Are you loving your supporters to death? Driving them away with your attention? Or even annoying them with your methods? Charitable organisations much keep their donors happy or risk losing their base. Perhaps you spend hours brainstorming ways of rewarding the most loyal, but have you given a thought to mistake you might be making?

Consider these three ways that some organisations drive off existing supporters, lost potential donors, and otherwise sabotage their own missions:

1) Make them do all the work

If you’ve spent a fortune updating your website, don’t sit back and wait for folks to find it! Having a splendid website is only the first step. It’s up to you to drive traffic there. There’s no quick fix for this: paid advertisement is simply not the best way to drive clicks. Rather, people respond to other people. Why not find the websites where potential supporters are already participating? Become active in those communities, leaving intelligent posts and comments in forums. Add your URL at the end of each post, and interested parties will follow your link home!

2) Make them do work they don’t want to do

Most people do not care to read dry pages of figures, interminable reports, or constant updates. We’re already inundated with information, and may have difficulty sifting through to find the important parts. If you send out too many emails or newsletter, or overload your communications with excessive facts, numbers, and details, you’ll lose readership and disconnect from your base. Instead, limit your emails to no more than one a week, and keep those short. Choose a few powerful anecdotes, rather than an exhaustive list of accomplishments. You can make the complete information available elsewhere, but not in people’s inboxes!

3) Don’t let them do any work at all

Some groups become so focused on their mission that they forget their supporters entirely. Would you rather lose out on a big donation because the donor’s purpose does not completely fit your own? Would you prefer to alienate potential supporters rather than reconsider how you work? Intractable organisations don’t make or keep friends easily. Instead, try opening your administration up to others’ ideas. Let your supporters feel that they have a say in how their money is spent, and that they are important in your decision making process. Solicit ideas and be open to advice. Make them feel welcome and they will return the favor.

Keep those donors happy, and when your annual fundraiser comes around, they’ll be happy to purchase more Event Tickets than ever.

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Here’s a splendid idea for your annual fundraiser: offer donors an inside peek at your organisation’s workings.

When your guests have grown accustomed to the yearly charity ball, and particularly if you’re offered scaled Event Ticket pricing, those holding more expensive tickets should receive some unexpected bonus beyond having their name writ in large letters upon the program or newsletter.

For instance, a local botanical garden holds a yearly dinner dance, which happens to roughly coincide with the beginning of two features: their unusual plant sale, and their seasonal butterfly garden. The organisers create an event that is thematically linked with these two other events, using butterflies and unusual plants in their promotional materials, decorations, and naming. But they offer some added incentive: those attending the ball are given early access to the unusual plant sale, and have first choice of the plants, before other members or the general public.

That’s for the price of the basic Event Ticket. Donate a bit more, however, and your ticket entitles you to a behind-the-scenes tour of the plant sale, with botanists on hand to discuss the mechanics of collecting and transporting plants, answer questions, and add value to the affair. Remember, the guests are all members of the botanic gardens, so an evening with a botanist is quite a treat. But for an even greater incentive, at the highest level of donation, a ticket entitles the holder to a behind-the-scenes tour of the butterfly exhibit, with, of course, lepidopterists available to educate visitors.

Does your organisation have any backstage secrets? Have you a warehouse or other offices that are normally closed to the public? Are your administrators normally unavailable to members? Museums often have rooms of uncataloged or undisplayed materials that may pique members’ interests; schools can offer tours of off-limits area of the physical plant. Most groups have their own inner workings, and your supporters are interested in seeing them! Use those hidden details as a behind-the-scenes bonus for your loyal supporters.

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I attended rather a novel fundraiser event last weekend, one which came together in such a splendid way that I would consider it a model of charity fundraising. This clever event benefited the charity, the performers, their sponsor, and their venue.

In this case, the charity was meant to benefit musicians, while the sponsor was a shop that specialised in the work of local artists, and the venue was a popular pub in the city centre, but I believe the general concept could be adapted to any triumvirate of organisation.

The pub in question has an extensive beer-garden style pavilion out front, so that those passing by on the street could see that there was a large event taking place. At one point in the evening, they had women dancing with candles near the fence, so that the event simply couldn’t be missed. Increased traffic to the pub, of course, increased their profits in drink and food sales for the evening.

Event Tickets cost a paltry £5 per person, very little for a long night, with live music playing all evening. Indeed, there was a line to get in. With the 5 quid fee, each guest received a Gift Certificate from the sponsor, which could be redeemed for a Raffle Ticket at the sponsor’s shop. Of course, this encourages more traffic to their shop, while the entry fee went directly to the charity.

There were bands and entertainment in the beer garden as well as inside the pub. Also within the pub was a second prize draw, this one featuring merchandise from the sponsor’s shop. Raffle Tickets for the second prize draw were only £1 a piece, and some of the prizes (the work by local artists) were charming and seemed quite dear.

