The 4-step guide to turning one-time event participants into lasting donors

• Tue, May 01 2012
• Filed under: Events

Did you know that the average participant in your fundraising races or walks recruits three to four donors for your cause?  Unfortunately, most organizations do little to cultivate these new supporters, writing them off as tangential. Are you doing all you could to embrace these friends of friends?

Think about doing more, says a new eBook from Event360.  Their guide outlines a four-step process for identifying, engaging, qualifying, cultivating and converting event donors.

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“While an event donor’s motivation to support an organization is often secondary to that of supporting the event participant, these donor motivations can be changed—from having an affinity to participant to having an affinity to cause and organization,” says the guide.

So how do you do that?  Treat event donors the same say you would treat a friend of a friend. The burden is on you to pursue a deeper relationship and engage them outside of their relationship with the event participant. If you do not take the first step, chance are the relationship will never move beyond their support of the event participant, according to Event360.

Be sure to:

1. Learn as much as you can about these friends of friends.  Collect contact information.

2. Engage them. Show the donor that you want to get to know them with plenty of communication. You’re not yet making an ask, you’re setting the stage for the ask.

3. Qualify and cultivate.  Single out interested potential supports and offer them a variety of ways to help.

4. Convert. Make the ask!  Check out the guide for great tips on how to do this and each of these steps.  It’s free!