Increase the reach of your fundraising arm with the event of the season. Selling tickets to your next charitable event is merely the start of your money-making potential. When you print you own event tickets online, remember, you’re printing the opening the salvo in the campaign of the year.

How can you increase your potential for success? By increasing your guests’ potential for enjoyment!

This is not a one-size solution. Your needs will vary based on your region, the age of your supporters, their particular interests, and may even change from year to year.

You will sell far more event tickets to an event that your community wants to attend due to the excitement factor than you will to one that your supporters attend out of a sense of duty. A high interest gala is in your best interest, and it is your responsibility to do your due diligence. If attendance has been falling off in recent years, it’s up to you to discover why.

Pick up the phone and ring those who are unafraid to speak their minds. Ask them if your annual gatherings have become stale. Ask them what activities they’d rather see.

And don’t stop with your tried and true supporters. If you are not attracting new members every year, your event is not reaching its full potential, and you are not selling as many tickets as you might. Brainstorm to identify new groups and reach out. Approach potential new members and learn what attracts them to an organisation. Update your organisation and your events and find your greatest financial success yet.

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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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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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For many organisations, being seen as environmentally aware is of the utmost importance, both from an ethics perspective, as well in in terms of pleasing the customer. Now, fabulous galas, exotic dinner dances, and other upscale events are often known for their extravagance…and their wastefulness. You can green up your event and sell more event tickets with just a few simple changes.

The most important thing you can do is eliminate plastic products. Every year, we produce about 250 billion pounds of plastic pellets, a great deal of which ends up in landfills, or, even worse, floating in a garbage gyre in the ocean, killing fish and birds. The more sophisticated your event, the less likely you are to depend on plastic, but if you do, just swap it out. Real glasses, plates, and cutlery, or least recyclable ones (all these products, even forks and knives, can be made from paper) are you tickets to reducing waste.

Find responsible venues. Reduce your usage of fossil fuels. Some places will advertise as depending upon renewable, sustainable resources like solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power, or even geothermal power. Find ways to cut your energy usage: use fewer lights, or choose LEDs, or even candles (fire code allowing).

Choose foods grown locally: it’s an excellent way to reduce your dependence on fossil fuels. Shipping food about the planet is a huge waste of resources, especially if you’ve a farm down the road a bit.

Remember that buffets increase waste: people are likely to take more than they want. Use servers for portion control. Consider donating leftovers to a local shelter. They’ll thank you for it and may provide free publicity for the event.

Take a careful accounting of your costs. Most promoters find that they can reduce costs and waste at the same time. What do you really need? What can you do without?

Be sure to document your environmental practices. Write about your quest for efficiency on the Internet, where people can find it. You can start attracting a new, environmentally conscious base, increase your ticket sales, and host a spectacular event!

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Corporate sponsorship.

They very idea is enough to strike fear into the hearts of some idealists. But you need not compromise yourself, your organisation, or your principles, simply because a larger company has offered you money in return for slapping their logo on some of your publicity materials. Schools do it; sports teams do it; and you can do it without hassle, if your cause is a worthy one.

Many corporations are already looking for charitable organisations to support. It looks good for them: they appear to be giving back to the community, acting with a social consciousness, and redistributing their wealth. So, if your group has long hosted a fundraising event, or if you are only testing the waters, consider finding a successful, for-profit company to help you along. They may be willing to make a sizable donation to your cause, and they ask very little in return.

If you have accepted corporate sponsorship, you will have to make some small concessions, but it amounts to little more than passing along a word from your sponsor. When you print your publicity materials, you will want to add your sponsor’s logo. Many Event Tickets allow you to add sponsor logos right on the ticket template; the same goes for certain pre-designed publicity Posters. You can write your thanks in any programme or other printed materials to be distributed to your guests. You can thank them out loud when you make announcements at the event itself.

Even if your sponsor wants a bigger hand in branding the event, you still come out ahead. Many companies will be eager to offer you hundreds of pounds of free merchandise to be distributed however you see fit. Items such as T-shirts or water bottles imprinted with the sponsor logo will be coveted by your guests as favours. If your sponsor offers free products, you can pass them on to your guests knowing that everyone wins: your sponsor receives positive publicity, you create a bigger budget, and your guests go home will all kinds of valuable, and free, prizes!

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How do you sell Event Tickets?

There are those lucky organisations among us with dedicated sales team, active membership rosters, and, in some cases, easily accessible box offices. We may have dedicated volunteer teams, active word-of-mouth campaigns, or popular and navigable websites. Some groups even have extra cash on hand, saved solely for the purpose of publicity campaigns: Posters, Flyers, TV or radio spots, and print advertisements in newspaper or magazine.

The cleverest sales campaigns seem to take on a life of their own: music promotions where Stickers or graffiti-style ads pique the curiosity of those in the know, Internet marketing that goes viral and is passed around the Internet through links and reposts.

In the 21st century, groups seeking to increase their Event Ticket sales ignore virtual marketing at their own peril. It’s the rare event that attracts crowds of younger people without making use of blogs, home pages, social networking, forums, and other online spaces. When you want to sell more Event Tickets, Internet marketing provides you with publicity that costs almost nothing (or, possibly, nothing at all) and can be reproduced and disseminated with the click of a button.

The best part is that, with a properly mounted campaign, your message spreads with no further effort on your part. If it’s smart, compelling, or entertaining, potential customers will pass it on to new potential customers, creating a wonderful chain of publicity for you. So don’t fear the Internet. Put your bravest, most colorful promotions out there and see what transpires.

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