Jar for Virtual Events.
The Curtain Speech (intermission speech, end speech...) can still exist
We're all familiar with the curtain speech, where a representative from your organization comes onstage prior to thank sponsors and funders - and make the case for others to donate.
Livestream and VOD events can use this strategy as well -- and because it's virtual, you can pre-record this part to get it just right!
- If you're livestreaming, a broadcasting platform like OBS Studio allows you to include different kinds of content, including pre-recorded segments, in the same stream
- If you're uploading a video to VOD, edit it first to include your ask
Don't be afraid to pause
Because virtual events can be partly or fully pre-recorded, you don't have to take any breaks -- but perhaps you should. Intermissions or short breaks between content gives your patrons a chance to stretch and use the restroom, just like at a live event -- except in this case, you have screen real estate to utilize!
Instead of an empty stage or blank screen, put up a short pre-recorded video, looping slides with information about upcoming shows, reasons to give, low-effort "behind-the-scenes" content, and more!
After the curtain falls: post-event outreach
PatronManager makes it easy to connect with your patrons based on their activity. Why not send an automatic post-show email to attendees, and include a donation ask? Or use CRM Snapshots to further segment your patrons based on their ticket purchase, attendance, and giving history?
Ready to dive in? Check out these articles to learn all about:
- Using automated post-show emails
- Getting to know your patrons with CRM Snapshots
- Finding the right list with Report Finder in the Client Community