Leveraging Events to Build Visibility

Events have value beyond fund raising. While events are often used as a way to raise money, they provide other opportunities as well.

Most importantly for this discussion, they provide an opportunity for you to increase your organization’s visibility.

Think about your event as the 6-8 weeks leading up to your event, the day of the event, and the 30 days afterward. Your event isn’t just the day of activity. It’s also about the time you spend promoting that event and the time you spend talking about that event afterward.

Before the Event: Think about who you invite Write good promotional copy and add the event to your website Share the event on social media Use email to invite attendees Tell us what’s happening! Consider who you invite. This may be an opportunity to bring media people, large employers, as well as WC industry members Take the time to put together some copy and add the event to your website. It will make it discoverable and easy for you to share digitally. You can make a flyer also. You can then share the event on social media. Make sure you encourage individual board members to promote to their networks. Email is still one of the best vehicles for getting the word out. Personalize them when possible We publish the Chronicle every month and want to share what’s happening in your state. Please make sure you let us know. Pro tip: Make sure that you remind people of the mission as you promote the event Pro tip: Consider a promo kit so that you can provide supporters with pre-write social posts, blog posts, etc. to make the event easy to share.

Invite your students to share their story. No matter how you slice it, having a student at your event is so valuable.

At the Event: Write a highlights story Capture quotes from students and other attendees Cover the event with live social media Shoot video footage Shoot photos Have a board member draft a story that covers the event. It’s best to do that while you’re there so it comes together quickly. Board members can also jot down quotes from attendees, partners, students, etc. It’s best to get these while you have their attention Board members can also be posting on their own social media accounts during the event. Use #KidsChance You can also use the opportunity with everyone in one place to create video content, as well as shoot photos. Remember to capture your students!

You have the people in the room – make the most of your time.

After the Event: Post your highlights story on your website Share the story and quotes on social media Share the story, quotes, video and photos through email Tell us what’s happening! Posting the story on your website makes it easy to share and will make it useful next year as you solicit donors – you can tangibly show them how good the event was. You can then take the story, the individual quotes you collected, and any video you made and calendar out individual social media posts. You’ll find you quickly fill the 30 days and then some Email is still one of the best vehicles for getting the word out. Personalize them when possible We publish the Chronicle every month and want to share what’s happening in your state. Please make sure you let us know. Pro tip: Make sure that you remind people of the mission as you share how the event went. You can absolutely reframe the quotes, video, etc. so you can use the content long after the event is over.

The great part about using your events this way is that you can generate buzz beyond the day itself and the people who were in the room. You will also walk away with quotes, stories, and videos that will last.

Questions?