1. Leveraging Social Media for
Nonprofit Events

2. Who are we?
Ritu Sharma Laura Coltrin
Co-Founder & Executive Director Product Marketing Manager
ritu@sm4np.org laura@eventbrite.com
@ritusharma1 @lauracoltrin
SM4NP.org Eventbrite.com/npo
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3. The Agenda
Understanding the event ticketing lifecycle
Social media tips, tricks and time savers to maximize
engagement
Leveraging social media before, during and after your
event
Tying it all together with data
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4. Defining Event & Social Media
ROI
ROI = Increasing donations
+ Raising awareness +
Maximizing ticket sales
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5. Ticketing Lifecycle
On average, fundraiser
tickets go on sale 4-6
weeks before the event.
(Hint: People procrastinate. Don’t let them.)
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6. The Agenda
Understanding the event ticketing lifecycle
Social media tips, tricks and time savers to maximize
engagement
Leveraging social media before, during and after your
event
Tying it all together with data
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7. Be Proactive
Set an attendance goal and work backwards
Create a marketing calendar
• 88% of fundraisers sent invites when tickets go on
sale, but too many fall silent until the event
thereafter
• Over 50% of nonprofits say that frontloading ticket
sales is important to them
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8. Communication & Content
Calendar
Create a communication plan
• Work backwards from the date of the event until the
first invite goes out
What are the strategic times to email people?
• 9-11am, Tuesday-Thursday
Where to post information?
• Your website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, local
community calendars
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9. Ticketing Lifecycle
You can
influence the
ticketing
lifecycle!
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10. The Agenda
Understanding the event ticketing lifecycle
Social media tips, tricks and time savers to maximize
engagement
Leveraging social media before, during and after your
event
Tying it all together with data
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11. Create your Registration Page
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12. Drive Every “Touch” to Registration
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn Registration
Pro Tip: Bit.ly is a
great website to help
you shorten links for
Email
posts across
different social
media channels 12

13. Create a Facebook Event
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14. Further your Facebook Presence
Pro Tip: Integrate ticket purchases in
Facebook via apps.
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15. Create a LinkedIn Event
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16. Don’t Think of Your Event as Just
as an Event
Use the event as a data collection opportunity
Consider the long term vs. short term gains
Create direct donation option for non-attendees
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17. Let 1,000 Flowers Bloom
Invite all your friends and followers on respective
platforms
Invite via multiple channels: Email, LinkedIn,
Facebook
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18. Understand the Value of a Share
1 “Share” =
$6.00
in future
donations
+ 11 views of your event page
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19. Facebook Shares
pre-
purchase
post- 40%
purchase
60%
The motivation to share is
higher once the purchase has
been made.
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20. Promote
1. Post regular updates: Pictures, performers, VIPs,
auction items, partners and even attendee stories
2. Post more pictures & videos (cute stuff helps!)
3. Invite attendees to RSVP as they register
4. Be sure to tag attendees, VIPs, partners, and others
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21. The Scoop on #hashtags
• Hashtag is a word preceded by
# sign – keep it short! (6 – 8
characters)
• Unifies tweets from multiple
people on same subject
#Prouty
• Brand all posts about your
event with the same hashtag
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22. Keep the Conversation Going
During the event:
• Provide a twitter wall
• Prominently display the #hashtag
• Display the conversation
• Use free services like tweetchat.com
or twitterfall.com
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23. The Conversation Lives On
After the event:
• Ask for feedback, share a
survey
• Create and share recaps
• Post event pictures
• Use platforms like Storify to
summarize event experience
• Review your tracking and
analytics to know which social
channels were most effective
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24. The Agenda
Understanding the event ticketing lifecycle
Social media tips, tricks and time savers to maximize
engagement
Leveraging social media before, during and after your
event
Tying it all together with data
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25. Track your Sales Sources
1 2 3
• Create unique links for each of
your sales sources
• Monitor throughout the
promotion process
• Review which sources not only
brought in traffic, but ultimately sales
and donations
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26. Productivity Tools:
Hootsuite
Automatic scheduling
Mass tweeting (Only when appropriate)
Mass direct messaging (Be very selective)
Do not use for Facebook!
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27. Productivity Tools:
Sprout Social
Manage conversations with one tool
Publish and schedule update across multiple social channels
Measure efforts with reporting and analytics
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28. Productivity Tools:
Simply Measured/RowFeeder/Exportly
Gather data rich worksheets
See who is following you
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29. Wrap Up
• Decide which channels are right for you and your organization
• Incent early ticket purchasing to get the wheel in motion
• Collect donations from those who can’t attend
• Encourage post-purchase sharing – it is most powerful
• Give attendees reason to engage before, during and after your event
• Analyze which social media efforts are most effective
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30. Laura Coltrin
Product Marketing Manager
laura@eventbrite.com
Eventbrite
Ritu Sharma
Co-Founder and Executive
Director ritu@sm4np.org
Social Media for Nonprofits
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