Planning a Giving Occasion Timeline

Planning a giving occasion doesn’t need to be overwhelming! Whereas there’s heaps to do, planning your giving occasion with a timeline of key phases will provide help to keep on monitor so when to give attention to sure objects.

There are a number of dates and milestones to contemplate as you prepare on your occasion, from constructing your homepage phases to registration setup and extra. We’ve created 6 phases that will help you plan your giving occasion timeline, plus we’ve included a pattern timeline to get you began. 

Professional-tip: Host your giving occasion with Mightycause and your devoted venture supervisor will stroll you thru every of the beneath steps in sequence to set your marketing campaign up for achievement!

Preliminary Examine-In 

The preliminary check-in is geared in direction of preparing for this 12 months’s occasion by pre-planning, assembly together with your staff, and setting targets on your occasion.

If you happen to’re new to giving occasions you’ll need to assessment some supplies to assist get your bearings. Try this beneficial e-book as a place to begin. Take time to replicate on targets and expectations for this primary 12 months. Why are you internet hosting a giving occasion? What are you hoping to perform? Do you might have a {dollars} raised purpose, distinctive donor purpose, participation purpose, or group partnership targets?

If you happen to’ve beforehand hosted a giving occasion, it’s time to assessment your notes from final 12 months and set your targets for this 12 months. What labored? What didn’t work that you simply may need to change this 12 months? Overview your notes and write down your ideas earlier than getting began. Being attentive to what labored and didn’t work earlier than getting began will assist hold you on course and present you the place to direct your power this 12 months.  

This preliminary section can take a pair days or longer relying on the dimensions of your occasion, how massive your internet hosting group is and the way many individuals are concerned in your staff. Take the time to fulfill as a gaggle earlier than beginning section 1.

Part 1 – Preliminary Set Up

Part 1 is geared in direction of the preliminary arrange of your occasion web site and getting ready any crucial supplies you’ll embody on the positioning. This consists of organising a timeline with milestones in your platform dashboard, constructing out your pre-site homepage and customizing subpages, creating any documentation or supplies you intend to supply in nonprofit toolkits, and so forth. If you may be providing trainings, make sure to schedule these so organizations can register, that manner there are actionable objects for contributors to take after your pre-site is launched.

Your pre-site is geared towards offering details about the upcoming occasion. It sometimes consists of timelines, FAQs, an about part, a nonprofit toolkit, fundraising toolkit, any media toolkits and partnership or sponsorship info. You’ll need to take a while to construct out (or refresh) the knowledge on every of those subpages in your Pages modifying dashboard. Overview all info to ensure every thing is updated. 

Professional Tip! With the Mightycause Pages editor you possibly can duplicate your present web site pages and make edits to the duplicates so that you don’t have to fret about reside modifying. You may then schedule your duplicate web page so it robotically publishes, changing the present subpages on the particular date and time you choose.

Plan to permit at minimal 2 weeks for Part 1. Relying on the dimensions of your occasion it may take roughly time, however you’ll need to permit your self area to each construct and do some high quality assurance testing (ie clicking round, ensuring all hyperlinks and buttons work, and so forth.) previous to launch.

Part 2 – Registration Construct

Not all giving occasions want or use registration. You may determine if registration is best for you. Check out this weblog publish to assist decide if registration is best for you. If you happen to do plan to make use of registration, you will have to construct your registration kind and replace registration settings throughout this section. 

Take into account once you plan to open and shut your registration kind. Will you might have a smooth shut date (ie public shut date) and a tough shut date (inside cutoff date on your staff) Does your registration kind require a registration price? Mightycause provides hosts the flexibility to gather a registration price immediately via their Stripe account. As well as, automated registration emails might be custom-made to avoid wasting you the duty of notifying every group individually after a registration is accredited. 

Plan to permit at the very least one week for constructing out your registration kind, updating your registration settings, and testing your registration kind. 

