How to Choose the Right Nonprofit Event Management Software

Understand your nonprofit event management software needs.

Think back to your organization’s last fundraising event and evaluate how well it went. Was registration quick and easy for supporters? Did they give again after the event was over? Do you still have their information so that you can stay in contact with them?

Nonprofit event management software helps resolve the challenges of hosting fundraising events and promotes lasting connections between your organization and your donors. The first step in choosing the right event management software is recognizing your nonprofit’s unique needs. Before you make your selection, consider:

• Your organization’s size. A larger, more established nonprofit is likely to require more features from its event management software than is an organization that’s just getting started. Before you buy, have an idea of the amount of information your software will have to manage on a regular basis (for instance, how many registrants you expect for each of your events). Just starting out? Choose software that’s capable of growing along with your organization.
• The type of event you are hosting. Registration, donation acceptance, and thank-you receipts are just the beginning of the features that nonprofit event management software can offer. Pay particular attention to ticketing capabilities if you host events with ticketed entrance.
• Your attendees’ preferences. Your supporters are most likely to complete their registration, which confirms their attendance and donation, if the process is as fast and easy as possible. Look for software that guides them through the process and requires that they input only essential information.

While understanding your nonprofit’s needs is central to choosing the right event management software, there are a few essential features every organization should be on the lookout for. Ensure your software can handle registration, ticketing, donation processing, personalized recognition, and data collection. 

2. Choose nonprofit event management software that gives you multiple ways to generate revenue.

Fundraising events allow you to reconnect with loyal supporters and introduce new donors to the valuable work your organization does in the community. Attendees from both of these groups support your organization when they register for your event, and your goal is to encourage them to maintain this support once the event has ended.

Nonprofit event management software can help your organization generate revenue by facilitating fundraising strategies that build excitement leading up to the event and continue year-round. For nonprofits that use ticketed entry for their events, ticket sales are an additional means by which your event management software can help you generate revenue.

Register your attendees and collect their entrance donations with one easy-to-use online form. To help ensure future fundraising success, ensure that their information is stored in your donor database after they register. Then, use online and mobile giving capabilities to remind your supporters that there are several ways to give before, during, and after your event.

Options like these, which make giving convenient and easy, encourage more of your supporters to contribute and to make donations more regularly. Nonprofit event management software also makes collecting donations and gathering donor information easier for your organization, making your event planning more efficient and strengthening your future fundraising strategies.

3. Partner with a platform that offers your supporters several donation channels. 

The best fundraising events introduce new donors to your organization, and it’s highly likely that these individuals will want to donate in different ways. Choose a nonprofit event management software that offers multiple ways to donate so that different groups of donors will find the process convenient and enjoyable. These features should include: 

• Online Fundraising Pages: Online giving has emerged as one of the most popular ways to donate. It’s convenient, easy, and especially successful among younger donors accustomed to making transactions online. Choose software that allows you to customize your online donation page to your organization and offer features that make giving easy, such as preset donation amounts. 
• Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Pages: Structured similarly to crowdfunding, peer-to-peer fundraising turns loyal supporters into fundraisers by providing them with individual pages that they can customize and share with their family, friends, and social media followers. Ensure your nonprofit event management software has the capability to provide these pages and other gamification elements, such as badges and fundraising thermometers, to encourage competition among your volunteer fundraisers and create a sense of urgency as the date of your event approaches.
• Text-to-Give Service: With text-to-give, supporters send a keyword to your organization’s designated number and confirm their donation by clicking through to your donation page. Text-to-give is one of the most convenient forms of giving, because inspired donors can give before, during, and after your event. As with online donation, your fundraising team may wish to introduce text-to-give service in the context of an event and then continue using it as a regular donation method.

Whether they reach your organization through your online donation page, a friend’s peer-to-peer fundraising page, or their own smartphone, donors want to give to an organization they value and trust. Build your online trustworthiness and encourage donations by ensuring that your event management software features attractive and engaging pages.

4. Invest in visually appealing event fundraising software.

Event fundraising software does more than facilitate giving. It also helps tell your organization’s story and encourage donors to give by making the process fun and trustworthy. The ideal fundraising software design captures your donors’ attention with branding and customization. 

Consistent branding builds familiarity with your organization and trust in its online presence, especially among supporters who are less experienced donating online. Ensure that your organization’s name and logo are on each page that your donors will visit, especially the one on which they register for your event and make their donation. If your organization has a familiar color scheme, maintain this on all of your pages.

You should also take advantage of the gamification tools included in your event fundraising software, such as fundraising thermometers, to motivate your donors and keep them focused on your event and organization. Fundraising thermometers appear on peer-to-peer fundraising pages to illustrate how close your organization is to reaching its target amount. Donors who see a fundraising thermometer that is close to reaching its target amount may be inspired to give more. 

5. Select nonprofit event management software that grows with your nonprofit.

Nonprofits that are just starting out may prioritize forming your team and securing initial funding over choosing the right nonprofit event management software, especially if your organization has not yet hosted many events! However, nonprofit event management software is a necessary component of a strong fundraising strategy, and small nonprofits can and do benefit from it.

Your nonprofit wants to choose software that suits your current stage of development, but does not require you to start over with a completely new platform as you grow and expand. That’s the benefit of a system that allows you to upgrade your plan when you need it. Small nonprofits can save money while they are starting out and upgrade to gain additional features as they grow.

Whatever the size of your organization, nonprofit event management software maximizes the benefits you’ll receive from hosting fundraising events, encouraging donations and providing your organization with the opportunity to stay in contact with your supporters.