Last month, I presented a five-part plan for getting participants to raise more money. In this post, I'll share some tactical recommendations to flesh out your strategy. As you'll see, these recommendations are all about encouraging the desired behavior in participants.
Encourage participants to register earlier. Those who register earlier have more time to fundraise. Give them incentives to register ASAP, such as offering an early-bird discount, a past-performer discount or pre-registration for next year's event.
Encourage participants to register earlier. Those who register earlier have more time to fundraise. Give them incentives to register ASAP, such as offering an early-bird discount, a past-performer discount or pre-registration for next year's event.
Encourage goal setting. With online registration, auto-populate the "goal" field with a realistic figure, but give people the option to change it. We've found that those who take the opportunity to adjust their goal — either higher or lower — typically perform better than those who don't make any changes.
Encourage self-donations. If you're not doing it already, ask for a self-donation at the point of registration. Encourage them to demonstrate to donors their commitment to the cause by jumpstarting their fundraising with a personal gift. You'd be surprised at how well participants respond to this type of ask.
Encourage team participation. Participants on teams tend to feel a sense of peer pressure, accountability and support — and often find inspiration from their teammates. This all adds up to better performance.
Encourage them to become team captains. Those with a direct connection to your cause are often the best candidates to become team captains. These motivated leaders can be strong recruiters and inspire their teams to reach greater heights. Thanking team captains — on your website, at opening ceremonies, with a brunch or luncheon — makes sense, too.
Encourage them to communicate with donors. Give participants instructions that are easily accomplished (e.g. email your five closest friends this week), and even offer incentives (e.g. email 10 people this week and be entered in a drawing to win a prize). Suggest they email donors with updates on their fundraising and training progress leading up to the event, and then send thank-you's after the event to make it feel good and inclusive to be a supporter. This does wonders for strengthening your fundraising culture over the long term, as donors will get attached to their experience of the event as well.
And after the event … Survey participants according to segment. Ask high performers the ways in which you helped them most. Ask low performers what you could have done to help them more. Ask everyone about their "affinity driver" and cause connection to see what other forces are at work (if that information was not already collected at registration).
If possible, tie your survey results back to your registrant list in the event database to assess self-reported data against actual behavioral data. Above all, make sure you only ask questions to those answers you're willing and able to act on. This is a great learning opportunity, so be sure to take advantage of it!
A Final Note
The last comment I’d make about getting participants to raise more money is simply to ASK! Sure, providing support, guidance and recognition are all important functions of your relationship with them. But asking them to do more in the name of your mission can often be the most direct and successful tactic of all.
The last comment I’d make about getting participants to raise more money is simply to ASK! Sure, providing support, guidance and recognition are all important functions of your relationship with them. But asking them to do more in the name of your mission can often be the most direct and successful tactic of all.
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