Hybrid Events 101: Strengthen Your Omnichannel Marketing

With federal funding in flux, offering a variety of accessible engagement opportunities that will deepen your nonprofit’s connections with donors is more important than ever. Events can reinvigorate donors’ passion for your cause, and hybrid events allow you to reach attendees beyond your locale and at different price points, making it more accessible for many.

Hybrid fundraising events are a great way to engage supporters more deeply in your mission, no matter where they are. For example, if your nonprofit holds a hybrid charity gala, remote guests can view the speakers and entertainment via livestream while in-person attendees can socialize and enjoy dinner and drinks. If there’s a signature cocktail at the in-person event, consider sharing the recipe with virtual attendees!

In this guide, we’ll cover the steps to build an integrated omnichannel campaign to promote your next hybrid fundraising event.

Step 1: Identify the communication channels you’ll use.

As Allegiance Group + Pursuant explains, omnichannel marketing is “a communication strategy that integrates various communication strategies to create a unified, consistent experience for your audience of supporters.” This functions by moving supporters from one channel to another while simultaneously nudging them along conversion pathways to a unified, overarching goal (e.g., sparking awareness on social media and securing registration via your website).

If you’re feeling stuck or want to branch out to new channels and audiences, consider these commonly used platforms:

• Email: This platform is best for sharing detailed, logistical information and driving conversions with convenient links to your registration form. Send personalized invitations, updates, and post-event follow-ups.
• Direct mail: Direct mail is personal and tangible, making it feel more special or exclusive. Personalize direct mail with the recipient’s name and add calls to action (CTAs) that bridge your print and digital channels (e.g., a scannable QR code linking to the registration form).
• Social media: Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter) are ideal for providing quick updates, sharing highly visual content, and creating dedicated Facebook Events or Groups. Leverage the audiences of key folks to help bring attention to your event, including mission-aligned influencers, keynote speakers, or board members. 
• Digital advertising: Launch social ads to target existing audiences. For example, prompt supporters to register for your event or highlight auction items to motivate them to attend and bid. Leverage search ads to secure the top spot on search engine results pages—these can be particularly useful if the event is branded and already has some notoriety (e.g., “Ourtown Humane Society Annual 5K”). The Google Ad Grant, which offers $10,000 in monthly ad credits, can help you affordably target top-of-funnel searchers to spread awareness of your event. 
• Websites or event landing pages: Your website and event registration landing page should serve as a central hub for all event-related information, from logistics to mission relevance. Share with supporters who are in the awareness or consideration stages so they can easily learn more – both about your organization and about why they should attend your event. Highlight how you will accommodate virtual attendees. For example, if there will be a Q&A, highlight how virtual attendees will be able to ask questions and engage with the speakers. 
• Texting: Event registration can be a great opportunity to collect mobile phone numbers for your supporters. Once you have supporters’ consent to text them, you can share event updates and reminders, and reach out to them in the future. Additionally, the iOS 26 update included an advanced text screening feature that filters messages that supporters have not engaged with before into an “Unknown Sender” folder. This can make engaging with new supporters trickier, which is why it’s important to share a welcome message first and keep texts thoughtful and relevant. 

After you’ve selected the communication channels you’ll use, brainstorm ways you can leverage them to achieve your campaign’s goals. Make sure the creative elements of your campaign align with each channel—for instance, opt for more visual formats on social media rather than lots of text.

Step 2: Write out a plan.

While smaller organizations and events might be able to get away with a more relaxed, go-with-the-flow approach, it’s best practice to create a comprehensive marketing plan when promoting any full-fledged campaign or event. This means creating a detailed plan with the following components:

• An executive summary that provides a high-level overview of the event, its goals and purpose, your audience, and how you plan to reach and engage them.
• Your mission, goals, and marketing objectives, and how they relate to one another.
• A detailed analysis of your target audience(s), including demographic and psychographic data, giving patterns, past event attendance, etc.
• The core messaging and positioning you’ll use to promote the event—this should be present across all platforms and individual messages.
• The specific strategies and channels you’ll use to engage your audience, ensuring these align with audience preferences and the event theme and purpose.
• A budget outlining how much you’ll spend on promoting the event (if applicable).
• The campaign timeline, including start and end dates, a schedule for implementing strategies and posting, and deadlines for each task (e.g., drafting social media post copy).

