If you’re reading this, you’re likely making sure you’ve covered all your bases for your upcoming nonprofit event. You’ve probably scheduled social media posts, prepared email blasts, and even have direct mailers ready to go. However, you may be overlooking a fantastic opportunity to attract potential attendees and generate more excitement.
Specifically, if your organization’s blog is not integrated into your event strategy, you’re overlooking a valuable asset. The best nonprofit website blogs keep visitors engaged using a variety of multimedia and interactive elements tailored to supporters’ interests.
This guide will show you exactly how to transform your blog into a buzz-generating machine that gives supporters a compelling reason to mark their calendars and show up for your cause.
1. Develop a blog series.
You could create a single blog post highlighting your upcoming event, but you may not have the space to cover every aspect of it. With a blog post series, you can highlight different elements of your event to paint a more comprehensive picture of what the experience is all about.
Keep these tips in mind when developing an event series for your nonprofit’s blog:
- Emphasize the most significant and noteworthy aspects of the event. Does your event have a brand-new theme this year? Are you inviting special guests, like local celebrities? Will your event take place in a beautiful venue or your nonprofit’s renovated headquarters? Ensure your blog posts spotlight the event’s unique qualities to catch readers’ attention.
- Schedule your blogs at regular intervals. Start planning your blog series a couple of months before your event kicks off and post at regular intervals leading up to the event. This consistency helps build anticipation and keep your event top-of-mind for supporters.
- Coordinate with your social media and email marketing teams to promote each post. Your web content and promotions teams should stay in touch so everyone knows when posts are published. With a clear posting schedule, you can share any new posts promptly on social media and within email newsletters to broaden their reach.
The key to success for your blog series is collaboration. If your marketing team has more than one member, determine who will handle each aspect of the content development process. From writing posts to gathering images and promoting them to a broader audience, ensure that each team member knows their role and adheres to each post’s deadline. This workflow will keep your blogging process running smoothly and help you maintain an updated blog roll.
2. Leverage user-generated content.
Bloomerang’s guide to user-generated marketing content (UGC) explains the key benefits of this type of content:
“UGC is powerful because it’s not developed by a paid marketing team. Instead, it’s content by supporters, which allows others who could support the organization to ‘see’ themselves doing the same thing.”
User-generated content can make your blog posts more compelling because readers perceive it as more authentic and relatable. In fact, consumers are 2.4 times more likely to say user-generated content is authentic compared to brand-created content.
Types of user-generated content you may incorporate into your event blog posts include:
- Interviews with event volunteers and coordinators
- Photos and testimonials from past event attendees
- Social media posts from event sponsors or attendees
- Social media posts from influencers who are promoting and attending the event
If you’re not sure about the best ways to incorporate this multimedia content into your blog posts, a nonprofit web consultant can help. These professionals can help you develop strategies for sorting through user-generated content and integrating it into your website in a way that aligns with your brand.
3. Emphasize attendee benefits.
Your nonprofit’s most dedicated supporters will be excited to attend your event because they are deeply passionate about your mission. However, other supporters may have one question in common: “What’s in it for me?”
This is a completely normal question to have. After all, supporters will have to take the time out of their day to attend your event and may have to pay an entry fee. The least your nonprofit can do is showcase the benefits they’ll receive from participating.
Use your blog series to spotlight incentives for guests to attend, such as:
- Auction items they can bid on
- New skills they can acquire
- Fun experiences they can participate in
- Free merchandise they can access
- Influencers or leaders in the space they can meet
- Sponsor booths they can visit
- Crucial advocacy information they can receive about your mission
One of the most significant benefits event attendees can receive is the satisfaction that comes from knowing they’ve supported a worthy cause. Throughout your event marketing materials, share plenty of information about the positive impact supporters will have on those affected by your mission. Share photos or quotes from beneficiaries that convey the real-world impact of supporters’ attendance.
4. Provide must-know registration information.
Your blog posts should contain all the necessary logistics and registration information so interested attendees can determine their availability and sign up. Make sure your posts cover relevant FAQs like the event’s:
- Date
- Time
- Location
- Ticket price
- Special discounts
- Add-ons
- Merchandise
- Registration page link
If your event will be hybrid or fully virtual, add information about how attendees can access your event platform or livestream on the event day. Also, provide contact information for someone potential attendees can reach out to with any questions.
5. Develop interactive content.
As an event planner, you know that incorporating interactive moments into your event can engage attendees and enhance the overall experience. Adding interactive content to your event blog posts can have a similar effect.
Consider creating interactive blog content such as:
- Quizzes
- Polls
- Pre- and post-event surveys
- Contests/giveaways
For example, you could create a poll asking attendees which aspect of the event they’re most excited about. You could also encourage attendees to register by a specific date to be eligible for a merchandise giveaway.
If your current content management system (CMS) doesn’t have the full functionality you need to incorporate interactive content, consider switching to a robust platform like WordPress. According to Kanopi Studios’ guide to WordPress for nonprofits, users consider this CMS very user-friendly, with simple editorial and media management processes that make it easy to leverage multiple content types.
6. Go behind the scenes.
Pull back the curtain on your event by inviting supporters to take a glance at the inner workings of what it takes to plan a successful nonprofit event. A behind-the-scenes look into your event can act as an intriguing teaser, inspiring more supporters to get involved in the fun.
Use your website’s blog, along with social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, to showcase sneak peeks such as:
- Meet the event-planning team Q&A
- Venue sneak peek virtual tour
- Nonprofit founder interview
- Day in the life of an event planner
Don’t give too much away ahead of time—give followers just enough information to pique their interest without revealing all of the special surprises your event has to offer.
7. Create a post-event wrap-up to maintain momentum.
The success of previous events can generate buzz for upcoming opportunities. Create a post-event summary blog post to recap the experience for attendees and encourage supporters who were unable to attend to participate in future events.
This post should include:
- Thank-you message for the donors, volunteers, staff members, and other community members who made the event possible
- Event results, including the fundraising total, number of attendees, and number of community members served
- Photo gallery or video wrap-up so attendees can see themselves as part of the action
- Previews of future events to give supporters an idea of what’s coming up on your calendar
Additionally, provide other ways to stay engaged with your cause, such as following your nonprofit on social media or registering for a volunteering opportunity. Doing so will keep supporters in your nonprofit’s orbit, ensuring they’re in the loop ahead of your next event.
Once you’ve created standout blog posts with these tips, share them across your marketing channels, including social media and email. Ensure all your marketing platforms work in harmony to increase event awareness and engage more registrants. This is your best shot to recruit more attendees and make your upcoming event the best one yet.
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