Thou Shalt Have Beautiful Quality Event Communications
This post will be short and sweet and to the point. No one likes shoddy work. No one. No one pays big bucks for an event that looks like it’s been haphazardly put together. Nope. I realize it’s hard to pay money for graphics when the money is stretched as is. Good, quality, beautiful event communications will help you more than 100 volunteers running door-to-door asking local businesses to hang up fliers.
Event communications should always have the following on them:
- time, date, location of event
- social media hashtag for event
- price
- what the participant can expect (is it an open bar? silent auction?)
- what are you raising funds for?
While you may think less is more – cryptic invitations for nonprofit events are not as successful as those who have a clear purpose and clear explanation of the ROI for the participant. Once you have your basic information worked out, it’s time to crank out the material. Don’t skimp on time or energy put into this. This is what people will see and decide if your event/cause is worth their time. It’s a very important piece of material.
Here’s what you should spend money on when planning communications for your signature event:
- if you don’t have an in-house marketing writer, hire someone to edit and review your materials (annual report, gala flier, gala invitation, etc)
- if you don’t have in-house graphic designer, hire someone. just trust me on this.
- pay for a backend event registration. Even sites like eventbrite can be made to look pretty if you’re in a tight spot.
- pay for quality printing. again, trust me on this. color printers just don’t do the same job.
Now, when those are paid for, rally your volunteers and your supporters and market the hell out of this baby. Unsure of how to market your event? Shoot us a line, let’s talk.