Exclusive Research: 5 Key Actions to Increase Participation at Fundraising Events

Would you like to understand why people do and don’t take part in fundraising events? Or how you can improve yours to encourage greater participation?

If you’re in charge of fundraising for a charity or non-profit organisation, you’ll know maintaining momentum is an on-going challenge.

How do you keep donors interested in taking part in your events and maintain their motivation to raise funds? As the charity events space becomes ever more crowded, being a worthy cause is no longer enough to guarantee support.

Charities don’t just face competition from other charities; they’re also up against profitmaking companies running many brilliant mass participation events.

With so much noise, how do you ensure your event is seen and stands out? Understanding what drives people to take part in charity events – and also what prevents them from attending – is key to creating more attractive events and remaining relevant in this competitive marketplace.

To give you the critical insight you need, Eventbrite surveyed 1,000 people to see how many had attended a fundraising event in 2015. To those who did attend, we asked why, how the experience could have been improved and what factors would encourage them to take part in an event again this year.

And of those survey respondents who didn’t attend a fundraising event last year, we wanted to know what stopped them.

The survey polled a cross-section of society in locations around the UK. In this Britepaper we’ll examine the demographics of those most likely to take part in charity events, including age, education, employment status and income bracket. We’ll also look at the key factors driving participation for the different age groups.

Who attends fundraising events?

Just under half (46%) of those we surveyed had taken part in a fundraising event in 2015, which is an encouraging stat for the sector to start with!

The type of events attended spanned a wide range, from fun runs and marathons, music gigs and pantomimes, to dinner dances, fairs and fetes.

The split between the genders was almost even, with slightly more females (52%) having taken part in a charity event than males, however this is representative of the survey sample, which contained more females than males (52% female).

Looking at the different regions, the likelihood of taking part in a fundraising event appears to remain largely consistent regardless of where the respondents live.

Out of the age groups polled, those aged 16-24 were most likely to attend a fundraising event, with nearly 49% stating they had participated in one during 2015.

Generation Y (aged 25-34) registered a slightly lower rate of participation at 45%, while Generation X was marginally lower still at 43%.

This shows the importance of the ‘Millennials’ generation to any fundraising event, and it’s worth considering how you’ll engage the younger generation during your promotional campaign.

University-goers show higher rates of participation
Those taking part in fundraising events appear to be an educated bunch. Of those who attended an event last year, 35% had a degree and 41% had completed higher education (that’s a total of 76% with qualifications over and above GCSEs).

Looking at the results in relation to the demographic split of the survey respondents, nearly 52% of all degree-level educated respondents had attended an event, while nearly 45% of those who had completed higher education also did so. Only 38% of people with no qualifications had attended a charity event. Therefore we may conclude that likelihood to take part increases with level of education.

Employment status also plays a role. Those who are employed are most likely to take part (47% of employed people participated in an event last year), while 45% of selfemployed people and 45% of students also attended a fundraiser.

The data indicates that unemployed people may be slightly less likely to attend, with only 43% of respondents who identify themselves as unemployed having taken part in a fundraiser. Likewise, those with a combined household income of under £10,000 have the lowest rate of participation in charity events, at 40%.

In general, higher income correlated to greater participation. With participation levels growing a few percentage points for each additional £10,000 of household income up to £50,000, peaking at a participation rate of 53%.

Sample sizes decline from £50,000+, making findings less reliable. Taking the 154 respondents with a combined household income of £50,000-£100,000 as a whole, the participation rate is 48%.

Of those with an income above £100,000 (a total of 38 people), the participation rate is nearly 45%. Possibly of note is that the lowest rate of participation corresponds with the highest household income – of the 8 people who stated an income of £300k+, only one had taken part in a fundraising event.

Key attendance drivers

We asked the survey respondents the key reasons why they took part in charity events during 2015 and the results presented some interesting findings.

Although 32% stated the main reason for their involvement was to raise funds for the cause, the second most popular answer was to undertake a personal challenge (given by nearly 8%).

This correlates with the rise in popularity in mud runs and obstacle courses such as Tough Mudder, Mudstacle, The Royal British Legion Major Series and Bear Grylls Survival Race that we have witnessed in the last few years.

What constitutes a challenge differs from person to person, but this desire to be challenged might mean organisers need to think beyond the traditional fun run, or be more innovative in their approach (running 5k is much harder if you’re tied to another person or carrying someone on your back!).

This doesn’t have to be mountain climbing in some far-flung destination, it could be as simple as challenging a group of gaming industry professionals to take part in a bakeoff, a concept which has proved popular for Gamerbake, which raises money to buy tech for people with disabilities.

The youngest respondents (16-24) were the demographic with most desire to experience something new, while 25-34-year-olds most wanted to challenge themselves.

Fundraising is a social activity
Another major reason for attending fundraising events was to keep friends company. This was the third most popular answer, only marginally behind ‘being challenged,’ at 7.8%.

The power of peer pressure is not to be overlooked, as friends can be highly persuasive in motivating otherwise reluctant participants to get involved.

Fundraisers are viewed by many as social events; an opportunity for friends to take part in a challenge together and have a good laugh in the process. For physical events, the social aspect might start months out, offering people the opportunity to meet up in order to train.

For the organiser, this means facilitating and incentivising group participation is highly important. Events such as Tough Mudder use Eventbrite to enable people to register as a team or join an existing team for example.

Younger people, in particular, want to take part with friends – the 16-24 and 25-34 age groups had the largest percentage of respondents listing ‘keep a friend company’ as an attendance driver.

Charity can start at home and in the workplace
Companies can also be important drivers of participation in fundraising events. Nearly 5% of survey respondents stated the main reason they took part in an event last year was because ‘it was a company initiative’.

