If there’s one thing nonprofit event planners learned from 2020, it’s that virtual events—and their post-COVID lockdown cousin, hybrid in-person/online events—can do wonders for boosting your fundraising efforts. All it takes is a video streaming platform, a reliable, high-speed internet connection, a little creative virtual event planning, and an easy-to-use event registration platform like Ticketstripe.
In fact, we’ve helped thousands of nonprofits pull off successful hybrid and virtual events over the years. We want to share our insider tips for virtual event planning, starting with why they’re worth adding to your event calendar.
Virtual Events Spread Your Message Further
Once you set aside the need for social distancing, the most obvious benefit of planning a virtual event is the ability for anyone anywhere to attend, as long as they have an internet connection. After all, they don’t call it the “Worldwide Web” for nothing! With well-executed virtual event planning, you can broaden your target audience beyond your geographic borders, potentially attracting the interest of donors far and wide to support your cause—even if your charity’s main beneficiaries are hyperlocal. Imagine entertaining the grandparents of kids served by your youth center with a virtual talent show, or hosting a virtual tour of your local animal rescue’s facilities to attract potential partners that have larger markets for adoption.
Not only that, online-only events have much lower overhead than ones held in person, which can include expenses such as renting a space, paying food vendors, travel for featured guests, and so on. This isn’t to say you should abandon those big galas; it just means you can expand your social calendar to offer more fundraising events and opportunities for your supporters to give.
Plus, with Ticketstripe, you’ll see way more of the funds you earn: We don’t charge organizers a subscription fee or any per-event fees, regardless of how many tickets you offer. Our lower nonprofit ticketing fees for paid events are automatically passed on to the purchaser (though you may choose to absorb them if you prefer), and the distribution of tickets to free events, whether online or in-person, is totally free!
Hybrid Events Increase Your Audience
While a hybrid event may require a little more finesse, this option offers the literal best of both worlds: an experience for your in-person guests and for those who live too far away or are otherwise unable to make it.
You may opt to broadcast the in-person event over Zoom or offer different components for each type of guest. As Ticketstripe offers unlimited ticket types, you may arrange admission options however you like without concern about costly event software platform fees.
Ticketstripe Offers Two Easy Options for Link Sharing
For online events, most organizers use Zoom (though you don’t have to—see below), and the question about how to share Zoom links comes up a lot, so we have two options.
1. Share video details at the time of purchase
When creating a ticket, you can include a “message after purchase” where you can enter the link information so attendees receive it immediately after purchasing. Simply copy-paste the language from Zoom or your alternative video conference provider into the box. Just make sure you include any passcode or other info attendees will need when event day comes, as well as any contact info for you or other organization members, should attendees have questions or issues. For example:
HOW TO JOIN THE ZOOM EVENT FOR KICKOFF EVENT:
Click here to join the event on Zoom
Meeting ID: 123 4567 8901
Passcode: 123456
January 1, 2025 8pm ET | 7pm CT | 6pm MT | 5pm PT
Can’t wait to see you there!
If you have any issues signing on, please contact our organizer, Suzie Q, at suzie-q@nonprofit-email.com, or text 202-555-5555.
2. Email the link on or just before event day
If you’re concerned about a paid virtual event link being shared improperly, you don’t have to include it in the “message after purchase.” Ticketstripe allows you to “email attendees” through our platform whenever you like with whatever information you need to share, including the attendee link whenever you deem it appropriate.
In fact, all our virtual event organizers send multiple emails to their attendees at various intervals: two weeks out, one week out, the day before, the day of—it all depends on what cadence you think is best for your audience. If you prefer, you can also export the email addresses of your attendees and email them through another email client, which we encourage if you want to customize emails with images. Either way, the basics are easy enough to share:
Subject: Kick-off Event One Week Away!
Hello!
We’re so excited that you signed up to join our KICKOFF EVENT on January 1! We’re less than a week away, so tell your friends to register at [insert event link] if they haven’t already.
Keep an eye on your email for the Zoom link, which we’ll share via email at 8 am ET on Event Day.
If you have any questions please get in touch with suzie-q@nonprofit-email.com.
Subject: Kickoff Event Tonight! Zoom link inside
We’ll be gathering TONIGHT on Zoom at 8pm ET / 7 CT / 6 MT / 5 PT and have so many exciting things to share with you during this fun and interactive evening.
HOW TO JOIN THE ZOOM EVENT FOR KICKOFF EVENT:
Click here to join the event on Zoom
Meeting ID: 123 4567 8901
Passcode: 123456
January 1, 2025 8pm ET | 7pm CT | 6pm MT | 5pm PT
Can’t wait to see you there!
If you have any issues signing on, please contact the event organizer, Suzie Q, at suzie-q@nonprofit-email.com, or text 202-555-5555.
Use Any Virtual Event Streaming Platform
Sure, Zoom is well known, but it requires a paid subscription for sessions longer than 40 minutes. With Ticketstripe, you can use whatever virtual event technology you like—Microsoft Teams, Skype, Google Meet, and so on. Then, just share the link using either of the above options or even by sending out a calendar event using your provider of choice, so each attendee has the option to add it to their personal calendars with one click.
