Imagine hosting a silent auction and barbecue for your local school for the blind. You spend months building up marketing and interest, pouring every drop of your passion into the project. The night happens, and it’s a rousing success, bringing in over $10,000 toward your school in a single instance.
A few months later, you’re preparing some volunteer schedules when you get a call from a local Australian newscast. They’re inquiring about the possibility of partnering with you for the upcoming silent auction. What went wrong?
Odds are, you spend a lot of time leading up to an event, but then forget about its listing on your website after the gala, holiday, or special circumstance has ended. What do you do then? Here’s a quick overview on how to handle past events still listed on your NFP’s website.
Steps to Reconcile Past NFP Events on Your Website
Before you do anything else, pause for a moment. You don’t need to delete the individual page for your event immediately. You will need that information to build something valuable for the future. Plus, if there are any backlinks or social media references, they will end in a “page not found” error, which can lower your search engine rank. Instead, follow these helpful steps.
Step 1: Clean Out Any References
Start with your NFP’s website. Look for any active references to the event, its individual page, or calendar listing. It doesn’t look good to the public if you’re advertising or promoting an event that has already passed.
Remember, you want to build trust, and every inch of your homepage is valuable digital real estate for establishing page authority and preparing for future events that have yet to occur. You should check event feeds, social media listings, homepages, and if you have a sidebar, PPC ad, or email marketing campaign that mentions the event.
Step 2: Turn Previous Successes into Current Highlights
A big reason you don’t delete that page is that you can turn the details of your event’s success into a blog post, video, promotional email, or newsletter. Write a blog recapping how your silent auction brought in more donor funds than any year previous. Record a few short videos from auction winners taking a selfie at their dinner night out or clinking glasses on their cruise.
Not only does this expand your brand story, but it also builds interest in next year’s event. You can use previous materials to create interest and pique your target audience’s interest, encouraging them to sign up now for an event months in the future.
Step 3: Revise the Individual Event Page
Once you publish that content about the previous success, update your current event page. You want to link back to this page, but ensure the information is accurate for the future. If you don’t know the details, have a graphic stating “information coming soon,” or “mark your calendars,” or “sign up now to volunteer at our upcoming gala.”
Make a big note that your previous auction is “in the books and was a blast.” Express gratitude to donors, volunteers, business sponsors, and guests. Show appreciation for all the hard work, then break out your analytics tools and forms to capture interest for the future. You want to ride that wave of engagement all the way to the next annual date.
Step 4: Create Your CTA
With content ready to flow and an updated page that can capture engagement, you need some CTAs. These are “Calls to Action” throughout your website where you want donors, volunteers, and guests to click.
You can have fun with these CTAs. Maybe run a contest for people to select the next location of your gala. How about setting up an interactive funding thermometer that shows how much you’ve raised and how much closer you are to reaching your capital funding goal?
One of the more unique things we’ve seen our NFP clients do is use these individual pages for an “in the meantime” mention. Something like:
Thanks to everyone who helped and attended our 9th Annual Silent Auction. While we’re scrambling to prepare all the details for next year’s featured gala, why don’t you check out all the exciting news and upcoming events in the meantime?
Then you list a month’s worth of events, scheduled activities, and news stories that build more authority online and trust with your audience.
Final Thoughts
When an NFP-hosted event ends, you don’t want to lose out on the opportunity to turn those individual website pages into engagement tools. You could find that outdated data is your key to converting more donors and volunteers. Follow these steps, and you may end up with increased attendance and word-of-mouth marketing for next year’s auction.
At Web 105, we support Australian NFPs by providing professional website design and development. Our experienced team collaborates with nonprofits, businesses, government agencies, and healthcare providers to deliver a mobile-responsive, easy-to-update website tailored to any need.
Give us a call today to book a consultation, and let’s be sure your website is updated and ready to reach your target audience.
FAQs
What is a good ROI for a nonprofit event?
It depends on the fundraising method you’re using. For a direct email campaign, you would want a 2:1 up to a 5:1 ROI. For something larger, such as a major gift gala, aim for a 10:1 or higher ratio.
What should be on a non-profit website?
At the very least, you should have a homepage, a ‘Get Involved’ page, a donor form, an ‘About Us’ section, a contact page, and descriptions of your mission/services.
What endings do Australian nonprofit websites usually have?
Most of the time, you want a “.org.au” ending to your domain name. However, domains have expanded significantly, and you can easily obtain a .org, .charity, or .giving domain. You want to pick a domain ending that builds the most trust with your local target audience, so do your research first.
Give us a call today to book a consultation, and let’s be sure your website is updated and ready to reach your target audience.