Organisers can capitalise on this by promoting participation for workplace teams and even encouraging competition between rival companies.

Improving the fundraising experience

There’s always room for improvement, so we asked those respondents that did attend a fundraising event last year what could have been improved about their experience.

The top answer given (by 14%) was ‘a more unique or exciting experience’. The challenge for organisers to continue offering something new is probably the biggest they face.

A blog post we published on quirky and unusual fundraising event ideas last year remains one of our most popular ever, demonstrating the pressure fundraisers feel to come up with something ‘different’.

Clear communication is key
The second most popular suggestion for improvement was better pre and post event communications, stated by 12% of respondents.

Comments left in relation to this question relayed a desire for a deeper understanding about the charity’s mission and why the event was being held.

In addition, attendees wanted to be informed after the event about how the proceeds were used. Total transparency helps build trust among supporters and can easily be fostered through social media and email newsletters. These free online tools provide charities with the ideal platforms to engage with supporters and keep them up to date with progress.

Maintaining contact with attendees after the event is key to keeping them on board as supporters and ensuring higher repeat attendance levels at subsequent events.

A well-fed attendee is a happy one
According to our survey, food quality at charity events may leave a little to be desired. Just under 12% of respondents said catering could have been better.

While it is necessary for organisers to keep running costs down and profit margins up in order to get the best financial result for their charities, too much scrimping on important factors such as the catering or venue (nearly 11% said the venue could have been nicer) could put people off from attending again.

Barriers to attendance

While 46% of those we surveyed did attend a fundraising event in 2015, 54% did not. What stopped them?

You might imagine that they were too busy or simply not motivated enough, but one third of respondents – 33% – claim they did not actually hear of any charity events to attend.

This indicates that fundraisers need to improve their marketing efforts, utilising a range of different media – both online and offline – to get their message heard by the different age groups. Perhaps surprisingly, the age group most likely to be unaware of charity events is the 25-34-year-old – 53% stated they did not hear about any.

The age group most likely to be in the know were the youngest (16-24), with only 40% recording ignorance as a reason they did not participate. Most likely to put off this age group is having no one to go with (stated by 9%).

Not wanting to attend an event alone was the second most popular reason people didn’t attend a fundraising event in 2015, given by nearly 10% of respondents overall. Organisers can help combat this issue by utilising Eventbrite’s social integration tools. These enable people interested in attending an event to log in with their Facebook account to see if any of their friends have already signed up.

They can also receive real-time notifications (direct to their mobile device if they have the Eventbrite app) when someone they know registers. Some event organisers have sold 20%, 30% or even more of their tickets as a direct result of these notifications.

Multi-date/location events can enjoy higher participation
Not being able to make the date or reach the location of the event were other top reasons respondents could not attend a fundraiser last year (according to nearly 9% and 6% respectively).

Of course, it’s not possible to choose a date or venue to suit everybody, but you could widen your catchment by staging your event in different regions on different days, or running it one location over the course of two or three days.

What organisers may be pleased to hear, is that only 2% of respondents found a high fundraising target a barrier to entry, while 5% struggled with high ticket fees. This was a problem for 8% of unemployed respondents, but interestingly only 1% of students (usually cash-strapped) said ticket prices were too steep.

Tips to encourage participation

Finding a cause they care about is the main factor that could encourage our survey respondents to attend a fundraising event this year, as stated by 30%.

This represents a big opportunity for fundraisers to increase their communication efforts and win hearts and minds in the process. Look at the channels you’re using to reach your prospects and make sure you’re engaging in a way that’s relevant.

Are you using videos, photos and interactive content? Are you sharing success stories, setting public targets, enlisting spokespeople and influencers, securing media coverage? All of these can help raise awareness of your organisation and why its work is so vital.

Respondents also commented that being notified about events would help increase their likelihood of attendance, so don’t forget to reach out to your database to let them know what you’re up to.

Make an extra effort to inform the local community, with ads in local papers or posters around the town, as nearly 26% of respondents say they would be more likely to attend an event if it was nearby.

Go ‘freemium’
Despite only a small number of people citing ticket costs as a barrier to entry, a larger number (15%) identified low priced or free events as a draw.

Fundraisers could increase participation by doing away with ticket fees, raising funds instead through merchandise sales, food & beverage, meet & greet opportunities or other upgrades.

A free or low priced event could help you grow your database of supporters, who you can then target with a campaign aimed at turning them into regular givers. And don’t forget that larger events are more attractive for sponsors and exhibitors, presenting you with other ways to monetise.

Capitalise on friend-get-friend
We discovered the importance of socialising at fundraising events earlier and this point is reiterated again here, with 21% of respondents stating they would be encouraged to attend an event in 2016 if they knew their friends were going.

This psychology is known as ‘FOMO’ (Fear of Missing Out) and is a key participation driver, especially with the younger generation. In fact, Eventbrite research conducted in the US discovered nearly 7 in 10 (69%) Millennials experience FOMO.

To build FOMO around your events, be sure to set up a socially integrated event page, which attendees (or potential attendees) can easily share with friends on social media. You can also incentivise peer-to-peer sharing by creating an affiliate programme and rewarding those who sell tickets to their friends with cash-back.

Summary

While keeping your fundraising events fresh and exciting is an important factor in attracting participants, the results of this survey reveal there are also a number of quick wins for boosting attendance.

Simply by sending out regular newsletters to your supporters, helping potential attendees enter as a group or discover friends they can go along with, could all have a significant impact on participation.

The good news is Eventbrite can assist organisers with all of the above thanks to integration with leading email marketing platforms, flexible ticketing options and unique social tools.