Part 3 – Settings Overview

Part 3 is concentrated on reviewing the extra settings and desires on your giving occasion. Spend time finalizing prizes, constructing out your reside occasion schedule, connecting with potential sponsors, getting ready your pre, reside, and publish occasion communications for nonprofits and donors, and reviewing your occasion settings. You’ll additionally need to suppose via your advertising and marketing technique and retailers for spreading the phrase.

One key component to assessment on this section might be your offline donation course of. Does your occasion permit offline items? Do they rely in direction of prizes? Who might be liable for reviewing and approving offline items or will they be robotically accredited? You’ll additionally use this time to host any webinars or coaching periods on your contributors. Overview any upcoming reporting wants. What experiences and knowledge will you want publish occasion to assist wrap up your giving day?

Throughout this section you too can pull participant lists from final 12 months and plan outreach to organizations not but registered for this 12 months’s occasion to assist attain any registration targets you’ll have set throughout Part 1. 

Proceed reaching out for sponsorships, and take into account selling group giving pages to deepen engagement with native companies. Ship save the dates to donors and nonprofits. 

Part 3 is commonly the longest section. Most giving occasions take at the very least 3 months (or extra) to work via the objects in Part 3. 

Part 4 – Remaining Preparations

Part 4 focuses on getting your early giving, reside, and publish websites prepared for launch, together with closing preparations earlier than giving opens. Early giving kicks off throughout this section with the giving occasion quick approaching! 

Construct your early giving, reside and publish web site homepages (and every other phases you want!) Will you be utilizing leaderboards? In that case, what number of leaderboards will you might have and the way do you favor to arrange them? Would you like all of them in your homepage or will some be on a subpage? Take time to construct your automated prizes (ie hourly golden tickets or timed energy hours, and so forth.) on the backend.

Make a pair check donations in your platform to assessment receipt language and your donation kind earlier than giving opens.

In case your occasion has an early giving interval, make sure to make your self an early giving guidelines – assessment all of your closing advertising and marketing wants, outreach plans for organizations and donors, and any excellent sponsorship wants. Host a staff assembly. Be certain that everybody is aware of their assigned duties for each early giving and the reside occasion. Are you internet hosting an in-person kick-off or reside part for the giving day? Finalize these plans!

Every week earlier than your reside occasion, undergo a closing giving occasion guidelines to ensure all duties out of your prior phases are accomplished. Take time to do a closing assessment of your reside and publish websites and click on hyperlinks to check for high quality assurance.

Plan to permit at the very least a pair weeks for Part 4. 

Part 5 – Giving Day Launch

Part 5 is all concerning the reside occasion! You made it, the day is right here – and issues are busy!  

Some occasions are 24 hours and others are every week or extra. Relying in your occasion, take the time to publish to social media periodically, and ship emails with nonprofits to spice up morale and assist sustain the occasion’s momentum. Put up about your totals raised, thank your donors who’ve given to date, and announce prize winners to maintain supporters excited.

Part 5 could be a day or extra relying on the size of your reside occasion.

Part 6 – Put up-Occasion

Part 6 focuses on the publish occasion wrap-up. You’ve made it via the giving day and it’s time to wrap issues up! 😎 

Add in post-event prize winners if wanted. Work on any closing reconciliation of totals and publish occasion reporting and congratulate contributors and donors for being part of this 12 months’s occasion. Take the time to replicate on this 12 months. Look via your occasion analytics. Did you attain your targets? Make notes for what labored and what you’d like to vary. Host a staff debrief so everybody concerned can share their ideas.

Moreover, take into account what your web site ought to seem like year-round. If you happen to plan to permit contributors to proceed utilizing the platform as a year-round giving area, be sure to  replace your web site to replicate this.

Part 6 can final for just a few days or extra relying on the dimensions of your occasion.

Pattern Giving Occasion Timeline

Beneath is a pattern giving occasion timeline with key duties that will help you put together on your occasion.