Integrating charity partners to enhance your event!

hbf 1.jpgImage credit: HBF Run for a Reason | By Sophie Hamdorf and Matthew Bisset | Register Now

So many of us in the events industry have been hit directly by the impact of the Coronavirus but spare a thought for the charity industry. Not only have fundraising events been taken out of the equation, but with the outpouring of generosity for Australian Bushfires in early 2020 coupled with mass unemployment and income loss the economic future for Q3, Q4 and beyond* is looking pretty grim.

For those that can, now is a really good time to reassess existing programs, events and campaigns. Take stock on what has worked and what hasn’t over the years and try to consider what success might look like in a time when events return.

We have had some great tips on alternative ways to engage community members during this time which are worth checking out. And in a recent post in collaboration with GeoSnapShot we also explore how charities and organisers alike can leverage their existing photo libraries to build participant engagement and advocacy.

We really want to see charities do well in the return to events and AMPSEA has already highlighted the gaping hole in fundraising with the pandemic costing the industry $70 million raised for over 2,500 charities.

So how can event organisers and charities ensure that they are equipped with the right tools so that they can return to the fundraising event market stronger than ever on the other side?

Ensure that your Registration Provider has a strong integration with your chosen Fundraising platform

Seems like a no brainer but as a charity or event organiser there are some key questions that you need to ask your provider:

  • Do they have full API integration with their online registration provider?
  • Does the user experience allow for fundraising page creation during the registration flow? . . . Asking a user to create a page AFTER the fact results in significant drop off in page creation
  • Is team page creation supported in registration flow with team members in the registration platform automatically added to the fundraising team? Can they support multiple charities? And for multi charity events, can they support levels or tiers of charity partners?
  • Do they offer dynamic loading of available event charities (including charity logo's) to ensure live updates between changes in the fundraising platform and the registration platform?
  • Is preselection for charities integratable with registration through a custom link or charity microsite. . . Say what?! We have a great example of this in play, see case study further below!

With technology so powerful in the event tech space, if your registration provider can’t offer this kind of functionality then it might be time to rethink your relationship or ask what they can do.

Register Now offers integrations with Everyday Hero, Grassrootz, GoFundraise and MyCause platforms. We can also integrate with Funraisin events as well (multi charity events not supported). But don’t just take our word for it, see the case study below, we just want to show you how seamless and cool this experience can be for event goers and charity supporters alike with best in class integrations.

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Event Spotlight on: Blackmores Sydney Running Festival

Pont 3 and Grassrootz came to Register Now earlier in the year with the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival (BSRF) event. This legacy event of the 2000 Sydney Olympics is a key event on the Australian running calendar and an important event for Sydney and Australian based charities to leverage in their annual fundraising programs.

One of the key features that Register Now was able to support in partnership with Grassrootz is the charity microsite with seamless pre-selection of charities during the registration process.

Each charity associated with the BSRF event gets their own charity microsite on the Grassrootz platform. Charities are able to tailor their messaging on these sites and use it as their own promotional tool.

The ‘Register Now’ button on each of these microsites includes messaging to tell the Register Now platform that this person is coming directly from the charity microsite and ensures that this specific charity is automatically selected for the participant in the charity selection section.

By the time the participant has finalised their registration for the event, they already have had a fundraising page created for them which they are directed to edit immediately from the confirmation page on the Register Now platform!

Check out the user experience journey below - we think it’s pretty darn cool!

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