Learning how to promote a charity event for optimal exposure is one of the key skills any NPO marketer can acquire. After all, the more people you reach with your marketing messaging, and the further your promotional reach extends, the more well-attended your charity events will be!  

Insider Insights on How To Promote a Charity Event 

Here are seven of our best tips to help you promote your next event like a pro. 

1. Supercharge Your Social Media Platforms

These days, every charity worth its salt should have very active social media platforms. This includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and TikTok. 

If you don’t have a dedicated social media person at your NPO yet, make a point of appointing someone ASAP. Ideally, this person should have experience in content creation (images and captions), as well as community management in general. 

Once you have your social media platforms up and running, they can be used as a very effective way of promoting charity events. With a little paid promotion and attention to the settings of your online audiences, you can get your marketing material in front of the right sets of eyeballs. 

TOP TIP: Whenever you sign up a new donor, include digital invitations to your social media platforms as one of the onboarding tick boxes. This way, you can drive organic growth of your online followers in an ongoing fashion. So, instead of waiting for them to find your Facebook and Instagram platforms, task your digital team or person to find them, and send them an invitation instead. 

2. Leverage the Reach of Celebrity Benefactors 

If your NPO is lucky enough to have celebrity benefactors or well-known supporters, you can use their online (and real-life) reach to spread the word about your events. 

For instance, a celeb could do a Facebook video or Instagram story that shares the information for your event with their followers. By doing this, people who may not have been reached otherwise will receive an ‘invite’ from someone they admire. 

TOP TIP: Offer to help your celebrity benefactors with content creation. They may not have the time to think up caption copy or imagery to go on their social pages. If this is the case, get a digital-savvy member of your team to put it all together and simply give it to them to post. This way, you save them a lot of time and effort. In fact, you could even offer to record a video for social use if you can get them onsite. 

3. Create Compelling Email Content 

Your email database is a veritable gold mine when it comes to promoting your charity event. However, the trick lies in creating compelling email content that will encourage your readers to a) open the email (a challenge in itself!), and b) respond by saying they will attend the event in question. 

Here are a few tips in this regard: 

• Your email header should always say exactly what a reader will find when they click on it, but in an inspiring way. So rather than saying ‘Next charity event for XYZ’, you will perhaps go with ‘Join Celeb ABC at a fundraiser lunch for XYZ’. Hook them with your event’s USP straight off the bat. 
• Use images in your email body to break up the text, so that it’s not just a bunch of words. Keep the content short and sweet, and put it in a design that opens up in the body of the email rather than attaching it as a document that the reader will have to open and/or download. You need to keep this process as friction-free as possible. 
• Make it very simple for your email readers to respond to your invitation. Ideally, you want to include a big, easy-to-find call to action button that takes them to a short and snappy web form where they can fill in their information. This way, they don’t even have to email back.

4. Hit the Airwaves on Local Radio 

Local radio stations are always looking for good on-air interviews. Get in touch with the stations in your area, and find out when the presenter might have an opening in their schedule to chat with your media liaison. 

Instead of just promoting your event outright, use this as an opportunity to share more information about your cause in general with their listenership as well. 

5. Embrace Content Marketing

Sending out a press release about an upcoming event is always a good idea. In fact, every seasoned marketing professional will tell you to do so! 

However, if you want to increase the odds of getting exposure in newspapers, magazines, and on online media platforms, it helps to come at it with a content marketing angle. 

So, instead of just sending out a press release, offer to create tailored content for each platform you approach. For instance, if your event is a music concert, you could approach a music magazine with an offer of a written piece by your headlining band or musician. The key is to understand their demographic and to offer content that will appeal to their readers. 

6. Develop Media Partnerships

Corporate social responsibility is a big focus for any innovative business. However, not every company has the means to contribute in dollars and cents. This is why it’s a great idea to offer businesses like radio stations, magazines, etc. with the option of becoming a media partner for your NPO. They can give exposure instead of money, and still enjoy a tax break. 

7. Don’t Underestimate Local Event Listings

Town- or region-specific social media pages and event listing platforms are a vastly underestimated resource when it comes to event marketing. 

Take the time to promote your events on the pages of the towns and regions close to where they will take place. It will take a little elbow grease at first, but it will definitely pay off in the long run! 

Final Thoughts on How to Promote a Charity Event

The best way to get to grips with how to promote a charity event is to diversify your marketing channels. Try out a couple of these seven promotion tactics to help broaden your reach and garner more attention for your next event!