4 ways to promote your fundraising events for free
You’ve seen the news. The cost of living is soaring, and money is tight for everyone, including charities.
More than ever, you need to be smart about how you spend your money.
With this in mind, here are four ways to promote your fundraising events without spending a penny.
Get free ads from Google for charities
With 2.9 billion unique monthly visitors and 5 billion daily interactions, Google is a fantastic place to promote your fundraising events and reach potential donors. And Google Ads is a great way to do it. But it’s a costly business - unless you qualify for a Google Ad Grant.
Through the Google Ads Grant initiative, eligible charities can get over £7,500 of free Google ads each month.
To find out if your charity qualifies, check out the eligibility criteria and application process on the Google for Non-profits page.
Use the power of social media
Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn have millions of users who go online every day. Being part of the groups and communities your target audience frequent can be a great way to market your events to a captive audience.
Just remember that there’s a difference between promoting and spamming. If all you do on social media is ask for donations, people will unfollow you.
Offer interesting, unique and/or valuable content and drip feed exciting details about your events online and you’ll soon see engagement rates soar.
Get media attention
Local newspapers are often hunting for stories. A community fundraising event can be a great page-filler. Depending on your cause or the type of event you’re running, there may also be specialist blogs or magazines that would be interested in promoting it.
Do your homework. Find relevant media outlets to approach, write an engaging press release and send them out in advance of your event.
Just bear in mind that free promotion isn’t guaranteed!
Don’t forget about email marketing
Did you know that email marketing, when applied correctly, is still one of the most effective ways to reach your audience and keep them engaged?
It’s an effective strategy for event promotion as its targeted, personalised and has a high ROI.
There are lots of free/low-cost email marketing tools that can help you create personalised, attention-grabbing emails to promote your events.
Want some recommendations? Mailchimp, HubSpot and Sender are three low cost, effective and user friendly options.
Tip: If you go down this route, be sure to keep on top of your mailing list. Make sure the data is accurate, up-to-date and It may be tedious, but it’s worth it.
No matter how much promotional work you do, your fundraising events will only be successful if you have the right team running them.
This is where we come in. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get started.