Types of Events to Take Online
Plenty of different live events can be hosted entirely online or made a hybrid of in-person and virtual with a bit of ingenuity. With thoughtful virtual event planning, you can transform many event types into engaging online experiences.
Readings and lectures
Perhaps the easiest event type to pull off virtually is readings and lectures in which one speaker presents at a time, which only requires a single decent webcam and a strong internet connection. These work well as relatively low-cost hybrid events, as the venue can be as simple as a school gymnasium or public library conference room.
Speaker events and panels
A variation on a lecture event, multi-speaker events and virtual conferences require only a little more planning, if only to ensure that all your participants are up to speed on how to use their own computers to call in. A huge benefit of an online panel is that you can invite presenters to appear virtually who otherwise wouldn’t be able to make it. Just be sure you work out the A/V logistics if your event is hybrid, as you’ll need a way for attendees in the room and online to hear and see each other.
Instruction and lessons
From yoga and dance to art and even cooking, plenty of events with an instructional component can be held virtually. The biggest challenge is to solve any materials logistics up front. For movement classes, the attendees won’t need much other than a reminder to wear comfortable clothes, but for a painting or cooking instruction, you’ll want to provide either a list of materials or a way for attendees to purchase and receive a kit from you in advance.
Trivia, bingo, and other games
Another cottage industry that came out of the pandemic: online hosted games! There are plenty of ways to organize an online game event, from virtual bingo to pub-style trivia. Just make sure you have prizes — such as e-gift cards — for the winners. An interactive platform designed for gaming like Discord may also help with the logistics.
Wine or whisky tasting
A variation on the instruction idea, with a virtual wine or whisky tasting, you’ll need to hire or recruit a sommelier and provide a shopping list in advance for your online participants. The best part of doing this kind of event entirely virtually? No risk of drinking and driving!
Ticketing Strategies To Consider
The simplest way to ticket for any event is to offer one general admission price—with the option at checkout of an additional donation to support your cause, which Ticketstripe offers and encourages. But when your event is in-person, online, or both, you may prefer a more nuanced ticketing strategy. Luckily, Ticketstripe offers unlimited ticket types, letting you price admission however you like!
In-person vs. virtual tickets
In most cases, an in-person event ticket can command a higher admission fee than what a virtual attendee would expect to pay. But if you’re hosting a multi-day or multi-session event that has both components, you may also want to consider package tickets, such as grouping two in-person sessions and one virtual for a lower price than purchasing each separately to increase overall attendance.
Pay-what-you-wish
Pay-what-you-wish ticketing can be especially attractive for online events because, as the organizer, you typically have no cap on attendance, so you can sell as many tickets as you like at whatever rate they sell for. Plus, some people may pay way more than you’d have set as a general ticket price, improving your bottom line.
Free admission with donation
A variation on pay-what-you-wish: by offering free admission with donation you put your nonprofit and its good works at the forefront, so attendees may be more inclined to contribute more than they would paying just for event admission. This can mean much better fundraising than “selling tickets” alone.
Hidden tickets
In some cases, you might want to offer admission for VIPs or other attendees that’s discounted or even comped. Ticketstripe’s hidden ticket option allows you to do that privately by creating a separate link for those tickets to send to your intended recipient only.
Diversify Your Marketing Strategy
With effective virtual event planning, your online event can reach attendees anywhere worldwide. That means a different marketing strategy than your usual locally focused efforts. Chances are, this means a broad-sweeping social media plan that’s heavy on attention-getting graphics and video—anything that encourages followers to post and share.
In addition, you may want to tap specific people as promoters—especially any guests of honor or presenters—to help spread the word and sell tickets. Ticketstripe’s Promoter feature allows you to create custom event pages with unique, personalized URLs that promoters can use to attract attendees.
You’ll also want to use Ticketstripe’s “email attendees” feature, as described above, to stay connected to those who’ve already bought tickets, encouraging them to invite their friends.
Sell Swag to Boost Virtual Event Fundraising
Even if there’s no in-person element, people love merchandise that reminds them of a great event experience. For readings or lectures, the presenters’ books, ebooks, or other media is obvious swag, whether you set an event ticket to cover the purchase of the book or sell it separately.
For events with instructional elements, pre-selling kits for the art project or chocolate tasting makes a lot of sense—just know that you have to advance your timetable and possibly cut off ticket sales early to ensure adequate shipping windows.
If you opt for the admission-with-donation model, you could set up tiers where different donation amounts come with certain swag as an enticement to boost fundraising.
And, of course, you can always just sell branded merchandise—T-shirts, mugs, and so on—at checkout by creating a “ticket type” that includes the item in question.
Do a Tech Run-through In Advance
Overall, online events offer untold bang for the buck, requiring arguably less effort to pull off. However, the one thing you can’t slack on is your technology. Part of comprehensive virtual event planning involves ensuring your A/V equipment is fully operational before the event and that whoever is running the show on event day knows how to troubleshoot if things go awry.
Make sure everything—laptops, mikes, cameras—is fully charged the night before and/or you have sufficient extension cords to keep everything powered up. It’s typically more reliable to use a wired internet connection if you can, but WiFi is fine as long as you double-check you don’t have signal issues where you’re staging the event.
For presenters who are dialing in, schedule a dress rehearsal within the week before and make sure your bandwidths can support everyone’s cameras being on.