Well, everyone involved with this event benefited. The charity made quite a lot of money on Event Ticket sales, as did the venue, simply from selling their regular products. The artists whose work were exhibited and the musicians and dancers who performed donated their products or time for free, but they received valuable and copious exposure. And the sponsor earned some money on the prize draw, but, more importantly, ensured increased business in the future, as guests would visit the shop to trade their Gift Certificates for Raffle Tickets.

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How many Event Tickets does one promoter need?

The larger your event, the greater the possibilities, and the more options you, the savvy promoter, will want to offer. This doesn’t just include no-brainers like an open-air patio for smokers or meat-free dining options for vegetarians. Sometimes, a single level of Event Tickets, or even two levels, such as General Admission and VIP, are just not enough.

What if, for instance, you’re promoting a 3-day music festival? Some die hard fans will certainly buy an inclusive 3-day pass, but some of your guests may have to work on Fridays and only be able to attend 2 days of the event. Others may be coming to see only a single band, or have limited funds, and wish to purchase admission for only a single day of the event. Are you offering various levels of ticket with scaled pricing? If not, you may be losing this last group. A tiered system of Event Tickets can help you sell more.

How about publicity? Are you offering special passes to the media? From national reporters to local bloggers, representatives of the media can offer you lots of extra exposure, and you can help them help you with specially marked passes letting your staff and performers know that they’re media representatives and should be treated nicely and provided extra access.

Are you running extra promotions, such as tie-ins with a local radio station? If you have a handful of contest winners who will be allowed behind the scenes, you can give them special tickets to denote their status. You may even want scaled levels of backstage passes: one for performers, one for staff, one for volunteers, and one for other VIPs. It increases your security levels and keeps your event safer.

You can keep everyone straight by offering different Event Tickets for different groups. Or, for greater organisation, you can try colorful Event Wristbands, which allow you to identify individual access levels at a glance. However you organise it, offering multiple types of Event Tickets for the same event is a key to a fabulous event.

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Summertime is outdoor time, and now is the right time to start selling Event Tickets for your big end-of-summer celebration. What will it be? According to our customers, the most popular events are:

• Camping Trips
• Picnics
• Swim Parties
• Summer Fairs

If you simply can’t decide, your smart option is to let your fans, customers, or guests decide for you. Make the process as formal or as informal as you like. For instance, you can open your next meeting up to a vote by the general assembly. You can create an online poll on your website, where interested parties can anonymously vote for their favourite choice. You can ask a select group of members to make the decision, or you can ring up some influential voices and let those popular members lead the crowd.

Once you’ve made the decision, it’s time to book the venue (if necessary) and start printing Event Kits. Determine what type of pre-event publicity you will require. Will you advertise with Posters, or only send Invitations to a select group? When you print your Event Tickets online, you can create matching documents for VIP passes, Drink Tickets (which can also be customised for other food sales, so that those in charge of concessions need not worry about counting money and making change while a queue of hungry guests forms), and, of course, Raffle Tickets, if you’d like to earn a little extra money before the day is over.

Whatever you choose, start planning now! Make this summer the most successful summer yet for your organisation.

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Summer holidays getting a bit sticky? Fancy a quick chill? If the mercury is rising along with tempers within your organisation, use a little cooling psychology. Why not create a winter-themed event to help your compatriots stay cool through those long, hot day?

You could try a Christmas-in-July (or August) event, surely popular with young people. Complete with ornaments, lights, and presents, it’s a surefire fundraising activity to beat the summertime blues. Crank up the air conditioning, blow the cobwebs off your Santa suit and start selling Event Tickets for a summer celebration. It’s a true opportunity to create some real joy, which is the best way to kick off any fundraising activity.

Or, recreate the majesty of the mountains. You can even rent a snow machine and churn out some of the cold, white stuff for a unique summertime event. Let the children make snow angels, snow men, and snowballs, and slide down the snow-covered hills. Sell snow cones or ice lollies and help everyone cool off. It’s a thrilling, chilling way to enjoy the best that winter has to offer at the time of year when a little taste of winter would truly be welcome.

Mountaineering associations pair perfectly with such an event, but, with the addition of a few strings of Prayer Flags, this could be a wonderful fundraiser for Tibet. Some fine chocolate turns it into a tie-in with a planned trip to the Swiss Alps. With the right posters and speakers, you have an attractive educational program on other mountains of the world. Just raise your elevation and you can elevate your Event Ticket sales!

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Let us speak of event advertising.

Selling Event Tickets in a glutted market may seem discouraging some days, but don’t despair! In economic downturns, most people are looking for affordable entertainments to take their minds off of other problems for a time. You can help them by offering tantalizing glimpses into the magical world offered by your event. No need to force anything. You can simply place Posters and Flyers in places where potential customers can’t help but notice.

Certainly, you can spread your message online, but most of your customers live in the real world, too! Find ways to meet them halfway by providing interesting publicity in venues they are likely to frequent. Try pairing your event advertising with a proper location.