Reference past audience engagement and event data to identify which channels will be most effective for engaging supporters. Start by referencing past campaigns and asking questions like: Which channels generated the most engagement? Which inspired the most event registrations? 

Additionally, determine what marketing metrics you’ll use to track your progress and measure success. These should correspond with the event’s goals. For instance, if your main goal is fundraising, you’ll simply track total dollars raised during the event. If you’re looking to strengthen community ties, on the other hand, you might measure attendance, total corporate sponsors, and the performance of local ad placements.

Step 3: Integrate communication channels.

A common challenge with hybrid events is that in-person and virtual attendees may feel disconnected. However, using an event platform, leveraging simultaneous programming, and providing opportunities for two-way engagement can unite both audiences and improve event experiences. 

You should make a similar effort to unite all of your marketing channels. Reference this quick checklist to confirm your omnichannel campaign will offer a seamless experience:

• Print and digital channels are connected (e.g., in addition to registration forms in direct mail pieces, add QR codes to allow supporters to connect directly to the online registration page)
• The voice, core message, imagery, and branding are consistent across all channels
• Posting schedules are coordinated to complement one another
• Channels are cross-promoting (e.g., email messages promoting your social media profiles)
• You’re providing a unified registration experience for both remote and in-person attendees

This strategy will not only ensure that no user falls through any gaps in your omnichannel strategy, but will also help establish more touchpoints with supporters that you can leverage in future campaigns.

Step 4: Analyze the results.

Once your event passes, you’ll still need to analyze your marketing data to evaluate the success of the omnichannel campaign. Keep in mind that the metrics you need to reference will vary depending on the channels you use and your objectives for the event. 

Remember to analyze typical fundraising metrics, such as total revenue, number of donations you receive, average gift amount, number of attendees, and any metrics related to the specific event format. For instance, if you hold a charity auction, you’ll want to reference metrics like the number of active bidders, bid frequency, and items with the most bids. You’ll also want to determine how virtual versus in-person audiences engaged. Did virtual attendees place bids? Did they stay on the live stream? Were there ways for them to engage via chat or emoji reactions, and did they leverage them?   

Here are the key engagement metrics to check for each of the channels we recommend:

• Email: Analyze open rate, click-through rate, conversions, and unsubscribe rate. 
• Direct mail: Examine response rate, conversions, cost per acquisition, and follow-up engagement.
• Social media: Evaluate engagement metrics such as likes and comments, click-through rate, follower growth, and event hashtag use (if applicable).
• Digital advertising: Reach, impressions, engagement, cost per acquisition (CPA), conversion rate, video views, etc.
• Website and event landing page: Identify opportunities to enhance your website design by tracking web traffic, sources of traffic, time spent on page, CTA click-through rate, form abandons, and registration form completions. 
• SMS: Evaluate response rate, conversions, and opt-out rates.

Remember to actively look for ways to improve your next event as you review these metrics. Funds2Orgs’ guide to event planning recommends identifying any areas of confusion or drop-off and getting everyone on the same page. In the context of your marketing campaign, this might mean clarifying CTA language or streamlining your registration form.

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Hybrid events make it possible to engage supporters regardless of geographical distance, income, or mobility, making events more accessible to a wide range of folks. Efficiently engage audiences by using a well-rounded mix of communication platforms, ranging from phone calls to social media posts to flyers in local businesses. At the end of it all, don’t forget to thank attendees and donors via their preferred channels, using innovative ideas like digital donor walls or interactive thank-you pages.