A few years ago, virtual events seem to be impossible because of many aspects to consider. But today, it’s one of the most common ways for people to socialize and interact. And it seems to show no signs of slowing down, especially now when everyone’s in the confines of their home because of the pandemic.

And because of these trying times, organizations are trying to generate financial resources to support the causes they have. One of the ways to do so is to have a virtual charity event.

Hosting The Best Virtual Charity

If you’re planning to host a virtual charity, you need to keep your audience engaged enough to encourage them to donate. People tend to get tired of staring at screens for a long time, so you need to make sure the attention they’re giving to you would be worth their time.

Here are some of the things you can do to make your online charity more interesting, engaging, and fun:

1. Pick The Right Platform

Regardless of what virtual event you host, the platform is a critical aspect of its success. Zoom is the usual medium being used, but there are others you can consider such as Crowdcast and GoToMeeting. But if you want a specialized platform for fundraising, try Compete Fundraising to optimize your resource generation.

When considering a reliable and good platform, here are some questions you need to answer:

• Can it handle the number of participants you have?

You don’t want to host a fundraiser only for the entire platform to crash due to the large influx of participants. You don’t want to use software incapable of handling the number of users or the heavy file size of the audio-visual presentation. It’s best to look for a platform suitable for managing meetings much more complex and larger than yours. 

• How does it handle data and registrations?

You want a platform that’s easily integrating with your current database or customer relationship management (CRM). You can also choose a platform allowing easy uploading and downloading after the event.

• What’s the cost?

While it might be tempting to go with a low-cost or even free option, this can be problematic. Having your charity go well with a more customized branding typically outweighs any perceived cost savings.

• Does it offer good support? Is there a dedicated technical assistant for you?

There’s nothing worse than needing an answer right away only to receive it the next day. Chat support is great, but a live human agent is what you need.

2. Promote Eagerly

You want to promote awareness and engagement before, during, and after your fundraiser. This is because you want to maximize the platform you have for more people to participate. Here are some things you should do:

• Before The Event

Building a buzz before your virtual fundraiser will ensure people attending would be excited and ready to participate. For this, you can use social media and your organization’s website to provide a teaser. Make sure to talk zealously about it and to sell the vision of how important your audience’s contributions are.

You can also encourage people to chat or comment about what they’re looking forward to through social media polls. By building an online presence, people will be pumped up to your fundraiser.

• During The Event

You can encourage participants to post about how the activity is going. Challenge them to share a picture of them participating. This will make your fundraiser feel more personal and fun. 

To make it easier, you can create a unique hashtag for social media posting. In this way, whenever people would share a picture, it’ll be compiled in one place. You can then look through the posts and give a shoutout to certain individuals.

• After The Event

You can ask people to sign up for newsletters or leave comments and reviews. In this way, you can follow them up about certain things without being too demanding or making it a big deal. 

3. Invite Passionate Speakers

You don’t necessarily need to hire a famous personality or celebrity to be your charity speaker. If you have people in your organization who are extremely passionate about their work and role, then you can have them talk about it. 

You need to choose people who are highly knowledgeable about your mission and who love their part in your organization. Have them say a few words about why they love it and what this charity work means to them. They’re more inspiring than a famous person who doesn’t know your cause.

However, you can still bring in renowned speakers or special guests. You can ask someone who has a big name in your industry to participate and say a few words about the importance of such an event. 

You can also bring in a specialist to talk about how much of a difference your fundraiser can make. For instance, if you’re hosting a charity for stray animals, you can have an influencer who loves animals and say a few things about the significance of the endeavor. 

By having an outside speaker, you can break the monotony of your virtual charity and inspire people to contribute.   

4. Find An Engaging Host

While you can host your virtual event even if you’re focusing on other aspects, it’s not a bad idea to bring in a person specializing in hosting. You can hire a reputable master of ceremonies (MC) to moderate. They can introduce speakers and effectively engage with your audience in between sessions. 

Check around for experts you can hire. You can also tap into your internal resources and find someone who’s great at engaging people. For example, a marketing specialist in your organization may be good at online hosting. Utilize the means you have and find a person you think would fit for the role.

5. Gamify Your Event

Who doesn’t love games? By adding games to your sessions, you can prevent bored and yawning people. It makes the gathering more than just spending another hour in front of a phone or computer. Set up a point system rewarding participants for every virtual session they attend. You can also offer challenges and contests like what was previously mentioned. 

You can even include trivia questions during sessions. Ask questions specific to your charity as a fun way to get participants to learn more about your organization. For example, you can ask people when your cause was founded, what you hope to accomplish, or what your charity is all about. People who joined these contests and challenges can have the chance to win a prize or earn points to redeem later on.

As people play along, the gathering gets more engaging and people would learn more about your organization while getting the chance to win a prize. In this way, you can make your event livelier. A few contests will help participants stay engaged without distracting them from your overall message.

6. Get Creative With Your Content

There’s nothing wrong with having PowerPoint slides. It’s an awesome tool for clear and coherent presentations. However, if you just show slides, then the people may start dozing off. Break the monotony and make each presentation and session more interesting by using other creative content such as: 

• Infographics

This kind of content helps break down larger data and concepts into an easily digestible format. For instance, if you’re raising charity for supporting out-of-school youths, you can use infographics to break down what happens to the money.

• Audio And Video

Audio and video are great ways to stimulate your audience. You can show video presentations like interviews with people who are making an impact on your project. You can also include relevant background music. 

Show participants video clips of what your event is trying to support and do. Audio-visual presentations can provide real proof of what your organization is all about. 

• Memes

If it’s appropriate, it’s okay to be a little silly or mischievous by adding some jokes or memes to your presentations. If your participants laugh, then they’ll be more engaged for the rest of your presentation.

• Animations

Animations help eliminate language barriers. When used properly, these can also turn your virtual presentations to be lighthearted and to have a cinematic experience. 

Like memes, there are funny GIFs you can use to create a humorous environment. You can also use animated characters to demonstrate your key points or to communicate more complicated topics, which helps increase the engagement level of your audience. 

Regardless of what you choose, you need to have a content that’d entertain and cater to your audience.

Conclusion

Virtual events have become more commonplace as people become more comfortable at attending them. This means you don’t have to try so hard to get them on board and participate.

However, to ensure your online fundraising won’t become a failure or have a picture of bored and sleepy faces, you need to be creative in making it engaging. With the above tips, you can give your attendees awesome content and an enjoyable experience as they donate to your cause.