Perhaps you are putting on a gymnasiums. But don’t stop there. Think further: where else will you find your target audience? If you are opening a new nightclub, the owner of a boutique selling club clothes may allow you to hang a Poster in the shop window. Perhaps a paediatrician might allow you to hang a Flyer for a family-friendly event in the office.

Finding the appropriate design can often be a key to advertising success. Does it catch the eye? Does it appeal directly to the group you wish you attract? It may be helpful to find a focus group, some people who are interested in your event and willing to evaluate your advertising with their own eyes. Once you’ve settled on a proper design, it’s easy to print your Posters or Flyers online, and it costs less than you think.

Then, it’s up to you. Get outside and start hanging them up where everyone can see.

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Let’s step away, for a moment from our typical discussion of how you can sell Event Tickets. Rather, let’s examine whether you may, in some cases, want to give away Event Tickets. Of course, your concert, performance, or other event is you product, and you do want to sell and make money from it, but, in the long run, you can get quite a bit of mileage from giveaway offers.

A friend of mine runs a circus troupe, and has had excellent luck offering a free Event Ticket to patrons who bring a certain number of paying guests. Clowns and other performers walk through the town on the day before the show, providing free advertisement for the circus, and offering interested parties a coupon for free admission if they convince 3 friends to attend the evening’s performance. This increases attendance exponentially! Some venues will also offer 2-for-1 deals. If you are having trouble filling seats, this is an excellent way to expand your base and encourage those who otherwise could not afford a ticket to become a fan.

If your event is to be large, or part of a bigger constellation of events, consider some form of corporate sponsorship, in which the purchase of a particular item nets the consumer a free ticket. Again, this helps to generate interest in your show and can be mutually beneficial for you and the company with which you enter into this agreement. Local businesses may be willing to work out such a deal, as it will increase their traffic.

Completely free tickets are ideal for events where there will be vendors, including food and T-shirt sales, along with corporate sponsors. Waive the cost of admission and your guests will have more money to spend on concessions, souvenirs, games, rides, and other features of the event. Or, offer free tickets to a particular group whose attendance would help your organisation: doctors for a health event, for instance. Free tickets for veterans, students, or children can also help.

Selling Event Tickets can be hard work, but giving them away is easy!

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You want to sell more event tickets to further support your cause. Whether you’re a member of an established national or international organisation, or simply trying to start something good at home, your planning efforts can benefit from a strong local push: a grassroots campaign. Get your community involved in your work and mobilise your grassroots army to generate interest and hype those event tickets!

• Call a town meeting: Advertise in local media and shops, as well as online forums where your supporters may be waiting. Share your goals, gauge local interest, and recruit volunteers.
• Get feedback: Let your grassroots army offer their input. The most you can depend on others to do the heavy lifting, the more you can accomplish.
• Start planning: Guide your group through the creation of a fundraising event. Find out what type of event would generate the most local interest, helping you sell the greatest number of event tickets. Ask volunteers what they want
• Keep it close to home: Capitalise on the grassroots nature of your movement by employing local venues and vendors. Choose local entertainment, speakers, and catering, and advertise in local media outlets. Let everyone know this is a homegrown event!
• This party doesn’t stop: Once you’ve sold all your event tickets and held a successful fundraiser, keep the movement going. Ask your local supporters to continue offering their fresh and creative ideas, and let them take the lead in organising projects.

You’ll be surprised where you find enthusiastic supporters, bubbling over with new ideas, just waiting for someone to harness the power of their collective desire to help. They’re waiting for you! Now go seek them out and get them organised!

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It happens once in 4 years, which means you’ve had 4 years to prepare. What? You haven’t spent the last 47 months considering how you are to plan and execute the perfect World Cup Event? Perhaps you’ve already bought a ticket a boarded a plan for South Africa. If not, it’s still not too late to find that perfect HDTV and start the celebration at home, or let a venue and sell event tickets to those looking for a place to watch.

You shan’t be alone. The vast majority of your neighbors plan to watch the game: 71% of everyone in the UK, according to some surveys, will be glued to the proceedings. And of those fans, 87% plan to watch straight through the end, regardless of whether England make the final or not. So start gathering your mates and celebrate in style!

What do your guests want? Of course, you can guess the easy ones:

• A BIG TV
• A comfortable seat
• Barbecue or buffet
• Plenty of cold drinks

Another consideration is a bit of outdoors: a place where they can step away if they need a smoke or a private moment to grieve a particularly bad play.

The BBC also suggest having a few additional activities to ease the tension: computer football games, target practice in a garden goal, table football, or Subbuteo. You can set the mood by decorating your home with the flags of many nations, or perhaps by dressing your dog in a red and white shirt. Your guests will most likely bring their own enthusiasm with them, no event ticket required.

Now, you’ve done all you can. The rest is up to England!

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