Connect with your audience, early and often!
It’s a new year and for many of you it’s the time when your benefit auction planning and implementation strategies really start ramping up! In the middle of all the planning and strategizing, remember what’s at the heart of it all: your mission.
Remember what got you excited about volunteering? It’s probably the same thing that will get your donors and guests excited about giving. And it’s what will get your volunteers excited about contributing the efforts to the cause.
The goal of a successful benefit auction is to fill those seats with the right people who are excited about supporting your cause. Therefore, it’s important to get their attention early and connect with them often in the weeks and months leading up to auction night.
Here are some tips for building a connection with potential supporters:
- Use Social Media to build awareness and drive interest. Social Media channels such as Facebook and Twitter allow you to reach out to “friends of friends” with news of your cause and event. This is a way to reach possible donors, vendors and guests who would not otherwise know about the event. Make sure you have a volunteer who is dedicated to regular posting and sharing, ideally at least several time a week. Blogging is another great way to build interests and your blog posts can be re-posted to your Facebook page and other social channels. And be sure to include images to help tell your story and promote your cause.
- Get your story out in as many ways as possible. Include strong messaging about your mission or cause in all promotional materials including posters and advertising for the event. Be sure to collect testimonials from attendees, which you can use to build interest in upcoming years.
- Send Save the Date cards to all potential event attendees. This list may include members of your school or organization, board members, donors and vendors.
Remember, it’s all about getting your story out in a way that moves people to act.
Until next time ~ keep your mission in mind!
